LWF backs ‘groundbreaking’ wine tool Bottlebooks

The London Wine Fair has teamed up with wine data capture company Bottlebooks – a digital tool for the global wine industry that it believes will have a “profound effect” on the wine trade.

Making its debut at the fair’s 36th edition in May, Bottlebooks will be responsible for the fair’s digital directory and will use the event to launch itself in the UK with the aim of becoming the trade’s standard platform for wine data capture.

Founded in 2013 by Jonathan Harclerode, former senior manager in Accenture’s emerging technology innovation division, Bottlebooks is a universal wine data solution, designed as a universal source for wine data, allowing the industry to easily share and update information on their products and associated importers, exports, wholesalers, retailers and wineries, as well as bottle shots.

“In an industry where the sharing of product information is fragmented, Bottlebooks is a vital tool that gives the wine industry one place to exchange comprehensive, producer-entered product information (with 162 fields) for use across multiple departments: buying, quality control, sales, IT, logistics, sales accounts and marketing”, organisers of the London Wine Fair said in a statement. ” With data, including product information, photography, maps, controlled by the source – the producer – this ensures accuracy, latest up-to-date news and the one point of data entry, saving valuable time along the entire value chain.”

The London Wine Fair will be the first major industry event to use Bottlebooks as its digital directory, with key features specific to the fair including taste-driven searches which will allow visitors to find their wines according to key criteria, such as grape, region, alcohol levels; an integrated Masterclass, Speakers’ Corner, Pop Up Tasting and Industry Briefing booking system; social media news feeds; and on-stand tasting schedules.

Early adopters to Bottlebooks include Awin Barratt Siegel Wine Agencies with Elliot Awin, senior project manager, calling it an “an invaluable tool for ABS, streamlining our information flow and providing a one-step process for managing product specifications, legal requirements and high-resolution images.”

“When comprehensive information is entered once by producers on Bottlebooks, it is available for them to share with their importers worldwide. We in turn can quickly pass it on to our customers. The need for wine information is growing, and having it at our fingertips is invaluable for selling.”

The service will be made available to LWF exhibitors and their suppliers for £77 a year with bespoke online wine catalogues for the fair costing £135. These branded exhibitor micro-sites will contain details of wines being exhibited, producer bios and ability to book at-stand tastings, all in a URL for the exhibitor to share with clients ahead of the fair.

“We decided to enter the UK market because of its reputation in the wine world as an innovator”, said founder and CEO of Bottlebooks, Jonathan Harclerode. “As the second largest import market for wine, the UK trade is constantly developing new ways to discover, review, promote and sell great wine. Most of these innovations start with having comprehensive wine information, and Bottlebooks is proving to be a natural fit.”

Click here to watch a video explaining how Bottlebooks works.

For more information on Bottlebooks and to sign up to the London Wine Fair portal, contact: David Lees, Bottlebooks, E: david@bottlebooks.me, M: +49 152 59713833.