FAQs

Contacting The Little Fine Wine Company

How do I contact you?

Use our Contact Form on our ‘Contact Us’ page, email us on [email protected] or phone on +44 208 089 5150.

What are your opening hours and when do you respond?

Office hours are 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, please use the contact form or email address provided; emails are monitored and we will respond asap.

Wines & Prices

Why half bottles?

Half Bottles are a great way to taste and drink better wines in a convenient size, without leaving half-open bottles in the fridge, as well as food-matching across several courses of a leisurely meal. Halves are also ready to drink slightly earlier than standard 75cl or magnum 150cl bottles which often, at fine wine level, demand cellaring.

What are fine wines & where do you buy them from?

Delicious wines with plenty of flavour, whether delicate or stronger styles. They should taste noticeably better than the average wine on the market and are from authentic, genuine producers, rather than a label that is used to price high initally and then offer deep discounts. You can rely on our pricing to be fair given the quality on offer, and reflect what the wine is really worth. Our half bottles start at between £5 and £10 per half bottle and go upwards for the really top wines.

How long to store half bottles & do they differ from bigger bottles?

Half bottles are usually ready to drink earlier than standard 75cl bottles or magnum (150cl) bottles due to their smaller size. This might be a disadvantage for a wine destined for early release and consumption, but at fine wine level where wines usually age well and have traditionally been cellared, halves offer a great alternative. A red Burgundy from 2016 may have a drinking window from 2020 or later, but the halves are delicious now, with time to keep too if you wish. We give drink dates on all our wines in the ‘Additional Details’ section of the wine’s website page, and on all our Wine Club tasting notes.

Do you offer discounts?

We have priced our wines at a level that is fair for the quality that they offer. There is no minimum order and it’s possible to mix wines in half bottle and other sizes too. Having worked in the industry for nearly twenty years, and seen many complicated pricing models that aren’t necessarily a good deal for the customer, we’re keen to keep our pricing stable so that you know it’s worth paying for these wines at their regular prices, rather than seeing an inflated price next to a heavily discounted price. We currently offer a case rate of 10% for 75cl and 150cl magnums as it saves us money on repacking and mixing the wines, but that’s it.

Are half bottles (37.5cl), bottles (75cl) & magnums (150cl) priced the same, equivalently?

No. As with food and drink products, wine in smaller sizes costs slightly more to produce than the standard 75cl bottles, so there’s a premium to pay. We feel this is reasonable given the costs involved but if you taste, drink and enjoy the halves, and would like to trade up to the 75cl or magnum sizes, we’d be delighted to provide you with a competitive quote either from our own website or on a bespoke basis for our club members if you email [email protected]

Are tasting notes provided with the wines?

Tasting notes with a guide to the producer and region are sent with our monthly Club Subscription Cases, with a space for your comments and personal rating if you’d like to keep a record. Several wines will be shipped specially for our Club and therefore there won’t be any further information on the website for general viewing, but where wines are kept in stock then of course you will find further information on the website pages.

Ordering from The Little Fine Wine Company

Who can buy from The Little Fine Wine Company?

Anyone who is in the UK and over 18 may buy from The Little Fine Wine Company. We will not sell to anyone who is under 18 and we may ask for proof of age if there is doubt.

We do, however, recommend a subscription to our Wine Club, as it’s a good way of trying wines from around the world in a convenient size, many of which aren’t widely available in half bottles in the UK. It also offers significant benefits (see our ‘Why Subscribe’ page in the Wine Club section, or below, in brief).

We are not currently shipping to export markets nor Northern Ireland or the Channel Islands as standard, but please contact us on [email protected] if you wish to know our current options on a bespoke basis.

Is there a minimum order value or quantity?

There’s no minimum at all.

Can my order be changed?

Yes, if you change your mind after purchasing and before we have sent you a message to say that your wine has been dispatched. Just email us at [email protected] with the change you wish to make.

My Online Account

Wine Club & Subscriptions

Benefits of the Wine Club

Subscribers to our Wine Club receive :

  • flexibility, so you can skip a month or cancel at any point
  • full tasting notes with your subscription deliveries
  • half bottles that may be especially shipped in half bottle for Club members
  • weekday delivery included (with a small extra charge for the Highlands. Saturday delivery is possible too, see our Delivery Information page)
  • option to add on other wines or gift packs to the subscription delivery without extra charge
  • bespoke service: if you think a particular wine is great in half bottle and would like to buy it in standard 75cl or 150cl bottles, that’s possible too*. Email [email protected] for a competitive quote if we don’t carry it in stock already
  • membership benefits: you’ll also hear about our limited Offers first too, before they sell out, and receive tasting and events invitations first and at a discounted price, as well as the option to visit a vineyard or two throughout the year if you’d like

*Subject to availability

What are the subscriptions exactly and how do they work?

We offer several monthly, bi-monthly and quarterly subscription options. Each is a case of four or six half bottles, from great producers around the world, with tasting notes. You order, pay and receive your first case and then after that, payment for further cases is taken on the 1st of every month (for the fine wine focus) or 2 or 3 months later (for the Classics cases), with the wine delivered on a day named by you (should you not name the day, we’ll send the wine as early as possible). You can add other wines and gift packs to your delivery too, using a free delivery code that we provide.

You’ll also receive membership to our Wine Club after you have your first case delivered, with the benefits that brings (see our Why Subscribe’ page in the Wine Club section).

We always email you several days in advance, prior to taking payment and so that you can change any details of your order. You can also skip a month or cancel.

Can I upgrade/downgrade your subscription case?

Yes you can, just look for the ‘Change to another monthly subscription case’ in Your Account/Subscription, before the next payment date and you can swap between Classic Whites, Classic Reds, Classic Mix or Fine Wine Focus cases.

Is it possible to skip the subscription for a month?

Yes you can, go to the Skip button in Your Account/Subscription and look for the next month’s subscription. You’ll need to ‘Skip’ before the next payment date but we’ll send you a reminder of this.

How to cancel a subscription

Yes you can, go to the Cancel button in Your Account/Subscription. You’ll need to cancel before the next payment date but we’ll send you a reminder of when this is.

Can other wines be added to the subscription delivery and how?

Yes they can. The subscription payment is taken on the 1st of every month for Fine Wine Focus and every 2 or 3 months for the Classics cases. We remind you of this in advance so that you can amend any of the details, or skip that subscription period if you wish. When we email you about your next delivery, we also send you a free delivery code. So, if you’d like to order further wines or giftpacks from our website, then just order them as you would a normal one-off purchase, add the delivery code at checkout and select the same day that you chose for your subscription case.

How do Gift Subscriptions Work?

Gift subscriptions are available for all our three subscription options (Classic Whites, Classic Reds, Classic Mix and Fine Wine Focus). Just tick the box either on the product pages or at checkout to confirm you intend the subscription to be for someone else, and enter their email. Payment will be taken from your account every period, and the recipient will only receive details of the wines and instructions for log in and how to confirm their delivery address and chosen delivery date.

Please note, this is a rolling  subscription, where you are in control of how long the subscription lasts. It’s up to you to cancel (it’s easy to cancel via your account or in writing via [email protected] but in any case, we remind you in advance every month prior to payment being taken). If you prefer to pay upfront for your gift, please see our eGift Cards, which can be redeemed against any of our subscriptions.