Independent wine retailer WineTime is set to close in just over a month
Jon Atkinson, manager of WineTime(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Popular independent wine retailer WineTime is set to close in just over a month due to a “combination of factors,” including the Great Howard Street shop’s “proximity to Everton’s new stadium”, according to its manager Jon Atkinson. Jon, who has been in the wine trade since 1983, announced the news in an email to WineTime customers.
It reads: “I’m sorry to have to announce that WineTime will cease trading as of 6pm on Saturday 6th September 2025. This is not an easy decision, and it has certainly not been taken lightly, but a combination of factors driven mainly by our proximity to Everton’s new stadium coinciding with our lease coming up for renewal have brought things to a head.
“Inevitably, I feel conflicted about not being able to supply our wonderful customers beyond this date, but would encourage you to support a local independent merchant such as R & H Fine Wines in the city centre/Allerton Road, or Portland Wines in Southport going forward.
“From a more personal perspective, I’ve been in the wine trade since 1983 and have enjoyed my time enormously but am now looking forward to spending more time with my wife Diana, who took early retirement nearly 14 months ago now, and the dogs, of course!”
WineTime, which opened in 2010, imports wine from all corners of the globe and is trusted by its loyal following, all of whom look to Jon for all things wine. According to its website, WineTime “focuses on offering exceptional wines at a great value – perfect for those bored with the uninspiring wines you find in most supermarkets” – and its location on Great Howard Street makes it a convenient stop for those living in North Liverpool and Sefton who feel like grabbing a bottle after work.
WineTime: Liverpool’s Independent Wine Merchant on Great Howard Street(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Jon previously told the ECHO about how he got into the wine trade “kind of by accident” back in the 1980s. He said: “I wasn’t too great at school and wasted too much time doing A-levels with the theoretical aim of going to university – which wasn’t going to happen.
“It was a friend of my father’s – who wasn’t in the wine trade but a peripheral industry – who basically said: ‘send him over to me’.
“[My father’s friend’s business] wasn’t really a wine business but more sort of contract bottling and packaging – we used to do our own label spirits, particularly for supermarkets and other distributors. There was a little bit of a wine trade on the side but it was arguably more for the directors of the company rather than to be sold to the general public. I wouldn’t say that I was massively enthusiastic initially but I warmed to it.
“On the plus side, the company put me through my wine exams. My appreciation and understanding of wine definitely improved from there. I’d always had a bit of an interest in it, going back to when I was a kid, when it was the preferred drink of my parents at home, and although there was a considerably more limited choice back then than now, they did manage to find a few places which had some variety. I guess I grew up alongside wine and so was comfortable around it from the start.
“Having done the exams and familiarised myself working alongside wine – with the benefit of a few trips abroad to wine regions as well – that all enhanced the understanding and love of it really.”
Explaining that love, he said: “With wine, you drink just the right amount of liquid relative to the level of inebriation. So, with spirits, you’re not drinking very much but you get too drunk and beer goes the other way, making you feel uncomfortable and bloated. Wine’s just right in terms of making you feel gently inebriated but not uncomfortable from the volume of liquid.
“And mainly, I find wines a more complex, more challenging and more stimulating wealth of flavours. They change in the bottle, they evolve over time: one vintage can be quite contrasting to the following vintage. There is so much diversity out there where wine is concerned and so many subtle variations which make it, for me, absolutely fascinating!
“I love my job and consider myself quite lucky in that I work with a product that people can get enthusiastic about.”
WineTime can be found at: 209 Great Howard Street, Liverpool L5 9ZH. It is currently closed temporarily until August 5 but will reopen from then until September 6.