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 We have recently updated our UK map of Independent Wine Merchants .
This does not claim to be comprehensive, and some merchants are on-line only – so you may not be able to visit, but might benefit from cheaper local delivery arrangements – we always suggest a phone call before making a special journey to check what arrangements or opening times may be.
Many also offer tastings, either at their base or in other venues. We would always recommend merchants who are knowledgeable and enthusiastic – a tasting or a chat with the merchant will usually help to make the right choices.
The map features specialist independent wine merchants, although some have cleverly included gourmet foods or delicatessen or even a café or wine bar.
If you know of a good local independent specialist wine merchant or a good wine bar let us know and we will try to include them, which might help other wine lovers to discover them, support their business and help to stem the tide of big brands and big supermarkets and chains which dominate the market. SUGGEST A WINE MERCHANT/WINE BAR
View the map
Online only merchants
Online independent wine merchant Wines Unfurled promises a “colourful take on wine”
 At Wines Unfurled we go out and discover unique, hand-crafted wines from small, independent vineyards. What we bring back to the UK, we group using colour, making it simple for you to find wine you’re guaranteed to enjoy. This is unique. It’s also a great way to try wines you’d otherwise have never heard about. We can suggest food pairings to get the very best from your wine and the food you eat. And we do all this one hundred percent ethically. It’s a colourful take on wine.
Wines are colour-coded by style from crisp mineral whites to big powerful reds – esasy to use website with online ordering and background information about the producer.
 UK Delivery = £9.99
 No Tastings curtrently offered
Wines Unfurled, no address given!
 
A serious wine bar in Bristol’s Clifton Village
 The fabulous building is well over a century old however with it’s modern interior it’s one of the very best venues in Bristol. If you’re a wine enthusiast, you’ll be delighted at the selection of wines from all over the world in our atmospheric wine cellar. You can appreciate over 30 of our wines by the glass – even champagne!
Bar & Wine Bar – not a shop. good selection of well-chosen wines – and great food with the Clifton Sausage, in the same ownership.
Tastings offered
The Quadrant Bar, 2 Princess Victoria Street, Clifton, Bristol BS8 4BP t:0117 9741025.
Specialising in Argentinean Boutique Wines, Ruta 40 wine bar and shop has been established in London for a year.
 We have spent more than 10,000 km on the road in Argentina with the aim of unearthing the best producers Argentina has to offer. In the end we whittled it down to 12 carefully selected family owned boutique wineries producing a total of 77 different wines. Mix to your heart’s content from the selection. No minimum order size.
Good website with online ordering and plenty of good information on the wines and the country.
UK Delivery = £?
Tastings offered
Ruta 40 , 4 Nevern Square, London SW5 9NN t:0800 410 1003
Independent wine merchant Linton Wines offers “Wine without waffle” in East Lothian:-
 Linton Wines was founded in 2006 by John who was getting bored with Banking! There is no coincidence with the approach of his 40th birthday or mid-life crisis, or so he says! Over the last 20 years, John has benefited from a lot of guidance and advice from friends in the trade as well as completing a number of exams set by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. From 2007 onwards, Banking got a bit more exciting and John no longer had the time to devote to the wine business so Lorna stepped in. In addition to her enthusiasm for wine, Lorna brings great customer service which is drawn from her previous experience of working in Swiss Private Banking in London as well as being a fourth generation wholesaler.
Pleasing website with wines categorised as House Wines , Easy To Enjoy, Sip & Savour , Relax & Relish etc. Online ordering with basic tasting notes for each wine.
UK Delivery = £?
Tastings offered
Linton Wines18 High Street, East Linton (shop) EH40 3AB t:01620 861 817
 Independent Wine Merchant Vinology has teamed up with top Cheesemonger Paxton & Whitfield to offer their annual Christmas Tasting in Stratford (Warwickshire) on Friday 4 December 2009 between 5pm and 9pm!
Our annual Christmas tasting! Once again this will be taking place at St. Gregory’s Hall at the end of the street on the junction of Windsor Street and Henley Street. We will be showcasing a range of over 30 wines with an enticing range of new whiskies, all of which will be able to purchase or order on the night at very competitive prices. We will be joined be many of our suppliers with indepth knowledge on all of the wines and whiskies on offer. This will run between 5pm and 9pm with no booking required, everyone is welcome, just turn up anytime between 5pm and 9pm to taste through as an little or as much as you like at your own pace. We hope you’ll be able to make it and we very much look forward to seeing you there.
Entry costs £5.00 refunded against all orders placed. No booking necessary.
Vinology’s wine list looks interesting with well-chosen and interesting wines from both New and Old World. Enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff and a really impressive selection of single malts in different strengths and vintages. Only downside is that there is no online ordering!
Vinology 49 Henley Street, Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6QW
T: 01789 264 586 E:info@vinology.co.uk
 To celebrate the upcoming Spring Bank Holiday the New Zealand House of Wine is offering an exclusive FREE bottle of Cloudy Bay Sparkling Vintage Pelorus 2002 with every ‘Pre-Mixed’ or ‘Mix Your Own Case’ 12-bottle selection purchased until 26th May 2008! (Offer applies to orders for UK delivery only.)
You can choose from PREMIXED CASES or MIX YOUR OWN 12 bottle selection.
Your free bottle of Cloudy Bay Sparkling Vintage Pelorus 2002 will automatically be included with any qualifying 12-bottle Mixed Case purchase, so no need to do anything except place your order at www.nzhouseofwine.com
The sparking wine from Cloudy Bay is described as “An ideal ripening season, long and cool, producing intensely vibrant flavours. The 2002 Pelorus Vintage has sumptuous aromas that invoke thoughts of a baker’s kitchen… warm brioche and almond flan with lashings of strawberries and cream. The palate is powerful yet elegant with buttery shortbread flavours, a delicate orange tang and the merest hint of white mushroom, leading seamlessly into a very fine finish.”
