The Urban Wine Company has grown from a simple idea that sprung up two seasons ago in a community called Furzedown in Tooting, South London. Grapes that were growing in Richard and his neighbours’ gardens were unfortunately going to waste. The only beneficiaries of the grape glut were the local birds!

Sitting under the vine, glasses in hand, Richard and Tim decided to team up and do something about it. After rounding up a group of local friends the first collection of garden grapes were pressed into London’s first urban wine. There was nervous excitement as the first bottle of “Chateau Tooting - Furzedown Blush” was uncorked.

The wine was brilliant (albeit we are slightly biased!) and the twenty bottles produced were polished off over a couple of very memorable days.

Drunk by wine critics and tasted by many, the wine passed the test and whilst there is a long road ahead to producing anything that will take on the titans of Latour, Puligny Montrachet. Cheval Blanc or Ausone, it’s a fantastic start and most important of all, it started in London, in a back garden, in Tooting!!

Join us and make history by producing wine in your area through the power of the collective and its community. Its great fun and we’ve only got to the end of chapter one!!