Spanish food importer Ultracomida will be opening a warehouse space in Cardiff under its Spanish Wines Direct operation, as part of the firm’s continued focus on retailing wine following the Covid-19 pandemic.
The delicatessen and wine merchant, which has sites in Narberth and Aberystwyth and owns Curado Bar and Vermut in Cardiff, will be opening the 6,900 sq ft unit on Penarth Road, near Grangetown in July.
Open to both trade and the general public, the new site will stock more than 500 different Spanish wines from smaller producers, indigenous grapes and unfamiliar Spanish territories, as well as olive oils, olives, tinned fish and other snacks.
There will also be a bar area for small group tasting sessions and ‘try before you buy’ option.
This is the second Spanish Wines Direct site opened by Ultracomida as the company looks to increase capacity for online wine sales.
Last year, the firm acquired a 4,500 sq ft unit in Glan Yr Afon Industrial Estate in Aberystwyth in order to grow the wine retail side of the business after the Covid-19 pandemic closed its restaurants.
Since then, co-founders Paul Grimwood and Shumana Palit believe demand for quality Spanish wines is set to continue.
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Mr Grimwood said: “We saw our online wine sales increase by more than 50% during the pandemic, as people looked to drink better and more interesting wines at home. This gave us the push to open our Aberystwyth warehouse, which has gone from strength or strength.”
He added: “We’re hoping to emulate that success in Cardiff - and increase the storage capacity for our online sales, too.”
Last year, the group also launched a Spanish wine subscription service via a dedicated Spanish Wines Direct website. Customers could pay £35 a month and get 12 hand-picked bottles of Spanish wine delivered on a quarterly basis.
Ms Palit said: “We import so much directly from the producers, which allows us to offer a more varied range than anyone else. We have used the last couple of years to focus on wines from under the radar regions in Spain - think Montilla-Moriles, Valencia and Catalunya.”
She added: “We’ve deepened our connections with winemakers who have challenged themselves to look for new ways of reviving traditional grapes, and of using low intervention and more sustainable methods of farming. We can’t wait to share all of this with our Cardiff customers at the new warehouse this summer.”