London finally has its first urban winery.
Only took 2000 years.
But it’s better late than never. And if you’re going to do it right, it really makes sense to wait until the country develops a significant viniculture scene, and the technology of rapid transport for grapes exists. So, in a way, it’s a good thing they waited until 2013 to open London Cru.
You’ll find it in a north Fulham alleyway just skirting the edge of Earls Court. There they’ve taken over a rather stunning-looking Victorian gin distillery with huge arched windows, and converted it into a gloriously high tech wine workshop complete with huge steel fermentation vessels and temperature-controlled oak barrels.
The wines coming out of those barrels all comes from exclusively British grapes and includes their Baker Street (made with Bacchus grapes from Kent), a Rosaville Rd Rosé (made with Surrey’s finest pinot noir), and a Chancery Lane Chardonnay (a Chablis-style number from Sussex grapes) among others.
If you fancy heading down there to see it all for yourself, London Cru has a healthy range of events & activities taking place across the year. You can take a simple tour of the winery and learn about the various wines, and how they make them (then enjoy a wine tasting with a little London-made charcuterie, cheese, and smoked fish). You can dive in and make those wines yourself at their London Crush Club, where you’ll literally get to pulverise the grapes themselves (and take home three bottles of the finished product). Or you can become a ‘winemaker for a day’, in which you’ll literally get to blend your very own personal wine across the course of a day’s worth of learning, doing, drinking, and eating.
You’ll feel like part of the Cru in no time.
NOTE: London Cru is open now. You can find out more, book events, and buy their wine at the website right HERE.
London Cru | 21-27 Seagrave Rd, Fulham, SW6 1RP
Prefer just a really great wine bar? London has a whole load of those too.