A Family-Run Ethos: The Importance of Partnerships
We are a family-run business, built on long-standing relationships and partnerships—a wider ‘Rathfinny family’ where we know the people we work with, both here and abroad, and they know us and our wines, including our signature 2020 Blanc de Noirs.
As a grower-producer, we are in a unique position where almost everyone who works for Rathfinny is based at the Estate. When you pop to The Hut for a coffee in the morning, you can see the maintenance team chatting with the marketing team or the Vineyard team talking to those in hospitality. There is a real sense of a Rathfinny ‘family’, with everyone working towards a common goal of crafting world-class Sussex Sparkling enjoyed the world over.
The extended ‘family’ also includes the sommeliers, restaurateurs, and independent wine merchants who pour and share our wines, many of whom have visited us and have worked with us since the start. You won’t find Rathfinny on supermarket shelves—our wines are only sold through trusted partners, like Liberty Wines in the UK, and through carefully chosen distributors around the world.
Our family extends to our designers, PR agencies, customers who have been with us from the beginning, and those discovering us for the first time. It also includes the local charities we support and the Sussex venues we collaborate with. It’s most definitely our customers, those who discovered our wines at the start of our journey, or those trying us for the first time.
For me, these relationships go beyond business. I want to know their stories and their families and be there for them through their successes and challenges. Over the years, we’ve celebrated milestones and weathered storms together.
Just the other day, I was in a meeting with our designers at Utile, reflecting on how one of their daughters could already be seven—I remember the day she was born. We’re updating our labels (watch this space!), and I was reminded of how we first chose a London-based design agency, Stranger & Stranger, only to find that Ivan, the founder, could see the iconic Seven Sister cliffs from his home.
We’ve built friendships, like with sommelier Remi at Le Gavroche, one of our earliest supporters, who shared his bittersweet moments with us as he revisited wines from their cellars before closing the restaurant’s doors for the final time.
This ethos is at the heart of being a grower-producer. Our beliefs and principles shape how we work with others.
