The Smiling Grape Company
The independent drinks company we grew from. Making wine fun since 2008 — before it was fashionable to admit you like a bargain.
It Started Because Wine Was Taking Itself Far Too Seriously.
Back in 2008, a lot of people seemed convinced you needed to understand “restrained minerality” before you were allowed to buy a bottle of red. We disagreed. Loudly.
So The Smiling Grape Company was born with a single, slightly cheeky mission: to make wine fun again. Not in a beret-and-baguette way — in a grab a pizza, invite your mates round and open something nice way.
What We've Always Believed
- Good drink should be enjoyed, not endured.
- Nobody should feel stupid buying a bottle of wine.
- Beer deserves exactly as much respect as wine.
- Paying full price should be optional.
The Family
Over the years The Smiling Grape Company has grown a little family of ideas:
- Tipple Tours — taking thirsty travellers on wine, beer and food adventures around the world.
- LowCostBeer — the website we built that rescued thousands of cans and bottles of beer every year, before we sold the business.
- The Bargain Bottle Shop — the bit you're on now, rescuing brilliant bottles at silly prices.
We're a proper independent — a trading name of Tipple Tours Ltd — not a faceless chain with a marketing department deciding what you should like. Every bottle we sell is chosen by people who actually drink the stuff.
Same values since 2008: good bottles, silly prices, less waste, more fun.