Mortimer House is (amongst other things) an independent Fine Wine Merchant & Broker in north Kent.
 Mortimer House is one of the UK’s up and coming wine merchants, and as such we are qualified to give information regarding vintages and wines, their quality and prevailing market conditions. This information is based upon our knowledge, acquired from over 20 years of investment trading, and our daily dealings in the global wine market. Using our knowledge of this market, we can provide valuations for wines and, in conjunction with past performance of wines, we can give you our informed opinion as to whether a wine may have the ability to accrue value.Mortimer House specialise in rare and prestigious First Growth Bordeaux fine wines such as Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Margaux, Latour, Haut Brion and Y’quem as well as wines from the Pomerol Appellation including Chateau Petrus, Le Pin and Chateau Ausone.
Fine Wine and investment is the focus here.
Mortimer House 40 Chatsworth Parade, Petts Wood, Kent BR5 1DE t:01689 780011
A stylish, independent fine wine merchant in central London run by Charles Taylor, MW is Montrachet Fine Wines.
 Montrachet is a bespoke wine merchant. We pride ourselves on the expert advice and excellent service that we are able to offer our discerning customers who are looking for guidance on buying wines, whether it be what to drink, how long to cellar, what to collect or how to invest.
Whilst we specialise in fine domaine bottled wines from Burgundy and the Rhône, Cru Classé Claret from Bordeaux and Vintage Port we also ship direct from France a range of delicious wines ready for drinking now; including Saint Veran, Chablis, Pouilly Fumé, Château Thieuley Rosé and the delicious award winning Champagne Tarlant.
Very stylish website, but light on content – no online ordering – you can download PDFs of their current list and offers. ” Fantastic tastings and en primeur offers” – and yes, they do sell Montrachets!
Montrachet Fine Wines 11 Catherine Place, Westminster, London SW1E 6DX t: 020 7821 1337
In the heart of Belfast’s docklands, Direct Wine Shipments is an independent, family-owned wine merchant.
 We pride ourselves on our comprehensive award-winning range of high quality wines (one of the best in the UK) and our no-nonsense, down to earth approach to customer service.
“We can think of few other companies which are passionate about both wine itself and about making sure their customers share their enthusiasm. Wine snobbery in this particular area of Belfast is refreshingly absent”
The range of wines and services offered is impressive. Online ordering is available and there is a shop/warehouse. Good website with easy navigation. Good tasting notes for each wine.
UK Delivery = £25 (N Ireland £free)
Tastings offered
Direct Wine Shipments, 5-7 Corporation Square, Belfast BT1 3AJ t: 028 9050 8000
It could be worth finding Wine Discoveries, an independent wine merchant in East Sussex, with a branch in Kent and a tagline of Great wines from small producers”.
 Started in 2003 by Jonny Gibson. Fed up with disappointing wines on the high street and finding the top chateaux wines over priced, Jonny headed off to France in his car and started bring home wine for friends and family. Word spread about his ability to sniff out new finds and Wine Discoveries was born in the spare room at home in East Sussex with wine stored in an old barn.We ran some great tastings with early customers and their friends and the number of winemakers grew from 12 to over 40. Jancis Robinson MW, Joanna Simon and Jonathan Ray gave our wines some very positive reviews. The website was launched in 2004 and people started to buy our wines from as far afield as the Isle of Skye and Cornwall.
Visually pleasing website with online ordering and good navigation. Tasting notes for each wine and background notes on each region and some brief winemaker profiles.
UK Delivery = £6.99
Tastings offered
Wine Discoveries , Hillside House, Lewes Road, Forest Row, East Sussex RH18 5ES
also at 5 The Grange, High Street, Westerham, Kent TN16 1AH
Recently awarded “Retailer of the Year” (2011) by Whisky Magazine, independent specialist Arkwrights is in Swindon.
 Whisky is our passion and for some years it’s been our business as well. Available from both our whisky shop in Wiltshire and our online shop is a superb range of single malt whiskies, wines, spirits and beers from around the world. At the last count we had over 800 different whiskies in stock so we are usually able to despatch your order the next working day at the latest.
Although their range of wines is a bit limited, it is Whisky in all its manifestations that is their strength – the range and choice is impressive!
Good, interesting website with online ordering and easy navigation. shop open 7/7!
UK Delivery = £6.95
Tastings offered
Arkwrights Whisky & Wine, The Dormers, Highworth, Wiltshire, SN6 7PE t: 01793 765071
Independent wine merchants Harper Wells in Norwich offer “superior wines brought to life!”
 HarperWells Ltd is headed by Dean Harper and Ed Wells, who are respected specialists in the private client sector of the wine trade.
Our aim remains to target interesting, unusual and rare parcels of fine wine from around the world, from £5 – £500 per bottle. By taking the time to source, sample, research and explain small parcels of fine and rare wines our clients can relax, understand and enjoy them to the full.
We provide our clients with every product and service to maximise the enjoyment of wine. This may be to assist in the creation of a first wine collection, to enhance the existing cellar of seasoned collectors, to provide wines for functions or just simply the provision of wines for daily pleasure.
New website – 500+ wines – Good uncluttered website with online ordering (in 6- or 12-bottle cases), with extensive tasting notes and easy navigation.
UK Delivery = £7.50
tastings offered
Harper Wells Ltd, The Old Granary, Grange Farm, Ashwellthorpe, Norwich NR16 1ET (office only) t: 0844 335 8324
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