“If you come to a fork in the road, take it”

Thank you for having the imagination to find us. We aren’t on Page 1 of Google and word-of-mouth is our only form of advertising, so it’s most likely that you found us via a recommendation, which is really gratifying.

“Sincerity is essential in business. Once you can fake that, you’ve got it made”

Behind this computer screen you won’t find a server whirring away in a secure vault, programmed with clever algorithms designed to counterfeit a human appearance. Instead, you will find Lucia and James, two bona fide primates with forward-facing eyes, opposable thumbs and four-chambered hearts, which beat faster when we are asked to come up with some ideas, so please drop us a line if you are looking for something in particular or just want some recommendations. We are here to help. Email us at wine@vincognito.co.uk.

“This isn’t our first rodeo”

We both have Diplomas from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (yes, Lucia, we all know you got a distinction, can we move on) and have a combined experience of over thirty years working as buyers for an independent wine merchant, where we developed a reputation for finding wines that didn’t know how good they were. Now that we have set up on our own, we are putting every last measure of our devotion into finding even more of those special parcels of wine. We inform our customers of our latest discoveries by email, so make sure you sign up to our newsletter before you leave.

“We have an inferiority complex, but it’s not a very good one”

Our list is small, but lovingly curated. The chosen wines have been whittled down from a cast of thousands to end up with a selection that represents the result of months and months of tasting and retasting. Every wine is on our list for a good reason, not just making up the numbers. We don’t see the point in having ten different Riojas if we have found one or two absolute belters, so we compete with the big merchants by selling to people who don’t want to buy from the big merchants. It’s not a form of inverted snobbery, we simply prefer working with smaller producers who have a greater intimacy with the wines they produce, as it’s often reflected in the quality of the wines themselves.  

“During one of our trips through Afghanistan we lost our corkscrew. We had to live on nothing but food and water for several days” – W.C. Fields

We really love wine! Not just the liquid inside the bottle, but the people, the places, the stories and the joy that it brings. Nothing gives us greater pleasure than to know that one of our wines has been enjoyed and maybe even sparked a bit of chatter. We hope our enthusiasm shines through in all our dealings and look forward to hearing from you.

“My formula for success is rise early, work late, strike oil” - Paul Getty

James and Lucia 

Founders: James Bloom & Lucia Sabine