idris joins the independent trade The star of Luther and The Wire has teamed up with David Farber of Connaught Cellars to open a new wine shop and bar in Kings Cross. The pair are already partners in the Porte Noire Champagne label
W
always had the idea of maybe having his
month, is a continuation of the Porte Noire
product and not a flashy or marketing
ine merchant David Farber has
partnered up with actor Idris Elba
to open Porte Noire in Kings Cross.
The shop and bar, which will open this
brand; their collaboration has already
produced two Champagnes and a rosé. Farber, who established Connaught
Cellars near Marble Arch in 2016, admits
that a celebrity wine can be both a blessing and a curse, but he is adamant that this is no vanity project.
“It is not just a name endorsement where
you associate your name and receive
whatever percentage commission on the
sales, because otherwise Idris would have
associated himself with a famous label, not with me,” he laughs.
The venture seems to have come about
quite organically, with the pair meeting
through a mutual friend some years ago.
“Idris loves Champagne,” explains Farber, “and I think at the back of his mind he
own. I took him to visit a vineyard and
winery I thought would work and his first
criterion was to make sure we had a quality gimmick.
“He wanted to be totally involved
and develop his own brand. He has a
good palate. In terms of selecting the
Champagne, he has very good taste – just not the cheapest!”
So far the feedback, even from fellow
merchants, has been good. “I went
to a lunch on Saturday with six wine
Fifty per cent of the space is devoted to retail
merchants,” Farber says.
“I bought a magnum of the Champagne
and one of them said, ‘oh, as much as I
want to hate it because it is a celebrity
Champagne, it is actually really good’. The reviews it has had from the critics have
been positive so that gave us confidence that we were doing something right.”
L
ocated at the base of Gasholders
residential development, Porte Noire
will include a dining room, a bar and an
outside terrace as well as a shop. “Fifty per
cent of the floor space is dedicated to retail, including the walk-in fine wine room,” says Farber.
“At Connaught we are mainly French
and Italian focused, but the range at Porte
Porte Noire is part of the Gasholders development
Noire will be larger and more international.
classic, fine wines. We are also going to
from both locations.
the prices will be very reasonable,”
There will of course be some crossover
and the wines we direct import will be sold “At Kings Cross we are going to have
a good selection of organic, natural and
biodynamic wines alongside a lot of very
THE WINE MERCHANT october 2021 32
have wines on tap, on KeyKeg, at the bar. “The place looks very high-end but
Farber adds. “We want to become a wine destination for the people who live and
work there. Just as we did with Connaught
