One year into its U.S. expansion, Berry Bros. & Rudd has formalized its American private-client business with a tiered membership model that requires collectors to spend or place on account between $15,000 and $100,000 annually to unlock escalating access to rare allocations, producer experiences, and personalized advisory services.
The program, called House of 1698, launches globally today across three levels: Green at $15,000, Gold at $50,000, and Black at $100,000 per year. Qualification is based either on purchases made over the preceding twelve months or by depositing the threshold amount as credit toward future purchases and experiences with Berry Bros. & Rudd's U.S. operation. The structure mirrors demand-side segmentation strategies increasingly common in the luxury beverage sector, where merchants and négociants are formalizing what were previously informal relationships with top-tier buyers.
The U.S. Opportunity
Berry Bros. & Rudd opened its Washington, D.C. shop in November 2025, its first U.S. physical presence, and has since built private-client teams in New York, Miami, and Houston. The merchant — which holds a Royal Warrant from His Majesty the King and has traded continuously from No. 3 St James's Street in London since its 1698 founding — entered the U.S. market under the leadership of Jamie Ritchie, formerly Global Chairman of Wine & Spirits at Sotheby's, who also oversees the firm's fine wine auction business launched in 2024. In the year since opening, the Washington office has hosted masterclasses, winemaker dinners, and a Paulée-style collector dinner. "Our first year in Washington, D.C. has given us a close view of how American wine enthusiasts want to engage with wine today," said Claudia Chamberlain, Head of U.S. at Berry Bros. & Rudd. "They want to meet the people who make the wines, visit the places they come from and share them with others who love wine as much as they do."
Why the Model Matters
The spend-based structure is a notable departure from traditional invitation-only private client relationships and reflects a broader shift in the fine wine and spirits trade toward transparent, codified access tiers. By anchoring membership to verifiable annual spend rather than subjective relationship status, Berry Bros. & Rudd is effectively monetizing its allocation pipeline — channeling scarce bottles from its producer network toward clients who have financially committed to the platform. At the Black level, the $100,000 threshold positions the program squarely against competing offerings from auction houses, négociants, and specialist importers courting the same cohort of high-net-worth American collectors.
Chair Lizzy Rudd framed the launch as an evolution of a model the merchant has practiced informally for centuries. "For generations, our role has extended beyond helping our clients acquire exceptional bottles," she said. "It is about understanding their tastes, introducing them to new discoveries, and bringing them closer to the people and places behind the wines and spirits."
Leadership and Trajectory
The program launch follows the appointment this summer of Emily Rae and Rob Symington as Co-CEOs of Berry Bros. & Rudd, signaling a structured governance transition at the family-owned firm. The simultaneous global rollout of House of 1698 — with locally tailored benefits in each region — suggests the Co-CEO team is moving quickly to standardize the private-client model across the merchant's presence in the UK, U.S., and Asia. For American operators and retailers tracking the premium end of the beverage market, the program represents a data point on where collector spending is being directed: away from transactional retail and toward curated, relationship-driven platforms with a demonstrable access premium.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
