Richard Weaver, Director of Retail & Digital
I've worked in the wine trade all my adult life, and have focused on online sales since 2000 when I built the first ever website for Majestic Wine. I completed my WSET Diploma in 2004. Since then I've experienced all sorts of change and progress, but have never lost my love of what's in the bottle.
Outside of work my young family keep me more than occupied, although when I get the time I love to cook and enjoy cricket, football and baseball.
I'm pretty eclectic in my wine tastes but I am partial to the wines of the Rhône and northern Italy. I adore Bertani's Vintage Edition Secco. I also love a fine Chardonnay and our newly added Seresin Estate wines from New Zealand really fit the bill. I also love a whisky or a rum, so I'm thrilled with the new sister site to GWC, Spirits Kiosk.
Edward Mercer, Business Manager
My interest in wine was sparked by my local merchant when I was at school in Lancashire, a fantastic cellar of a place called D. Byrne and Co of Clitheroe - now, I am pleased to say, customers of The Great Wine Co.
During a business degree at Northumbria University, an industrial placement took me to Seagram Distillers to work in global marketing for Chivas Brothers. I returned there for a stint post university but left the corporate high life and moved to Bath and into the wine industry with The Great Wine Co. Now more than four years later I am working with private clients, as well as on projects relating to the website and general retail marketing. My interests besides wine include running, skiing and good food.
Alan Nordberg, Shop Manager
I grew up in Twickenham and having studied Typographic Design at the London College of Printing back in the dark ages, I took a Christmas job at Oddbins in Richmond, with the intention of saving some money to travel the world.
However, that quest never happened and I found myself totally engrossed in the wine trade. I worked for Oddbins for six years, leaving London to manage two shops, Oxford Summertown then Cheltenham. Moving on from here, I found myself living in Bath.
I became the first manager of the new Majestic Wine in Brislington Bristol, the nineteenth store... I believe there over now over 200. Great Western Wine, who then sold mainly to the trade, invited me to expand their retail side. The rest is history. I've been in the wine trade for over 30 years and counting, and still have the passion and enjoyment for it, especially giving the best advice and service the old fashioned way. I enjoy fishing, good food, and of course wine.
There's an old saying in the trade "if it rains get a macon"!
Tom King, Fine Wine Manager
Wine unites so many fascinating subjects - biology, geography, chemistry, history, culture, gastronomy, religion, economics, language, poetry and more - in something that is utterly delicious. It sparks the imagination, inspires lyricism, breaks down barriers and cements friendships. And there seems no end to what can be learned about it.
I love all these things about wine, and also the satisfaction of knowing that I have enhanced someone's family dinner, romantic evening or special celebration through my recommendations. Sooner or later, you will likely receive an email from me suggesting a new discovery or an old friend revisited. Some of these are for immediate enjoyment, and others will reward cellaring to reveal their full glory.
If you are interested in putting together a collection of fine wine for immediate or future drinking, please email wine@greatwine.co.uk marked for the attention of Tom King, Fine Wine Manager.
How do I know what I am talking about? I have tasted tens of thousands of wines and am blessed with the ability to remember what they taste like and details about them. I have achieved the WSET Diploma in Wines and Spirits and have worked in the wine business for 23 years in the US and UK. For a while, I investigated becoming a C of E vicar, however the Church suggested that my skills may lie elsewhere. Before that, I did a Biology degree at Oxford. My exceptionally refined nose and palate are regularly utilised at home to answer the question: "Darling, is this milk off?"