In 2020, we created the Corky Winers.
Our mission is to support small producers, whether in the south of France or in rural Essex.
We import the majority of our wines ourselves, working closely with a number of hand picked vineyards, to bring our customers something special that you will not find in the supermarket. In fact, many of our wines aren’t available anywhere else in the UK.
We had always dreamed of starting a business where we could showcase our passion for small producer wines and artisan produce.
Our inspiration for the Corky Winers came in May 2019 whilst we were on a wine road trip through Champagne and the Alsace. We had spent months planning a route (over a bottle of wine or three) winding through rural France, from Calais down to Mittelburgheim, eventually rounding off our journey by staying at a working vineyard with the Wittman family.
As we travelled through France, we came across picturesque towns and villages that had been built around ancient vineyards that filled the landscape. Each town and village was filled with wine producers, with many producers selling their wines from their family homes. We visited as many producers as we could, knocking on doors and sampling different wines from different villages.
This, for us, was the best part of our trip – we had discovered wines that were little known in the UK but of exceptional quality and, best of all, we were supporting the local winegrowers who were so passionate about their wines. We arrived home with close to 200 bottles of wine we had picked up along the way.
We started to discuss how so many people in the UK were missing out on the gems we had just stumbled across and the seed for the Corky Winers was planted.
We returned to the reality of our day jobs but the Corky Winers remained in our minds and was discussed every time we opened another bottle we had collected during our road trip.
Then, like many, in March 2020 when Covid-19 peaked our lives changed. Amy, co-founder of Corky Winers, had just launched her own legal consultancy business the week lockdown began and I, working in aviation, was immediately placed on furlough. At that point, Amy said: “let’s just do it, let’s start the wine business there is no better or worse time…” That afternoon we started considering potential names and checking if they were taken. After four or five the Corky Winers was mentioned and immediately we knew that was the one. It reflects our lively, bubbly and different approach to being winers.
We spent a long time planning exactly what we would stand for. We decided the best way to do business was to put quality above all else and to give people all the things that we love: exceptional quality wines from small producers, artisan cheese and charcuterie and limited release craft beers- all with the convenience of free local same day delivery.
Since then its been full steam ahead…
Our perfect night is one with artisan cheese and charcuterie, limited release craft beers and of course a special bottle of wine. We have now made it our mission to bring these quality household essentials to essex with same day delivery.
We only sell beers and wines that we love whilst supporting small producers, whether in the South of France or in rural Essex. We will never offer the same generic selection that other shops and supermarkets fill their shelves with, instead we are proud to import many of our wines directly from small producers in France.
Our craft beers are ordered in small quantities from some of the most sought after breweries in the UK. This allows us to provide the highest quality, freshest, juiciest IPAs, DIPAs, ales and lagers to your door.
Live locally? If you have planned a nice meal, fancy a treat, have run out of wine for the weekend or are having a last-minute dinner with friends you can order online and we will deliver to your door that same-day or evening (subject to our delivery terms).
We don’t stock hundreds of wines, that’s not our thing! We hand select every wine that we sell. We pay careful attention to the age, the growing conditions for the year in a particular region and what the experts say. There is something for everyone and every occasion in our carefully selected wines;
We don’t sell wines we do not or would not drink ourselves – that’s the Corky Winers way;
We do not try to be something we are not – we are a small, local business with a passion for wine and beer. We do not want to compete with supermarkets or those businesses bulk selling low cost wines by the case.
We put a lot of thought into our selections, we try to make it easier for you to find something you will like and which will compliment your food/occasion without needing to trawl through hundreds of wines;
We sell wines, most of which, you will struggle to find elsewhere in the UK;
We regularly change/add to our selections so that you can try new things.
Amy and I are a couple whose love for wine and road trips around France has inspired the creation of the Corky Winers. We work together running our small family business. As a couple we believe in supporting local businesses and small producers. After our travels around France we decided to make it our mission to bring the wines we had discovered back to Essex.
Admittedly we are not Masters of Wine (we would love to be one day), but we are undoubtedly masters of drinking wine!