Can you explain what Forum Fine Wine does and why you wanted to set it up as a new division of Forum Auctions?
Forum Fine Wine was established in response to an evolving fine wine market, with the aim of combining the strengths of a traditional high-touch merchant with the broader reach and flexibility of modern trading platforms. The business brings together primary access to some of the world’s finest wines with secondary brokering, auctions, and the BidforWine marketplace, allowing us to offer a more complete and efficient service to both buyers and sellers.
At its heart, Forum Fine Wine is still a traditional wine merchant, built on long-standing relationships, trusted sourcing, and personal service. Through direct relationships with producers across Burgundy, Bordeaux, the Rhône, Champagne, and Italy, we are able to source en primeur wines and new releases alongside mature wines from trusted private collections and secondary sources.
We also offer brokerage and purchasing services for clients looking to buy or sell fine wine, providing discreet and efficient routes to market.
Why do you think there are synergies between the rare book market and fine wine?
James Pymont hopes Forum Fine Wine can combine the skils of an auction house, fine wine merchants and trading platform
It’s less a case of product synergy but more a recognition that Forum’s approach to all the markets it serves is grounded in traditional values complimented by best-in-class technology. Whether rare books, editioned prints, or collectible wine these are all markets built around multiples — the same item can present in varied conditions and provenance history, with very different values attached to it; our role is to apply our expertise and experience to assisting collectors navigate these relative values.
More broadly, all are highly collectible fields across the broader market for luxury assets, that enthusiasts can genuinely enjoy. Inevitably there is a generous overlap with those collectors of works on paper who also have a passion for fine wines.
How are you looking to establish and build the profile of Forum Fine Wine?
By delivering excellent service and offering clients genuine value, whether through advice, access, or simply price. If we stay focused on what we want to achieve and do it well, I believe clients will want to work with us.
Who do you see as your target audience and customer to use Forum Fine Wine?
A natural starting point is the 20,000+ subscribers to BidforWine, many of whom have previously relied on third parties for their merchanting needs. More broadly, we are targeting anyone who values good service, sound advice, and well-sourced wine, whether they are looking to drink or collect.
It is not just about wines that cost hundreds of pounds a bottle - we also sell many wines in the £20–£25 range - but everything we offer comes from producers who care deeply about quality, so the standard in the bottle is always high.
What is the relationship with BidforWine?
Forum Fine Wine is a trading name of BidforWine, so the two businesses are closely connected. Forum Fine Wine is the merchanting arm, while BidforWine is the auction platform that facilitates a community of enthusiasts buying and selling rare and interesting bottles. Each business benefits from the other, but more importantly, together they allow us to offer clients a more complete service when it comes to buying and selling wine.
What are the key dynamics that are driving and dictating the fine wine market at the moment?
New releases are, in many cases, falling on deaf ears. Clients are fatigued by high prices and by wines they may not be able to enjoy for many years. There is also a strong sense that the same wines may be available in six to 12 months’ time at similar prices, so there is less incentive to commit early.
By contrast, mature wines - or wines that can be enjoyed sooner, such as white Burgundy - offer something more immediate. With prices having fallen from the peak of 2022, many of these wines, and Bordeaux in particular, are beginning to look increasingly good value.
Similarly, what are the key trends that are driving the secondary market and why do you think it is becoming such a more important part of the fine wine industry?
The fine wine sector is going through a challenging time and collectors are looking for new solutiions to help with their changing neds, says James Pymont
The secondary market, whether producers or brands like it or not, is a very important part of the fine wine world. It gives more people access to wines they might not otherwise be able to buy and helps to build broader awareness around producers and regions.
That said, we do need to return to a more liquid market, where clients are selling wines they do not expect to drink rather than simply holding stock with the sole intention of selling later. There is still a considerable volume of wine sitting unsold in warehouses, and it is likely to take some time for that to work its way through the market.
You say there are changing buying habits amongst your customers - what are those?
The main shift has been away from buying and storing new releases. We are also seeing growing demand for different formats and for single bottles, whereas traditionally the market centred much more on full cases.
I think singles, pairs, and three-bottle lots will become far more common over the coming years, and from a logistics point of view we will need to adapt to that.
Do you see these dynamics being very much of the time whilst the economy is going through a hard time, or are they with us to say?
It is a bit of both. Some of these dynamics, particularly around wines for more immediate drinking, are likely to remain. At the same time, collectors will still want to collect, and that will continue to involve buying by the case, though perhaps more often in sixes and threes rather than twelves.
What other short, medium, and long term plans do you have for the business?
Our new e-commerce website for Forum Fine Wine launched in June, and we hope it will drive more offers and sales through that channel. Additionally, we have new producers and further offers in the pipeline.
Longer term, our ambition is for Forum Fine Wine to become synonymous with quality advice and service, as well as with the complete offering we are able to provide.
* You can find out more about Forum Fine Wine here.
