2007-10

M
John Mitchell runs Mitchell’s Wines in Meadowhead. Here he tells us about
his road to maturity as well as that of the business and a little about wine...
I can still remember my first day at
Abbey Lane School back in September
1955 hanging onto the railing for grim
death, tears rolling down my cheeks as my
mum tried to persuade me to go through
the school gates to start my education
programme. It took the head mistress – a
rather firm Miss Barton – to save the day
by promptly grabbing my hand and leading
me through rather swiftly.
Why did, or why should I go to school?
My mum and dad had a butcher’s shop at
the top of Meadowhead and I had spent
many happy hours there meeting and
greeting the good folk of Norton and
Meadowhead who were buying their
sausages, pies and pork chops. So what
had school got to offer me – not a lot! Six
years later I promptly failed my 11-plus
and headed up the road to Jordanthorpe
Secondary Modern, an all boys school
which, sadly, is being pulled down as I
write this.
I had now matured at age 11 with long
trousers and a Beatle hair cut –
Jordanthorpe was a school where you
grew up quick, not for the faint hearted,
with fair but firm teachers it was to be five
very enjoyable happy years for me. But as
the leaving date grew closer I had to make
a decision was it going to be the big wide
world or join my dad behind the butcher’s
counter which had just had an off-licence/
beer off added on in place of our old living
room – by this time we had moved house
to around the corner on Greenhill main
road. Indecision led me into the family
business.
I joined a wine trade which was the very
old fashioned, traditional, sherry and port,
whiskey and gin; wine was only table wine
for the weekend and only drunk by a few.
Most people didn’t drink at home but went
down the pub every night, but then the
retail price maintenance was lifted and we
saw the first cut prices – discounts galore!
‘Stack it up high - Sell it cheap’ trade
was on the up and Mitchells were
maturing, now well known as the ‘Beer &
Beef Shop’
Enough of my history lesson but I like to
think 40 years later that we are likened to
a good vintage port ready for drinking.
Port is a big hearted generous wine that
should be enjoyed in the same spirit and
falls into one of two groups, Wood Aged
Ports and Bottled Aged Ports.
Wood Aged Ports are generally young
wines bottled after three to five years
ageing in oak casks. Once bottled they
are ready for drinking and do not improve
in the bottle and also don’t need to be
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