Passionfruit Sherbet and Smouldering Tobacco
Lant St Wine Merchants in Southwark By Susan Isaacs Arts and Restaurant Correspondent As we rolled the lovely sweet white dessert wine round our mouths, we thought of the whole village that had got up at three in the morning to pick the grapes when they were frozen. That is the optimum time to preserve the very sweet acidity and sweet smell. The wine - a classic Austrian dessert wine - Eiswein Gruner Veltliner 2014 by Weinreider - the wine merchant - Lant Street Wine, an outstanding company, located in what was once a cork factory, just a minutes walk from Borough Underground Station. The street is famous for having housed a teenage Charles Dickens, when he slaved in a blacking factory nearby. Lant St Wine have been able to continue through lockdown, delivering wines and keeping the beautiful shop open. I was incredibly impressed that within an hour of speaking to development manager Louis Cotier, Ben Wilcock the director arrived personally on our doorstep, with a wonderful selection of wines for us to sample. We loved them all. There was a Cote du Rhone 2019 Maison Plantevin tasting of buds of cassis, and strawberry jam. Then there were two wines from a familyrun vineyard in New Zealand, a Savignon Blanc 2018 Waipara West and the Ram Paddock
Red 2014 Waipara West. The Sauvignon mingled passionfruit sherbet, strawberry jam, and sweet florals, and the Ram Paddock, a deep purple colour, had notes of dark chocolate and smouldering tobacco. And of course, sweetest of all was the Eiswein Gruner Veltliner 2014 Weinreider. The company is run by father and son David and Ben Wilcock, and they and all their staff bring an enthusiasm and deep knowledge of the whole world of wine making that is infectious. I loved hearing that oak barrels give wine a vanilla flavour, while steel barrels give it a clean crisp taste. They have a very close relationship with a vineyard in New Zealand, so they have detailed knowledge of every part of wine production, right through from the soil it is grown in, to the distribution system that puts a delicious glass in your hand on a Friday night. Wines come from all over the world, but it was heartening to hear that English sparkling wines are on the up.
Images by Oskar Proctor
The shop itself is beautifully designed with a black and white marble floor, oak cabinets, and steps that wind up into the distance. Jermaine Gallacher is a designer who provides the furniture, so that you can buy the very chair you are sitting on. One of the main advantages they enjoy is the tremendous storage space they have in central London, which enables them to stock a wide range of wines and sell to other
distributors. Although they have kept steady retail sales right through the pandemic, they have of course been affected by the restaurant closures. But with the beautiful wines they stock, and the atmospheric historic setting, Lant Street Wine is thriving. It may take a whole village to pick the grapes for their wines, at three in the morning. But it will be more than a village that will drink them.
‘I was incredibly impressed that within an hour of speaking to development manager Louis Cotier, Ben Wilcock the director arrived personally on our doorstep, with a wonderful selection of wines for us to sample. We loved them all.’ Southwark BUSINESS TODAY 25
