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Laithwaites Wine
Laithwaites is a British mail-order and online wine distributor and wine retailer based in Theale, England. It is a part of Direct Wines Ltd. History Laithwaites was founded as Bordeaux Direct in 1969 by Tony Laithwaite. In 1970 he hired Barbara Anne Hynds as seasonal help; the two eventually married. A 1973 partnership with the Sunday Times Wine Club, which Wine anorak called their "big break," expanded the customer base through mail-order wine distribution. In the 1980s, Laithwaites broadened its wine sourcing to include other European countries and regions like Australia and the United States. This expansion later included the acquisition of Lionstone International in the United States. During this period Tony Laithwaite also initiated the concept of ‘flying winemakers’, which encourage winemakers from New World regions like Australia to work in European vineyards during the off-season. In 2000 the company rebranded as Laithwaites Wine. Barbara Laithwaite estab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theale
Theale () is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England. It is southwest of Reading and 10 miles (16 km) east of Thatcham. The compact parish is bounded to the south and south-east by the Kennet & Avon Canal (which here incorporates the River Kennet), to the north by a golf course, to the east by the M4 motorway and to the west by the A340 road. Toponymy The name is thought to come from the Old English ''þelu'' meaning planks. As with the village of Theale in Somerset, this probably refers to planks used to create causeways on marshes or flood plains. A local legend suggests the name Theale refers to the village's coaching inns, and its position as the first staging post on the Bath Road out of Reading – literally calling the village The ale. History Romans The old significance of the position of Theale is that it lay at the junction of two ancient natural routes, one following the Kennet Valley from east to west and another which exploited the valley o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
