Tanners Wines

Independent family shippers of estate wines. Established 1842.

Thomas Southam & Son , founded at Wyle Cop in 1842 and having an excellent reputation as wine merchants, was taken over by Tanners in 1936. For some years the two businesses were run separately but, when Tanners’ cellars were requisitioned during the war as air raid shelters, both businesses were amalgamated at Wyle Cop. The firm traded as Tanner & Southam until 1960, when the name Southam was dropped to eliminate confusion with Southam’s Brewery, then still trading.

In 1978 Tanners acquired the Hereford wine merchants,  William Pulling & Co , together with their bonded warehouse and the old Hereford Distillery. As wine merchants and distillers in Hereford, Pulling’s dated from 1813 and has been in the present premises since 1917, but its origins date from 1760 when George Pulling, a Devon cider merchant, leased five ‘cyderhouses’ in Ledbury. At one point Pulling’s had branches in Cardiff, Ross-on-Wye and Ludlow, the latter trading as Keysell & Co, founded in1780.

In 2001 Tanners opened a new distribution depot at Welshpool, leaving the Old Brewery in Brook Street, Welshpool after almost 90 years. Transport and warehousing operations were moved out of Shrewsbury, thereby allowing us to refurbish our historic premises on Wyle Cop, Shrewsbury, and to extend the Cellars Shop and offices. In 2005 Tanners purchased Terry Platt Wine Merchants in Llandudno, North Wales. Many times IWC Welsh Wine Merchant of the Year, Platts was founded in 1964. This brings the number of years trading for the six old companies that make up the present day Tanners ‘group’ to 991 years in total! Of course such experience is only of use if it translates into better services and better wines.