Company History

Back in 1986, our founders, Huib Geerlings and Phillip Wade, were disappointed by the lack of information available to wine buyers at typical American retailers.

As wine connoisseurs, they knew that wine should be judged by taste, not price or reputation. Together, they sought a way to share this philosophy — to educate the consumer, demystify the experience and make the enjoyment of fine wine easy and accessible.

Thus Geerlings & Wade was born.

Next came the challenging task of making truly great wines affordable. As insiders, Mr. Geerlings and Mr. Wade knew that much of the cost of fine wine could be attributed not to its merits, but to the numerous brokers, negotiants and middlemen that stood between the wine maker and the wine lover.

So, they devised a unique business strategy: go to the source, sift through every wine, select only those outstanding wines that offer the rare combination of superior quality and exceptional price, and team these special attributes with convenient home or office delivery.

It has been a winning strategy. Through the years, Geerlings & Wade has cultivated exclusive relationships with hundreds of renowned wineries in France, Italy, Australia, Chile and California. This (along with a legendary talent for discovering undervalued or up-and-coming wines and wineries) has allowed us to sell exceptional wines for up to 50% below typical retail prices.

From Seller to Producer

Building on our strong reputation for quality and value, we have transitioned to become America's leading direct-to-consumer winery, producing our own wines both in our Napa, California winery and with international partnerships that have developed over our twenty years experience in the industry. Today, Geerlings & Wade is America’s leading direct marketer of fine wine and wine accessories with home and office delivery to 31 states and a devoted following of over 100,000 regular customers and members. Our never-ending quest for exquisite yet inexpensive wines leads us to vineyards around the world and thousands-upon-thousands of blind tasting and blending sessions.

On a continuous basis, our wine agents, Peter Van Hoof, located in Europe, Guy Davis, living in Sonoma County, CA, and Chris Brunck, in Australia, seek to find or create those special wines. They taste hundreds of samples and then send their best choices to our Wine Director, Francis Sanders in MA. Each week Francis personally tastes 50 - 100 wines submitted by Peter and Guy and by negotiants and wineries as well. He selects just four or five from these samples, often adjusting the blend or other aspects of the wine to make it perfect for our loyal customers. Many of our wines, available only from us, have won medals at international wine tastings. We seek out the best for our customers and deliver these wines to their doorstep at great prices.

Click here to find out how we rate wine.

Follow us on Facebook	Follow us on Twitter