A Celebration of London’s Urban Wineries with Aidy Smith

The Urban Winery scene in London has exploded over recent years, first with London Cru, who were then joined by Renegade, Vagabond and Blackbook, who are now all combining for a first-of-its-kind collaboration event featuring fascinating winemaking insight, beautifully paired dishes, a charity raffle, our very own Aidy and of course, plenty of incredible wines.

If you’re not familiar with urban wineries, they’re probably not a million miles away from what you’re picturing; compact vineyards and wineries that occupy corners in a city as opposed to the rolling hills of the countryside. By their stand-out nature, they also tend to particularly entrepreneurial with a focus on embracing different methods of winemaking.

These four wineries are coming together for a celebration of this movement on Sunday 15th June with two different events suitable for novices, enthusiasts and connoisseurs alike. First, the Winemaker’s Lunch between 1PM and 3PM, hosted in the beautiful garden oasis of Renegade’s winery. Guests will enjoy a summer feast and of course, a wine pairing with each winemaker curating the perfect wine to match. 

And the best bit? Our own Aidy Smith will be hosting! Joined by the Evening Standard Food & Drinks Editor, Joanna Taylor, there will be a charity raffle for PrideWide and the ADHD Foundation with plenty of exquisite wines from the wineries going to the lucky winners.

The fun continues between 3:30PM and 8PM with a walkabout tasting where attendees can get up close and personal with the wines of the day and the people behind them, all in the perfect setting of Renegade’s stunning set-up. The bar and kitchen remain open all evening with a seasonal menu curated to complement the wines… which will be important for lining those stomachs if you want to get a real taste of every winery.

It's a great event at the heart of London’s dynamic urban wine scene, while also raising some money for great causes – particularly during Pride Month. If you want to be part of this exciting occasion, we’ll leave the key details and ticket links below!

Date: Saturday 15th June 2024
Time: Winemakers Lunch: 13:00–15:00 / Walkabout Tasting: 15:30 - 20:00
Location: Renegade Urban Winery Garden, Unit 7, Lockwood Way, E17 5RB
Travel: Nearest Tube - Blackhorse Road, Victoria Line (10min walk to event)
Tickets: Winemakers Lunch (£60-£65), Walkabout Tasting (£15-£20)

Curious Vines: Supporting Women in Wine

Image credit: Curious Vines

The wine industry is typically perceived to be conservative and retains that reputation of being elitist and a difficult industry for newcomers to access. However, Queena Wong is a leading voice striving for industry change and commissioned a survey with PROOF Insight, in October 2023, about conditions for Women in Wine.

The survey results had revealed that 78% of the women working in the wine industry believed that sexism was rife within the wine world. Queena subsequently provided a statement in response to a March 2024 article by The Times concerning the revelations of unfair treatment for women working in wine coined to be the wine industry’s Me Too moment.

Queena is on a mission to raise awareness for the invisible within the wine world, as well as advancements for wine education, and to provide that stage for women in wine. She is the Founder of the Curious Vines community, which champions women in wine and her efforts have been recognised in the industry with her recent number two ranking in the Drinks Retailing Top 100 Most Influential People in Drinks, in 2024. Impressively, Queena has also been instrumental in working alongside The Wine and Spirit Trade Association, The Drinks Trust and The Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) to create a diversity and inclusion platform to inspire that growth and change that we wish to see. Without further ado, let’s dive a bit further in to the essential space that the Curious Vines community has created within the wine industry.

What is Curious Vines?

You might therefore be curious about Curious Vines so let’s discover more. Queena set up Curious Vines as a community fuelled platform focusing on women in wine and has seen enormous growth as more than 1100 women are currently registered members! The community’s main pillars are education, community and safeguarding and achieve these elements through a variety of programmes and events. The community has a newsletter that members receive regularly with useful information about things of interest and news within the wine world to provide that necessary encouragement and support.

How Does Curious Vines Help Women in Wine?

