Calloway Wines (sample) opened in 2016 in an old ironmonger’s, with 120 bins and a till. The bar came three years later.
We started with one wall of bins and a rule: every wine on it had been tasted by someone who works here. Today there are about three hundred bins (sample), and the rule is the same.
Customers kept asking to open a bottle in the shop, so in 2019 we put a bar at the back. Now every bottle on the shelves is on the bar list too, for the shop price plus corkage.
We taste samples from importers and growers every week and say no far more often than yes. A wine earns a bin when it is good for its price and we would open it at home.
Five people who will tell you what they drank last night and what it cost.
Owner and wine buyer (sample)
Bar manager (sample)
Shop floor and orders (sample)
Tastings and events (sample)
Weekends and deliveries (sample)
The shop is open from 10:00 and the bar from 17:00, Tuesday to Sunday (sample). Any bottle on the shelves can be opened at the bar.