Who’s for a glass of Chateau London?
A group of intrepid wine makers have set up Britain’s first urban winery. The results? Absolutely capital!
Most of the wine we drink is produced in wineries somewhere gloriously rural and attached to vineyards where the grapes are grown.
It makes sense, of course. the grapes are in peak condition, no time is wasted moving them and there are no transportation costs.
Why on earth, then, has winemaker Gavin Monery set up a winery on a street in Earl’s Court, West London, miles from the nearest vineyard? this is what I was wondering as I set off to meet him at London Cru, the winery he dreamt up three years ago.
Just five minutes after meeting him, however, i t becomes clear that Gavin’s approach is (as I will discover) typically bullish: Why not?
He and his friend Adam Green were working together at long-established wine merchant Roberson Wines when they got onto the subject of their ambitions in the wine industry.
‘We agreed we wanted to do something, but the question was what,’ says 37-year- old Gavin. ‘ there were already a lot of wine merchants and wine bars . . .
‘But then we started talking about the rise of urban wineries elsewhere in the world. they’re popular in the U.s., and there are three in New York.
‘so we thought: “Let’s make wine in London. Why not?” ’
the premise behind urban wineries is simple: you have the grapes brought to you, rather than vice versa, which means you can make wine from all types of grapes from all sorts of places.
It’s a trend in the U.s., where wine l overs f l ock t o ci t y wineries at weekends for tastings, often with dinner at an on-site restaurant, before stocking up in the on-site shop. But it hadn’t been done here before.
Gavin had seen how grapes in Australia were regularly transported, unrefrigerated, for up to ten hours from vineyard to winery. so he knew that, with refrigerated lorries, it could be done, and London has ‘ all of Europe’s vineyards on its doorstep’.
‘But I wanted to do it better than anyone else,’ he says. ‘I wanted it to be about quality, ultimately, rather than quantity. I wanted to make the best.’
this is just as well, really, because the building housing his winery — a former Gilbey’s gin distillery dating back to 1878 — isn’t big enough for large-scale production.
A year later, London Cru’s first batch of four wines (a chardonnay, a syrah, a cabernet sauvignon and a barbera) were released under the sW6 label to rave reviews.
When the grapes arrive at London Cru, those destined to make white wine are hand sorted and pressed in whole bunches in a hydraulic basket press. they’re then left for up to 24 hours before the juice is transferred to French oak barrels to ferment.
Yeast is then added, which converts the sugar in the grape juice to alcohol. this is called primary fermentation.
Following a second fermentation, in which the tart-tasting malic acid is converted into softer lactic acid, the wine is left to age in barrels for eight months.
Grapes for red wine are hand sorted and then spun in the destemming machine to detach the grapes from their stems, before being transferred into the fermenter — an open-topped tank where grapes and juice macer-
ate, bringing the colour out of the skins. Maceration lasts up to 20 days, during which time the flavour is checked every day. When the wine is judged ready, it is transferred to French oak barrels for secondary fermentation, after which it is aged for up to 12 months. A quirk of making wine this side of the Channel, with grapes grown elsewhere, is that you’re not allowed to put the vintage and grape variety on the labels (though they can for wines made with English grapes). they are labelled the rather unglam orous ‘European Community Wine’. But don’t let that put you off. Marks & spencer was so impressed it asked Gavin to work with their in- house winemakers to blend a bespoke red, the result of which is the Spirit of London Cru (£16), a vibrant medium-bodied red you’ll find on the shelves now. In early June, Gavin will release his next batch of wines: abacchus, made using grapes from Kent’s Sand hurst Vineyard, and a chardonnay from Roussillon in the south of France. In september, he’ll release his reds: a barbera from Italy’s Piedmont, a syrah and a grenache from Spain’s Calatayud, and a cabernet sauvignon from Languedoc.
having had such a good reception to hi s first vintage, Gavin has no i ntention of resting on his laurels.
‘It’s so hard to talk about wine without sounding pompous, but I want London Cru ( londoncru.co.uk) to become a destination for wine lovers who can come and learn about wine in an unpretentious way.
‘Along the way, I want us to make wines that are the equal of anything produced anywhere in the world.’
In fact, Gavin’s success with London Cru comes as the English wine industry is going from strength to strength, with sparkling leading the way. Producers Nyetimber and Ridgeview, based in Sussex, have garnered top awards for their fizz.
But the still wines are catching up, says M&S winemaker Elizabeth Kelly. ‘There has been a huge improvement in the quality of English still wine as we’ve become more experienced and better at making it,’ she says.
‘ We have some f antastic grape varieties, such as bacchus, our signature white grape, which produces delicious aromatic whites in a style similar to sauvignon blanc.’
Julia Trustram Eve, marketing director of industry body English Wine Producers, agrees.
‘English still wine has developed a classic style of its own: light, crisp, aromatic and fresh,’ she says.
‘It’s a very clean style that suits this time of year.
‘The wine produced in this country goes beautifully with our seasonal produce. Asparagus, f or example, really suits white wine made with the bacchus grape, which is German in origin, but has really found its home in England.
‘English still wine is clean, delicate and subtle — a style that also suits English rosé, of which there are some fantastic examples.’
And Elizabeth says that despite our chilly climate, we’re getting better at making quality reds, too.
‘It can be tricky to grow red grapes in this country, but thanks to increased expertise from top producers such as Bolney Estate, and some lovely warm summers over the past couple of years, we’ve been able to make some superb English red wines, such as our Linter’s Red from Bolney.’
M&S and Majestic all have good selections of English wines, as does Waitrose’s specialist wine and spirits website ( waitrosecellar.com), which has a wider selection available for home delivery than you are likely to find in your local Waitrose branch.
Julia says: ‘M&S, Majestic and Waitrose are three big and serious retailers, so i t’s great to have so much support from them and help in getting the best English wine we produce out to the widest possible audience.’
These are some of the best still wines out there:
Chapel Down Flint Dry English White Wine, £9.99 for 75cl, Waitrose: This steely dry white from a vineyard near Tenterden, Kent, would be a perfect match for seafood.
Somborne Valley Estate Rosé, £10.49 for 75cl, selected Waitrose or waitrose cellar.com: Given our cooler climate, English rosés are always going to be dry and elegant rather than fruity. This version is made from Rondo grapes grown in hampshire’s Test Valley and is a gentle pale pink. Perfect as an aperitif.
Chapel Down Bacchus 2013, £11.99 for 75cl, Majestic: Remember the lovely hot summer of 2013? This is made from the grapes that basked in all that sun. Bacchus is a Germanic grape in origin, but has found its home here, making crisp and elegant English white wines.
English Lily 2014, £10 for 75cl, M&S: Created by M&S winemaker Sue daniels at denbies Wine Estate i n Surrey’s North downs, this is a refreshingly dry white that goes well with smoked salmon or mildly spiced Asian dishes.
Bolney Estate Linter’s Red 2012, £13 for 75cl, M&S: Bolney Estate is a boutique winery in East Sussex run by the charmingly no- nonsense Sam Linter. Sam is one of very few wine producers in England to make red wine. M&S picked this one for its rich fruit flavours.