Sourced Market to open bottle shop

Independent food retailer Sourced Market is to open a bottle shop in its new Marylebone store at the end of March.

Sourced Market’s new Marylebone store will include a dedicated bottle shop

The new wine shop is an extension of the retailer’s existing wine and craft beer offer at its St Pancras store, which is set out in the style of a farmers’  market, but will occupy the entire basement of the 5,000sq. ft. site of the new shop.

Most of the wines will be natural and some biodynamic, co-founder and md Ben O’Brien told the drinks business, with others from small producers who may not be certified organic due to the “prohibitive” cost of certification.

It will also serve wine and craft beers from the keg. with kegged wines supplied by Sourced Market’s main drinks distributor OWLoeb and beers direct from a network of small breweries.

The move will mirror what the independent retailers already does for its craft beers, serving growlers of ale at the St Pancras store “We’ve found people like to drink in as well as taking it away,” he said. At Marylebone, it will also host tasting evenings, and customers will be able to order wine by the glass or carafe to drink on site.

O’Brien told the drinks business kegged wine was “a big step in the right direction”, although something few others had tapped into, despite the greater efficiencies and environmental benefits.

“There are so many advantages it’s really quite surprising that kegged wines are not more common,” he said. “Predominantly it allows customers to fill their own bottles and pay less for great quality wine than if we just had bottles on the shelf. And when a keg is opened the wine does not come into contact with air so does not deteriorate, so it is possible to have a wider selection of better quality wines on offer without the danger of wastage – we have a longer period of time for the wine to be drunk in perfect condition.”

“Demand for better quality wine and specifically better wine by the glass is on the increase so it’s huge,” he said. “We will start with eight wines on tap – most likely be four red, three white and a sparkling, with one of the reds being swapped for a rose as we move into summer – and eight beers. The idea is that when the keg is finished, it’s gone, so we will have continually rotating offer. Obviously we will keep certain styles but we will change the wines fairly regularly.”

“Expect a range from the very accessible at £8/btl to the very unique and quite special,” he said.

The retailer is also opening a bar in its revamped and enlarged St Pancras store at the beginning of March, which has been funded through a mixture of venture capital and crowd-funding.