Humble Grape, the wine bar and shop from James Dawson is to open a second site in May 2016…
The site, formerly The Press House Wine Bar, once a famous drinking den for journalists is tucked away down a cobbled street and hidden in the vaults of the magnificent St Bride’s Church. Unoccupied for several years, it will be revived to comprise a 200 seat wine bar, shop, events space, private dining room and wine-cellar.
Humble Grape directly imports handcrafted wine from small, sustainable, independent vineyards worldwide, avoiding the industry-standard markups from agents, importers or distributors. Here, as with Battersea, customers will be invited to enjoy wine on their terms, whether seated in the bar, attending a tasting or wine-maker dinner, or buying bottles to take away.
Head Chef Anna Allan has devised wine-friendly ‘Humble Plates’. Like the wines, the ingredients will be sourced from independent suppliers, whose produce can be traced straight back to the farm. Dishes include Galician octopus with chargrilled leeks & triple cooked new potatoes; roast bone marrow with dipping soldiers; and Lamb Ribollita stew.
The wine list will feature around 30 wines available by the glass or carafe and over 200 wines available by the bottle to drink in or take away. Highlights include Blackwater Underdog, Chenin Blanc, MMXIV 2014, Stellenbosch, from winemaker Francois Haasbroek. He named it Underdog, because for two years he crafted the wine alongside his job as Winemaker at Waterford Wines, crushing his own grapes into the small hours of the morning at harvest time. From Panzano, Chianti are the Vecchie Terre Montefili wines – the very first region in its entirety to adopt biodynamic farming, where the producers are constantly trying to outwit the sneaky wild pigs that snaffle the grapes.
Humble Grape 1 St. Bride’s Passage, London EC4Y 8EJ
Instagram: @humblegrapewine | Twitter: @humblegrape
