Articles - The Wine Merchant Mag

An independent magazine for independent retailers

Stainton wine closes on its own terms

Famous Cumbrian indie has been trading for four decades

Garage Wine Company joins Hallgarten line-up

Cult Chilean producer was previously handled by Jascots

Our 2026 Survey of Independents is now open

Five participants will win mixed cases from Hatch Mansfield

The Vineking crashes with £800k debts

Erik Laan’s new company means Reigate branch is still trading

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Bright Ideas: Salut, Manchester

Bob McDonald helps customers with everything they wanted to know about wine but were afraid…

New faces at Vino Vero

Jaime and Holly Fernandez take over from Sam and Charlotte Brown in Leigh on Sea

Let’s hear it for the co-operatives

David Williams argues that European wine co-ops are invariably forces for good

Spaced out

Charles Wharton had just relocated Ellis Wharton Wines to a retail park warehouse when lockdown…

English vintage report 2020

English wine producers are taking stock of a 2020 vintage ravaged by May frosts

Container is home for Essex indie

Christine Longden and husband Lee opened The Twisted Cork in Tiptree last month

Renegade of the Rhône

John Gauntley will be missed for his humour and enthusiasm as well as his style…

Online sales beyond lockdown

Web sales will be a fact of life for indies well beyond Covid-19

Act natural

Do organic and natural wines need certificates and badges to impress eco-conscious consumers?

The risks and rewards of reopening my shop

Cat Brandwood of Toscanaccio in Winchester discusses the dliemmas of June 2020

David Williams on the Languedoc

Cheerful varietals have been joined by serious cru wines with a true sense of terroir

Our entry-level wines aren’t cheap options

The average price of a bottle of wine is £5.93. In independent specialists, it’s £13.71

Why Covid-19 could go ballistic at wine tastings

Trade gatherings have the potential to become superspreader events for coronavirus

It’s feeling more like normal

Merchants need to decide how to protect staff and their customers as lockdown eases

Rioja recognises need for change

Wines of terroir and new white styles are just part of the mix

Indies need a 50% sales increase

Collapse of wholesale business and drink-in sales leaves a big hole

Wine merchants are flavour of the month

Capitalise on new customers now, because time poverty will return

Life under lockdown

There are opportunities for indies at a frightening time, including new customers