It’s all about quality wines
VICTORIA Wines was an accidental birth – spawned initially in the early 90s by helping-out some business acquaintances at the old Suva Coop in Caernarvon St after liquidators had been appointed and were about to take over that business.
The staff had not been paid for many weeks and knew that they had little hope of payment from the liquidators.
We were running the Lucky Eddies nightspot and had started the first Bad Dog Café in what is now known as "O'Reilly's Corner" of Victoria Parade.
We had been good customers of theirs, purchasing wines and other liquors from them, so they rang me and asked if I would buy their stock for cash so they could be paid the wages owed to them before the liquidators arrived. I examined the stock, agreed a price, and removed the stock all on the same afternoon.
In a sign of the times the stock included over 100 four-liter glass casks of wine from Yalumba in the Barossa Valley, with descriptions such as Moselle, Burgundy, and Claret; we somehow managed to sell these and a range of wines that were genuinely from France, as well as from California, Australia, and New Zealand.
Yalumba is now one of our cornerstone agencies and has developed into an internationally renowned winery of the highest repute and bottles that cost up to $500!
Off-licences were strictly controlled 30 years ago, and we had to purchase a licence from a shop that was closing; we then carved a corner from The Bad Dog Café on Victoria Pde and Victoria Wines was born!
Fast forward to 2024 and we now have two shops in Suva and two in Nadi, with bonded warehouses and duty-paid warehouses in both areas, and all are insulated and air-conditioned 24/7 to ensure the quality and longevity of our wines.
We import from wines from nine different countries, and have since built up our spirits, RTDs and non-alcoholic portfolio.
Commitment towards a good understanding of wine and the other great product in our business is a touch stone for all our employees and on-going professional development in wine & spirits is available to all who join the team which is why we work with the New Zealand School of Wines & Spirits and Master of Wine, Jane Skilton to provide WSET (Wines & Spirits Education Trust) courses in Fiji for our employees as well as the hospitality industry.
As Fiji's only dedicated wine & spirits importer and distributer, we have developed our portfolio to ensure that both our visitors from abroad and our locals experience a great selection of quality beverages.
Our tagline "We love it, We drink it, We sell it" reflects our passion and enjoyment of great wine and our commitment towards sharing this with everyone in Fiji.
And…… we have really enjoyed the ride!