I still remember the first time Nancy brought Pull The Cork to my attention on Instagram. She came across one of their posts and did a double-take on the name. She didn’t recognize the post as one of ours then looked closely at the name . . . Pull The Cork not Pull That Cork. Since that time, we’ve had fun watching Pull The Cork’s IG feed as it focuses on the style of wine we enjoy.
We’ve been corresponding with James and he came up with the idea of interviewing each other and sharing those interviews with our readers. You can read Pull The Cork’s interview of us on their blog, which you should definitely be reading, and read our interview of Pull The Cork below.
In 2018 James Nathan and Moritz Bak started selling wine online as Pull The Cork in the UK. Pull The Cork specializes in biodynamic, organic and natural wines. Sustainability is extremely important to them as it is to us. According to James the natural/sustainable movement is growing in the UK as it is here. In addition to selling wine they have a great blog with a lot of interesting articles.
When did you get started selling sustainable and organic/biodynamic wine?
We started out selling online under the brand name Pull The Cork in January 2018, it was something completely new to me, and I really started it to teach myself a new niche. Now I seemed to have completely immersed myself in the Natural/sustainable wine scene as it continues to grow here in the UK.
What is your best-selling category of wine, rose, orange, white, red? Is there a trend towards any particular type?
Our best-selling category for wine here in the UK is probably natural sparkling. Natural sparkling wines have always been a growing phenomenon – they’re easily accessible as a buyer, and winemakers are continuing to experiment.
Do you see an increase year to year of people being more interested in natural and sustainable wines? Here in the USA we see more wine bars opening that serve only natural and organic/biodynamic wines.
There has been a massive increase in the way that sustainably produced wine is made, and consumers seems to be following in suit – especially here in the UK. As you may be aware the UK is going through a political crisis, so I am seeing more small online shops giving it a go, but less and less bricks and mortar shops, as the prices for those are continuing to rise.
I read your blog article Vegan Wine: The Debate Continues on your site. Is there a big demand for vegan wines?
Vegan Friendly wines….where do I even get started!? The vegan wine scene here is a little confusing. Vegan’s themselves mainly being the ones getting confused – as there is a growing debate on what is actually vegan in the wine scene – is it in the winemaking or the farming. We sell the wines as “Vegan Friendly” as the term defines that no animal products are used in the winemaking, rather than the farming. Since explaining this to the vegan societies here in the UK, there seems to have been a small growth in sales. Understanding these wines makes the whole experience a better one I believe.
The UK is becoming more known for producing wines. Is there a sustainable or organic/biodynamic movement in the UK?
The sustainable and Organic/Biodynamic wine movement in the UK is something that is definitely growing, but at the moment there are only a very small handful of winegrowers that are producing 100% Organic grapes. The climate is tough, one minute it’s 32 degrees, and the next it’s rained a foot of water…my favourite English winemaker though isBen Walgate, owner of Tillingham – he produces wines under the ground in Qwevri.
Cheers!
