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…