Trust But Verify

What is trust? What is this old notion that the fine wine industry is "built upon trust", upon a handshake and a nod of the head over several glasses of claret?

Our industry is a little slow. It has a gentility to it. Wine is a wonderful social glue and generally a fine idea for elevating lunch, dinner, afternoons....well, you get the picture.

But perhaps now, we are moving beyond the idea that we need to extend trust to our wine merchant, based on the fact that their grandfather's goldfish was a good egg, or that their third cousin twice removed went to the right school.

We aren't quite at the blockchain level of transparency and provenance, but we certainly have enough checks and balances in place to assist buyers in their search for safety. Below are some tips (I am sure there are more) for verifying the risk you assume, when buying from a merchant:

• Find friends who have dealt with them over years. Check their experience
• Look at the financial health of a company - easy enough to seek out through Companies House or similar
• Are they associated with major chateaux or growers directly? Trusted at source
• Can they execute a sale of your wine in a timely fashion? Can they sell your wine at a fair and reasonable price?
• Perform a few small trades to check them out. Have some wine delivered
• Do they hold stock? What are their stock levels?
• Look at their Board of Directors and Senior Staff. Are they respected? Are they known within the industry or other industries?
• Check wine media and broader press for articles. The most respected companies will be mentioned. Those with media relations have worked with journalists long enough, to be trusted

This extra work should ensure you are in safe hands. Then, you can rightly indulge in the company of your favoured merchant, with the comforting knowledge, they are verified.