Wine tasting with a difference at London's Wine Car Boot

It’s time to up your wine game.

Imagine a car boot sale, but instead of a suburban car park filled with Vauxhall Astras and Ford Fiestas, it’s actually Kings Cross’ plush new Coal Drops Yard and it’s filled with vintage rides and VW campervans. Now imagine that instead of chipped crockery and dodgy fringed jackets, the items for sale are bottles and bottles of glorious booze. Throw in some street food, a cheese stand, and some disco tunes, and you’ve got Wine Car Boot!

Set up in 2013 by model-turned-professional-wine-glugger Ruth Spivey and professional fixer Ruth Osborne, Wine Car Boot started out as something of an insider’s secret, a gathering of indie merchants and suppliers together with in-the-know vinous pleasure seekers, and has grown year on year.

Now in its seventh year, the two Ruths are credited with running one of the world’s biggest wine markets, and no longer belonging only to the booze-hounds, the event draw crowds from the curious to the clueless - and happily so. With the aim of showing people how to taste their way out of the supermarkets and see the value in local independents, Wine Car Boot is a party for all - a day of tasting, drinking and shopping affordable, interesting and delicious wines in bottles, bags, cans and kegs from London's most-loved wine merchants.

Entry is free, you can either shop for bottles to take away or buy a £12 Tasting Tote and hang out for the day, sipping and sampling as you go.

We had a glass of wine with founder Ruth Spivey to find out more.

What inspired you to start the event?

I’ve shopped from independents for years and I believe you have a far better wine experience by doing so, yet most people only drink what’s on the supermarket shelves. I launched it in 2013 after working for Bottle Apostle in Hackney. At that time there wasn’t an event that promoted independent over the supermarket. People knew they existed but still had a reluctance to shop there, perhaps from a fear that intimidating staff would sell you bottles you couldn’t afford and make you feel like an idiot whilst doing so. Which in reality isn’t the case at all!

There also wasn’t - to my knowledge - a consumer tasting that only featured wine that was easily accessible - you can buy on the day but also simply return to the shops the following week and buy more. Over the last seven years we’ve relaxed the rules to include a few producers who sell direct, like Le Grappin from Burgundy and More Wine who specialise in bag in box, and a couple of our favourite online merchants such as Swig. That said, it’s still very important to us to have plenty of bricks-and-mortar shops. Finding wine you like isn’t really the problem, but getting it in your life on a regular basis with minimal hassle can be.

What’s the biggest difference between supermarket wine and wine from independents?

Oh gosh…. That’s a very good - if tricky to sum up - question. First off it’s important to recognise that supermarkets have done a great job over the last 20 years to make wine an everyday product. I don’t come from a family of proper wine drinkers, or a wine region, so of course I started buying wine in supermarkets. There’s nothing wrong with that. But, there are very good reasons to move on: supermarket ranges are standardised, often sourced from large producers, to hit certain price points. There’s also a lot of wine on the shelves in terms of number of bottles, but weirdly not that much choice, which is a bit confusing. No wonder people keep buying the same two bottles! They also don’t focus on wines produced sustainably, which is something that we all need to consider these days. It’s long accepted the planet is under threat and industrial farming doesn’t help.

We believe you get a better choice of well made and more authentic wines if you shop independent. You’re supporting smaller businesses - the shop itself and the producers of the wine. You’ll also be able to ask questions, get recommendations and end up drinking more styles, which will almost certainly lead to more pleasure. That can only be a good thing, surely?

Supermarkets have their place, I do appreciate consumers also want routine, reliability and ease - and I hope one day they’ll find a way to stock a really decent range of exciting bottles.

Do you think all supermarket wine is bad?

They could absolutely do better, but it’s much more complex than a simple yes or no. Some supermarkets are better than others, some branches are better than others. Variety - or lack of - is one of my biggest bugbears when looking on a supermarket shelf. Would consumers mind if each branch or region sourced different wines? Who knows. Let’s just say if you get your wine from elsewhere, I don’t think you’re missing out.

What's your favourite thing about the Wine Car Boot?

As the organiser, seeing it full of people getting properly stuck in is great. Seeing people having a great time around wine, without having to spend a fortune or be in a stuffy environment, watching bottles being shared by groups and people leaving with their Tote bag stuffed full of new things. And knowing people can taste and learn about so many different wines on the same day, whatever level their knowledge is at.

What's new this year?

Both of this year’s venues are new for us - Coal Drops Yard is a really cool space full of boutiques and some of London’s best restaurants. There’s a 16-piece pop orchestra joining us too this year alongside our usual music. The September market is at Bloomberg Arcade - another stylish spot in the city, right by the river. Every year we get some new traders joining us as well as regulars - some of the shops have been trading with us since the start, like Vinoteca and Berry Bros.

Any tips on how non-experts should use the event?

Buy a tasting pack straight away, load up with a few extra tokens and just start tasting. There’s a huge and diverse range of wines to try and you’ll be surprised at how you can taste the difference - classics from France and Italy, new wave New World and esoteric options from countries like Georgia and Hungary.

Taste wine you wouldn’t normally go for - one token is only one pound. The best way to discover what you like is to taste, so be brave and dive in.

Taste wine from different formats - quality bag-in-box, wine in a can (very fashionable this summer) and the hugely popular Bagnums (a magnum in a bag).

See if there are any traders from your area in London - so you can become a regular.

Don’t forget to buy some bottles to take home! The tasting pack comes with a tote bag and it’s made for carting your favourite bottles home.

Anything else we should know?

The local restaurants usually offer some juicy corkage deals so you can carry on inside once the sun’s gone down with some of your favourite bottles from the day.

It’s open to everyone - even non-winos. We often have a beer seller, the food is always great and the atmosphere is very chilled out. Lots of people bring their kids (pushchairs are very useful for extra wine storage!) and we’re dog friendly. Always lots of dogs!

Details:

Wine Car Boot, Saturday, June 29 & Saturday, August 17 2019 at Coal Drops Yard

Saturday, September 14 at Bloomberg Arcade

12pm - 8pm | Free entry

Glasses, tokens, and tasting packs available on the day.

Check out winecarboot.com to see the full list of vendors and to sign up to the newsletter for future events.