Blackbook Winery: Battersea's Urban Winery Rewriting the Rulebook for English Still Wine
Introduction
Tucked into a 100-year-old railway arch a stone's throw from Battersea Park in south London, Blackbook Winery has spent the best part of a decade quietly rewriting what English still wine can be. Founded in 2017 by sommelier-turned-winemaker Sergio Verrillo and his wife Lynsey, the winery is one of a small but influential group of London urban cellars producing single-vineyard, single-clone English wines from cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Its compact site - a press, a stacked pyramid of around 90 barrels, a few steel vats and pallets of bottles waiting to be labelled - is small enough to take in with a single turn on the spot, yet the wines it produces have gathered a remarkable collection of trophies, gold medals and 90-plus-point scores from Vinous.com, Wine GB, The Times and the Evening Standard.
Blackbook's mission is straightforward: to make bloody good English wine. The grapes are sourced from growers within roughly two hours of the city - traffic permitting - with a focus on Burgundian clones from sites that deliver depth, ripeness and the kind of phenolic maturity Sergio learned to chase during harvests in California, Burgundy, Stellenbosch and New Zealand. The result is a quietly adventurous portfolio that ranges from a stainless-steel Bacchus to barrel-aged Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Reserves, served on Michelin-starred lists, exported to Norway and South Africa, and poured in the railway-arch cellar door in Battersea every summer weekend.
Location and the Urban Winery Concept
Blackbook's home is Arch 41 in the London Stone Business Estate, an unassuming industrial estate tucked behind Queenstown Road in Battersea. The entrance is on Broughton Street, opposite the junction with Emu Road, and the closest station is Queenstown Road on the Overground - a little over five minutes' walk away. Regular buses 156, 137 and 452 run along Queenstown Road. Once inside, visitors find a working cellar that doubles as a tasting room and summer wine bar.
Being an urban winery is at the heart of Blackbook's identity. Rather than planting its own vineyard - a route that requires deep capital, years of waiting and a four-vintage pause before any still wine can be released - the team has built long-standing relationships with growers across Essex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Sussex. It is a négociant model applied with a modern, minimal-intervention sensibility, and one that has positioned Blackbook among the most respected producers in the emerging London urban winery movement. As Sergio explained in an FT Globetrotter feature on London's urban wine scene, the ethos extends from proximity to people to proximity to the grapes: "I want lignification of stems, browning of seeds, flavour development," he says, prioritising flavour and phenolic ripeness over the numbers.
The Founders
Blackbook is the first solo project from winemaker Sergio Verrillo and his wife Lynsey. Both are passionate Londoners with day jobs that, until 2017, sat well outside the wine trade.
Sergio grew up in the United States as the son of Italian and Hungarian immigrants, surrounded by relatives who made their own wine in the back garden and drank it with breakfast. A career in music and hospitality followed his move to London in the 2000s, and he worked as a sommelier at Gordon Ramsay's Maze, Tamarind and Chez Bruce before enrolling at Plumpton College in East Sussex, where he earned a degree in Viticulture and Oenology in 2014. He then spent several years as a travelling harvest winemaker, working at Greyfriars in England, Flowers and Calera in California, De Montille in Burgundy, Mulderbosch in Stellenbosch and Ata Rangi in New Zealand. His focus throughout was cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay - the varieties that would later define Blackbook.
Lynsey brings a commercial background from consultancy, travel and payments, with experience in customer strategy and proposition development at leading UK and global brands. Her immersion in wine coincided almost accidentally with maternity leave, when she and Sergio used the time to get the brand off the ground together. Today she leads Blackbook's activities outside the winery - marketing, planning, finances - and spends much of harvest helping shovel grapes, punch down Pinot tanks and rinse out barrels. She is a member of the WineGB South East committee and chairs WineGB's Diversity & Inclusion working group. The couple have two small children and can often be spotted around Brixton with a strong coffee on the way to Brockwell Park.
Winemaking Philosophy
Blackbook's winemaking is built on three simple principles: excellent fruit, tradition with innovation, and texture in the glass.
Sourcing the Fruit
Great wine cannot exist without excellent grapes. The aspect, soil type, vine age and clone of every site are carefully considered before fruit is accepted. To date, the winery works with a handful of growers across English terroirs who share the same drive to produce the best fruit possible. Most of these growers are clustered in East Anglia, where the warm, dry microclimate of the Crouch Valley and Dengie Peninsula in Essex and the Suffolk coast consistently delivers the ripe, balanced fruit that cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir demand.
