Tell us how and why you wanted to set up Wee Vinoteca?
After working in wine for over a decade, I became convinced that most confusion around wine could be solved by better curation. I had always wanted to run my own business, and when we found Hitchin - this fun, independent business-loving town that didn't have a wine offering - it felt like a sign.
What do you see as your point of difference?
Duncan Gummie has used his experience as a sommelier to create a wine bar and wine club business where he looks to offer a curated personalised service for all his customers at Wee Vinoteca
Our pursuit of less but better. Whether that's having a wine range focused on quality over quantity, or limiting sign-ups to our award-winning wine club to ensure every customer gets the best experience possible.
You won IWC Wine Club of the Year in 2025 - can you explain what your wine club offer is?
It's a truly personalised wine journey. I customise each person's case to ensure they receive more of the wines they love, and never a wine they don't. Along with their personalised case, members get detailed tasting cards with tear-off bottle tags, a printed magazine, and over £150 worth of other perks.
How did you want to differentiate it from other wine clubs?
My focus isn't to be the biggest, but the best wine club. I do this through what I call "true personalisation”. I'm going through each member's case to ensure it's curated to their individual tastes, not simply giving them a choice of "All reds, All whites, or a mix."
I view the wine club as giving me the opportunity to offer sommelier-level service in your home, where I'm actively going out to find wines for you.
Have you taken inspiration from other subscription models?
Wee Vinoteca looks to bring authentic and interesting wines that personally match the taste preferences of its customers
Honestly, less from other subscription models and more from my years working as a sommelier. That's the experience I wanted to recreate. Where you sit down with a sommelier who knows your preferences, understands what you're in the mood for, and goes away to find something perfect for you.
Most wine subscriptions are algorithmic or give you generic choices. I wanted to bring that personal, sommelier-level service into people's homes. That's the experience I'm trying to bottle up and send out with each case.
What strategy do you have for sourcing your wines?
With the exception of UK wineries, we work exclusively with specialist importers. We have experimented with importing in the past. Firstly, we believe there are already extremely high quality products being shipped into the UK, and our job as a business is not necessarily to add to that, but to help filter the range of wines available to find those best suited to our customers.
We also found that any financial benefits of importing wine can also be achieved through sensible buying. By working with established importers, we can focus on being fantastic at our main areas of focus: retailing and hospitality.
How do you decide which producers to work with and what criteria do they need to meet?
Many of the producers we work with come from relationships established on buying trips and in-person tastings with the winemaker. For each "batch" of the wine club, we have a handful of wines we want to introduce to as many people as possible.
Because of our "less but better" approach, we have very high thresholds for what makes the cut. If it's not a resounding yes, it's a no.
Tell us about your pricing and margin strategy?
Winning the IWC Wine Club of the Year saw Wee Vinoteca's members double in four months
I believe in flexibility when it comes to margins. As I actively want to encourage my customers to be adventurous and explore 'weird and wonderful' wines I tend to have lower margins on more unusual wines.
So a classic Argentine Malbec may have a 36% margin, whereas a Greek Agiorgitiko may have a margin of 32%.
I also operate on a similar basis with regard to fine wines. I want to encourage customers to enjoy premium wines by offering a lower margin, so a wine retailing at £100 may have a margin of 23%. I apply this approach to drinks in our bar, where I charge a flat corkage fee.
This makes my fine wines very attractive, an Amarone that may be £80 - £90 in a restaurant would be £40-50 to drink in my bar.
How do you go about recruiting new members - what is your marketing strategy?
We take a multi-pronged approach. We run ads and we've been leveraging the IWC award win heavily in PR outreach. I publish The Casual Sommelier newsletter on Substack, which has become a real lead generator - it recently hit Substack's Top 100 Rising in Food & Drink.
We've also got strong email campaigns for our existing community and a strong social presence.
We release spaces to the club in weekly drops that consistently sell out. I do this because we're controlling growth to maintain quality. And over 90% of our customers are happy to recommend us to friends and family, so referrals drive a significant portion of new members.
The award win has been validation that's opened doors we couldn't have accessed before - in fact we doubled our members within four months of winning the award.
Which wine countries and regions did you find worked very well last year?
Duncan Gummie works with specialist importers to ensure he has a constantly changing mix of wines to offer his Wee Vinoteca customers
Last March I went to Enorama ( Greece's wine fair) and the case after that was heavily influenced by that trip, it was very well received by people because they are the sort of wines people wouldn't typically buy, but when they are curated for them, they loved them.
One of our importers is a Portuguese specialist and its wines are always well received because they deliver such great value.
Which countries and wine styles do you expect to see emerge this year?
I'm seeing a growing demand for fresher style reds. This isn't necessarily a search for lower ABV, as much as it is for red wines that can be enjoyed with or without food.
I've also seen a growing interest in sparkling wines, not Prosecco or Champagne (or even Crémant) but more adventurous options like Methode Cap Classique, Corpinnat, Franciacorta. One of the best selling wines at our annual Christmas Wine Fair was a sparkling red wine.
Do you seek out lower ABV wines with the new duty regime?
Not actively. My focus will always be on finding great value wines that deliver something exceptional. If those wines happen to have lower ABV that is great. Our customers aren't looking for the cheapest options, they are wanting a wine worth the money.
Tell us about how the retail side of the business works and what your offer is there vs the Club?
The shop has a carefully curated seasonal selection that anyone can walk in and buy - it’s that "less but better" philosophy in action.
But the wine club is different: we're ordering wines specifically for each member based on their preferences. It's much more personalised. Club members also get special discounts and first access to events like our supper clubs and tastings.
Think of it as the insider circle of the shop - you’re not just buying wine, you're part of a community with benefits that reflect how much we value that relationship.
What is your background in wine?
Each wine in a Wee Vinoteca box has its own tasting card with details about the wine and includes a bottle tag you can tear off and put on the wine in your wine rack
I started by working in a wine bar whilst living in Australia. When I returned to the UK I got a job as a sommelier in a Michelin starred restaurant. Since then I've worked in training, wholesale and events before setting up the Wee Vinoteca.
Why did you want to run your own business?
It's always been something I've wanted to do. I come from a family of business owners. Like many in the hospitality and retail industry, I've had my fair share of horrible bosses in the past.
Starting my own business presented an opportunity to not only reap the rewards from my hard work, but to break the cycle and create a business that treated its staff well.
What have been the biggest challenges setting up and running the business?
Whilst I taught and qualified in wine, I'm totally self taught in business. It's been an odyssey of self improvement and self doubt. Whilst I do enjoy the opportunity to learn and improve, I also look back to past versions of the business and can't believe what I was (or wasn't doing) and what I thought was important.
What have been your biggest achievements and you most proud of?
It has to be the IWC Wine Club of the year award, I mean we beat Laithwaites! A small indie wine club beat one of the biggest wine clubs in the UK.
I had been a finalist in that award for the last two years and to finally win such a prestigious award showed that what I'm doing is on the right track and what we offer is something special.
