SCOTLAND’S oldest wine merchant, which enjoyed the patronage of Sir Walter Scott, Charles Dickens and King George IV, has opened its first bottle shop.
Cockburns of Leith, founded by brothers Robert and John Cockburn in 1796 and now owned by the Murray family, has launched a new retail premises in Edinburgh’s New Town.
The shop, at 48A Frederick Street, stocks an exclusive range of wines and spirits, including Provencal rose Chateau Routas.
The Murray family has owned the Chateau Routas vineyard since 2005. Murray Capital, the family business, acquired the business out of administration in 2010, adding it to a wine operation that also included Edinburgh’s Wine Importers.
Keith Murray, director of Cockburns of Leith, said: “We are excited by this next chapter in the Cockburns of Leith story, building on a 200-year heritage of excellence and conviviality as we seek to supply the very best of global wine and spirits to our customers.
“While online sales continue to grow and are an important part of the modern Cockburns of Leith business, we also believe in the power of retail.
“That is why we have decided to open our first bottle shop, which comes at an exciting time of rejuvenation for Edinburgh’s commercial core. Customers are keener than ever to experience the brands they purchase first-hand – by seeing and tasting them in store or hearing the history for themselves.
“Be it the worker who wants to pick up a bottle on their way home from the office, someone who prefers to browse the labels and hold the bottle in their hands before they buy, or a newer wine drinker who needs a little guidance – the best way we can serve these customers is through a physical shop, offering warm, personal and expert service.”
Cockburns’ retail outlet will offer in-store tastings and free deliveries to customers in Edinburgh and the Lothians; it will complement the merchant’s online offer.
The Cockburns name is also known for its eponymous Port, which was founded by Robert Cockburn after serving as a soldier in Portugal during the Napoleonic Wars.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here