Articles - The Wine Merchant Mag

An independent magazine for independent retailers

Boutinot tops indie popularity poll

Supplier has topped Survey of Independents chart for 13 years

Winners announced for California Collection 2026

Eight merchants made their selections from wines submitted by UK importers

Oxford wine company splits in two

Retail and wholesale divisions are now separate companies

Frazier Jones takes on Wine Poole business

West Midlands family business will be absorbed on March 2

Matthew Clark and Bibendum form single entity

Owner C&C says move will remove “unnecessary duplication and barriers”

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Keep your wits about you at tastings

Trade events are tricky enough to navigate without exhibitor attitude problems

Gimmicks aren’t always a bad idea

Aldi’s call for volunteer tasters wasn’t far away from what some indies already do

Wine and book shops in sync

Both sectors have cause for optimism after their recent success stories

Rising Stars: Emily Silva, Oxford Wine Co

“She’s brighter and sharper than me,” admits boss Ted Sandbach

The rewards of a 90-hour week

The Wright Wine Co in Skipton will resort to voodoo to pursue bad debts

Merchants fear a Brexit disaster

Poll shows 70% of indies still want the UK to be part of the EU

The shopping street that came back from the dead

A pedestrian scheme has been a gift for Yardarm in Leyton

Forecast: it’s going to be pouring

Most new entrants in the specialist independent trade are going the hybrid route

You can specialise in more than just wine

Why not add beer, books or even free jazz performances to your offer?

Independent numbers continue to grow

There are now 855 shops operated by 624 businesses, according to our survey

Twelve unsettling wine commercials

You don’t see many TV ads for wine, and these examples may partly explain why

Now everybody’s a gin distiller

Adnams plans to give more of its customers the chance to make their own gin

The fun of the fair

The UK wine trade would still exist without the LWF, but it would be a…

Consumers are getting more wine savvy

The number of consumers taking wine courses is continuing to soar, according to the WSET

It’s not just Marmite that’s more expensive

Independents have been hit with pre-Christmas price increases. The worst may be yet to come

The old boys’ club

Just 11% of indie wine specialists are female. It will be embarrassing if that figure…

Saturation point is a long way off

The UK could sustain another 200 independent wine shops, says study

Shop? Wine bar? Café? Maybe all three

28.4% of retailers now offer wine for on-premise consumption