Q & A

The role of VINEX is to provide a secure trading Exchange where you can 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 Exchange and request samples from another member's listing you first must upgrade your membership to either Standard or Premium. 

VINEX is a business to business trading exchange and therefore 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 guarantee 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 through the exchange they have first had to be verified and approved by VINEX administration.

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

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

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

Your VINEX Regional Manager can assist with more information.

Becoming a free registered member allows you to add listings on the Main Exchange using one of the available trading methods.

If your listing is for a limited premium quality/appellation wine, it will automatically be included in the VINEX Boutique Exchange, targeting premium suppliers.

Members who have subscribed to a Premium Membership win access to the Sub Exchange, are able to trade Forward Contracts and invite only preferred/accredited sellers to respond to your specific buying requirements. 

None. You will not be invoiced any fees on completing a purchase. However, you must first register and receival VINEX approval for membership.

If you want to search the Exchange and place bids, make counter-offers or request samples on wines listed by other members you must first upgrade and subscribe to a Standard or Premium membership.

Fees & Rates Summary

• No Listing or Contract Fees
• Membership Subscription Fees Apply
• Pre-Harvest Forward Contract Fees Apply
• Listing Promotion Fees are optional
• Fees may apply for other VINEX services

The Sub EX is available to Premium members only.

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

Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price or volume details are displayed), and cannot be accessed from the Main Exchange.

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

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

Your member anonymity is retained throughout to ensure a fair and unbiased negotiation to secure your supply.

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

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. A member's 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 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.   

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

The service is only available for 'Finished-Bottle Ready' wines. Each wine is given a rating (within its quality level) out of 5.0.

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 trading Exchange where you can 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 thefollowing guarantees 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

Regional Managers’ Feedback
VINEX meets with members in-market 

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 selling.

Registration is free.

VINEX is a business to business trading exchange 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 contracts.

Fees & Rates Summary

• No listing or negotiation fees
• Service fees apply to completed trades
• Pre-Harvest Forward Contract fees apply
• Membership subscription fees are optional
• Listing promotion fees are optional
• Fees may apply for other VINEX services 

Buyers purchasing through the Exchange have all been verified by VINEX and must be either Standard, Premium or Corporate members.

They include exporters, importers, bottling facilities, retailers and wine (or other bulk grape product) producers who have supply requirements.

Buyers are across all regions and markets throughout more than 40 countries.

Yes. Through the Exchange you can add listings for grapes and all types of grape derived product including juice, must, concentrate, flavoured wines, fortifieds and grape spirit.

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

VINEX Regional Managers can assist with more information.

Suppliers will be invoiced a service fee payable to VINEX on the execution of a Sale & Purchase Agreement.

Service fees are based on a percentage of the total value of each trade and are volume discounted – the larger the volume, the smaller the percentage fee payable.

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

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

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 adding a listing to the Exchange, you can indicate if samples are available or not.

The supply of samples to interested buyers is at your cost, including the use of your preferred freight carrier 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.

VINEX coordinates the delivery which is tracked through your central dashboard.

The Sub EX is available to Premium members only.

Here you can add your available grapes or wines and restrict your universe of buyers to only those in the industry you would like to approach.

Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price or volume details are displayed) and cannot be accessed from the Main Exchange.

Through your listing, 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 for VINEX to invite the buyer onto the exchange to view your listing.

When adding your available wines, you can pre-qualify the members you would like to notify and trade with.

The Sub Exchange provides you with control and efficiency, whilst creating competitive tension amongst those invited to respond to listings.

Your member anonymity is retained throughout to ensure a fair and unbiased negotiation to secure your supply.

Details on 90 Day Premium Trial Membership for £45 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.  

VinScore is an independent evaluation service provided by VINEX to increase a buyer’s interest in your listings. The service is only available for 'Finished-Bottle Ready' 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 the wine’s listing details, VINEX will respond to you with a VinValuation after taking into account all market and current trading factors.

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