Q & A

The role of VINEX is to provide a secure, digitised trading market where you can easily connect and successfully complete negotiations, supported by a sampling approval process.

VINEX reduces your risk and ensures legal, ethical and fairness in trading.  We provide the following guarantees through to contract execution:

Yes, you need to first register and receive VINEX approval.

Once approved, you can list your sourcing requirements, request samples from members responding to your listing, and complete a purchase.

To search the marketplace and request samples from another member's sell listing you first must upgrade to a Professional subscription. 

VINEX is a business to business market and you must be a proprietor or a representative of an organisation in, or associated with the wine industry.

Your registration enables VINEX to verify your details, ensuring our verification assurance for members seeking to trade with you and vice versa.

Sellers include cooperatives, independent producers, wine agents/brokers, contract winemakers, bottling companies, brand owners, exporters and wholesalers.

Members range in size from large to small, are located within or across multiple regions.

To trade using VINEX they have first had to be verified and approved by our administration team.

Each member has a VINEX profile that displays their market status, country of origin and VINEX transaction history.

Yes. You can source, search for and purchase grape derived products, including juice, must, concentrate, flavoured wines, fortifieds and grape spirit.

In addition to searching the marketplace, you can also encourage suppliers to respond to your specific requirements by adding your own sourcing requirement listing.

VINEX Support can assist with more information; message us!

Becoming a free registered member allows you to add listings on the Main Market using one of the available trading methods (except Pre-Harvest).

If your listing is for a limited premium quality/appellation wine, it will automatically appear in the Boutique market listings, targeting premium suppliers.

If you subscribe to Professional, you have access to the Direct Invitation Only market, and can trade Forward contracts and confidentially invite preferred/accredited sellers to respond with supply offers. 

None. You will not be invoiced any fees on completing a purchase. However, you must first register and receive VINEX approval to enter the market.

If you want to search listings and place bids, make counter-offers or request samples on wines listed by other members you must first upgrade and subscribe for Professional access.

Fees & Rates Summary

• No Listing or Contract Fees
• Access subscription fees are optional
• Pre-Harvest Forward Contract fees apply
• Listing Promotion fees are optional
• Fulfillment service fee is optional 
• Fees may apply for other VINEX services, eg. Freight Quotes

The Direct Market is available to invited Professional subscribers only.

Here you can add a sourcing requirement and restrict your universe of suppliers to only those in the industry you know or would like to discretely approach.

Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price, volume details or technical specifications are displayed).

Through your listing, you can confidentially invite up to 8 suppliers per listing (search by Country and Company Name) to respond with offers. This enables you to pre-qualify the suppliers you would like to notify and confidentially source supply from. 

The Direct Marketplace provides you with control and efficiency, whilst creating competitive tension amongst those suppliers invited to respond to your sourcing requirements.

Your anonymity is protected throughout to ensure a fair and unbiased negotiation, including sampling to objectively secure best available supply.

Yes. Sampling is obviously vital in completing a successful purchase and many suppliers will provide samples on request and several style options.

If a supplier chooses not to provide samples when listing and negotiating with you, they must still supply a final sample and technical specification declaration for your approval after completing a trade, as part of the Clearing & Settlement process.

All completed trades are subject to your approval of a final sample (if applicable) and specification declaration. Your first sample request must be approved by VINEX.

The quality levels ranging from A - Luxury down to E - Generic are broad categories within which wines must be classified to provide an indication of quality.

Just as price may also indicate a quality assessment, the A - E categories are another convenient way to search and compare wines of interest.

Of course, you will ultimately make your own determination as to the quality, style and value of a wine.

The Boutique Market is only relevant for wines within the quality grading levels of A-C and / or contains at least 85% content from a single region.

Below are some guidelines to consider when listing your wine requirements and selecting an appropriate quality level.   

A - Luxury	Wines showing exceptional concentration of flavor, structure and character. Suitable for iconic wine brands, generally released following extended maturation.
B - Premium	Wines showing outstanding regional or varietal characters, with impressive structure and character. Suitable for aspirational wine drinkers, released after limited maturation.
C - Reserve	Wines showing sound regional or varietal characters without the flavour weight and structure of Premium quality. Suitable for the occasional wine purchase.
D - Commercial	Wines showing an approachable varietal character with less structure and weight than Reserve quality or above. Suitable for everyday drinking.
E - Generic/Other	This quality level is for generic (entry-level) wine, flavoured wine, must, juice, concentrate, spirit, tannin and all other grape-based products.

 

VinScore is an independent evaluation service provided by VINEX's qualified tasting experts.

The service is only available for Bulk 'Finished/Bottle-Ready' and 'All Bottled' wines. Each wine is given a rating (within its quality level) out of 5.0; with a tasting descriptor.

It’s an objective assessment designed to assist you by providing a valuable unbiased filter to compare and select wines and save time.

Sellers are not obligated to purchase or display a VinScore rating.

The role of VINEX is to provide a secure, digitised trading market where you can connect and successfully complete negotiations, reach new buyers, all supported by an efficient sampling process.

