My cousin Guy Butterwick set up Claret-e in London in 1999 after more than a decade in the wine trade. Claret-e Singapore is run by me, Toby Butterwick, along with my colleague Justin Eeles, who manages deliveries.

Our approach isn’t unique, but it works: get as close to the source as possible, run a tight operation, and pass the savings to our customers. We don’t broker wine we don’t own — everything on our list is our own stock or that of our customers. We don’t stock anything we haven’t tasted ourselves. Both countries sell based on the same price.

Back in 2014 I felt that Burgundy was under-represented — all the big names but not enough of the vast talent and quality of Burgundy available — and over-priced. There was an opportunity to introduce wine lovers to brilliant, under-the-radar domaines and charge a sensible amount of money. That still holds true today.

While Guy is the real pro, having been in the wine trade for over 30 years, I am more of a gifted amateur — at least when it comes to Burgundy. I have spent over 20 years in the marketing communications industry and bring a wealth of experience in marketing, sales and customer service.

But that experience doesn’t mean expensive glossy lists or bragging about turnover. We don’t post stories about rare, expensive tastings — because you end up paying for that.

What we do is find lovely wine at the right price, and look after the people who buy it with a highly personalised, somewhat low-tech approach to customer service. We send out an offer about every two weeks and deal personally with customers by email, phone and WhatsApp — we don’t sell on the website. Judging by the referrals we get, people seem to like it.

We run tastings once or twice a year, which are without doubt social events of the calendar not to be missed. We also run corporate tasting events, which are a great way for leaders to build client relationships in a convivial setting; society dinners; and even personal dinners for customers and their friends. Toby and Guy give electrifying talks about the wines and don’t even charge for their insights and expertise.

Toby Butterwick