As mentioned above, there are a plethora of activities that Curious Vines members can partake in and the overall ethos of the community is to ensure that there is an ongoing level of support. As such, Curious Vines members, who enrol via the Curious Vines newsletter, may receive useful tips on how to break the glass ceiling, details of writing opportunities from various publications and requests for pitches are included plus there are a number of study programmes available including the Master of Wine Study Programme (for those already holding a WSET Diploma), alongside the opportunity to be involved in prizes such as the Bollinger Curious Vines Education Award.

No subjects are left uncovered and therefore ageism and the patriarchy within the field of wine has also received a mention! There are various events across London that are mentioned within the newsletter and therefore there is truly that support system in effect for many women and non-binary members who may feel isolated or may not feel confident about the level of resources and opportunities available, which may not always be transparent. Thankfully, Queena’s community platform is striving to make that transformational change to increase inclusivity in this vein. Whilst there may be all of the educational and informative aspects to consider, the Curious Vines community also takes the opportunity to celebrate the talents of the women that are a part of its membership pool. Those that have received awards or other celebratory occasions are given those shout outs too!

What are the forthcoming Curious Vines events?

There are indeed events occurring this summer so we would like to highlight the nearest event that will occur in June 2024!

Curious Vines showcases many careers panel events and this latest one will focus on women in wine within Spain. Sponsored by Bibendum and Decanter there will be a celebratory element as the panel’s esteemed guests and pioneering women will impart their knowledge from their wine journeys. The respective panel guests are Almudena Alberca MW, Monika Linton, Sarah Jane Evans MW, Marta Juega Rivera and Emily Brighton MW.

Almudena’s credentials include being the first female MW in Spain, did you know? She began her wine career by producing boutique wines in Viñas de Cenit in Spain and has also been the Spanish specialist for AvivaVino in New York. Almudena has also been the Brand Ambassador for Oeno since 2021.

Monika is the founder of the Brindisa tapas restaurants that we all know and love. She created this brand with the first branch in Borough Market bringing this concept of tapas bars to London and we are forever grateful!

Sarah Jane is also a writer and consultant as well as being a Master in Wine. Her specialties include Spain and Sherry – she is a certified Sherry educator. Sarah also adds to her credentials the role of chairman of the Gran Orden de Caballeros del Vino.

Marta is a researcher by background and has always been keen on innovation. She has worked at Bodegas Diaz Bajo in Ribera del Duero in the beginning of her career up to being the Head of Positive Impact Strategy and Winemaker now for Alliance Wine.

Emily is currently the youngest female Master of Wine, which is another achievement to be celebrated! Her wine interest began from joining the wine society as a university student. Emily’s wine career included her work at Majestic and Bibendum. Now, Emily can be found within her role as Technical Manager for North South Wines.

Such an illustrious panel of innovative women in wine is bound to create an exciting event for all attending!

How Can I Get Involved With Curious Vines?

This is a very good question as the more Curious Vines members the better in this aim to create greater inclusivity within the drinks industry!

Firstly, a good step to take will be to register for this forthcoming panel event in June 2024, that we have mentioned above, regarding the talented women within the Spanish wine industry. To make it easier for you, here is the booking link (there are just a few tickets remaining at the time of writing) :

Furthermore, you could also register for the Curious Vines newsletter on its site, to make things a bit easier to navigate your way through the industry as a woman/ non-binary.

Unfortunately, it’s come a bit later than other industries but the wine world is now recognising that need for inclusivity and diversity to create a welcoming space for all seeking to have a voice and promote their passion as a oenophile. Initiatives such as Curious Vines spearheading these transformations are a necessary component in this ongoing fight for a level playing field. Hopefully, with Curious Vines’ continuous efforts and support, we may gradually see this positive impact reverberating with a decline in the numbers of those feeling excluded. We are certainly crossing our fingers for more of this positive change to unfold!

By Latoya Austin