1www.directwines.com

Welcome to Direct Wines !A Guide to Working with Us

http://www.supplier-portal.co.uk

Updated 04-04-14

Direct Wines Limited

New Aquitaine House,

Exeter Way,

Theale,

Berkshire,

RG7 4PL ,

United Kingdom

Telephone +44 (0)118 903 0903

Fax +44 (0)118 903 1073

Company registered in England No. 1095091

VAT No. GB 823825133

Company Excise No. GB WK823825133

Warehouse Excise No. GB 00004318064

Direct Wines – a family company with scale and experience

h Direct Wines is a family-owned company, founded by Tony and Barbara Laithwaite in 1969.

h We now have an annual global turnover of £350m+.

h We are the UK’s leading independent wine merchant.

Tony Laithwaite in the early days

Tony Laithwaite with Henry and Barbara

Serving customers directly

• We have 750,000 private customers around the world, of which more than 460,000 are in the UK.

• We dispatch over 4.2 million cases of wine a year to them• We have a no-quibble refund guarantee• Excellent customer service is key to our success

Customers attending one of our Vintage Festivals

Exclusive, quality wines and Awards

• 90% of our wines are exclusive to Direct Wines.

• Our wines are unique, often bespoke, and range from everyday drinking to fine wines for investment.

• We stock over 1400 wines from 500 suppliers sourced from 20 countries.

• In 2013 we won 600+ awards, which will be key in helping us to sell the wine.

• In 2012 we won Drinks Business Buying Team of the Year and were runners up in the Packaging Design category with Keep Calm and Carignan.

Selling great wine

h Our buyers work directly with winemakers to blend exclusive wines

A few of our most popular wines

We operate across all channels to reach customers directly

Tasting events in the UK, France – and beyond

Mail order, inbound calls, outbound calls and web

Laithwaites Wine site

Wine Plans – Regular supply of top quality wines delivered to customers

11 regional stores & The Arch, our flagship Central London store

More than a shelf…..

Wine plan (continuity cases) – our biggest single volume activity

Mailings – monthly catalogues• Mixed cases, single wine features, producer / winemaker features

Outbound sales / Wine Advisers – hand selling• Personalised relationships with customers – they always speak to the same

salesperson

• It’s incredibly competitive – we need marketing support and stories from you. The more compelling the story, the more wine we can sell!

We’re a global wine business

Direct Wines operates in the following countries:

h UK h USAh Australiah Hong Kongh Germanyh Switzerlandh Polandh Indiah Plus vineyards and wine making operations in France and

Australiah Wholesaling globally

Direct Wines and some of its Global Partners

A world of wine information and friendly wine advice

• Customers can receive a range of wine information via our interactive websites.

• Or develop a relationship with a personal wine advisers.

Opportunities to bring producers and customers closer.....

• We hold over 60 events each year, in locations as diverse as the Isle of Man, Portsmouth, Edinburgh and Belfast.

• Direct Wines has over 40 years’ experience staging customer tastings in art galleries, stately homes, historic ships and other prestigious venues .

• All our tastings are manned by Direct Wines staff, suppliers and winemakers – to hold these events, we need your support.

.....and sponsoring major events with nationwide coverage.....

Cricket Classic FM

Coco, our 1952 Airstream wine bar makes regular appearances

Henley Literary Festival

And we’re wine makers too…

• Red Heads Wine Studio in McLaren Vale • Le Chai au Quai in Castillon

Red Heads Studio cellar Le Chai au Quai on the Dordogne

Direct Wines in Bordeaux

• Le Chai au Quai is our production facility, based in Castillon.

• La Clariere is our own Chateau, located a couple of miles away from the Chai.

• Chai wines are from Bordeaux and the South of France, made by our Winemakers Jean-Marc Sauboua and Mark Hoddy, below:

• We are developing Le Chai as a negociant of Bordeaux wines and as a supplier to the whole of Direct Wines around the globe.

Mark Hoddy

Meet the team - Global Wine Team

Global Wine Director Abi Hirshfeld

Global Wine Consultant

Justin Howard-

Sneyd MW

Head of Winemaking &

Bordeaux Buyer

Jean-Marc Sauboua

Executive Assistant

Sarah Care

Head of Wine Education

Len Sexon

Meet the Team – Wine Buyers

Tommy Coperine – USA, Canada, Argentina

Mark Hoddy – Loire & Winemaker @ Le Chai au Quai

Robin Langton – Portugal, Rhone, Burgundy, Argentina, Other South America (i.e. not Chile or Argentina), Beer and Cider

Dan Parrott – Australia, New Zealand

Emma Roberts – Group Fine Wine Director including Bordeaux En Primeur, and Buyer for Champagne & England

Jean-Marc Sauboua – Bordeaux, Provence, Corsica, Chile, India & Head of Winemaking

Christine Weingut – Germany, Austria, Switzerland

Beth Willard – Spain, Central & Eastern Europe, Midi, South- West France, Mediterranean, South Africa

Davy Zyw – Italy, Alsace, Spirits

Meet the Team – Packaging Design, Quality Control, PR and Buying Assistant

Senior Product Manager Packaging and QC – Martin Campion

Product Manager – Catherine Cannar

Buying Assistant – Kirsten Willis

Buying Assistant – Richard Masterson (photo to follow)

PR Executive – Fiona Gaitens

Working with us – Key things to know

A complete guide to how we work follows. If you have any questions regarding this guide, please contact your buying contact, who will be happy to help.

