I am an avid lover of wine, red, white or rose. I love them all, so when I see new cool wine companies start or new wine shops open, I will always check them out to see their wines and to try new ones. I was doing my general check up and came across Wine Aid. Wine Aid was different, it has this unique idea of donating a portion of the sale price on every bottle of wine they sell to charity. What a fantastic idea during these weird times. I reached out to Wine Aid and asked them a couple of questions as I was intrigued. This is how it went.
Q. John, tell us about your background?
I’m a 24-year-old Dublin native. I have a degree in Business Management from Maynooth University, and I’ve recently completed the WSET level 2 award in wines.
Along with my work with Wine Aid, I also work for a company called 10 International Ireland. They are a wine distribution company who supply the major retailers and wholesalers in Ireland such as Dunnes Stores, Musgraves, Aldi and others.
Q. How did you get into the wine business?
During my time in college, I worked in an off-licence with a heavy focus on wine. Between that and the fact that my father works in the business I was constantly learning and gaining an interest in wine. My father has worked in the wine business for most of his professional career. His description of the business, paired with my own experiences working in the wine focused off-licence, it was inevitable my plan became to follow in his footsteps.
Q. What was it like to start such a unique idea during a global pandemic and did you have to overcome any challenges?
It wasn’t easy to start Wine Aid during the current pandemic as a lot of the decisions and meeting had to be done over zoom. As I am sure everyone knows by now, it’s the most productive way to hold meetings.
However, after the initial start up challenges I am lucky to be able to say that I have a business that can stay open during any state of lockdown. A lot of people are not as fortunate and have suffered a lot, however, hopefully now we can see the light at the end of tunnel.
Q. Great idea with the charities, can you tell us a little bit each charities your partnered with?
Charities have suffered a lot during this pandemic as they’ve not been able to host many of the crowd funding events, they would usually hold. I feel Irish charities need our help now more than ever so it’s great to be able to offer them aid by donating a portion of the price of every bottle sold on the site to one of the charities the customer chooses.
Dogs in Distress
Dogs in Distress rescues dogs and places them in temporary foster homes, they believe this is the best place for a dog to be cared for while waiting to be adopted. Through their fosterers, they really get to know the dogs and pups and learn which type of home they will be best suited to. This allows them to help adopters to find the right dogs to suit their homes.
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth Ireland is a community at the heart of the growing movement in Ireland for a just world with zero pollution. Their mission statement is “We campaign and build
movement power to bring about the system change needed for a just world where people and nature thrive”.
Women’s Aid Ireland
Women’s Aid is a leading national organisation that has been working in Ireland to stop domestic violence against women and children since 1974. The Women’s Aid National Freephone Helpline 1800 341 900 operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides support and information to callers experiencing abuse. Women’s Aid also acts for justice and social change by engaging in policy, representation and communications and campaigns activity at a national level.
Q. What wines are you recommending?
For the present weather, you can’t go wrong with our Camerino Pinot Grigio Rose or any of our available proseccos. They’re perfect to enjoy in your back garden while taking in some sun.
Our best seller so far is our Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc – Two Islands and my personal favourite is our Il Tauro Salice Salentino.
However we understand that wine is subjective and each wine drinker has different tastes that’s why all wines on our website are accompanied by straightforward tasting notes to help the consumer choose which wine is right for them.
Q. What are the plans for the future and to grow your brand?
Eventually I would love to add to our selection, I plan to do this gradually as the business grows. However, I believe one of our main attractions is that we have tried to keep everything simple, so the consumer is not overwhelmed with too many wines like some other sites.
Q. How do we get in contact with you over getting some delicious wines?
You can follow our Instagram and Facebook pages with the handle @wineaidireland and visit our website at https://wineaid.ie/.
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