Vagabond Wines to launch London micro winery

By Angela Mount

Published: 31 July, 2017

Vagabond Wines plans to open its next outlet in Battersea this Autumn, complete with micro winery.

Stephen Finch, Managing Director of Vagabond Wines, has successfully introduced and rolled out the ‘hybrid’ model across London, with the concept now working in five sites around the capital.

Finch, by his own admission, is always looking for the next point of innovation.

An urban micro-winery will be built at the Battersea site, bringing customers close to the winemaking process.

“We aim to create a small winery within the space, where our customers can sit and have a glass of wine, while seeing how what they are drinking is made,” Finch said.

“I’ve been toying with the idea for over two years, having watched the success of the American-style brewpubs, and also microbreweries in the UK. Our business is totally consumer-centric, and we want to bring this experience to our customers.”

Vagabond is planning to produce around 10,000 litres of wine this year, covering a range of five or six styles. Some of these will be barrel-aged, and a wall of barrels is planned for the Battersea site.

The flagship English grape Bacchus is the company’s main priority, following the success of sales of this varietal through the Enomatics in the Vagabond outlets, while some grapes will be sourced from Europe, depending on the quality of the English vintage.

The focus for the business is to produce as much of the wine as possible from English vineyards. However, at this stage, the detail of the selected producers have not been revealed. Where grapes need to be sourced from outside the UK, they will be brought to the micro winery by refrigerated trucks overnight.

“White wine is the obvious starting point, but we are also keen to develop an English Pinot Noir, if the vintage allows, and maybe a Rose,” said Finch. “Urban wineries are starting to develop in cities across the world, from San Francisco and New York to Paris. It’s early days, but I think this will be big news over the next few years.”

The Vagabond-produced wines are expected to retail at around £14.95.

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