At Organico we have been importing natural wines from Italy for more than 12 years and we have steadily increased our wine list over recent years to include many delicious organic wines from around the world. Our retail outlet in Ambleside was the first dedicated organic wine shop in the country and in May 2008 we opened our second shop near Kendal - Organico Warehouse & Store, which is the UK's largest organic wine shop. From our cellar we also distribute our wines to other outlets who share with us, and you the drinker, the recognition of the many benefits that organic wines can bring to the wine drinking experience.

October 2005
After a summer of building work, Organico opened its shop in Ambleside to become the first dedicated organic wine shop in the UK. With over one hundred and twenty wines, along with beers, ciders and spirits it marks the culmination of almost ten years of importing small quantities of organic wines from vineyards in Tuscany and Piedmont.

The development has made use of a redundant building at Fisherbeck Mill which sits under the slopes of Wansfell, between the centre of Ambleside and Lake Windermere at Waterhead. The interior has more than a hint of an Italian enoteca and, indeed, has a substantial collection of wines from all parts of that country. This is complemented by a range of wines from around the world.

November 2005
It became pretty clear from very early on that we were going to need help in the shop. Kevin Sharkey joined us as Shop Manager after the first six weeks of having our doors open.

Kevin has very quickly endeared himself to our customers. Who could resist that soft 'Irish brogue'? Kevin has soaked up wine knowledge at a fantastic rate and is a great addition to the team. Not that he came to us as a beginner. Kevin spent five years working in vineyards in and around the Rhone Valley and his contacts there have proved invaluable.

June 2006
With our growth curve ever steepening it was great to be able to justify the cost of another member of staff to handle our trade sales. By another stroke of good fortune along came James Dixon, who brought with him a strong background in the hospitality industry. Not only that but he has worked in both Beaune and Siena and seems to know an awful lot of people around the place.

July 2006
Organico has always prided itself on having wine bottles open for customers to taste our wines and this was extended this month as we got our licence to serve wine by the glass out on our deck with its dappled shade and view of the hills. This has proved a popular place, in particular with walkers coming down off those hills.

July 2006
In the middle of the long, pleasantly sunny summer we decided it would be nice to hold an, albeit belated, formal launch of Organico. We invited about forty of our customers and friends to drop by for a 'bit of a do'. Jacob Gaffney, wine writer for Wine Spectator, accepted our invitation to come along, chat to our friends and officially 'open' our shop. Jacob is passionate about organics and biodynamics and did us proud on the evening. We made the most of a fine sunny evening and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the occasion! News of the opening of the first Organic Wine Shop in the UK soon hit the headlines and following a page on Decanter.Com the word spread quickly, to our great delight.

October 2006
The shelves are groaning under one hundred and fifty different wines and space is getting short. We have a spare building next door which would more than double the shop space. We take the decision on our first anniversary to get the plans drawn up so that building work can get underway next summer.

April 2007
The highlight of this month was a trip to the Wachau/Kremstal wine growing area on the Austrian Danube. We were there to visit the beautiful Geyerhof wine estate where we were hosted magnificently by Josef and Ilse Maier. Ilse is a former 'Wine Queen' of Austria and the family has been making wine on the estate for four hundred and fifty years. It was difficult to make the final choice of wines for our first shipment to the UK and their debut on the British market. With repeated tasting we did it!

May 2007
We're all working hard supplying material to our web designers (Ansur.com) so that we can go live as soon as possible. Hopefully this will not be too long before you read this! We are under some pressure from our customers to finally get going with our online mail order service.

June 2007
Off again!! This time for a mammoth tour which eventually saw us enjoying a wonderful traditional Sunday lunch with our friends, the Di Tuccio family, at their wine estate, Antica Enotria, in Puglia. They make some of our most popular wines and they get better every year. The new winemaker, Giuseppe, is already starting to make an impact. We're really looking forward to the 2007 vintage, which seems set fair at the present time.

Creating long standing relationships with our growers is very important to us, along with directly experiencing the terroir which helps create the wines we talk enthusiastically to our customers about. Along the way we met up with our existing and new producers in Champagne, Gevrey Chambertin, St Aubin, Beaujolais. Then we moved further south to Côte Rotie, St Joseph and then on to Tuscany. On the way back from Puglia we had a wonderful lunch with Sylvie Spielmann, who makes wonderful biodynamic wines in the Alsace at Bergheim, and her partner Jean-Claude Rateau whose Beaune wines are already much sought after by our customers. Tough trip!!

May 2008
In the last three years Organico has grown rapidly. The need for more warehouse space took us to Staveley Mill Yard, near Kendal, where a large new shop is attached to the wine storage area. At Staveley we now have our own Resident Sommelier to advise and guide you to the perfect choice of wine.