UK specialist drinks importer, distributor and retailer Amathus has said that fine wine sales have the potential for “exponential growth”, as it remains optimistic about the state of the high street. Speaking to the drinks business at its annual tasting last week, head of wine Jeremy Lithgow MW said that the business was in “a very heathy position”, with profits up on last year, and its retail, fine wine and private client business, which makes up around 20-25% of the business (the remainder comprising its wholesale business) showing growth. Lithgow noted that fine wine sales had been growing “rapidly” both in store and online, adding that the team had initially “underestimated the demand” and were finding new customers, provided they were “the right wines at the right prices”. The focus, he said, had been on ready-to-consume vintages in store, so 2014 is the youngest vintage available in sore, with many older than that. The retail business includes the company’s private client business, which launched in April with the “great vintage but challengingly priced” 2022 en primeur Bordeaux campaign. Although still “nascent”, this was likely to see sales in line with its one of its bricks and mortar stores by the end of next year, Lithgow said, whereafter the private client sales team was likely to expand and “we hope [to see] exponential growth after that.” “We’re not far of where we were pre-pandemic,” he said, “The trade business is good – we’ve had a slight repositioning so it’s not
This Article was originally published on The Drink Business - Fine Wine
