Raise your glass to a vintage year for the royal vintner

The customer of Berry Bros & Rudd is not this man.

For more than 300 years, the wine merchant and vintner to the Queen has been selling wine to the discerning tippler from its shop at 3 St James's Street, just opposite St James's Palace.

Figures out today show a business in rude health. In particular, its online arm has seen sales up 72% in 2011 to £25 million. Total sales are around £130 million, which makes Berry Bros a serious venture for such a pleasant product. Orders have to top £100 before the firm is willing to deliver, but once it is, it will make a trip anywhere in
the UK.

It remains a private, family-run affair so doesn't need to declare exactly how well it is doing, but I asked a man in the wine trade if Berry Bros is profitable and he replied like this: "Definitely.

Very. They are steeped in heritage and have very good contacts in the upper echelons of the fine wine world."

The firm also seems immune to the economic downturn. The average amount spent on a bottle of premium wine is up 56% to £20. Discerning drinkers are more willing than ever to splash out on something they expect to give them pleasure. Alun Griffiths, the buying director, says: "Customers tend to be people that work around here, we are not a late-night shop.

We also get a lot of overseas visitors. It is an historical place to visit and buy wine."

As a point of comparison, the average spend per bottle at Majestic Wine is £6. Across the UK including supermarket sales, it is £4.50 (that's tongue-stripper territory).

Guy Woodward, the editor of wine magazine Decanter, says: "Berry's has been smart in going beyond merely selling blue-chip wines and into things like events and education, opening themselves up to a new type of customer who may not be in the market for the very top wines but still wants to learn about them."

Griffiths reckons that more and more people are getting the idea that an £8 bottle is so much better than one for £5, so the whole industry is shifting upmarket. Berry's holds regular tasting events and says bookings have soared as wine buffs look to educate themselves about the grape.

"We are trying to get customers to lose the perception that we are purely a French business.

We've loads of great wines from Spain and Italy, and are seeing good growth in Argentina sales," he says. He wishes the Government would stop imposing ever-higher levels of tax on wine, but isn't optimistic - hence a move to expand overseas.

Another source of growth is the wine exchange BBX - a sort of eBay for the wine trade. Collectors store their wines with Berry Bros and trade with each other, with the firm taking a 10% commission.

That sounds hefty, but it's less than auctions typically charge, leaving Berry's to claim that it
has changed the wine investment market for good.

The most expensive bottle of wine sold last year? A Château Lafite-Rothschild 2010 that fetched £8083. Was it worth it?

"I personally wouldn't get enough pleasure from it to justify the expense," says Griffiths. "But it is worth it to somebody."

A banker on a bonus, probably, but one likely to drink his prize discreetly.

TOP GRAPES 2011(% change on 2010)

1. Cabernet Sauvignon -4.3%
2. Chardonnay +18.7%
3. Pinot Noir +50%
4. Southern Rhône blend -1.9%
5. Champagne blend -17%
6. Sauvignon Blanc -16%
7. Sauvignon Blanc & Semillion +13.7%
8. Merlot -8.4%
9. Shiraz +56%
10. Tempranillo -1.9%

Source: bbr.com