Overview of the Organization

The Wine Society is a cooperative owned by its shareholders (its “members”). It was founded in 1874 to serve its members rather than to be run for profit. This ethos still holds true today. An elected body of members oversees the Wine Society and represents the interests of over 85,000 active members.

The objective of the Wine Society is to offer its members wines and spirits of good quality from a wide range of sources at the best prices possible, which it has consistently managed to achieve, with a list of more than 800 different wines available either by the bottle, in unmixed dozens, or in mixed cases of the members' own selection. Pre-selected mixed cases are also available and come with comprehensive tasting notes. The Wine Society organizes delivery of member purchases to any address in the United Kingdom.

The Wine Society has extensive storage facilities with temperature-controlled warehouses in Stevenage. The longer-lived wines are allowed to mature gently and reach their optimum potential. It is also possible for members to take advantage of the Society's storage facilities by storing wines bought from the Society in the designated Members' Reserve section of the cellars. Updated drinking dates are provided to the members taking advantage of this facility annually to apprise them of the state of maturity of their stock.

The wines are selected by a team of experienced and highly knowledgeable buyers led by a Master of Wine.