The Spanish food and wine specialist Ultracomida is to open its second Spanish Wines Direct retail warehouse in July.

The new 6,900 sq ft store will be in Cardiff and follows the opening of a 4,500 sq ft location in Aberystwyth last year [pictured].

The company, founded in 2001, also operates Ultracomida delis in Aberystwyth and Narberth, Pembrokeshire, and the Curado and Vermut bars in Cardiff.

The new Spanish Wines Direct site, on Cardiff’s Penarth Road, will stock over 500 Spanish wines, with a focus on smaller producers, indigenous grapes and under-the-radar regions.

There will be a small bar area for tasting sessions for small groups and to give customers the chance to try wines before they buy. It will also sell deli items to take away.

Co-founders Paul Grimwood and Shumana Palit said they had decided to step up their wine retail business and launched a wine subscription service since the pandemic began.

Grimwood said: “We saw our online wine sales increase by more than 50% during the pandemic, as people looked to drink better and more interesting wines at home.

“This gave us the push to open our Aberystwyth warehouse, which has since gone from strength to strength.

“We’re hoping to emulate that success in Cardiff and increase the storage capacity for our online sales.”

Palit added: “We import so much directly from the producers, which allows us to offer a more varied range than anyone else.

“We have used the last couple of years to focus on wines from under the radar regions in Spain – think Montilla-Moriles, Valencia, Catalunya.

“We’ve deepened our connections to winemakers who have challenged themselves to look for new ways of reviving traditional grapes, and of using low intervention and more sustainable methods of farming.”