The founder of UK importer Indigo Wines, Ben Henshaw, has launched The Sorting Table, a new online wine shop. He tells WLC how lockdown was the catalyst that spurred on this long-held ambition to branch out into the world of retail.

UK restaurant critic William Sitwell has launched what he claims is “the world’s smallest online wine shop”, which offers just eight different wines at a time.

Alcohol helped to push Lidl’s sales into double digit growth, the retailer has reported, with beer, wine and spirits up 13%, its highest growth recorded in the category.

Wine retailer Majestic has said that its sales in the final quarter of last year were given a major fillip by the company’s largest ever day of trading on 23 December.

Domaine Paul Mas has launched a new sku into beleaguered UK wine retailer Oddbins, demonstrating the support that producers have for the specialist retailer that is currently operating under administrators.

The UK’s oldest wine merchant, Berry Bros & Rudd, hit its highest sales since 2010 last year, posting a net profit of over £1.76m for the year, a strong recovery from last year’s loss.

UK discounter Aldi is launching an online wine course for shoppers comprising a free-to-download online course and tutorial, which it says will make will make the wine aisle “less baffling” for consumers.

The UK grocery market has returned to growth, with sales up 0.5% in the last 12 weeks to £26.6 billion, but flat volume sales show consumers aren’t stockpiling for Brexit, according to retail analyst Kantar.

Majestic Wine has rolled out its ‘Spotify-style’ wine fitting service across its entire store estate, and is publicising it by giving away over a million bottles of wine to customers who take the test.

UK wine consumers are trading up to higher priced wines, exclusive data from Nielsen has shown. db analyses the trend.

Majestic’s Ealing store, which is being sold to property developer A2Dominion, is set to be redeveloped as a 25 storey residential block of flats, if planning permission is granted.

Wine apps and smart speaker technology will drive the future of online wine sales, according to international drinks market analysts the IWSR, speaking to db in an exclusive interview.