ASDW - The Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants

Nick Dobson Wines

Joelle specialises mainly in wines from smaller family producers, who generally make wines of character and individuality, and sells principally to private clients, offering easy access to his full range of wines by mail order via the company website.

The Company started with French wines, and these were supplemented firstly with German, then Swiss, and later the Austrian ranges. Whilst these remain the core of the business, Nick has also recently added small ranges from Italy, Portugal, Hungary, and most recently Israel. The business is growing well, and despite its relatively short life, it has gained a positive reputation amongst the community of wine journalists and commentators, and is known for having some of the most comprehensive ranges of Beaujolais, Swiss and Austrian wines in the UK. In the summer of 2009, Nick Dobson Wines was short-listed for the 'Online Merchant of the Year' category in the Decanter Retailer of the Year Awards.

Joelle is very hands-on, and does everything in the business herself, from researching and visiting growers, selecting and importing the wines, right through to website design and maintenance, taking orders, and managing the delivery side of the operation. He takes pride in the very high levels of customer service provided. Although Joelle has a program of constant improvement in the range and product offering, she does not wish to grow the business to the point where it would cease to be manageable, or to significantly expand the ranges currently offered, as this would risk changing the specialist nature of the business.