Humble Grapes to open third site in London

London wine bar and retailer Humble Grape is set to open its third site in June, in Islington, with a fourth bar to follow later in the year.

The new Islington site, which db revealed in March and which was originally due to open in May, will follow the company’s ‘neighbourhood wine bar’ model, with an enhanced food offer.

The outlet in Theberton Street off Upper Street  will include a wine shop and bar along with a wine library, where customers can browse a selection of wine books, as well as a dining room.

The site will cater for around 66 covers with the bar expected and food offer expected to contribute around 60% of sales, with 30% from retail, and 10% from events, based on current projections.  It will around 400 stock wines sourced direct from small, family-owned vineyards, including Bartinney Sauvignon Blanc, 2015, from Stellenbosch, and biodynamic Chianti, Vecchie Terre Montefili, with a selection of wines by the glass also available as well as as bottles available for customers to buy. Seasonal dishes such as scallops, Laverstock farm black pudding & crispy leeks, confit Orchard Farm pork belly, celeriac & apple remoulade and burrata, purple sprouting broccoli, pumpkin seeds & basil oil will be available in the dining room, which is headed by head chef Kishen Raheja.

The décor has been inspired by the idea of “an indoor urban garden filled with foliage and vines climbing the walls”, the company said, which uses reclaimed natural materials such as paper made from recycled crushed grapes in the shop labels and bar menus.

Speaking to db ahead of Humble Grapes second crowd-funding drive launch in March, founder James Dawson said he has a ‘target list’ of areas for around London, but was also planning to look beyond London at sites in Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool in around three years’ time.

The crowd-funding, which has raise more than £1 million to date from private investors is being used to fund a further five or six sites across London over the next few years, as well as boosting online sales, its Wine Club and Wine Bank.

The business was originally founded to sell boutique wines direct from the supplier at pop-ups in 2009 and later moved into corporate events and wholesale before setting up the Battersea bar in 2014 on the back of its first successful crowd-funding campaign. However, since then the wholesaler operation has been scaled back to concentrate on the bars and events business, opening a second site in Fleet Street in 2016.

Currently, around 15% of revenue in the business is generated from retail sales, with 65% from the bar, and 20% from events.