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Meeting Savage Vines – Wine Subscriptions With A Difference

June 17, 2021 by Jonathan Paxley

In the drinks industry subscription boxes have gathered serious momentum and is becoming a really important route to market for drinks brands.

There are subscription boxes for all manner of drinks including gin, whisky, wines, champagnes and cocktails.

As such we reached out to one subscription company we admire greatly – Savage Vines.

Savage Vine is run by Kyle Paskett and they have a strong focus on organic wines, underrepresented regions and family-run vineyards. It’s a winning combo and we can say from personal experience the wines Kyle and his team source are exceptional.

We caught up with Kyle recently to find out a bit more about his company, how they pick their wines and what the future is for wine.

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How did Savage Vines begin

Savage Vines was set up out of a passion for great wine, wanting to support and help promote small, independent organic vineyards and give consumers a platform to connect with them in a grape to glass sourcing model. Since we began in late 2017 we now support 50 family-run organic vineyards across Europe and have over 200 wines available for our customers to enjoy.

Can you tell us about your subscription box?

Our wine subscription is designed for people who are interested in discovering new grape varietals and wine regions, want to support family-run vineyards and have a preference for organic products. Subscribers tell us if they prefer red or white wines and we do the rest.

Every month we send a selection of wines from different vineyards from around the world and as a subscriber you receive 25% off all individual wines and 15% off mixed case products. The wines arrive in eco-friendly packaging and come with tasting notes and a podcast talking them through each wine.

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What makes your subscription different to the other wine subscriptions out there?

As we buy direct from the vineyard we get access to unique wines, made in small quantities at a great price. Subscribers can purchase handcrafted certified organic wines for as little as £9 a bottle which is cheaper than a supermarket in some instances! We focus on environmental sustainability in everything we do and shortly we will be introducing options for customers to take part in environmental focused projects with the aim of Savage Vines becoming the most sustainable wine company on the planet!

How do you source your wines?

We travel the world for great wines! We believe in only selling products that you know where they have come from and building direct relationships with winemakers and their families. As a business, you need to go to the source to find a unique product. Buying wines from wholesalers in the UK is not a long term viable strategy as the products will then be available from many retailers. You then lose your USP and are no different to any other wine company.

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Have you noticed any trends emerging in the wine industry?

More and more consumers are becoming environmentally aware, making conscious sustainable purchasing decisions. Currently, organic wine accounts for less than 5% of total wine sales in the UK. We forecast this to more than double in the next 5 years.

What have been your biggest successes and challenges since you started Savage Vines?

The biggest success by far would be actually starting the business! Anyone who has done this before would attest to how hard it is and the sacrifices you need to make. In terms of challenges would be designing and developing a website which both explains your product and services and allows customers to find the products they are looking for. Everyone has this perception that a website is easy to set up and manage content. The reality is it couldn’t be further from the truth!

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Where do you want to take the company in the next 5 years?

Savage Vines will be the biggest retailer of certified organic wine in the UK. We currently have a little over 200 wines but plan to increase that to over 600 in the next 2 years and bring on another 100 vineyard partners. We will introduce small vineyards from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South and North America.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to start a subscription business?

A few key pieces of advice I have would be to start with a minimal viable product to test the market and build out your business from there, you can’t assume to understand your market or customers fully before launching.

I think having patience, as it will take at least 2 years before you start getting a decent amount of organic (unpaid) website traffic from search engines. Make sure you have 5 keywords that relate back to your products and ensure your key landing pages or optimized for them.

And lastly, make sure you reward customers so they keep coming back to your website to buy your products – that can be with membership perks like discounts or additional content not available to the general public.

To find out more about Savage Vines the visit them here.

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