Local Heroes

It’s an ill wind all right. I heard somebody on The Food Programme the other day saying that the mass pub closures of the’90s were the kicking-off point for the gastropub revolution. With so many empty boozers on the market it was possible for penurious wannabe restaurateurs to get their feet on the ladder and turn gastro-publican. In a few years, they changed the whole landscape of British food. The wind keeps blowing, and the decimation of the high street off-licence chains in the last few years has resulted insomething similar happening for wannabe wine merchants. There’s been a splendid spate of start-ups of small independents devoting themselves to providing high-quality wines at every price level. And they’re doing rather well ….
In London, Planet of the Grapes, Vinoteca, Highbury Vintners, The Bottle Apostle and TheSampler deserve particular praise and most of them have proved their puddings by opening second shops. Outside London, the pattern is the same with quite a few among my favourites – The Secret Cellar, The Butler’s Wine Cellar, Cooden Cellars, South Downs Cellars, Fareham Cellars, Noel Young and Corks Out – having made the first expansive steps towards world domination. Most of them have full-service websites and deliver nationwide but if you’re fortunate to have one of these enthusiasts nearby it really adds something special to walk in and have a chat with them. There’s no snobbery and most of them get as excited about a really cracking bottle for a fiver as they do about a first growth. Seek them out – they’ll change your drinking life forever.