The shop was expected to close in mid-February, making one permanent staff member and some part-time staff redundant, major shareholder Chris Staynes said.
"It's sad. I've held on as long as I could," he said yesterday.
The news was broken to customers in an emailed newsletter on Tuesday explaining the prime reason for its closure was the financial climate during the past year which had "a significant impact on our business".
Aligned with that was the "heightened competition" during the past three years from supermarkets, which were able to retail wine at less than the trade price Munslows received, he said.
"[It] has seen a large number of even our most loyal customers desert us for the cheap fix there . . . We sadly cannot survive on goodwill and good intentions."
Part of Munslows' service was to provide good advice, wine appreciation and tastings which required a margin on the product, Mr Staynes said.
"It's unfortunate. I'll miss it. I got a lot of good advice from the guys in there."
It was another example of a small business not being able to compete with big organisations which had such great buying power, he said.
