Trust the experts

As supermarkets swallow up small rivals, it’s reassuring to see our independent wine merchants still holding their own.

“……we should be thankful. At a time when most supermarket wine lists are getting more commercial and bland, the choice on Scottish high streets has never been better. Chris Lockett, who runs Lockett Bros in North Berwick, is an example of an emerging breed of wine merchant. Often fresh out of college, they are sourcing lively, unusual wines, giving it a go and succeeding”
Will Lyons Scotland on Sunday, December 06

Locketts

"It's not often that a wine merchant comes on the scene and makes an immediate impact with a selection that wouldn't look out of place on London's St James Street. Chris Lockett has done just this. His list shows an eagle eye for quality and is littered with big names, cult vintages and exciting bottles."
WILL LYONS Scotland on Sunday

The man with a nose for a full-bodied opportunity

The idea of opening an exclusive wine bar in Edinburgh came to Chris Lockett when he was picking grapes in New Zealand and Australia. But it was not to be. Instead, he became a wine merchant in North Berwick last year and says his business life since then has been "absolutely amazing". Read the full article
JIM DOW Edinbrugh Evening News

Here's Mud In Your Eye

MUD and tractors. "For all the intellectual musings that surround the great subject of wine, the truth is we're dealing with an agricultural product - something that has been made from the ground. Getting your hands dirty - that's what it's all about, Will." My first boss, Tom Gilbey, was a frustrated farmer. As we worked together, for a rather grand Scottish wine merchant, he would wistfully relieve his yearnings for the land through his many philosophical meditations. I was reminded of Gilbey's mud-and-tractors eulogy during a recent sojourn to North Berwick. There, halfway down the High Street, just a stone's throw from the beach, lies one of Scotland's most interesting and progressive wine merchants - Lockett Bros. Run by Chris Lockett, a jazz-loving, flip-flop-wearing surfer, his list is peppered with the sort of off-beat wines you might expect from a man who rides the waves. Read the full article
Will Lyons Scotland on Sunday

New Zeal and Zest

A tour of the New World yielded a rich harvest for one intrepid wine merchant.

Chris Lockett’s story has a peculiarly noughties feel to it. He won’t thank me for saying it, but spending 10 weeks away from Scotland trundling round the wine lands of Australia and New Zealand in a VWcombi is rather, well, Jamie Oliver. “I asked the Logan vineyard if I could do a vintage,” he says with bubbling excitement in his well laid-out shop on North Berwick’s high street, “and stayed for eight weeks. Read the full article
Joe Fattorini Saturday Herald

Independent Wine Shops

Small, autonomous wine shops provide the service, advice, quality and choice that superstores simply cannot offer.

Also different and proud of it, Lockett Brothers, set up in North Berwick in 2004, didn’t change a thing when the first Tesco opened three years later. Chris Lockett doesn’t want to knock the supermarkets per se, but points to the vast number of winemakers who don’t have the size or inclination to supply them. Sifting out the best producers is what being a good merchant is all about.
Tom Bruce-Gardyne The Herald, January 11

Best Independent Wine Shops

Journey along the East Lothian coastline to discover this hidden gem. The shelves are peppered with interesting wines and cult vintages from growers all over the world. It's fast establishing itself as a strong independent wine merchant that oozes passion and enthusiasm.
Patty Edwards The Scotsman, November 2007