Once upon a time in west London, I opened a little wine shop called Park + Bridge, in Acton. You can read about it here.
I’d originally wanted an enoteca-type place (known in the trade as a hybrid) where people could sit down in the shop and drink wine. But I couldn't find a big enough site. So when a place opposite became available in late 2014, I jumped straight in and opened a wine bar called Vindinista. The wine bar revival was in full swing, what did I have to lose? I wasn’t tied in to a long lease, so could pull out if it didn't work.
As a stand alone business, the wine bar was too small to do more than wash its face - and I needed to keep prices keen to get the support of a neighbourhood. Vindinista was not in a town centre. The upside was it drove a lot more business to the shop, people were trading up and drinking more adventurously. The team and I spanked the wine bar hard: pop-up chef nights, vinyl nights, tasting events, private parties. Customers loved what we did.
But Brexit and its knock-on effects on wine, a lot of which is imported from Europe, made us nervous about the cost of keeping two places. So when our lease ran out on the shop in 2019, we folded it into the wine bar, shelving and everything. It was the best decision we made. The dent in revenue was offset by lower costs - one rent, no rates, less stock and fewer staff. We decided to close earlier, and remain closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. The barflies who liked to shoot the breeze nursing a nightcap until midnight also melted away. Not a great loss. Crucially, we all got a greater work/life balance.
Obviously, with Brexit and the pandemic, there were ups and downs, but drinking onsite came back with a bang, as did tastings. In fact, I raised the price for tastings and they sold out quicker than before, sometimes within hours. My business partner (and husband) Mike built an online shop which brought us an extra day’s business almost every week. I also entered, and won, Best Neighbourhood Wine Shop in the Decanter 2021 awards and featured the trade magazine Harper’s top 50 UK indies several times.
Even more importantly, I was able to sell the business as a going concern in January 2024 so we could move to the coast. I have no plans to open a new one. Vindinista would be a hard act to follow. And frankly, I don’t want to work the hours any more. Now, I mainly go to wine bars to drink. Although you will occasionally find me working in one, with the lovely crew at John Dory in Sandgate.
