Great places to buy wine: Dvine Cellars

Dept stores have changing rooms, why shouldn't wine shops have tasting rooms?

Something rather wonderful is happening with wine retailing in the UK.

It didn't begin well: Over the last 20 years, we've seen virtually all our mainstream wine merchants go bust - something catalogued by Tim Atkin in his recent article "The Fall of the British Wine Empire". It's been goodbye Unwins and Peter Dominic, adieu Thresher and Winerack, and on at least two occasions very nearly hasta luego Oddbins.

The almost total takeover of wine retailing by the supermarkets (Only Majestic remains as a serious challenger) has not been positive for choice and excitement on our shelves. However, the gaping chasm left on the high-street is slowly but surely being filled by a new breed of small, independent wine merchants. Generally, these establishments are opened, run and staffed by enthusiasts, and feature small-production, artisanal wines of the sort that will never be found on the shelves of Tesburys or Sainsda.