Collectivino: The ethical wine company making it easy to drink good wine
Sustainability is the current watch word in wine. As bottle weights and recyclability are increasingly discussed, companies must at least nod in an environmentally friendly direction or risk falling behind competitors. People are increasingly aware of the impact their choices make on the planet but buying ethical wine sustainably can be a tricky thing to navigate, especially as the term is not standardised across the globe. Even the labels signalling sustainable credentials change in different countries and regions.
Enter Collectivino, a new company whose focus is purely on supplying ethical wines from vineyards using sustainable farming practises. The wines are even delivered to customers via pedal bikes or delivery companies who offset themselves, resulting in a net zero carbon impact from vineyard to table.
Collectivino is the brainchild of Martin Stead and Toby Radcliffe, best friends since university, who each bring their own unique skills to the table. Stead was the CEO of leading UK Fintech Nutmeg and spent seven years with Proctor & Gamble, during which time he launched Oral B toothpaste, though he assures us that when it comes to wine his palate is a tad more refined. He spent years in the energy sector focused on getting the nation to switch to low carbon energy sources. Radcliffe was a scientist with a passion for the planet and a background in commodities working in corporate sustainability and strategy, while also being a professional Iron Man for five years.
It was during a lockdown zoom call that they realised they had come to the same conclusion. “I wanted to set something up on my own, not pimp myself to corporates again” said Stead and Radcliffe agreed. It was time to start something together. “We have always shared an interest in wine, and we were drinking together over zoom while thinking about what to do. We decided that whatever it was it needed to be two things. It needed to do some good in the world and to be enjoyable”. It seems that this time the answer really was at the bottom of the glass.
Wine has just overtaken beer in the UK as the most drunk alcoholic beverage and a report commissioned by the World of Wine in 2021 found that during 2020 1,770 million bottles were consumed by the UK public. That equates to nearly four billion tonnes of carbon, about 2.4 million transatlantic flights. “People buy without plastic, they recycle, they care about the planet but there isn’t the same awareness when it comes to wine – yet” says Radcliffe. No one wants to give up wine, so Stead and Radcliffe determined to find a way to make it easier for anyone to drink wine sustainably. This is “seriously good wine” in more ways than one.
“If you buy a bottle from us, any bottle, then you know you are getting taste, quality and that sustainability is non-negotiable” explains Radcliffe. As it can be hard to qualify what this means in different counties, Collectivino has its own simple 3-point ranking system and all the wines come from vineyards with environmentally friendly goals and practises.
“First we meet with the winemakers and taste with them. We decide which wines we like and bring samples back to London”. They then use ‘Beta-taster’ focus groups to hone down the wines that make the grade. “In many ways we take the toothpaste approach” jokes Stead “but it works, people have different palates and preferences” and Collectivino wants to supply a range of wines which, no matter the style, always get a seal of approval.
The bottles they offer may be a touch more expensive than something off the supermarket shelves, most retail for £15 or more, but as they point out if you purchase a £10 bottle of wine less than £1 goes to the vineyard. “That money has to go to make the wine, bottling, workers’ fees, packaging…the actual amount for the wine itself is minimal”. Which brings them enthusiastically on to their other quest for wine-drinking integrity.
“A lot of vineyards cut corners because of pressure from retailers” says Stead “but we meet with the vineyards, we ask them what is fair and we pay them that. We believe in fair pay”. On the flipside of this, working with independent producers and cutting out the middle man does also help to keep the costs lower for the consumer. It important to both of them that the business model protects and helps the winemakers and vineyards just as it protects the planet.
“We are curating the kinds of wines we want to drink, in quality, for the planet, for the people making the wines” concludes Stead “and we are aiming to make it easy for the consumer to drink good wine – in all senses of the word”. For those wanting to buy wine mindfully it certainly does seem an efficient way.
Their best seller is the Plantation 1905 which is a blend of 23 grape varietals, some even unknown but the English sparkling wine from Oxney is close to their hearts, getting the highest rating for biodiversity as well as being a stunning local wine.
Ahead of Christmas Collectivino are focusing on corporate gifting for companies who want to offer a more sustainable thank you to their clients and employees. They have a range of ethical wine gift sets of luxurious, halo-polishing wines as well as offering tasting events and a Wine Club Membership which delivers 12 bottles of premium wine four times a year.
Libby Zietsman-Brodie is the Founder of Bacchus & Brodie, an independent wine consultant and co-creator and presenter of Boozy & The Beast: How To Drink Better – an irreverent series on wine, without the snobbery. Instagram: @a_little_sip_of_me_time