Terms & Conditions

1. Our Services

Capital Vintners Limited acts as a fine wine brokerage and agents, working through a network of reputable third party, merchants, traders and private individuals. We specialise in the buying, selling, storing and valuing of fine wine for collection and consumption purposes.

By placing an order for goods via of our website of via a telephone order, you agree to our terms and conditions, including the Privacy Policy, as set out below. These do not affect your statutory rights.

2. General

We reserve the right to change, alter, adapt, add or remove provisions of these terms and conditions. If we do so we will post or email any such changes and publish on our website. If any provision of these terms and conditions is held by any competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable in whole or in part, the validity of the other provisions of this agreement and the remainder of the provision in question will not be affected. We will not sell to or deal with any individual under the age of 18 years of age.

3. Orders

We accept payments by cheques, bank transfers and by debit/credit cards. By placing an order, you consent to payment being charged to your account, as provided on the invoice. If a deposit is taken and in the unlikely event that payment is not made for the Product at the end of the payment term Capital Vintners will remind the client of the payment requirement. Should this then not be settled Capital Vintners will have the right to retain the deposit and cancel the order in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. If payment is not received by the agreed settlement date, we also reserve the right to offer an alternative wine. If the price of wine increases before payment is received, then we reserve the right to request payment to meet this increase.

The customer warrants that all the details provided on the Order form for the purpose of purchasing the goods are correct, that the debit/credit card you are using is your own and that there are sufficient funds or unused limit available to cover the costs of the goods.

Upon purchase, titles to the goods will pass to the buyer, once payment has been made in full. All goods shall remain the property of Capital Vintners until all monies are paid in full. We reserve the right to withhold delivery of any goods, should full payment not be made. This includes any international bank charges. Upon payment, we will either issue you with an electronic receipt to your e-mail address or send a receipt to your address and stock shall be transferred into the private account of your choice.

If there is non-payment of an account within the specified terms, Capital Vintners reserves the right to charge a cancellation fee of up to 20% of the outstanding amount, or the actual losses incurred by Capital Vintners as a result of cancellation if greater than 20 per cent. Capital Vintners reserves the right to use any monies held on account or otherwise received from or on behalf of the customer to discharge any such cancellation fees.

4. Our Pricing

Each service is charged individually and will be clearly stated on the purchase order/invoice, which will be posted/emailed to you for your confirmation. It is up to the customer to ensure that these details are correct before proceeding and returning along with payment to us.

We establish our own pricing structure, based on our own stock and stock that is available through our industry suppliers, at any given point in time. We therefore accept no liability for market fluctuations. We reserve the right to alter our prices at any given time, subject to availability. For the most up-to-date prices, please speak to one of our brokers.

Capital Vintners is a wine trader, not a retailer; as such, all prices quoted are ‘in bond’- meaning they are exclusive of UK duty and VAT, unless otherwise stated or requested.

5. Payment

6. Goods

We will purchase the goods from the supplier upon receipt of the order form and no later than thirty days following a cleared payment.

If the requested goods are not available, we reserve the right to offer you an alternative, although we will always endeavour to match your Order exactly. In the unlikely event that we substitute a product for you, the buyer shall be entitled to return the goods for a full refund, providing this is within 7 working days of the delivery date and the provisions of these terms and conditions as to cancellation shall not apply insofar as they are incompatible with this clause.

If you order en primeur wines, until physical delivery is received by you, your interest in the wine will be contractual rather than proprietorial.

7. Your Warranties to Us

In placing an Order with us you warrant to us as follows:

You are over 18 and legally able to enter into an agreement with us and that the information you provide to us is honest/accurate.
You have read and understand these terms and conditions and understand that they are contractual terms that govern our relationship.

You have exercised your own skill and judgment in deciding what (and at what price) to order and/or sell (and at what price).
You understand that the value of vintage and/or investment wines can fall as well as rise.

You understand that we advise to hold any wines under bond for future sale, for a profit, for a minimum of 5-10 years.
You understand that no warranty is made by us as to likely profits, demand or quality.

8. Quality Control

Capital Vintners adheres strictly to a rigorous condition code regarding all wines. All our suppliers have been informed in writing that capsules and labels should be in good condition, and that ullage descriptions should adhere to base neck (or better). In the case of older wines, the colour should be deemed acceptable. If wines are corked or unsuitable for consumption, it will be at the discretion of Capital Vintners that replacements be made available, without obligation. We are diligent with regard to provenance and storage conditions, so problems of this nature rarely occur.

9. Delivery

Upon purchase, goods will be delivered to ‘Vine International c/o Liv-ex in your own private named account’, or a previously specified location, for storage. At this point in time, risk in the goods shall pass onto you. We will pay any freight, carriage, insurance and other costs of delivery from the supplier.

Any dates quoted for delivery of the goods into bond are approximate only and Capital Vintners will not be held liable for any delay in the delivery of goods, however caused. If wine is purchased en primeur, the UK delivery of each vintage is usually around June or July, however, exact delivery dates may be subject to change.

We recommend that you will inspect the Goods after delivery by contacting the warehouse as soon as it is reasonably practicable and that you will notify us of any shortages, defects in the goods or any other complaint in respect of them within 10 working days from the date of the rotation number being issued. Except in the case of shortages or defects, if the buyer fails to comply with this clause, Capital Vintners will not be held legally liable in respect of any other complaint which should have been brought to our attention within this period.

