Majestic Commercial joins Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer 2025
As Star Wine List celebrates the very best of the UK’s outstanding wine lists in 2025, a new sponsor, Majestic Commercial, has joined our ranks in supporting the Best by the Glass List award. We talked to Managing Director Matt Davies to find out how the business supports the UK’s innovative on-trade, and why it wanted to get behind the awards.
Partner story with Majestic Commercial.
Majestic Wine has been a stalwart of the British high street since it was founded 45 years ago, and now has over 200 stores to its name. After establishing itself as the UK’s biggest specialist wine retailer, in 1994 it then set up a dedicated on-trade supply division, Majestic Commercial. This rapidly-expanding arm of the business, the new sponsor of the Best by the Glass List at the UK leg of Star Wine List of the Year tour 2024/’25, supplies wine to over 3,000 bars, restaurants, gastropubs, hotels and other leisure outlets across the country.
Not only does Majestic Commercial promise its customers the buying power of a national chain, it combines this with a personal touch more readily associated with independent specialist on-trade suppliers, fulfilling orders from local stores, as well as its highly-educated wine team whose expertise helps enhance partners’ wine lists.
While the business started listing wines that are exclusive to the on-trade in 2008, since its acquisition by Fortress in 2019 there has been a “renewed focus” according to Davies.
“We strive to help the hospitality businesses we work with create elevated, differentiated wine lists that are genuinely tailored to their customers’ needs,” he says. “We very much see ourselves as a partner to the on-trade, one that is trusted for our product quality, our reliable service and the insight and expertise of our highly qualified colleagues.”
And in recent years Majestic Commercial has invested “heavily in growth”, a strategy that has clearly paid off, resulting in double-digit sales increases in each of the last three years, an achievement Davies describes as “phenomenal” given the current economic climate.
Offering its customers access to over 300 on-trade exclusive wines, in addition to more than 1,200 bottles listed in its retail outlets, Majestic Commercial is also able to access hyper-local data from its nationwide network of stores to help its on-trade customers create bespoke wine lists designed to appeal specifically to their customers’ tastes.
Majestic Commercial and Star Wine List of the Year
So why has Majestic Commercial now taken the decision to throw its weight behind Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer?
“Star Wine List [of the Year] is a prestigious competition that recognises excellence in the on-trade,” says Davies. “We take huge pride in the role we play in championing and supporting some really fantastic hospitality businesses, helping them thrive, grow and achieve long term success – and so getting involved in a competition that champions those same businesses felt like a great fit.”
The Best by Glass List is the category that Majestic Commercial believes is most closely aligned with its stated mission – namely to help customers discover new wines, beers and spirits. “We have tasting counters in all of our stores, where customers can try different wines free of charge seven days a week,” explains Davies. “Every day, we see the impact of getting a glass in people’s hands – how that helps them try new varieties for the first time and purchase a bottle they might not otherwise have put in their basket.”
This is something Davies has also observed in the Vagabond wine bar chain, part of the Majestic portfolio, where visitors can pour themselves wines by the glass from the enomatic machines. “The ability to self-serve smaller glasses of wine is a great tool in helping customers try something different, without the cost of purchasing a whole bottle.”
Majestic Commercial’s on-trade customers can also leverage this potential, claims Davies. “We see the same potential for our on-trade customers to offer their guests this same sense of discovery and create an experience that is similar to our in-store tastings and our Vagabond bars – engaging, educational and enjoyable.”
The most popular wines by the glass, according to Davies, remain the “go-to classics” including Pinot Grigio, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, Argentinean Malbec, Provencal rosé, Champagne and Prosecco. However, he says customers’ tastes are evolving, with a greater enthusiasm amongst wine drinkers to be more experimental in their choices.
“We’re seeing some interesting emerging varieties like South African Chenin Blanc, Spanish and Portuguese Albariño, French Crémant and wines made from Sicily’s indigenous grape varieties,” he comments, adding that Majestic Commercial benefits from being able to view sales data and customer feedback from the retail division, enabling it to be at the vanguard of any trends before they take off in the on-trade.
In advance of this year's Star Wine List of the UK with The Buyer awards, Davies told us that “we know that there will be some incredible winners and nominees … and we are really looking forward to meeting them and toasting their success over a glass or two of some of Majestic Commercial’s on-trade exclusive wines!” Meet the winners, here.
Learn more about Majestic Commercial by browsing their new 2025 Portfolio brochure. This brochure is being launched at their Spring Portfolio Tastings in March, in London and Edinburgh. Following a tasting in the Long Room at the iconic Lord's Cricket Ground on Tuesday 4th March, against the backdrop of one of the world’s most famous sporting pitches, they’ll be hosting their second Spring Portfolio Tasting on Tuesday 25th March, at the vibrant Edinburgh Street Food in the centre of Auld Reekie. Confirm your attendance here.
Join their expert teams and the wine producers themselves in Edinburgh to try a selection of their on-trade exclusive wines, discuss the bespoke selections that will elevate your wine lists, and find out more about our unique Majestic Commercial proposition that was crowned as Drinks Business On-Trade Supplier of the Year 2024.
For more information, contact them at [email protected] / 020 7697 8000.
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