Sending Samples

All tasting samples need to be sent to:

• Buyer’s name• Address• Labelled SAMPLES – NO COMMERCIAL VALUE

Bottles should be labelled with:

• Your name and telephone number• Your company’s name• The price of the wine• The name of the wine• The vintage

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee they will be tasted if they are not appropriately labelled.

All photography samples should be sent for the attention of Kirsten Willis and the

parcel labelled SAMPLES – NO COMMERCIAL VALUE

Please do not send samples with purchase orders.

Reserves and Purchase Orders

• A reserve confirms the volume of wine we will take and the price of the wine; it is not an order. Wherever possible we would like to keep optional reserves in place to help with sales forecasting and stock control.

• A purchase order is raised when the wine is needed for shipping.

Invoices need to include the following

• Purchase Order Number• Product Code• Product Name as given on the Purchase Order • All necessary payment details (including IBAN numbers and swift codes as

applicable)

Original invoices should be posted to:

Finance Department, New Aquitaine House, Exeter Way, Theale, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 4PL, United Kingdom;

or sent by email to: lwaccounts@laithwaiteswine.com

If you are sending a foreign currency invoice please email a copy to Tracey.Lenk@Directwines.com (suppliers from A to F) or Ann.Beasley@Directwines.com (suppliers from G to Z) as failure to do so may result in a delay to your payment.

A copy of the invoice must be sent with the goods.

Packaging - Cartons

Cartons and dividers for all markets except the US,

Australia and HK must conform to the 12-bottles

Specification shown. Any exceptions must be agreed with the

Buying Team.

Divider: Full-height

Double-corrugation (two layers of B-flute )

Outer:12 Bottles

Sealed with glue or clear tape

Markings: As large as possible (ink-jet is acceptable)

on at least one face to include:

Direct Wines Limited article code

Wine name and vintage

Lot mark of wine in the carton as specified by you

PLEASE NOTE: Cartons for orders despatched to US, Australia,Taiwan and HK should be packed in your regular carton and the price adjusted down accordingly.

Packaging – Labels, bottles etc.

All labels need to be approved by:

UK - Martin Campion and Catherine Cannar

US - Chris Lopez

Bottle, cork and capsule specifications must be agreed with the buyer when we reserve the wine. NB we do not accept synthetic (plastic) corks.

Marketing Information Portal

• We want to sell as much of your wine as possible. To do this we need information on the wine, winery and wine making team.

• Please send this information via our internet-based portal and please note: the information you supply will feed directly into our system. It is critical for the information to be accurate and completed in full, otherwise your wines cannot be planned and sold.

• A guide to using the portal is given here: https://webvpn.directwines.com

If you have any questions relating to the portal, please contact Buying Assistants Kirsten Willis or Richard Masterson.

Exclusivity

• 90% of our range is exclusive • We need you to honour our need for exclusive wines,

labels and brands and to not sell them to others

Some of our top exclusive wines

Supplier Contract

We have produced a supplier contract which we may ask you to complete, sign and return. The contract covers:

Exclusivity

• Confirmation of the markets in which we have exclusivity on the brands you supply to Direct Wines.

• Confirmation that any design or brand name that is the property of Direct Wines Limited will not be used anywhere else at any time without the written consent of the Direct Wines.

Labels

• Labels will be designed and printed to comply with legislation applicable to the market in which the wine will be sold.

Visits to Suppliers

• From time to time it may be necessary for a representative of Direct Wines to inspect a supplier’s production, bottling and storage facilities, especially for quality assurance purposes.

Quality Assurance

• A self-audit form is appended to this document.

• Please complete the form and email to Martin Campion at this address: supplier.audits@directwines.com

Logistics

• A full guide to shipping specifications is appended to this document.

• Please read it fully and if you have any questions contact Jim Chettleburgh: Jim.Chettleburgh@LaithwaitesWine.com

Emergency Contacts

If you need to contact the buying team in an emergency, for example if you find a serious problem with a product that might be a health risk, please contact

Martin Campion:

• Office: +44 (0) 118 903 1034• Mobile: +44 (0) 7810 865 120• Home:+44 (0) 118 946 4038

In Martin’s absence, Abi Hirshfeld:

• Office: +44 (0) 118 903 1420• Mobile: +44 (0) 7500 082 248

Thank You – The Wine Team