Homegrown Harvest: The UK Wineries Championing Community and Locality with Renegade Urban Winery’s Warwick Smith

The Upgrade by SUITCASE Magazine

Not just for wine buffs / oenophiles.

Instead of getting hung up on malbec and merlot, noses and tannins, we’re raising a glass to the UK wineries shaking up the English wine-making scene.

Join us as we speak to the innovative producers championing community and fuelling our love for locavore labels and natural tipples. We’re popping the cork on homegrown grapes and spotlighting the next generation of UK wineries.

Plus, we catch up with Renegade Urban Winery’s Founder Warwick Smith who has ripped up the wine-making rule book and is producing outstanding wines beneath a railway arch in Bethnal Green. He shares his tips for picking a stellar bottle of plonk, the urban wineries we should visit and an easy trick to look like an oenophile.

We’ll drink to that.

We’d love to know where you’re going next and how you think the travel landscape might change as lockdown restrictions ease. Send your voice notes to [e-mail] or drop us a DM on Instagram @fleur_rm. For a daily dose of travel inspiration, check in with us at suitcasemag.com or get yourself a copy of SUITCASE Magazine.

Warwick Smith’s epic list of urban wineries to check out:

Renegade Urban Winery, of course

https://www.renegadelondonwine.com

Broc Cellars, California

https://broccellars.com

Bow and Arrow, Oregon

https://www.bowandarrowwines.com

Donkey and Goat, California

https://www.donkeyandgoat.com

Infinite Monkey Theorem, Colorado

https://theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com

The Red Hook Winery, New York

https://www.redhookwinery.com

Noita Winery, Finland

https://www.noitawinery.fi

And the UK wine producers he suggest paying a visit too:

Charlie Herring

http://www.charlieherring.com

Offbeat Wines

https://offbeatwines.co.uk

Langham Wine

https://langhamwine.co.uk

India and Fleur’s reccs for booze-fuelled weekends:

Wild Escapes at Fullerton Farm

https://wildescapes.com

Tillingham

https://tillingham.com

Oxney Estate

https://oxneyestate.com

Forty Hall

https://www.fortyhallestate.co.uk

Warden Abbey Vineyard

https://wardenvineyard.org.uk

Articles to help you seek out the best vineyards:

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/uk-wine-industry

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/worlds-best-wine-destinations

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/underrated-wine-destinations

https://suitcasemag.com/articles/best-wine-hotels-europe