Camberwell duo take the plunge Patrycja Lorek opened Véraison Wines in Camberwell, south London, last month. Previously responsible for the wine
listings at the Great Queen Street
restaurant in Covent Garden, and latterly with stints at 10 Cases and Bubbledogs
Champagne bar, Lorek is more than ready to go it alone.
“I’ve always wanted to have my own
business,” she says. After moving to
Camberwell with her husband John Baum, from The Winemakers Club, the pair
intervention wine, but if there is a
beautiful conventional wine, why wouldn’t I put it on the shelf? Primarily it’s about
what, in our opinion, tastes nice and clean. “We will change our by-the-glass range
quite often so people can try different
things. At the moment we have five whites, five reds, a rosé, an orange wine and one sparkling available by the glass.
“We’re very flexible; we had a customer
who wanted a glass of something that
wasn’t on the list, so we just opened the
bottle and then sold the rest by the glass.” Lorek intends to refurbish a back
Ben Henshaw
room in time for the Christmas season so customers can book a private area.
Indigo boss opens Peckham store
restaurants and shops for the last 20 years,
“John is importing so there are quite
Ben Henshaw, owner of Indigo Wines,
wines to take away, there is seating for 30
Raeburn, Vine Trail and Carte Blanche,
The Sourcing Table originally launched
spotted that the area was missing a good wine shop. “When the site came on the
market, we decided to do it ourselves,” she says.
a few of his import lines on the shelves,
opened a wine shop and bar in Peckham
and I’ve got a few tastings lined up so I can
as an online-only retailer in October 2020
but I’m also working with Howard Ripley,
last month.
expand the range.
and is run separately from Indigo Wines.
“We’re trying to focus on low-
“Having sold artisanal wine to
I didn’t think I’d ever find myself on the
other side of the counter,” Henshaw says. In addition to the range of over 400
people, and all bottles are available to drink in for a corkage fee.
Jo Lory at Indigo Wines admits that
while Indigo’s portfolio will play “quite
a big part”, there are wines from “at least another eight suppliers, including Les Caves de Pyrene and Flint”.
Lory is keen to avoid stepping on the
toes of Indigo’s customer base. “The indies got us through lockdown. We are very
conscious of that and so thankful of the support we got from the independent
retailers that we sell to. They are important customers to us.”
• The Bottle of Hastings is soon to open on Queens Road in the East Sussex town. James Hickson and Sam Coxhead, the team behind the new venture, have extensive on-trade experience, including spells (like Patrycja Lorek of Véraison, above) at Covent Garden’s Great Queen Street restaurant. The new wine shop is an addition to their pub, The Royal, in nearby St Leonards, which they Véraison Wines: “Primarily it’s about what, in our opinion, tastes nice and clean”
THE WINE MERCHANT may 2022 6
opened in 2019.
