#3: Where the Magic Happens | URBAN WINERIES 🌆

I go and check out Renegade Winery, and kick the ball off on some food pairings for an easy peasy recipe if you want to impress.

Hello Again!

London Wine? It’s becoming quite the trend, I’ll have you know.

I journeyed out to Renegade Winery, just under a 10 minute trot from Blackhorse Road. While the Bermondsey Beer Mile is now something of a rite of passage for any South East Londoner or Stag/Hen that’s held in London (fun, chaotic and essential), the Walthamstow Beer Mile is now making its own name with a range of craft breweries nestled in a newly revamped industrial estate beside the Wetlands (the old spot for raves that might seem quasi familiar to some).

Renegade is an urban winery that started in a railway arch in Bethnal Green in 2016 and they makes eyecatching wines, quite literally. Each style of wine that they make is named after a person who is chosen as the next batches are fermenting, with a portrait photo taken to boot. Every year if the wine is made in the same style the next year, said person is photographed again to give each year a characteristic feature.

As you may have guessed, grapes are sourced from outside of London before the winemakers work their magic. They generally source about a 36 hour drive away from London. Refrigerated trucks have brought in grapes from sometimes Sussex, sometimes the very South of Italy. What’s unique about Renegade is as they are bringing in grapes from different regions into a country that’s just starting to toy with regional laws slowly but surely (the ones that make sure Champagne can only come from Champagne, Rioja from Rioja, etc).

With that in mind, they’ve completely thrown the rulebook out the window when it comes to making wines: different grapes from different regions are blended together, which is majorly taboo in each region. Renegade are pushing the boundaries on what can be classed as a wine, but aren’t culturally appropriating the heritage of grapes completely. They still use traditional methods to produce wines, such as oaking or using the Georgian concrete vats called Qvevris which are making a come back in the natural wine scene. Renegade don’t count themselves as a natural winery - but they let the grapes do their thing unless they need a nudge.

Their new premises in East 17 (yes, that band are from Walthamstow, and Christmas decorations are up already - gah) is still a work in progress, but one that they can grow into. Tours are held every Saturday for about an hour and a half where you’ll get to sample 5-6 styles that they make, and the GM Sinead made the process fun, informational and visionary. With a restaurant hosting rotating chefs starting very soon and a secret garden overlooking the River Lea, run don’t walk to this place before it gets busier.

Renegade started as a few vats within a few slotted benches in its first iteration, but now it’s scaling for production. Still small and targeting visitors to the winery along with some good restaurants and pubs nearby, they used to get volunteers to club in at very busy times, but they’re moving more to machine based processes once they get their grapes in house. I present to you, the grape elevator which fills the vats up with lovely bunches.

Depending on whether you’re making a red or white in a traditional sense, there’s a difference in processes. For reds, you’ll crush the grapes, allow them to ferment for a relatively long period of time - let’s say a month before you’ll press the grapes, remove the skins and allow the juices to keep on doing their thing. For whites, you’ll generally press first, and allow the juices to get on with it. Here’s the very large grape press that they have at Renegade! Feet are still used as they provide just about the right pressure for grapes in places that don’t have the luxury of a machine - while you think that might be icky, the feel of ten degree grapes between your toes isn’t a dreamy experience either, or so I’ve been told.

For rosés, it’s a little bit in between: you start making a wine like you would a red and with red grapes, but then press and remove the skins gently after a mere few hours. In the world of orange and skin contact wines (which is probably a spin off series of articles, if you ask me), you start with a white but you make it like a red: so the grapes are crushed, allowed to ferment with their skins before they’re pressed and allowed to carry on. This brings tannins (the grippy feeling you get around your gums eating grapes or drinking a red wine on the heavier side of the spectrum) and colour into this booming variety, which can either go from a cloudy yellow to a pink hue depending on how long they’ve spent with the grapes.

And back to the wine.

There were five (as far as I can remember?) samples to try while we were at Renegade. Sadly, I don’t have photos of any of the bottles, but I’ve linked what I recall enjoying - all made with high quality and a totally different spin to what you can get elsewhere. My highlights:

The Bethnal Bubbles, which is deceiving to call a wine fully. Pinot Noir is co-fermented with hops to get a fruity fizz, but very much gives a quaff of IPA on the nose. Sinead told us this is the recommended choice to those who ill-jaunt in mid the beer mile shenanigans, and I can see why. One for wine sceptics or craft brew fans for sure.

