Fiendish plan to get physical Online retailer Wine Fiend has opened a bricks-and-mortar shop in Cardiff. Owner Dean Euden says: “Naively, when I first started Wine Fiend a year ago, I envisaged that it could run as just an online business. But after three or four months I realised it was untenable and I needed a base where I could interact with customers and grow some trust.” Having scoped out a few different premises, Euden grabbed the opportunity of a unit at Corp Market. Based inside an old landmark pub, The Corporation, the
Dean Euden has worked for Majestic and Avery’s
market is a shopping hub providing a permanent home to several independent retailers. There’s also a shared events space freely
are from natural or low-intervention winemakers, and I know that those wines
of a neighbourhood feel.” After a year of looking for the perfect
available to the traders where Euden has
work because I already sell them in the
premises, Crookes has set up shop in a
already held some tastings.
bottle.”
former furniture store, which has been
“I’ve got some beautiful wines and some of them are difficult sells online,” he says. “You can write a description, include pretty pictures of the bottles but nothing sells easy when it’s just words.”
BBC man opens in hip Cornish resort
converted to four new units. The bar area has room for 20 covers, and he has permission to have tables outside on the pavement. Crookes says: “I’ve got a Bermar
Falmouth is now home to a new wine
system: it’s got sparkling and still wine
marked change in how swiftly he can keep
shop and bar called Kernow Wine,
preservation so I’ll do 16 wines by the glass
those particular lines moving. “Having
which opened at the beginning of
from that and I’ll do another four on tap. I’d
a shop is vital to gaining the trust of
December.
put more taps in if I could, but I don’t have
Since opening, he’s already seen a
customers and to share any knowledge and passion you have,” he adds. Euden’s career has encompassed
Former BBC journalist Derek Crookes says he initially thought about working in almost five years ago, but some work
the WSET. He is not fazed by his return to
experience at BinTwo in Padstow inspired
retail: if anything, he appears energised by
him to open his own business.
grow the business. He’s working solely with suppliers for now but hopes to direct import in the future and has plans to start a refill range later this year.
“My motto is ‘sustainable, ethical, local’,
wine education after moving to Cornwall
Majestic, Avery’s, Fine Wines Direct and
the recent gear change and eager to further
the room.
“I did two summers of work at BinTwo and it gave me the bug to do something with the hybrid model, which they do so successfully,” says Crookes. “I picked Falmouth because it’s a hip and happening area of Cornwall. I thought it
“I can now get some of my best-selling
was a good place to open for year-round
wines in KeyKeg and the quality of those
trade. It’s got a big boating community, a
wines is very good indeed,” he says. “They
university, lots of local residents and more
THE WINE MERCHANT january 2022 4
Derek Crookes with wife Natasha
