The wine agency model comes in all different sizes, with a whole range of operating models. From the big national players that have 100s of producers and 1000s of wines on their books, right through to the small independent boutique operators with a specific niche or speciality. But as producers and suppliers, alike, look to offer more personalised and bespoke agency services one of the fastest growing and seemingly successful ways of working is for producers to have a controlling stake in their distributor and work hand in hand with that supplier on more of a partnership basis. Which is very much the way that New Generation Wines has built up its business with a strong core of South African wine producer partners as its key point of difference. Richard Siddle sits down with managing director, James McKenna, to find out how it all works and why he thinks its partnership model offers its customers the best possible service.