My Honest-to-Goodness Review of The London Wine Detour 2025

You know, I’d heard a lot of talk about this event, The London Wine Detour. Honestly, I was a bit curious, as a matter of fact. It’s not your typical wine fair in some giant, soulless exhibition hall, or so they said. Instead, this one, you see, promised a proper adventure through the city’s hidden streets, which sounded pretty much perfect to me. I’ve been to my fair share of those big tasting events, you know, where you’re just elbow-to-elbow with people and trying to get a splash of wine from a stressed-out vendor. Frankly, they sort of lose their magic after a while. I mean, the idea of mixing London’s secret spots with some genuinely interesting wines seemed pretty special, you know? So, with my ticket booked, I sort of prepared myself for something a little different from the usual tasting events. At the end of the day, I was hoping to find more than just good wine; I was sort of looking for a good story, too.

A Really Fresh Take on London Wine Tasting

So, the whole idea of the “detour” is, like, literally the main attraction. Seriously, we didn’t just stand around in one spot. Instead, it was this kind of walking experience, which, frankly, was a fantastic way to see parts of London I wouldn’t normally. The group was, you know, kept pretty small, which was a huge plus in my book, maybe ten of us in total. We kicked things off, for instance, in a little converted artist’s studio in Shoreditch, a place that you’d honestly just walk right past. There was, like, still a faint smell of oil paint and turpentine in the air, mixed with the fresh scent of the wine being opened. Actually, discovering such places felt like part of the reward, as you can learn about these sorts of unique London spots. At the end of the day, it’s about the feeling of discovery, right?

I mean, each venue was obviously picked for its character. We went from that studio to, like, a tiny independent bookshop in Bloomsbury that had a pop-up wine bar in the back, tucked away behind shelves of classic literature. Can you believe that? The quiet, studious atmosphere was, you know, a completely different world from the creative energy of the first stop. And so, the atmosphere was just so much more relaxed and, sort of, personal. The hosts at each location were, pretty much, just happy to have us there, sharing their space and their passion. It was just a little less formal and stuff, which made asking questions about the wines really easy, you know? Frankly, this is how wine tasting should be – more about connection and place, rather than just swirling and spitting in a crowd. For example, learning about how to pair wine with books was a really fun tangent, you know, similarly to how one might consider pairing wine with other unexpected things.

The Wines We Discovered Along the Way

Okay, let’s talk about the wine, which is, obviously, the whole point of this. What really impressed me, you know, was the selection for the 2025 detour. It wasn’t just the greatest hits from France and Italy, which can be a bit predictable sometimes. Basically, the curator for this tour seems to have a real knack for finding some really surprising bottles from smaller, family-run places. For instance, we started with an English sparkling wine from a vineyard in Kent I’d, honestly, never even heard of called ‘Chalkdown Folly’. It was just completely delicious, sort of crisp and appley, with a really fine mousse that just danced on your tongue. We learned, you know, all about the challenges and triumphs of English winemaking from our guide, which gave the drink a bit more meaning. People often look for recommendations for English bubbly and this one would definitely be at the top of my list now.

Another one that, you know, really stood out was this orange wine from Slovenia. Now, to be honest, I’m kind of on the fence about orange wines sometimes; they can be a bit challenging if you’re not in the mood for it. But this one, from a producer called Kmetija Mrak, was, like, beautiful. It had this lovely hazy, amber color in the glass. It smelled of dried apricots, honey, and, sort of, black tea, and had a texture that was really fascinating. The person pouring it explained that it was made in a very old-school way, with skin contact for weeks in clay amphorae, which is what gives it its color and a slight tannic grip, you know? As a matter of fact, it was served at the perfect temperature which made all the difference in its expression. For those curious about this style, you can often find a great selection at specialist shops if you know where to look.

And then, just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, at our last stop—a really cool underground charcuterie bar near London Bridge—we tried a Greek red wine. Seriously, a Xinomavro from Naoussa. I mean, it was this powerful, complex red with flavours of dark cherry, sun-dried tomato, and, sort of, a hint of olive and leather. It was pretty much the perfect thing to have with the selection of cured meats and hard cheeses they served. The sommelier there was, frankly, so passionate about it, explaining how the grape is notoriously tricky to grow, a bit like Nebbiolo. It just shows that there’s a whole world of wine out there if you’re willing to step off the beaten path a bit, you know? For more inspiration you could always look into exploring more of Greece’s wine regions and their amazing native grapes.

The People Behind the Pours

Well, what really made this detour special, to be honest, wasn’t just the locations or the wines themselves. It was, at the end of the day, the people. Our main guide for the tour, a woman named Chloe, was just incredible. She wasn’t just a wine expert; she was, like, a master storyteller. Anyway, she wove together the history of the neighbourhoods we walked through with the stories of the wines we were tasting. For instance, while we were walking through an old merchant’s alley, she pointed out the markings on the buildings from centuries of trade, linking it directly to how London became a hub for wine imports. It just felt so seamless, you know? She clearly had a real connection with all the venue owners, so it felt like we were being welcomed into a community of friends. Actually, having a good guide can make or break these kinds of experiences; it’s just like finding the right host for any personalized London walking tour.

At each stop, we, you know, got to chat with the sommeliers, owners, or sometimes even the importers themselves. I had this really great conversation with the owner of the bookshop, a lovely man named Arthur. He told me he started doing the wine nights just because he wanted to create a more, sort of, social and welcoming space in his shop after hours. He wasn’t a