WINE

El Vino

El Vino was founded in 1879 by Sir Alfred Bower.¹ In 1923 the business acquired its Fleet Street premises. The wine bar was the haunt of generations of journalists and lawyers. It has a reputation for being fussy about dress and it used to be awkward about serving women. In 1982 the Court of Appeal made the firm accept that women, if they so chose, could stand at its bar and be served there.

Location: 47 Fleet Street, EC4Y 1BJ (orange, pink)

Website: www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/el-vino-fleet-street

¹. In 1925 Bower served as the Lord Mayor of the City of London.

Free Vintners

The Davy family established themselves in London's wine trade. In the early 1960s John Davy sought to expand the family business into operating wine bars. He found that his applications to open a wine bar were repeatedly turned down by the licensing magistrates. Finally, he used his membership of the Vintner's Company for a free vintner's licence . This enabled him to sell wine, and only wine, as a sole trader within the City of London and along the routes from the ports through which wine was imported. In 1964 the Davies opened The Boot & Flogger.

Location: The Boot & Flogger, 10-20 Redcross Way, SE1 1TA

Website: www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/boot-and-flogger www.vintnershall.co.uk

The Government Wine Cellar

In 2007 the government's hospitality wine cellar was kept beneath Lancaster House.

Location: Stable Yard Road, SW1A 1BB (orange, yellow)

Website: www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-wine-cellar www.gov.uk/government/history/lancaster-house

King Henry VIII's Wine Cellar

During the 1950s the site above King Henry VIII's wine cellars was redeveloped. As part of the process, their remains were lowered several yards in order that the new buildings foundations could be put in place over it.

Location: The Ministry of Defence, Whitehall, SW1A 2EU (purple, brown)

The Language of Wine

The British describe wine in reference to foods and drinks that are freely available. However, in other parts of Anglophone world a term such as blackberry can be mystifying initially.

See Also: LANGUAGE & SLANG

Noble Rot

Noble Rot is a business that specialises in sourcing unusual, many of them made by small and micro vineyards. It publishes a magazine and has a restaurant, wine shop and wholesale business.

Location: 2 Greek Street, W1D 4NB (purple, blue)

51 Lamb s Conduit Street, WC1N 3NB (purple, pink)

5 Trebeck Street, W1J 7LT (red, purple)

Website: https://noblerot.co.uk

Supermarket Wine

In 2008 it was reported that Britain's supermarket wine sales had declined for the first time in decades. At the time Britons were annually spending 4.8bn on wine, 3.3bn on beer, and 3bn on spirits.

The Temple of Bacchus

In the 3^rdC a temple to Mithras was built on the banks of the Walbrook. In the early 4^thC the building was rededicated to the Roman deity Bacchus, whose divine portfolio was centred upon wine.

Location: 12 Walbrook, EC4N 8AA (blue, grey)

Vineyards

There was a time when there were vineyards in London. Vine Hill in Clerkenwell takes its name from one that had been attached to the Bishops of Ely's London townhouse. Grape Street is on the site of a vineyard that belonged to the Hospital of St Giles.

Location: Grape Street, WC2H 8DY (red, turquoise)

Vine Hill, EC1R 5DX (blue, orange)

Vinopolis

Vinopolis was a wine-centred visitor attraction. It opened in 1999. The 2.5-acre site was located beneath the arches that support a railway viaduct that had been built in 1866. It closed in 2015

Location: 1 Bank End, SE1 9BU

Website: https://vinopolis.co.uk

Wine Merchants

In Britain it is possible to drink with ease a broader range of wines than in most other countries. This is because of the small size of domestic production.¹ Wine merchants import wine from across the world.

¹. Production is located principally in the south-eastern English counties of Kent and Sussex.

Berry Brothers & Rudd

The wine merchants Berry Brothers & Rudd has a bow-fronted premises. The business was founded in 1698 as a grocery by a Mrs Bourne. An arrangement was instituted whereby, at any one time, only one member of the Berry family and one member of the Rudd dynasty could work within the business.

Berry Brothers & Rudd has been at No. 3 since 1731.

In 2022 it was reported that Berry Brothers & Rudd had become the first U.K.-based wine merchant business to employ an authenticator. This was done in order the possibility of it or its customers purchasing counterfeit wine.

Location: 3 St James's Street, SW1A 1EG (orange, red)

Website: www.bbr.com

Class Act

Anthony Berry stepped down as the Chairman of Berry Bros & Rudd in 1985. He retired to Bath but continued to sit on the firm's board. He was a man who was noted for his punctuality. For his first post-retirement board meeting he turned up an hour late. He had caught a train up to Paddington Railway Station. There, he had entered the adjoining Underground station. He had then waited for over an hour on one of its platforms. This had been because none of the Tube trains that had stopped there had had a carriage that had had a first-class compartment. In the end, he had used an ordinary one.

Location: Paddington Underground Station, Praed Street, W2 1RH (red, pink)

See Also: CLASS

Justerini & Brooks

The wine merchanting business Justerini & Brooks was founded in 1749 by George Johnson and Giacomo Justerini. The latter's cordial proved to be highly popular. He retired to Italy a wealthy man.

In 1831 Alfred Brooks bought the firm from the Johnson family.

Location: 61 St James's Street, SW1A 1LZ (blue, pink)

Website: www.justerinis.com/wine/merchant

James Pettit

James Pettit was founded in 1737.

Website: www.dayladrinks.co.uk/wine

Wine Writing

See Also: FOOD WRITING

The Circle of Wine Writers

Website: www.circleofwinewriters.org

Decanter

Decanter is a wine magazine. The publication was founded in 1975 by Colin Parnell (1934-2010) to provide wine consumers with a richer source of information than was currently available through newspapers weekly wine columns. The writers whom he hired included Jancis Robinson. The magazine soon became required reading for people involved in the wine trade. Through the modest size of the British wine growing industry, Decanter became noted for its global outlook.

Website: www.decanter.com

The Wine Society

The Wine Society is owned by its members. It was founded in 1874.

Website: www.thewinesociety.com

David Backhouse 2024