The winners of the Decanter Retailer Awards 2021 have been announced, and we’re proud to have been awarded the title of Runner-up for the Best Small Online Retailer of the Year category.
We’re pleased as punch to come second, especially as it’s only our second year of trading. It also means a lot to us as a female-owned and female-led business, as the worlds of wine and tech are both traditionally male-dominated.
Being selected as one of the best small online retailers is high praise indeed. When the COVID-19 pandemic began 19 months ago, we had to move all of our business online. Since then we’ve made it our mission to create a fantastic experience for our customers – while bringing you the best Italian wine, of course.
The Decanter Retailer Awards are very rigorous, and are judged across three stages by a panel of experts in the wine world. Each entry is carefully assessed. We were glad to hear from Peter Richards MW that we stood out “for (our) direct sourcing and clear customer focus.”
From extensive tasting notes for each wine, to in-depth guides cross-referenced with Italian consorzios, we aim to give our customers all the information they need to make the best purchase decision. There’s no in-store chatter, but there are guides to regions, grapes and winemakers so you can find all the information you need before clicking “add to basket”.
Once you’ve chosen your wine, we try to make it as easy as possible to get it from your online shopping cart and into your glass. We do this by offering free next day delivery to addresses across the Mainland UK, and we don’t have any minimum order requirement. If there’s just one bottle that catches your eye, you can order it without committing to a whole case.
Little touches, like free gift-wrapping and postcards with customers’ messages, mean that it’s also quick and easy to send last-minute wine gifts to friends, family and colleagues. With more than 50 Decanter World Wine Award-winning vintages to choose from, there’s always something interesting on offer.
With some exciting changes in the pipeline – and some excellent new vintages to share with you soon – we plan to continue living up to our status of Small Online Retailer of the Year Runner-Up.