Approach in the Winery
The winery's philosophy is tradition with innovation. Blackbook uses indigenous yeast for primary and malolactic fermentations, and aims for low to zero sulphur use wherever possible. Modern equipment is used to make processing decisions best suited to each parcel of fruit and each vintage, while vegan-friendly winemaking is standard. Each wine has its own identity and nuances, with diversity in style a deliberate outcome rather than an accident.
Ageing and Texture
Texture is the through-line of the Blackbook portfolio. To achieve it, most wines are fermented in old French oak between 228L and 500L sizes, with a smaller portion in stainless steel. All wines are aged sur lie for a minimum of six months, with frequent lees stirring to coax out mouthfeel. The variation in barrel size and fermentation vessel creates a diverse range of flavours and textures; the time spent in each is determined by tasting through the wines and making decisions based on flavour profile.
The Growers
Blackbook's growers are long-term partners rather than anonymous suppliers. Each is selected for site quality, vineyard management and a shared willingness to push for lower yields and more intentional winemaking.
Clayhill Vineyards, Essex
Clayhill, run by Dale Symons and his wife Victoria, was the first grower to take a leap of faith on the Battersea operation, supplying the inaugural Pinot Noir and Chardonnay fruit. Dale planted the vineyard on the south-facing slopes of the Crouch Valley in 2006, on clay soils, on a coastal peninsula between the rivers Crouch and Blackwater. The mesoclimate delivers mild winters and hot, dry summers, and the site is also home to a tea room, cellar door and tasting room. Clayhill remains the source of the flagship Painter of Light Chardonnay and Nightjar Pinot Noir.
Yew Tree Vineyard, Oxfordshire
Yew Tree is the source of the seyval blanc in the 2017 GMF, a single-vineyard release. The family-owned vineyard, run by Ed, is roughly two hectares, planted on sandy loam soils, and introduced Blackbook to its inaugural crop.
The Wider Network
Across 2017 - 2019 Blackbook worked with five vineyards: Clayhill and Crouch Valley in Essex, Yew Tree in Oxfordshire, Shotley in Suffolk and Combe Bottom in Sussex. Crows Lane Estate in Essex provides the Pinot Noir for the I'd rather be a rebel Rosé, and Sussex also grows the Controversy Pinot Meunier, hand-picked and whole-bunch pressed just 35 miles from Battersea. A more recent addition is the South Bank Vineyard in the Crouch Valley, source of the 100% Chardonnay Pygmalion - a wine made only in exceptional years.
The Wines
Blackbook's portfolio is built around Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a rotating cast of experimental and limited-edition releases. The labels are designed by friends and acclaimed illustrators the Yarza Twins.
Painter of Light Chardonnay
Painter of Light is the core Chardonnay. The 2023 vintage (from £30) expresses vibrancy and tropical fruit, supported by English acidity, with restrained oak, citrus and stone fruit, underlying smoky and flint characters, minerality and length on the palate. Drinking window 2026 - 2036, 200 cases produced. The 2022 vintage sold out at £26.50; the 2021 magnum is £50. A special 2020 Painter of Light Reserve Chardonnay spent three years in barrel and bottle, with fewer than 300 bottles made - a Wine GB 2026 gold-medal winner and the highest-rated English still wine in Anne Krebiehl MW's Vinous.com January 2026 report at 94 points.
Pygmalion Chardonnay
Pygmalion is a 100% Chardonnay made only in exceptional vintages from the South Bank Vineyard in the Crouch Valley. Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed and fermented in a mix of barrel sizes, it then spends 24 months on lees with frequent stirring. The 2023 Pygmalion took two trophies at the 2026 Wine GB Awards - Best Still Wine: Chardonnay and Best Still Wine overall. The 2020 Pygmalion is from £29.50, and the 2022 Pygmalion is from £40.
Nightjar Pinot Noir
Nightjar is the core Pinot Noir. Essex-born and Battersea-bred, the fruit comes from Clayhill Vineyard on the south-facing coastal peninsula of the Crouch Valley. The 2024 vintage (£30) is fermented naturally in small open-top fermenters and aged in Burgundy oak barrels, unfined and unfiltered. It shows bright, ripe red fruits, supple tannins and a gentle black-pepper spice, with a drinking window of 2027 - 2035 and 270 cases produced. The 2023 vintage is also £30, the 2022 magnum is £65, and the 2019 Reserve is £35.50. The 2022 Nightjar was Wine GB's Best Red Wine in 2025 and was selected for Wine GB's Top 50 Wines 2025.
