{"id":41088,"date":"2025-09-08T14:00:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/?p=41088"},"modified":"2026-01-11T14:15:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T13:15:02","slug":"oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/","title":{"rendered":"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oliver Dixon<\/strong> could have easily ended up in France. He studied in Caen as part of an exchange programme with his university, and waited tables in Lyon. After university, he was, by his own admission, looking for an escape route out of the UK, convinced that the world was bigger than what his native land had to offer. France would turn out to just be the first step away.<\/p>\n

Despite his interest in beer, wine, and spirits, his first post-university work experience was a six-month stint for a small office carpeting business in Dubai, a city where his father had worked in oil in the 1980s. Back home, he joined Majestic and then Laithwaite\u2019s, both classic training grounds for the British wine trade, but when he heard of an opportunity with Maritime and Mercantile International (MMI), he realised that wine buying and living abroad was exactly what he wanted to do. He applied, got the offer, and took the job for the potential to grow even, as he puts it, \u201cbeing at the time bitterly disappointed with the salary on offer.\u201d<\/em>. That was 23 years ago.<\/p>\n

MMI<\/strong> is now the No. 1 alcohol distributor in the UAE and Oman, supplying the local on and off trade, airlines, and duty-free retailers such as Duty-Free Dubai Ports. MMI launched its fine wine retail brand, Le Clos, back in 2008. From one duty-free shop in departures at Dubai airport, they\u2019ve now got ten shops in the airport, and have expanded into the domestic market with two duty paid stores. MMI also owns and operates a growing number of MMI branded retail stores, which is projected to reach 30 this year.
\nThe Le Clos shops are not just about selling wine and spirits either, they are also a hub for access to different fine wine experiences: dinners, master classes, tastings.<\/p>\n

MMI also has retail presence in other emirates. They run the Spinney business up in Abu Dhabi and have expanded through joint ventures with local partners to The Maldives, Zanzibar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Singapore, many of those under the MMI brand.<\/p>\n

Dubai was not an obvious place to pick for a career in wine in 2002. There was no real wine market there when Dixon arrived. But there was only one way it could go and that’s up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you were vaguely intelligent, you could see what was going to happen. And if you were patient, then you knew it was going to develop into something big,<\/em>\u201d he recalled. \u201cThe pace of change in the first years was just incredible. Within six years, Palm Island had opened, within seven years, Dubai had the tallest building in the world. These were markers of things to come. It was clear there was going to be a lot more demand for wine and things would change for the better.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Post-Covid boom<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

The beginnings were difficult though. Restaurants\u2019 F&B managers with massive restaurant portfolios had no interest in wine except for house wine and a couple of wines by the glass. When Dixon was asked to develop fine wine for MMI in 2010, the fine wine market was tiny. But it took off quickly and grew exponentially in the last 15 years, accelerating even faster post-Covid.
\nThe Telegraph reported in May 2025 that sales of alcohol in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Oman have nearly doubled in value since the pandemic and are on course to reach more than $1bn (\u00a3742m) a year. It may have something to do with the reported 5,000 millionaires moving to Dubai every year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe revenue from fine wine for MMI is now two and a half times what it was pre Covid,\u201d Dixon confirms. \u201cThe development of Dubai continues apace and hasn\u2019t stopped since the \u201890s. There are still cranes everywhere. Dubai does infrastructure very well, because it started from scratch and it’s all owned effectively by one family, so it can go at pace. Also, they found the luxury space, decided that they were good at it and visitors liked what they did, so they’ve continued with that rather than going down the value route.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dixon notes that there’s just a lot of luxury in Dubai. The development over the past five years has been phenomenal in the independent restaurants scene, brands like Sexy Fish coming in, J1 Beach with about 15 beach clubs all next to each other and the big groups like Paris Society, B\u00e2oli, CHI Hospitality, The Paris Society and, Gaia. \u201cThey attract new types of customers and now Dubai is one of these places on the circuit along with Ibiza and Santorini where rich people flock to every year. And it’s very easy to get to. 80% of the world’s population lives within seven or eight hours of Dubai.\u201d<\/p>\n

This same concept of luxury applies to the Emirates airline, the celebrated wine programme that Dixon took over at the same time as MMI\u2019s fine wine category because of the obvious synergies between the two. \u201cI’ve got a lot of respect for the way the Emirates president, Sir Tim Clark, sees luxury,\u201d Dixon says. \u201cHe wants to offer luxury and sell it at a luxury price, but it\u2019s not an empty promise. Everything is luxury on board Emirates including the wine programme. Because Emirates is conceived for an elite class which wants to travel extremely well.<\/p>\n

With some other airlines, they fall into the trap of seeing products as cost centres, that they keep chipping away every year in the name of efficiency. And if they really don’t understand the product and the market, they\u2019re just going to make poor decisions. And that’s where the Emirates team is very good. The president tastes regularly and he knows the quality of the wines that have been on board over the years. He wants to maintain that quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no doubt that Dixon loves his job and the company he works for. When asked what he likes best about it, he says diversity and interacting with like-minded people. Because, as he puts it, \u201cEven though I’ve got a pretty good grasp of what goes on in the wine industry, I am always learning. New vintages bring new challenges; new challenges bring innovation. And the wine world is getting ever more sophisticated. I think it’s an incredible industry.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Strategy and range<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Wine is an expensive commodity in Dubai, if you\u2019re not lucky enough to fly at the front of the cabin in an Emirates plane. To the landed cost of the wine is added 50% import duty plus distributor and\/or retailer margin and then there’s the 30% sales tax and 5% VAT.<\/p>\n

