We worked on Vivan for about a year without pay, and we have been trading for four months. I'll be honest: we haven't achieved what we set out to achieve yet.
Our winemakers are still not selling as much as we hoped. Not because the wine isn't good, but because many people still don't see why it's worth paying properly for it.
That's what this week's blog is about. When you buy a cheap bottle, there is hardly any wine in it. Of a £10 bottle, only £1.93 is the wine.
A banana is different. Buy the cheapest organic one you can find and it will taste much the same. Wine isn't a bunch of grapes. It's how the grapes were grown, and everything that happens in the cellar: the craft, the soul of it. And bananas aren't taxed like wine is.
So a cheap bottle of organic wine rarely makes sense, unless you want quantity over quality. If you love good wine and want to really appreciate it, my advice is to spend circa £20 a bottle.
Then drink less, appreciate more, and support the artisan winemakers who are helping make the change.
Cheers,
Greg
1. Pour
Only £1.93 of a £10 bottle is wine
A Sunday Times breakdown shows a £10 bottle has £1.93 left for the wine. The Treasury takes £4.77. The rest goes on the retailer, glass, shipping and a new recycling charge. At Vivan, roughly a third of what you pay for a case goes straight to the person who made the wine.
READ: The Sunday Times breakdown →
BLOG: Where your £10 really goes →
Boycott wines grown with herbicides
This summer, Adam Huss of the Beyond Organic Wine podcast launched a campaign to boycott wines made with herbicides. Writer Simon Woolf backed it by applying the boycott at a 556-wine trade tasting in Austria, and says organic and biodynamic farming both ban herbicides. All of our winemakers farm organically or biodynamically, which rules herbicides out.
READ: Boycott Wines Grown With Herbicides, Simon Woolf →
2. Grow
We are People and Planet First verified
Vivan is now a People and Planet First verified social enterprise, approved on 19 August 2026 through Social Enterprise UK. It is a global verification run by the Social Enterprise World Forum, and it looks at five things: that we exist to solve a social or environmental problem, that purpose and planet come before profit in our decisions, that we earn our own way, that most of any surplus goes back into the purpose, and that our legal structure locks that purpose in for the long term. That is how a not-for-profit cooperative is meant to work. Now it is on the record.
What it means for us: our listing is public and an outside body has reviewed it, so you can see how we price, source and pay. Please take a minute to read our impact. We want to show you that we are real, and that it matters.
SEE: Vivan's verified listing →
We were on the Beyond Organic Wine podcast
In September I talked to Adam Huss on the Beyond Organic Wine podcast about how small organic producers can grow sales, and how selling direct, without a middleman taking half the sale price, can work.
LISTEN: How To Grow Sales for Small, Organic Wine Producers →
3. Thrive
"I liked the backstory and love the wines"
Five stars on Trustpilot, from a customer this week:
"I liked the backstory and love interesting wine. The wines have been excellent as well as interesting (even unusual). Ordering and delivery very straightforward and the personal contact touches are great. Will continue to support."
That is what we are building this for. If you have ordered, a review helps other people find fairer wine.
READ: Our reviews on Trustpilot →
Also in the news: a cancer survivor speaks out
Kathleen Willcox's new piece follows Kate Reuschel, a wine specialist and Hodgkin's lymphoma survivor. Kate is upfront that Roundup has never been definitively linked to her own cancer. The article, which calls glyphosate cancer-causing, asks why it is still sprayed across our fields and farms. It is part of the same boycott of herbicide-grown wine, and we are glad it is getting airtime.
READ: Amid Boycott of Herbicide-Grown Wine, a Cancer Survivor Speaks Out, Kathleen Willcox →
This newsletter is written by Greg, founder of Vivan Cooperative: independent winemakers across Europe, imported direct, with no distributors and no middlemen.
0 comments