Canada Water's "cathedral of wine" urban winery opens in just a month

A “cathedral of wine” is set to open in South London in a month, courtesy of Vagabond Wines.

What has been dubbed the UK’s largest urban winery finally has an opening date, and it’s soon: December 4th.

We first heard about these moves back in July. Vagabond Wines announced its plan to acquire a 6000 square foot space to convert into a wine-making enterprise capable of producing up to 100,000 bottles a year.

But this isn’t going to be a dry place, not open to the public.

There will be self-pour station access to Vagabond’s wines, with more than 100 bottles on tap, and spaces for tastings, “winemaking workshops” and private events.

Bookings are already available through the Vagabond Wines website, beginning at 4pm on December 4th. There are certainly worse places to hold a more refined kind of Christmas do.

Vagabond Wines already operates a slew of wine shops and bars across London, but this latest venue represents something like new ground for the brand. It tends to be known more as a wine seller and venue than a producer to many.

“This urban winery is unlike anything we’ve done before,” Managing Director Christopbell Giles said back in July when these plans were revealed. “It’s a cathedral to wine.”

However, Vagabond Wines has been making its own wine for years now, and opened its Battersea urban winery and bar location in late 2017, and has been in operation since 2010.

Vagabond Wines won three gold awards at this year’s Independent English Wine Awards (IEWA), and its Solena Batch 003 NV also won the prestigious Best Still Wine across the entire competition.

The other gold medal winners were the Vagabond x Artelium Nature Series Cuvee 2018 and its Night Tripper 2023 orange wine. Keep an eye out for those if you decide to head to Canada Water for the Urban Winery’s first weeks.

It is located at 9 Deal Porters Way, right over the road from the lake that gives Canada Water its name.

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