I finally made it to David Motion’s The Winery at 4 Clifton Road W9 (http://www.thewineryuk.com/) recently, close to Little Venice. David has been heroically persistent in inviting me to tastings down the years (especially when he succeeded in planting a Winery cutting in Liberty’s, an arrangement that has now ceased), and they always sound fascinating, but I was persistently defeated by the beast we call The Rest Of Life. This time the beast let me through (though only in a thunderstorm).

Motion at rest
It was worth it. What a great shop! It looks beautiful: even the ancient shelves, which hint at an apothecary past, are caressable, and that’s before you’ve begun to reach for the wines ... which constitute nerd dreamtime. There isn’t a single bottle which is there ‘for commercial reasons’, making it the celestial alter-ego of Thresher’s. Proof? Some 25% of the entire range is German. And 95% of that is Trocken. This is avant-garde wine-merchanting. I was drawn there to taste some of the range of growers’ Champagnes which David stocks (and, if further proof of my thesis was needed, note that he stocks ONLY grower’s Champagnes). Italians are very fine, too, as is the real France.

The tastings continue. True passion lies behind every purchase. David is a successful musician and composer. The music takes 20% of his time and provides 80% of his income, whereas The Winery takes 80% of his time and provides 20% of his income. So there you are: he’s doing it all for you. You must visit – the shop if you can, and the website if you can’t.