When it comes to his airlines remit \u2014 MMI has managed Etihad from 2016 and Cathay Pacific for a 5 year-term that concluded in 2022 \u2014 Dixon can take over the buying role and even have a member of staff working in the offices of the airline to facilitate the onboarding of the wine range, sorting out the tasting notes, the menu and website visuals, etc\u2026or simply supplying the odd wine. He has a clear preference though.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’ll set the strategy with the client and the framework of how the range should look,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ll give us the budget, and we’ll break it down. From that, we’re able to go out and buy, depending on how long we want the listing to be, whether it be a couple of months, six months, a year. The selection process changes depending on how involved the client wants to be.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dixon says Emirates like to remain very classic in their structure and selection. \u201cThey like to appeal to a wide audience with very safe choices, but offer very high quality, recognised wines, whether that’s the appellation or the producer or both. Other airlines like to be a bit more experimental. Both can work, it all depends on the size of the airline, its finances and its approach to product quality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emirates, for example, buys all its own wines and keeps its own stock, much of it in France, waiting for the wines to reach their optimal drinking window. Bordeaux will be on board from 10 years after harvest. It’s long-term thinking and planning in a highly specific way. Some of the 2022 Bordeaux are scheduled to come on board in the mid to late 2030s, and some of the top ones as late as in the 2040s. Around 20 years would be about the longest Emirates keeps wines in stock.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think by and large, we make pretty good decisions. I\u2019m lucky to be in Bordeaux quite often and to taste many wines there, monitoring their evolution,\u201d he notes. \u201cYes, we do pull wines out the cellar, take a look at them and think, what’s the 24-month outlook for the cellar wines? You’ve got to imagine a wine in a slightly different setting but wines on board shouldn\u2019t necessarily be completely different from wines that you drink at home because differences aren\u2019t that great anymore.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Dixon explains that in the 1970s and earlier, the airplane wine-drinking experience was affected by the conditions. \u201cModern planes like the A380 have such advanced technology that engineers say that cabin pressure in the aircraft is like that of an alpine ski resort,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there aren’t many people who call over the sommelier in a restaurant in the Alps saying, I’d like something a little bit fruity and light on the tannins because of the altitude.\u201d Mouton Rothschild 2004 is on board Emirates currently. Chateau Palmer 2005 just went on board.<\/p>\n

Port lessons<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Despite dealing with the world\u2019s top wines on an almost daily basis and, more crucially, dealing with 450 suppliers with a tight team of himself, one buyer, and one category manager, Dixon says that the door is always open for new suppliers. He still had to deactivate his email notifications at the beginning of our Teams meeting as his eyes kept being drawn to the bottom of the screen at an alarming rate. He admits his inbox is always bursting at the seams.<\/p>\n

When asked to recount specific achievements he\u2019s proudest of, there is a long pause. Eventually, Dixon remembers something he did early on, that he is cautious to describe not as a monumental shift, but as a repositioning of the way the airline looked at Port. \u201cEmirates was serving vintage ports on board, which was challenging because we were getting complaints about deposits. And then in 2012 we bought a parcel of 3,600 half bottles of 1969 Colheitas from Graham. People couldn’t believe it. A 40-year-old vintage wine on board an airline. It was great value and yet it made such an impression.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Another example is white Bordeaux. \u201cIf there’s a bit of brand recognition, even if it’s not a classic white wine producer, people really go for it. We were very early adopters of La Clart\u00e9 de Haut Brion. We also worked with Y d\u2019Yquem which at that stage still had a bit of residual sugar which works well on board.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recalls back in the early days, using quarter bottles in economy class. \u201cInstead of having the innocuous, every sort of basic quality VDP Chardonnay and Merlot, I went out and found a parcel of Pouilly-Fum\u00e9. The best is really for the premium cabins, but we put this parcel on board, and it was very successful because people love a good Sauvignon Blanc, especially in economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the author<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Anne Burchett DipWSET<\/strong> is a wine marketing and communications specialist, an expert with the European Research Executive Agency (REA), a wine judge (IWC and Decanter), a writer and a lecturer on the business of wine. She has worked in the wine business for more than 35 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oliver Dixon could have easily ended up in France. He studied in Caen as part of an exchange programme with his university, and waited tables in Lyon. After university, he was, by his own admission, looking for (\u2026)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":40994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","format-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oliver Dixon could have easily ended up in France. He studied in Caen as part of an exchange programme with his university, and waited tables in Lyon. After university, he was, by his own admission, looking for (\u2026)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vinexposium\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-09-08T12:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-11T13:15:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"726\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"396\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Julien Likiliki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Julien Likiliki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/\",\"name\":\"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-09-08T12:00:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-11T13:15:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8a395f58bccb6869e796034aac7d3c2d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg\",\"width\":726,\"height\":396,\"caption\":\"Portrait of Olivier DIXON, Category Manager for Emirate (MMI)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Vinexposium\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium","og_description":"Oliver Dixon could have easily ended up in France. He studied in Caen as part of an exchange programme with his university, and waited tables in Lyon. After university, he was, by his own admission, looking for (\u2026)","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/","og_site_name":"Vinexposium","article_published_time":"2025-09-08T12:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-11T13:15:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":726,"height":396,"url":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Julien Likiliki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Julien Likiliki","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/","name":"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar – Vinexposium","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg","datePublished":"2025-09-08T12:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-11T13:15:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/8a395f58bccb6869e796034aac7d3c2d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oliver-Dixon-Oliver-Dixon_716x390.jpg","width":726,"height":396,"caption":"Portrait of Olivier DIXON, Category Manager for Emirate (MMI)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/actus\/industry\/oliver-dixon-meet-the-man-behind-the-emirates-high-flying-cellar\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Oliver Dixon, Meet The Man Behind The Emirates\u2019 High-Flying Cellar"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/","name":"Vinexposium","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41088"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41088\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41095,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41088\/revisions\/41095"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vinexposium.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}