The Society of Vintners welcomes new members

Published: 02 January, 2013

The Society of Vintners has swelled its ranks with the addition of three new members.

Forth Wines, ABV Wholesale and VWT (Guernsey) are the latest names to join the 28-strong wine buying group. The newcomers mean the consortium now covers all four corners of the UK.

Chief executive John Mansfield said: "The Society of Vintners continues to go from strength to strength and now has members from Scotland, to the West Country, to the Channel Islands.

"The addition of these new members helps to the comprehensive and diverse range of wines we can offer to new and existing customers alike."

The group, which has been running since the 1970s, is made up of family-owned independent wine sellers. Committees within the group are dedicated to various wine producing areas and meet for tasting and reviews of purchasing four times a year.

Lawrence Page, chairman of the Society of Vintners, added: "We have found that the French wine market is relatively static, or even falling and have moved towards growth areas such as Australia and New Zealand, which have shown a staggering 50% year on year growth; also new areas such as Chile and Argentina.

"We are very fortunate in the UK as the public are willing to try new wines much more than perhaps consumers in other countries where they show allegiance to their own wine producers. The Society of Vintners is able to offer products from all over the world, where there is a demand."

The Society of Vintners sold more than 128,000 12-bottle cases of wine to the year ending September 2012. Its future strategy includes plans to develop more exclusive overseas brands and place more emphasis on overseas visits, according to Mansfield.

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