Nick Blair and Mike Every Set-Up Independent Wine Business

Vision Wine Partners is the new, specialist wine sales and consultancy business, being run by familiar faces, Nick Blair and Michael Every.

Most will remember Blair from when he worked at Pernod Ricard and Every from Peter Lehmann Wines. Both have a long history in wine sales and marketing, and have now decided to combine their experience to set up a new, joint-venture that will help Australian wine brands get out from the winery and into market.

When selecting a name for the business, Blair and Every wanted something that would embody their expertise in wine, while creating a platform for a unique and proactive consultancy with sales and distribution execution as its objective.

“The name of the business is something we thought about quite a lot. It represents our partnership – Mike and I – and that we are open to bringing in other partners to the business in order to service our clients’ needs,” Blair told drinks bulletin.

“We chose the word Vision, because we have a very sound view of the past and we have a very clear view of where we think the industry can go.”

Specifically, Vision Wine Partners’ role will be to act as a third party to help wine brands find their best route to market. From retail to online, distribution and pricing strategy – Blair and Every will use their experience and contacts to develop a plan that will get a brand exactly where it wants and needs to be in the market.

Blair added, “What we’ve identified, is that there’s numerous brands out there that have the opportunity to make great wine, with great looking packaging - all of the things that get you to a certain point - but a lot of businesses get lost between there and actually getting the product to market.

“With our contacts, our network and our experience, we can either go to distributors or directly to consumers; we can even go via retail, it really depends on what the brand wants to achieve.”

While wine is the focus for now, spirits and beer could be on the cards for Every and Blair in the future, as could aiding international brands.

“I think the services we offer in Australia are equally valid internationally or to international brands looking to come into the Australian market,” Every said. “As for beer and spirits, the principles are the same.”

Image: Michael Every and Nick Blair toast to their new business