Canned wine might conjure up images of sitting outside in the sun, but Brixton Wine Club is making a good case for drinking it now, or at 7pm tomorrow (12 February) at a live taste-a-long …
Brixton Wine Club (BWC) began as a wine tasting group, after founder Louisa Payne found it was hard to infiltrate a lot of the more formal societies.
Starting out of her Brixton flat, the group grew into a business (or two).
Although it sadly hasn’t seen much action this year, BWC’s Wine Tap Van is a mobile bar available for hire at festivals and events, with the intention of serving properly good cold wine.
In the restored 1979 Peugeot there’s usually two whites, two reds, a rosé and a sparkling wine on tap.
BWC’s newest venture, supported by the Princes’ Trust, has been into wine delivery services – via cans.
Although the container is controversial, many of the canned wines offered are award winning and are all lined to avoid the metallic- taste myth.
They range from 187ml (quarter of a bottle) to 250ml (third of a bottle), and most boxes available contain six different drinks.
When I spoke to Louisa, she was clear that she wanted to make a wine club that could be fun, since anyone who drinks wine is “into” wine.
Both the van and delivery service have a keen focus on sustainability, which Louisa found a passion for while working in the fashion industry as a trend forecaster.
As The Wine Tap Van serves wine on tap there’s less packaging involved as well as recyclable/ lightweight kegs. The wine also is served in compostable cups, reusable carafes or glasses when allowed.
Louisa told me her favourite wine that they’ve featured is Quello, a semi-sparkling white. So, of course, I had to try!
Quello is described as “a naturally fermented, semi-sparkling white made from trebbiano and the local pagadebit grapes, and grown in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
“Lively and refreshing, it’s produced in the same way as many proseccos and has that same zesty and fruit-fuelled appeal.”
Quello’s founder, Roberta Sergio, drew on two decades of wine-making experience to create it, and, in my non-professional opinion, it’s just as crisp and fresh as advertised.
A box from Brixton Wine Club comes beautifully packaged, with the option to choose the six wines featured in the tasting via Instagram.
The reds I’ll be trying this week in the “Juicebox” are Long Little Dog, an easy drinking Southern French wine, and Old Vine Garnacha, a Spanish red with aromas of chocolate-coated cherries.
The sparkling option is Sipful organic bubbly white, with elegant stone fruit.
The two whites are a Chenin Blanc from the award-winning Copper Crew, and a Chardonnay from Elephant in the Room.
Abstrait rosé is extracted from black grapes for a balance of tangy strawberry and juicy raspberry.