I'd rather be a rebel Rosé
This still rosé is crafted from Pinot Noir grapes sourced from Crows Lane Estate in Essex. Hand-picked into small crates, the grapes undergo a brief cold soak before gentle pressing and fermentation in seasoned French oak. The 2022 vintage (£26.50) was matured for 18 months on lees in tank and barrel, then six months in bottle before release. Notes of ripe red cherry and strawberries and cream. Drinking window 2025 - 2028. A 2026 Wine GB gold-medal winner.
Controversy Pinot Meunier
A delicate interpretation of Pinot Meunier grown in Sussex, just 35 miles from the winery. Hand-picked, whole-bunch pressed and fermented with indigenous yeast in old Burgundy barrels, with natural malolactic fermentation and seven months of ageing with frequent lees stirring. Aromas of raspberry, mandarin peel, red florals, grapefruit, citrus zest and dried cranberry. The 2022 and 2023 vintages are both £22.50. Matthew Jukes called it "sensational, challenging, rare and unmissable."
Tamesis Bacchus
A bright, restrained organic Bacchus grown at Forty Hall in Enfield, north London. The 2023 Tamesis (£26) was praised in the Evening Standard as "direct, alert and refreshingly uninterested in pastoral romance" - a wine that feels like London in temperament.
Fragments of Time Sauvignac
A skin-contact wine from the South Bank Vineyard. The 2024 Fragments of Time (£26.50) explores the potential of Sauvignac, a PIWI variety well suited to English conditions.
Trouble Every Day Pinot Noir
A limited-edition red made from a single Pinot Noir clone that tasted so good during the 2020 harvest that it was siphoned off into its own barrel. The 2022 vintage is £30.
Drums>Space Red Field Blend
A red field blend that nods to Blackbook's experimental side. The 2022 vintage is £26.50; the 2021 vintage is offered as a magnum at £55.
GMF
A single-vineyard white from Yew Tree in Oxfordshire, made from seyval blanc. The 2020 GMF is £28.50.
Crush and Brisk Blanc de Noirs
A collaborative sparkling project with John and Frances Needham of Crush and Brisk, made from 2019 Pinot Noir grapes from Shotley vineyard on the Suffolk coast. Whole-bunch pressed, settled overnight, fermented and aged in stainless steel for eight months, then aged on lees in bottle for a minimum of four years. Disgorged November 2023, dosage 5g/L. The 2019 vintage is £50. Matthew Jukes called it "a glorious wine with a pulse-racing perfume and a sensational, dry, drama-soaked finish."
Experimental 3 Pack
A curated trio of Blackbook's experimental releases, available as a pack for £70.
Wine Packs
- Limited Edition Pinot Noir 3 Pack - £86
- The "Londoner" 6 Pack - £135, a curated case of six Blackbook wines
The Black Book Wine Club
The Black Book is Blackbook's annual wine club, structured around the winery's production calendar and offering members first access to new releases, exclusive events and a curated case of wine.
Membership lasts 12 months, renewed annually. There are two tiers:
- Chapter 1 - £185 per year: a 6-bottle case sent in two shipments (spring and autumn), 5% discount on shop purchases, first access to new vintages and limited editions, two tickets to a winery tour, access to library wines and an invitation to the exclusive November harvest members' event at the winery.
- Chapter 2 - £300 per year: a 12-bottle case in two shipments, 10% discount, plus all Chapter 1 benefits.
Wine club members are invited to taste out of barrel at the winery with Sergio, a chance to see winemaking in action. As Matthew Jukes wrote in Vineyard Magazine: "Sergio is a veritable font of knowledge." Memberships can be purchased through the Black Book Wine Club shop page.
Winery Tours and Tastings
The Blackbook Urban Winery Experience & Tasting is the flagship visitor offering. Held most Saturday afternoons (with occasional Thursday evenings), the session lasts around 1 hour 15 minutes and is priced at £25 per person. It includes a tour of the winery, a tutored tasting of four wines and 'cellar door' discount prices on any wine purchased on the day.
This is a standing tasting in the working winery - visitors are advised to wrap up warmly in the colder months as the arch is unheated. Tickets are booked directly through the Winery Tour & Tasting page, and gift vouchers are available for £25 from the online shop. Private tours and virtual winery tours can be arranged for groups, team events or friends and family gatherings by emailing info@blackbookwinery.com.
The Summer Wine Bar
The Battersea Blackbook Wine Bar reopens each summer. Tucked away on the London Stone Business Estate, the bar is open Friday from 4pm to 9pm and Saturday from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Visitors can sit among the barrels and taste what the team calls the most sustainable wine you can buy in London - produced locally, minimally intervened and bottled on site. Larger bookings and bespoke venue requests can be made in advance by email.
