Wine

PY and I love visiting vineyards. We have been doing it since a visit to Camel Valley in August 1998. At one point we must have visited all the English vineyards that permitted visitors. There were quirky small holdings making small batches of wine and large enterprises supplying thousands of bottles.  What I had never really come across before was the concept of a Urban Winery.  

After the usual Saturday mornings shopping trip, we found ourselves near Battersea Park in south London hunting for the entrance some industrial units under the railway arches where Blackbook winery is located.  PY has booked an afternoon tour - although it is more of an afternoon standing sampling wines because they have a small unit in one of the aforementioned arches where the tour is really turning your head.

Blackbook sources grapes from vineyards within about a two hour drive of their winery and they don’t mix grapes from different suppliers so that the provenance of the wine is always known. There was a lovely selection of wines and an impressive Pinot Noir red. Most of the reds we have sampled from English vineyards are not as robust as can be found in the products of other countries as, historically, we did not have the sunshine.  But, with the climate changing, southern England now has enough days when temperatures are right and the sun is out for red wine to be made.

One of the owners, Sergio, moved to London in the noughties, and became a sommelier at Michelin-starred venues including Chez Bruce which was just up the road from us when we lived in Earlsfield. I wonder if he was the sommelier when we made our one and only visit ?

After wine tasting we walked to the Battersea Power Station complex for their 2023 light festival. It’s a collection of 8 light exhibits, both inside and outside the power station building, that runs until 5th March.  I was particularly struck by the illuminated washing line installation (Neighbourhood) and the End Over End slinky-inspired lights. 

After a quick bit in Itsu we headed to the turbine theatre for No Lmiits. The show was a lot of fun but began the music began to feel a little repetitive.  That’s not to say the performances were poor because they were not. Stand out was Natalie May Paris, who we saw a few years ago in Six, but the cast were all great.  Perhaps, however, I might be a bit too old to properly connect with the characters.  Less said about that the better ...