How did you get into the industry?
Simon, who set up Gusto Wines has worked in the wine trade since 1993, including positions at Mentzendorff, Cave Cru Classe and Diageo, Simon left the corporate world of wine in 2012 to set up Gusto Wines and enable him to explore and share his passion for wine. Tom, who looks after the wine list at The Cricketers, started his working life in hospitality before joining Majestic Wine for his first job in the wine trade. He’s now been at Gusto for 5 years. Gusto Wines is now a team of 10 people serving the on trade and the general public online.
Tell us about the team…
Simon runs the business with his wife Clare (and Cookie the dog of course). In the office Donna and Jasmine process and take all our on-trade orders and make sure the ship stays afloat! We also have Steve in the warehouse and Jack is our Private Client Sales manager who joined the business in a new role created a few months ago. Out on the road we have delivery drivers Ed and Craig who enjoy going to see all our customers every week and Tom and Elise are Account Managers who look after all the pubs, restaurants and hotels we work with.
What’s your favourite part of the job?
The best bit of the job is being lucky enough to work with and taste so many amazing and interesting wines. Also, the opportunity to visit wineries all over the world and see places you otherwise wouldn’t is a real privilege. Almost all the wineries we work with are small and often family run, so we love going out to see them as these kinds of businesses, like us, really care about what they do.
What’s the hardest part of the job?
The hardest part of the job is trying to juggle customer demand with stock control. When we work with so many wines and you never truly know how many you’re going to sell and how quickly it makes forecasting very tricky. It’s not as if all the wineries we work with are just down the road! Unfortunately, Coronavirus and Brexit has made this even more challenging with shipments taking several months on some occasions to come in.
What are your best sellers?
Our best sellers are the usual suspects. Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Merlot and the more recognisable grape varieties are always going to be the best selling wines. However, we do sell a surprising amount of some of the more obscure wines like Rioja Blanco and some of the Italian varietals we stock, like Grillo and Nero D’avola. We stock over 1000 different wines and sell them all in varying amounts. We’re great believers that there’s a wine out there for everyone!
Find our more about Gusto Wines.