My favourite of the day was Aracelli, a skin contact Pinot Grigio from Germany. This tasted a little like a white wine pretending to be a red. The skin contact time of 2 weeks makes this look like more of a deep rosé, but brought some depth to the overall clean, fruity palette you expect with a PG.

Urban Wineries are starting to go mainstream, didn’t you know?

Renegade has something unique in the patch of North East London that they’re building an empire, but wineries are popping up amongst Boroughs quickly. South of the River, Blackbook is a winery in Battersea that offers tours and tastings in a similar vein, and focus their production on English grapes. <<Slots in a tour to visit imminently>>

And that’s not all. The darling of wine pick n mix, Vagabond, has their own winery just off Battersea Power Station for supply in all of their branches although I’m not sure if you can visit it. London Cru based in Fulham offer London wines that are mainly for export, and host events to be a winemaker for the day. Liberty wines is a new small batch winery that work between Edinburgh and Old Kent Road with expert distillers in house which sounds to be one to watch. Maybe it’s safe to say in a few years that all compass points in London will have at least one urban winery in the future.

Urban wineries aren’t a new thing: from a boom in the US and Australia, there’s wineries dotted around Europe and Asia which I am all for seeing more of.

The Bougie but Basic Dinner Party: Paella, along with the wine pairs!

Need a cheap, quick way to impress friends at a dinner party? Or potentially, a third or fourth date that you want to schmooze without breaking the bank? I’ve got you covered. Paella is SO easy to whip up once you have all of the ingredients in place that you can get at any supermarket, or some cornershops really. It can look impressive even served even in a wok, like mine and you can shove in tumeric instead of saffron since we’re at a time of austerity (none of the abuelas need to know that would otherwise turn in their grave).

Wine is the aim here, so I’m going to signpost you to the good ol’ reliable friends at BBC Good Food for a one pan recipe. The paella rice I grabbed had a quick recipe on the back that would also do.

Taking the persona that you are running into M&S Simply food and don’t want to spend more than a tenner on a bottle, I’ve given you a few choices.

There are reds AND whites here, I know - mindblowing! But with a chicken, chorizo and prawn combination, you want something fairly light that can take a bit of spice - and either or really will do. But if you want to serve Blue WKD with it instead as you think that’s a better shout: Be. My. Guest.

Option #1: Cava

Good quality Cava is not to be sniffed at: it’s generally made in exactly the same style as Champagne, just with different grapes and a splash of Catalunyan sun. You’ll still get the toasty hue from the bubbles, but less sharp on the palette and peachy. Personally, the Goldilocks fizz of choice for me - not too acidic like Champagne, not too tutti fruity like prosecco can be.

Option #2: Tempranillo/Syrah

We’re going red, and this is the grape that makes up the majority of Rioja wines. A flagship to Spain, with a French twist with a little bit of Syrah. With a mix of the medium bodied Tempranillo and the richer, plummier Syrah in the mix, you’re going to have a smooth operator here without getting too tannic. A good, reliable in-between wine if you’re not sure what your guest(s) like.

Option #3: Albarino

Albarino comes from Rias Baixas, near Galicia and northern Portugal and is a lovely white to pair with practically anything. Not too acidic and with melony hues on the fruits, it’s a good in between Savvy B and Chardonnay stans, so it’ll stand up to the proteins and spices without widdling anyone off too much.

Wildcard: German Pinot Noir

Overall, German wines get a bad rap. The days of Buckfast-esque reds and Blue Nun syrup that hardly counts as a wine are well and truly over, where you can get a lot more bang for your buck compared to other countries.

This Pinot Noir comes from Pfalz, one of the main regions known for riesling production. The moderate climate is akin to Burgundy, but this will be a much fresher red. Light in body but full on flavour, this one is drinkable - and another one that is easy to knock back with grub or while the table is clearing up after dessert.

And that’s all for this week! Until next time.