18 Dec 2024
Tucked away on an industrial estate alongside Verulam Golf Club, a crystal healer and a builder’s yard is a cosy, olde worlde wine merchant now celebrating 20 years in business.
Cellar Door Wines was founded in 2004 by Miles Lilliott and his brother and business partner Peter at Verulam Industrial Estate off London Road, offering a cross between Majestic Wines and Oddbins during its heyday.
The building was once occupied by a Pasta Foods factory which appeared in the legendary BBC April Fool’s hoax about spaghetti farmers harvesting their crop from trees
Miles had helped his father Roger on his winery, Iron Gate Estate, in Australia’s Hunter Valley, assisting with the harvest and learning about the craft, and when he moved to the UK he realised there was a gap in the market for retailers specialising in New World wine.
One of his biggest innovations was to present wine by their style or flavour, rather than by country as was the norm in the industry at that time, a practice which continues today.
He aimed to recreate his experiences in visiting small independent wineries to the shop, encouraging his customers to learn about the winery, the winemaker and find their preferred wine style.
Sadly, Miles passed away in 2011, and although Pete stepped in to run the business, he struggled to maintain its identity.
Enter retail veteran Penny Edwards, who came from a background running flagship Oddbins branches in west London and Harrods, who joined Pete in running the business in 2017.
Together they developed a business plan for the shop, and carried out an extensive refurbishment which included installing cutting edge wine dispensing machines, increasing the range of wines and ensuring they stocked all the classic regions and grape varieties. She also developed their digital presence, launching a new website just before the pandemic which ensured they were geared up to take online orders and deliveries during the various lockdowns.
Penny explained the ethos she has tried to install at Cellar Door Wines: “Each bottle has a story, and it’s a privilege to stock wine which comes from interesting parts of the world and is made from unusual varieties of grape.
“We have customers who have been with us for all 20 years, they understand our prices and want to shop local, but we really need people to come and visit us to see what we’re trying to achieve. Our online sales are the most significant, but it’s vitally important to have a bricks and mortar presence as it showcases who you are.
“We hope we have managed to retain Miles’ spirit and love of good wine in the bottles we choose to sell and the service we provide for our customers.”