VINEX reduces your risk and ensures legal, ethical and fairness in trading.  We provide the following assurances through to contract execution:

Trading Rules
Trading activity is monitored and reviewed

Member Feedback
Feedback is encouraged and reviewed

Member Ranking and Profile
All members are ranked by trading activity

Sampling Restrictions and Monitor
Requests are restricted for new members

Professional VINEX Support
VINEX supports all members 

Clearing and Settlement
Completed trades are subject to the trading rules

 Registration Verification
All members are authenticated at registration

Member Anonymity
Protection of anonymity is paramount

First Listing Approval
New member listings must be approved by VINEX

Regular Audits
Compliance audits are conducted regularly

Exception Reporting
Comprehensive daily reports are monitored

Security and Privacy
Advanced technology provides secure protection

No Listing or Negotiation Fees

No. You only need to register, be approved by VINEX and start offering your wines.

Registration is free.

VINEX is a business to business marketplace and therefore you must be a sole proprietor or a company representative, in or associated with, the wine industry.

Selling fees only apply to completed trades.

Fees & Rates Summary

• No listing or negotiation fees
• Contract fees apply to completed trades
• Pre-Harvest Forward Contract fees apply
• Access subscription fees are optional
• Listing promotion fees are optional
• Fees may apply for other VINEX services, eg. Freight quotes, VINPay prepayments 

Buyers purchasing through the marketplace have all been verified by VINEX.

They include exporters, importers, bottling facilities, wholesalers, retailers (and other wine producers who have additional supply requirements).

Buyers are across all regions and markets across more than 57 countries.

Yes. You can offer all types of grape-derived products including juice, must, concentrate, flavoured wines, fortifieds and grape spirit.

For wines, there are options to customise your listings; including organic, kosher, crude, faulty and numerous other variations.

VINEX Support can assist with more information.

Suppliers are invoiced a contract fee payable to VINEX on receiving a fully executed Sale & Purchase Agreement.

Fees are based on a percentage of the total value of each contract.

Fees also apply for other VINEX services including securing a Pre-Harvest forward contract or competitive Freight quotes.

A full list of Rates & Fees can be found under Services here

Obviously sampling is vital to completing a successful trade.

While you can choose not to supply samples, when you add a listing and negotiate with a buyer, you must provide a final sample for the buyer’s acceptance as part of the Clearing & Settlement approval process.

If samples are made available when negotiating a trade you are 300% more likely to complete a trade.

When offering your wines through the marketplace, you can indicate if samples are available or not.

The supply of samples to interested buyers is at your cost, including freight and must be delivered duty paid (if international).

VINEX will advise you of the buyer’s request and provide dispatch address details, along with labels to print and apply to each bottle.

On entering a tracking number, VINEX reports on the delivery status.

The confidential Direct Market is available to members with Professional access.

Here you can offer your wines and restrict your universe of buyers to only those in the industry you would like to confidentially approach.

Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price, quantity or technical details are displayed) and can only be viewed by members with your listing's Access Code.

Through your sell listings, you can confidentially invite up to 8 members (search by Country and Company Name) to respond. If the buyer you're looking to invite is not in the VINEX list, there's a request button to add the buyer.

When offering your wines, you can pre-qualify the buyers you would like to notify and trade with.

The Direct Market provides you with control and efficiency, whilst creating competitive tension amongst those buyers invited to submit offers.

Your anonymity is retained throughout to ensure equality in trading when offering your wines, and to avoid destabilising market pricing.

DETAILS ON 90 DAY PROFESSIONAL TRIAL FOR £90 HERE

The quality levels ranging from A - Luxury down to E - Generic are broad categories within which wines must be classified to provide an indication of quality.

Just as price may also indicate a quality assessment, the A - E categories are another convenient way to search and compare wines of interest.

Of course, you will ultimately make your own determination as to the quality, style and value of a wine.

The Boutique Exchange is only relevant for wines within the quality grading levels of A-C and / or contain at least 85% content from a single region.

Below are some guidelines to consider when listing your wine requirements and selecting an appropriate quality level.  

A/Luxury	Wines showing the exceptional concentration of flavour, structure and character. Suitable for iconic wine brands, generally released following extended maturation.
B/Premium	Wines showing outstanding regional or varietal characters, with impressive structure and character. Suitable for aspirational wine drinkers, released after limited maturation.
C/Reserve	Wines showing sound regional or varietal characters without the flavour weight and structure of Premium quality. Suitable for the occasional wine purchase.
D/Commercial	Wines showing an approachable varietal character with less structure and weight than Reserve quality or above. Suitable for everyday drinking.
E/Generic/Other	This quality level is for generic (entry-level) wine, flavoured wine, must, juice, concentrate, spirit, tannin and all other grape-based products.

VinScore is an independent evaluation service provided by VINEX to increase buyers' interest in your wines. The service is only available for 'Finished/Bottle Ready' and 'All Bottled' wines. Each wine is given a rating (within its quality level) out of 5.0. With a VinScore your finished wine listings will be more appealing and provide an unbiased filter to help buyers compare listings of interest. Whilst you’re not obligated to purchase or display a VinScore, it has been shown that listings are 300% more likely to lead to a completed trade. 

Yes. VINEX provides a service called VinValuation – it’s free and you don’t need to supply a sample. Based on your wine’s details, VINEX will respond to you with a VinValuation after taking into account all market and current trading factors.

We will advise a valuation price range along with commentary on the prevailing market conditions.