You should note that we are able to deliver to locations globally however please contact us for a delivery quote outside the UK.

10. Storage

We will store the goods on your behalf at ‘Vine International c/o Liv-ex in your own private named account’ and or Locke King Vaults unless otherwise specified by you. All goods are stored in a controlled environment suitable for storing wine. (LCB (VINE) c/o LIV-EX on behalf of Capital Vintners. Vine International a/c VININT c/o London City Bond 29-30 Berths Tilbury Docks, Tilbury, Essex, RM18 7EH) & (Locke King, c/o EHD London No.1 Bond Limited, Unit A, Vickers Drive North off Avro Way, Brooklands Industrial Park, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0YU). All goods will be stored in your own named account, under the management of Capital Vintners, under a rotation number or a unique ID number that will be provided to you on receipt of payment. Please note that this is in your ownership and not in an umbrella account. Your UID relates to your name and your account on the Vine International system. Capital Vintners have no ownership or rights to this stock purchased by you.

All customers wine is in their ownership in the relevant bonded warehouse and is accessible via Capital Vintners’ online portal for visual aid and or condition report requests. Stock reports of private accounts are sent out annually or upon request. These contain your unique ID information which is private to the customer.

For all new customers, we pay the remaining part of the first year’s storage and insurance costs, for the first case purchased only. Storage and insurance for any further cases will be priced at £16.50 plus VAT, per any unit stored. Our minimum term charge is for 1 year/case. Capital Vintners Ltd act as a storage provider and we reserve the right to impose late charges if storage invoices that are not paid for over 60 days from the date of the invoice. This charge will be 10% of the total amount outstanding for each recurring non paid month.

If an arrangement is made prior to purchase, you may choose to store your goods elsewhere. Capital Vintners will invoice you if you choose to move your goods elsewhere upon or after delivery of the Goods at Vine International and or Locke King Vaults.

We shall not be liable for any damage or loss whatsoever resulting from removal of Goods from the warehouse on your request.

To ensure a more efficient service, Capital Vintners will be imposing penalty fines on all deliveries failing to conform. We strictly require an official warehouse stock list to confirm the exact stock that is to be delivered at our chosen warehouses. Deliveries that have not been made according to our delivery requirements will be subject to penalty fines of £125 or £10 per unit- which-ever is greater.

11. Agency

You appoint us to be your agents for the purpose of purchase, storage and sale of the Goods.

12. Sale of goods

We guarantee to sell your goods for at least the value of the current trading price. If the goods have been held for a period of less than 24 months from the date of purchase, we will charge you 10% of the total sale price by the customer.

However, if the goods have been held for 24 months or more after the date of purchase, we will charge the customer 10% of the profit made on the sale.

We can also be appointed to sell stock on the Liv-Ex trading platform. We charge a fee of 7% of the total sale price for this service, (however, stock must meet the terms and conditions set by Liv-Ex). We can also make you a cash offer for any stock held by you.

As part of our terms of purchase, all units are liable for a condition check priced at £15 + VAT per unit.

13. Limitation of Liability

We will use all reasonable endeavours to carry out our obligations within a reasonable period of time but will not be liable to the customer for any loss, costs or expenses arising directly or indirectly from any delays in doing so and we will not be deemed to be in breach of this agreement by reason of any delay in performing, or any failure to perform, any of its obligations in relation to this agreement, if the delay or failure was due to any cause beyond our reasonable control.

14. Intellectual Property and Website

The copyright in the material contained in this website and any trademarks and brands included in that material belongs to Capital Vintners Ltd. You may not download or copy the content and other downloadable items displayed on the website, except for personal non-commercial purposes. Copying or storing the contents of the website for other than personal use is expressly prohibited.

We will attempt to ensure that all information displayed on our website is correct; however, we will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. We reserve the right to change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the website without notice or liability.

15. Cancellation

You may cancel your Order within seven days of placing it. The date of the Order is the first day except where the goods have been ordered by us from a third party. By placing an order you accept that our mutual dealings are speculative and subject to the financial wine market and therefore fall outside the Distance Selling Regulations.

16. Queries and Complaints

Any query or complaint with us by you should be raised in writing at the first opportunity and we will endeavour to resolve it in a fair, amicable and timely way. In the event that we cannot resolve the dispute between us then our dealings shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of England. In any dispute the law governing its resolution shall be that of the Courts of England and Wales.

17. Taxation

We recommend that the Buyer takes advice from a tax expert regarding Capital Gains Tax on disposal of vintage wines. For CGT purposes a wasting asset is one with 50 years or less of predictable life. It is advisable that you dispose of wasting asset within 50 years of acquiring it in order that it remains classified as a wasted asset. Further details of this can be found on the HMRC website.

18. Duty and VAT

We offer wines for sale under bond, as well as others that are duty paid. Those required for UK home use are subject to duty and VAT at the current rates, which are as follows:

19. VAT rate: 20%

Excise duty rate for wine: £22.80 per case of 12 bottles

Excise duty rate for Champagne: £29.16 per case of 12 bottles

Excise duty rate for Port: £30.36 per case of 12 bottles