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We’ve always believed that ‘organic’ is simply the way wine should be. We source the very best organic and biodynamic wines we can find, at prices you can afford.
Great wines always begin in the vineyard, from the roots up.
Our journey began back in 1986 thanks to one of the government’s more enlightened initiatives, ‘The Enterprise Allowance Scheme,’ which gave budding entrepreneurs the princely sum of £40 a week for a year (equivalent to the state benefit of the time) to launch a new business.
This was all the encouragement three (later two) twenty-something friends needed to strike out on their own, doing something they truly enjoyed and believed in. What began as a three-month fruit picking, reggae turntable road trip across France in a friend’s converted bus eventually became something much more ambitious.
The following year, Lance & Neil returned in a slightly shabby but well-loved Citroen, armed with a tent, some neatly folded maps and a worryingly succinct list of organic vineyard addresses. And yet, against all odds, they made it back to port with a boot full of organic wines and a niggling suspicion they might be onto something special.
It’s fair to say that the next few years didn’t go quite as planned. Working out of a front room of a terraced house in East Reading, with no experience and a painfully empty order book, success didn’t come quickly for the two wine enthusiasts.
For about eight years, the two flew by the seat of their pants, taking a few wrong turns and detours (but never shortcuts) along the way. There were plenty of near misses and hard lessons, but Neil & Lance stayed inspired by the passionate growers and organic trailblazers they met along the way.
“Our values, our energy and our passion for authentic wine and ethical business remains as strong as ever.” Neil Palmer & Lance Pigott – Directors
Almost forty years later our team might be a little larger, our drinks portfolio more extensive (500+ wines PLUS dozens of beers, ciders, spirits, liqueurs and more) – and yet our passion for the best organic wines and our dedication to organic still holds strong.
We remain true to our proud Berkshire roots but are now based on a farm in Hampshire where there’s a little more space for shuffling around and a little more greenery (and cows) to appreciate when we peek out of the windows.
It’s also fair to say a few of the industry’s ‘wise owls’ have taken notice. Their recognition has led to a few awards for the shelf – including a Best Organic Initiative Green Award and Green Retailer of the Year from the Drinks Business and being awarded Best Independent Wine Merchant by Decanter.
To have an all-encompassing range is one thing, but to have an all-encompassing range of ‘quality’ goods is quite another. No wine in our collection has a free life pass, which is why every item is tasted and reviewed over the course of the year. Each and every wine is tasted blind so we’re not influenced by price, reputation or past glories. Flavours, quality, great value and the appropriate organic certification are ultimately the only barometers that guide our thinking. As a useful point of reference, each and every Vintage Roots product is certified as organic in line with standards laid out by the UK’s Organic Food Federation. This is our bare minimum these days and of course we have many biodynamic, natural and no sulphur added and regenerative organic wines also.
The wider environment, how we conduct ourselves and who we trade with are every bit as important as what’s in the bottle – take a peek at how we care for the environment here.
The original founders and directors of the business are Neil Palmer and Lance Pigott. They both work in the business still, on a day to day basis.
“35 years on, and I still get a huge buzz out of running Vintage Roots, there’s never a dull moment and I’m hugely proud of what we’ve achieved and where we are heading. I also don’t have to preach the benefits of ‘organic’ any more as I did with evangelical zeal in the old days (I guess I must have bored the pants off folk at parties!). People know what organic wine is all about nowadays; I’ve now got the confidence just to say ‘taste that’…” My 1st big break: “Dad showing me how to use the corkscrew!”
“My 1st big break: “Either selling our first van load of 60 cases in the first 2 months of business – way beyond what we expected – or possibly selling about 2,000 cases of a red called Albaric (VPD du Gard) into Peter Dominics as it then was, in the late 80s…. it was a BIG deal way back then!”
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