Creating the future of how wine is experienced and enjoyed.
How Coterie began
Coterie didn’t start as a grand plan. It started with a simple observation — that fine wine, as a category, works, but not as well as it should.
The industry was made up of remarkable businesses — merchants, storage providers, distributors — each doing their part well, but largely operating in isolation. For customers, that meant friction. For the businesses themselves, it meant operating without the infrastructure their work deserved.
The idea behind Coterie was to bring those capabilities together. Not to replace established businesses, but to strengthen them, and to build the structure around them so they could operate at the level the category demands.
It began in 2019, with the acquisition of Lay & Wheeler, a fine wine merchant founded in 1854. From there, we built out further capability across storage and logistics, lending, distribution, and trading — each addition shaped by a clear view of how fine wine actually works in practice.
How Coterie works
Coterie operates across three traditionally separate areas of the fine wine market: merchants, logistics and storage, and financial access.
Most businesses sit within one. Coterie connects them through shared infrastructure, shared expertise, and a more aligned way of working. Together, the group provides:
Pillar 1
Exceptional wine experiences
Strengthening customer experience through shared expertise, enabling higher quality, and differentiated experiences.
Pillar 2
Infrastructure & capability
Providing shared, tech-enabled infrastructure and systems, improving efficiency, scalability, and performance.
Pillar 3
Increased visibility & insight
Providing better data and insight, enabling more informed, confident decision-making.
Pillar 4
Connection & coordination
Connecting businesses into a coordinated system, improving alignment and reducing friction.
Pillar 5
New possibilities
Enabling new commercial opportunities, expanding propositions, and unlocking additional value.
Connected across the lifecycle of fine wine
Fine Wine Merchants
Curated selections, deep expertise, and trusted relationships built over generations. Our merchants make fine wine more accessible, discoverable, and enjoyable — for drinkers, collectors, restaurants, retailers, and the luxury yacht trade across the UK, Europe, and Asia.
“Coterie is about bringing together exceptional fine wine businesses. Each company continues to operate with independence and focus, but contributes to a broader structure that strengthens how fine wine is experienced, managed, and valued.”
Michael Saunders
Group CEO
