About Wine Club and our partners

The Spectator Wine Club is a club without sub. In fact it isn’t really a club at all, since no membership is required; no proposing, no seconding and no minimum order.

Our nine merchant partners – Armit Wines, Corney & Barrow, FromVineyardsDirect, Honest Grapes, Mr Wheeler, Private Cellar, Swig, Tanners and Yapp Bros – represent the cream of the UK’s independents and boast centuries of experience between them. They all have particular areas of expertise and stock wines that you would never be able to find on the supermarket shelves or local off-licence.

It works like this: I taste a range of 20 or so wines from each merchant, whittle them down to six and then we offer them to our readers every fortnight. Each merchant does three or four offers a year and are usually extremely generous in discounting their prices.

We also hold regular Spectator Winemaker Lunches in our boardroom at 22 Old Queen Street where celebrated producers come along and chat about their wines over a four-course cold lunch supplied by Forman & Field. We never have more than 16 people around the table and we never drink less than a bottle a head. They are famously convivial occasions and previous producers at our lunches have included the likes of Pol Roger Champagne, Penfolds, M. Chapoutier, Domaine Chanson, Domaine Zind-Humbrecht, Chapel Down, Domaine Drouhin, Vega Sicilia, Cakebread Cellars, Hamilton-Russell and Seresin Estate to name a few.

We like to think that there is no better place to buy, taste or chat about wine than the Spectator Wine Club. Why not join us and see for yourself?

About our Wine Partners

The wine merchants we currently work with – Armit, Corney & Barrow, FromVineyardsDirect, Honest Grapes, Mr Wheeler, Private Cellar, Swig, Tanners and Yapp Bros – and our occasional guest merchants represent the cream of the UK’s independents and boast centuries of experience between them. They all have particular areas of expertise and stock wines that you would never be able to find on the supermarket shelves or local off-licence.

Armit Wines is well known for its agencies which include such stellar names as Tenuta San Guido (Sassicaia), Ch. Lafleur and La Rioja Alta. The team remains constantly on the look-out, too, and brought such rising starts as Ch. Maris, Terroir Sense Fronteres and Michel Mallard to the UK market. With a fine wine arm and a strong on- and off-trade presence, Armit has all bases covered.

Corney & Barrow, founded in 1780, is one of the UK’s bluest of blue chip wine merchants with an agency list to die for, including Champagne Salon, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Château Pétrus. They work hard at the other end of their list too, though, and Corney’s range of house wines is one of remarkable quality and spectacular value.

FromVineyardsDirect, founded by David Campbell of the Everyman Library and Esme Johnstone, founder of Majestic, is internet-based and, as such, manages to keep costs low. Famous for its canny purchases, such as its declassified or ‘defrocked’ clarets, FromVineyardsDirect always has something tasty for us up its sleeve.

Honest Grapes is the brainchild of Tom Harrow and Nathan Hill and not only does HG have scrumptious, fascinating wines on its list, made by small, artisanal producers whose production is far too modest for the supermarkets to bother with, they also especially strong on Italian wines, cru classé claret, top-class burgundy and vintage champagne.

Mr Wheeler in Colchester is an off-shoot of Lay & Wheeler and remains in the hands of fifth and sixth generation wine merchant Wheelers. With an emphasis on top quality wine for everyday drinking and close relationships with estates such as Ch. Musar in the Lebanon and Clayvin in New Zealand, Mr Wheeler’s offers are always hugely popular.

Private Cellar, near Cambridge, was founded in 2005 by a small group of friends who had cut their teeth in some of the most celebrated wine firms. Marketing director, Laura Taylor, is the host of the fabled Spectator Wine School and helps organise our annual Clays, Claret and Cognac Cruise down the Thames. PC’s carefully chosen list is one of enviable quality and the service is reassuringly attentive and personal.

Swig, founded by Robin Davis in north London’s Belsize Park twenty five years ago, has grown to become one of the country’s finest independents, a fact recognised when it was named Decanter’s 2021 Best Midsize Online Retailer. Swig champions some wonderfully individual winemakers and there is never a dull bottle among their selections.

Tanners, established in Shrewsbury in 1842 now boasts half a dozen branches across the Welsh Marches and remains resolutely family-owned, with fourth generation James Tanner at the helm. Famously strong on the traditional regions, Tanners also pioneered New World wines and is never shy of venturing further afield to, say, Canada, India and even Mexico.

Yapp Bros is famously strong on the Loire, Rhône, Languedoc-Roussillon and the quirkier corners of France thanks to the efforts of the veritable wine hounds that are Jason Yapp and stepbrother Tom Ashworth. There are wines on Yapps’ list that just cannot be found anywhere else. If Jason and Tom haven’t sourced and tasted it, then it simply doesn’t exist.