Our Roots
We’ve always believed that ‘organic’ is simply the way wine should be. We source the very best organic and biodynamic wines we can find, at prices you can afford.
Great wines always begin in the vineyard, from the roots up.
Our journey began back in 1986 thanks to one of the government’s more enlightened initiatives – the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. It offered budding entrepreneurs the princely sum of £40 a week for a year (equivalent to the state benefit at the time) to start their own business.
This was all the encouragement three (later two) twenty-something friends needed to strike out on their own, doing something they truly enjoyed and believed in. What started as a three-month fruit picking, reggae turntable road trip across France in a friend’s converted bus soon turned into something much more ambitious. The following year, Lance & Neil set off in a slightly shabby but well-loved Citroen, armed with a tent, some neatly folded maps and a worryingly short list of organic vineyard addresses.
And yet, against all odds, they made it back to port with a boot full of organic wines and a growing suspicion they might be onto something special.
It’s fair to say that the next few years didn’t go quite as planned. Working out of a front room of a terraced house in East Reading, with no experience and a painfully empty order book, success didn’t come quickly.
For about eight years the two wine enthusiasts flew by the seat of their pants, taking a few wrong turns and detours (but never shortcuts) along the way. There were plenty of near misses and hard lessons, but Neil & Lance stayed inspired by the passionate growers and organic trailblazers they met along the way.
"Our values, our energy and our passion for authentic wine and ethical business remain as strong as ever." ~Neil Palmer & Lance Pigott, Directors
These days our team might be a little larger, our drinks portfolio more extensive (500+ wines PLUS dozens of beers, ciders, spirits, liqueurs and more) – and yet our passion for the best organic wines and our dedication to organic still holds strong.
We remain true to our proud Berkshire roots but are now based on a farm in Hampshire where there’s a little more space for shuffling around and a little more greenery (and cows) to appreciate when we peek out of the windows.
It’s also fair to say a few of the industry’s ‘wise owls’ have taken notice. Their recognition has led to a few awards for the shelf – including a Best Organic Initiative Green Award and Green Retailer of the Year from the Drinks Business and being awarded Best Independent Wine Merchant by Decanter.
To have an all-encompassing range is one thing, but to have an all-encompassing range of ‘quality’ goods is quite another. No wine in our collection has a free life pass, which is why every item is tasted and reviewed over the course of the year. Each and every wine is tasted blind so we’re not influenced by price, reputation or past glories. Flavours, quality, great value and the appropriate organic certification are ultimately the only barometers that guide our thinking. As a useful point of reference, each and every Vintage Roots product is certified as organic in line with standards laid out by the UK’s Organic Food Federation. This is our bare minimum these days and of course we have many biodynamic, natural and no sulphur added and regenerative organic wines also.
The wider environment, how we conduct ourselves and who we trade with are every bit as important as what’s in the bottle – take a peek at how we care for the environment here.
Vintage Roots Today
The original founders and directors of the business are Neil Palmer and Lance Pigott. They both work in the business still, on a day to day basis.
The business is a lot bigger than it was of course, and now includes a team of fifteen and more. Many of us still have to multitask and apart from all the buying, marketing, finance, office and customer service roles, we have warehouse (we pick and pack all our own orders), drivers and a hard working sales team too.
Neil on Vintage Roots…
“39 years on, and I still get a huge buzz out of running Vintage Roots, there’s never a dull moment and I’m hugely proud of what we’ve achieved and where we are heading. I also don’t have to preach the benefits of ‘organic’ any more as I did with evangelical zeal in the old days (I guess I must have bored the pants off folk at parties!). People know what organic wine is all about nowadays; I’ve now got the confidence just to say ‘taste that’…” My 1st big break: “Dad showing me how to use the corkscrew!”
Lance on Vintage Roots…
“My 1st big break: “Either selling our first van load of 60 cases in the first two months of business – way beyond what we expected – or possibly selling about 2,000 cases of a red called Albaric (VPD du Gard) into Peter Dominics as it then was, in the late 80s…. it was a BIG deal way back then!”
Bottled opinions … see what people say
“Vintage Roots has always been one of my favourite wine merchants, combining a passion for organic and biodynamic practices with a love of good wine. Lance and Neil were ahead of their time in championing an area of the wine business that once seemed marginal but has since entered the mainstream. We need more people like them to remind us what wine is really about: integrity, dedication, talent and a sense of place.” ~Tim Atkin MW
“Vintage Roots were ahead of the game in their insistence on organic viticulture all those years ago.” ~Jancis Robinson MW
“I first heard of Vintage Roots in 1991 when I was helping select wine for an upmarket London wine shop. The idea was to have as many organic and biodynamic wines in our shop as possible and they were the natural choice. The staff were knowledgeable, helpful and passionate about what they were doing – and that hasn’t changed.” ~Monty Waldin
“Vintage Roots were the first wine merchant in the UK to tell us that wine was made in the vineyard, not the cellar, and the more natural the vineyard the better. Twenty-five years on, their message is more valid than ever.” ~Steven Spurrier
“With hard work, skill and a good dose of humour, they have created a wonderful business. And even today – with less time on their hands than before, they have kept their warmth and modest unpretentiousness.” ~André Stentz, organic winemaker & grower in Alsace
“25 years on, and Lance and Neil are still showing us how to have fun. It’s great to work with such an enthusiastic and professional team and one you can count on in the tough times. Helping to pioneer organics and now biodynamics in New Zealand over the last 20 years we know how hard Lance and Neil have worked to educate wine drinkers and to overcome naysayers to now be recognised as industry and world leaders. Funny how things change.” ~Lars Jensen, Richmond Plains Wines, New Zealand