Cookies Policy

Necessary storage

We use a small amount of browser storage that is strictly necessary for the site to work. This includes keeping track of items in your basket, remembering that you are signed in, and storing the cookie choices you make. These cannot be switched off because the site cannot function without them. They do not track you across other websites.

Site statistics

We keep our own anonymous statistics about how the site is used: how many visits we get, which pages and wines are looked at, what people search for, and how far they get through checkout. This is what tells us which wines to stock more of and where the site needs work.

These statistics are collected with PostHog, in our own account hosted in the EU. They are first-party: nobody else gets them, they are never used for advertising, and they do not build a profile of you. The only thing kept in your browser is a random tab identifier, stored for the current tab and gone when you close it, so we cannot recognise you when you come back and we do not try to. No session recordings are made.

Because this is plain counting rather than tracking, it runs by default under the statistical purposes exemption in the UK Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. You can switch it off at any time: choose Customise when the cookie notice first appears, or open Cookie settings in the footer, and turn off Site statistics. From then on we keep nothing about your visit except a note of your choice.

Analytics and advertising

This category only runs if you accept it. When you do, we use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the site, including which pages are viewed, roughly where visitors are located (by country, from an anonymised IP address), and what devices or browsers they use.

PostHog also moves up a gear: it can record session replays of how pages are used, so we can see where the shopping experience goes wrong. Anything you type, such as your email address or delivery details, is masked in these recordings. Card details are entered directly inside Stripe and are never visible to PostHog. If you have an account and place an order, your order can be linked to your browsing so we can understand what led to it.

We also use Google Ads to measure how well our advertising works (for example, understanding which advert led to a purchase) and to show you relevant Taste of the Vines adverts on other websites. Your card and personal details are never shared for this purpose.

Accepting this category sets cookies that recognise your browser on your next visit. If you do not accept it, no advertising cookies are set, no replays are recorded, and Google Analytics and Google Ads run in a restricted, cookieless mode.

Your choices

When you first visit the site, a notice offers three choices with equal weight. Accept all turns on site statistics and analytics and advertising. Reject all turns off everything that needs your consent: no session recordings, no Google Analytics cookies and no advertising cookies. Our own anonymous site statistics stay on unless you switch them off under Customise. Customise lets you set each category yourself. Analytics and advertising includes site statistics, so turning it on turns site statistics on with it. You can keep site statistics on by themselves, but not the other way round.

You can change your mind at any time using the Cookie settings link in the site footer, which reopens the same choices with your current settings filled in.

You can also clear cookies and site data through your browser settings. Doing so will reset your choices and you will be asked again on your next visit.

Questions

If you have any questions about our use of cookies, email us at info@tasteofthevines.co.uk.