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Home :: News & Events
| Sep 16, 2006 |
International Wine Challenge 2006
Winner - Small Independent Merchant of the Year, 2006
‘The innovation and dynamism behind this young wine business is exemplary. The number of specialist areas is on the up - France, New Zealand, South Africa and more recently South America - supported by excellent promotional materials and friendly, efficient service.‘
Winner - South East England Regional Wine Merchant of the Year, 2006
‘This young, dynamic wine company triumphed in a regional group which is easily as strong as London. Shipping direct from well over 100 producers, mail order continues to be the main thrust of its business but it also has a thriving retail outlet near Winchester. The judges praised a “fantastic, consumer-friendly list” which continues to evolve offering good value and an original approach.’
Winner - Promotional Material of the Year, 2006
‘Stone, Vine & Sun’s Wine List is the starting point for its range but the really impressive work comes with the individual brochures for its specialist areas. Written and produced in-house after the team’s extensive visits to each region or country, they are colourful, educational and informative providing everything you need to know about the wines, the people behind them and their region of origin. ‘
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| Sep 6, 2006 |
Runner-up: Best Independent Merchant – Decanter World Wine Awards 2006
'[Stone Vine & Sun] is a new kid on the block, specialising in some less fashionable regions, and recognised for its individual, imaginative approach and abundant research.'
- Lot of primary research
- Well-chosen selection
- Individual, imaginative wines
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| Jun 21, 2006 |
Wine International Awards 2005
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Specialist Wine Merchant of 2005
France - Rhône
From the outset, Simon Taylor and Andrew Shaw, the founders of this 3-year old accompany, resolved to offer wines from the Rhône and southern France that were not available elsewhere. And that is precisely what they do, with the help of their award-winning lists and leaflets, again seeing them runner up for the UK’s best wine merchant. All runners-up in this category have tremendous ranges, but it was SVS’s combination of family-run estates and classic and lesser known appellations and styles that secured the prize.
Runners up – Overall Wine Merchant of 2005
Regional Wine Merchant (South-East England) of 2004
Stone, vine & Sun present a great list, mainly French, but expanded to South Africa, plus superb offers and keen prices.
Financial Times – January 2005 (Jancis Robinson)
Arguably the paradigm new independent is Stone, Vine & Sun which has already wona string of awards, but was set up as recently as November 2002. Simon Taylor and his team put most of their effort into visits to wine regions to buy particular wines athat are currently tasting well
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| Jun 21, 2006 |
“Worth a Detour”
Decanter Magazine, June 2005
Amy Wislocki visits terroir specialist Stone, Vine & Sun.
In a nutshell?
This small company has enjoyed remarkable success since starting out in autumn 2002. This is down entirely to the passion of its founders for wines that express their terroir – as the name Stone, Vine & Sun implies. It’s a great list, which – though it skins over some areas – focuses on wines in the £6-£20 price bracket, majoring in Rhône, Languedoc-Roussillon, Burgundy & South Africa
Buying
Though most of the business is by mail order, there is a shop at the Winchester headquarters. The company has a strong local following, and Shaw says many mail order customer stop by if passing. Because wine is stored on site, orders placed by 4pm over the phone or website can be delivery the next day (at a charge of £3.50 per case).
The range
The focus rather is from the Rhône and Languedoc Roussillon and is both excellent and imaginative. ‘We started with a Rhône offer and so have been categorised as a Rhône specialist’ says Taylor. In the New World, South Africa is the company’s main area of interest. ’It took five minutes to work out that this was where we should focus our efforts – it’s got experimentation, variety and gets better every year.’ As well as the famous names, Vergelegen, Rustenburg and Springfield, the list includes smaller finds such as Goedverwacht in Robertson.
Other New World areas are covered fairly perfunctorily, but include a few gems. Mobility is important to Taylor and Shaw. ‘We’re not afraid to jump around. We do build relationships with producers, but if it’s a duff vintage, we won’t take it. But if there’s a great vintage somewhere, we’re on the plane.’
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| Jun 21, 2006 |
Small is Beautiful – The Good Guys
July 2005 - Joanna Simon
The Sunday Times Style Magazine
“There is a new breed of savvy, independent wine merchant specialising in the sort of hand-crafted individual wines that the big boy shave no time for”
Some of the new merchants have impeccable wine-trade backgrounds, others have come from outside. Simon Taylor was the deputy managing directory for Sotheby’s Europe before he jumped
ship in 2002 to set up Stone, Vine & Sun with Andrew Shaw (solid wine-trade credentials)
Shop & Mail order: comprehensive, but strong in wines from Burgundy, Rhône, southern France and South Africa.
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| Jun 21, 2006 |
So what's the best wine club to join?
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9th October
The Observer
We asked our wine critic, Tim Atkin, whether buying wine by mail order is worth staying in for
Tired of buying the wine at your local offie or supermarket? Or just plain idle? If so, some very good wines are only a phone call or mouse click away. A growing band of mail-order specialists will deliver by the case and bring tasting notes to your door, too. Where wine is concerned, the home delivery sector is comparatively small. My estimate is that it represents about five percent of the UK wine market, which is tiny when you compare it with the power of a Tesco or a Sainsbury's. Even Direct Wines, which owns Avery's, Virgin Wines, Laithwaites and the Australian Wine Club (among others) only has around 2.5 percent of the UK wine sales.
That said, more people are choosing to buy their wines by mail order. There are a lot of suppliers competing for your pounds, some of whom offer head-turning introducing offers. But how do you sort the free-run juice from the lees? Prompted by a letter from an Observer reader, Brian Hagan, I called in 10 cases from some of the country's leading mail-order specialists. Brian and I tasted the wines blind with Jonathan Butt, Threshers' head buyer.
Stone, Vine & Sun
Case:Discovery Case
Price: £87.50
Delivery Charge: £3.50 per case
Case contents: 7 whites, 5 reds. 12 different wines
Comments: Our favourite case. French focused, but every wine was a pleasure to drink. Its definitely worth the £87.50. We loved the Petit Chablis and the Coteaux du Layon.
Rating: 8.5/10
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