Cambridge Wine Merchants was established in 1993 by two friends, Hal Wilson and Brett Turner, who met at Peterhouse May Ball in Cambridge (UK) in 1990. Sharing a love of wine, they wanted to work in the wine trade but didn’t fancy working for somebody else, and so CWM was born.
We would like to thank Brett Turner for his decades-long contribution to building Cambridge Wine Merchants into the outstanding and internationally renowned business that we are all proud to be part of today. Brett’s vision in expanding our retail operations during the early days was instrumental in cementing the strong foundations of our current success. Brett’s employment & directorship of the company have both now come to an end and we would like to take this opportunity to wish him well for the future. We remain excited and confident about the prospects for the company. We will continue to build on the legacy of the past three decades of hard work and dedication from all our colleagues with alacrity and look forward to working with you all as we strive to deliver even greater success for our people and our business in the future. Should you have any questions or enquiries, kindly direct these to Hal Wilson.
CWM started with one shop in Mill Road, Cambridge, and have never looked back. Still owned by Hal and Brett, we’re now one of the biggest independent wine merchants in the country and we’re continuing to expand. We have three shops (with wine bars) in Cambridge at Bridge Street, King’s Parade, and Cherry Hinton Rd, as well as franchises and partner businesses in Ampthill, Royston and Marlow – plus successful door-to-door and wholesale operations nationwide.
Our motto is ‘we’re only as good as the last bottle we sold’, so we buy with love, dedication and flair. We are always on the lookout for funky one-offs and proper wine made by real people. We source many of our products from independent, family-run wineries and distilleries, so you might not be familiar with all of the names but you can trust us – they’re truly splendid! Our range is absolutely vast – 400 malt whiskies, 900 wines, plus loads of crazy stuff from local ales to cocktail ingredients. We’re excellent value because we import directly or deal directly with suppliers.
Our mission is simply to be the best independent wine merchant in the country, and to have fun doing it!