Gift Vouchers and Gift Cards
Digital gift cards are available from £25, £50, £75 or £100, redeemable against wine, shipping, wine club membership or winery tours and experiences. The cards never expire and are valid for online purchases only. A separate gift voucher for the Urban Winery Experience & Tasting is priced at £25 and is valid for 12 months from purchase.
Events and English Wine Week
Blackbook maintains a public Events page listing the team's appearances around London and beyond. The current calendar includes:
- 13 - 14 June - Battersea Wine Circuit
- 21 June - Taste of London × Apricity × Blackbook Lunch
- 24 June - Fortnum & Mason's English Wine Festival Tasting (from 6:30pm, ticketed)
- 26 June - English Wine Week Dinner at Angler
- 27 June - Urban Winery Collective Party at Vagabond Canada Water, featuring DJ YODA
English Wine Week is a particularly busy period, with tastings, dinners and pop-ups across the capital. Earlier collaborations and appearances have included the Battersea Wine Circuit at Battersea Power Station, Apricity and Angler, and the Fortnum & Mason English Wine Festival.
Awards, Press and Recognition
Blackbook has become one of the most decorated English still-wine producers, with awards and reviews including:
- 2026 Wine GB Awards - Two trophies: Best Still Wine: Chardonnay and Best Still Wine overall, both for the 2023 Pygmalion Chardonnay. Three gold medals for 2022 I'd rather be a rebel Rosé, 2023 Pygmalion Chardonnay and 2020 Painter of Light Reserve Chardonnay.
- 2025 Wine GB Awards - Trophy for Best Red Wine for Nightjar 2022.
- Wine GB Top 50 Wines 2025 - Nightjar 2022 selected among the nation's top wines.
- Vinous.com (January 2026) - Anne Krebiehl MW's UK report scored Painter of Light Reserve Chardonnay 2020 at 94 points (the highest-rated English still white in the report), 2022 Pygmalion 93, 2023 Painter of Light 92, 2019 and 2020 Nightjar Reserves 93 and 92, 2023 Nightjar 92, 2021 Sea of Love Pinot Blanc 92, and 2022 I'd rather be a Rebel Rosé 91.
- Wine Enthusiast - Featured in Christina Pickard's "Against All Odds, the English Are Finally Drinking Their Own Wine" trend report.
- The Times - Jane MacQuitty recommended the 2022 Nightjar Pinot Noir as a starry Christmas wine. Earlier, the winery was profiled in a feature on London's new urban wineries.
- Financial Times (May 2026) - Blackbook profiled in Victoria Daskal's Globetrotter piece on London as English winemaking's new hotspot.
- Evening Standard - Douglas Blyde's sommelier feature highlighted the Tamesis Bacchus from Forty Hall.
- The Observer - Blackbook's rosé listed on the wine list at Noodle and Beer in Chinatown.
- Club Oenologique - Blackbook profiled in a feature on London's urban wineries.
- International Wine Challenge - Quoted in James Lawrence's feature on the rise of English still wines.
- Wine GB 2025 Awards - Trophy for Best Red Wine: Nightjar 2022.
Volunteering and Community
Blackbook runs a much-loved volunteer programme, with around 600 people signed up to help at crunch points in the year - typically harvest in October/November and bottling in spring and autumn. As Sergio told The Times, "Volunteering is important because it helps get the community engaged. How often do people get the opportunity to walk straight off the Tube and find themselves making wine?" Volunteers come from across the UK - including occasional visitors from Scotland - though the majority are Londoners.
There is also a small annual harvest intake of one to two people for the September - November period, plus occasional six-month placements with the team's viticulturist and a local retailer.
Help Us Grow - Crowdfunding
Following the exceptional 2025 harvest - described as one of the most exciting in Blackbook's history, with yields 20 - 30% above forecast and pristine, balanced fruit - the team has launched a crowdfunding campaign to fund the next stage of growth. Rewards include limited-edition campaign merch, an intimate winery dinner for four to six guests, and the ultimate prize: ownership of an entire barrel of Blackbook wine.
How to Find Blackbook
The winery is located at Arch 41, London Stone Business Estate, London, SW8 3QR. The entrance is on Broughton Street, opposite the junction with Emu Road. The closest station is Queenstown Road (Overground), around five minutes' walk away, with regular buses 156, 137 and 452 along Queenstown Road. Visits to the winery are by appointment via info@blackbookwinery.com. Shop online at blackbookwinery.com/shop, follow the team on Instagram and Facebook, and sign up to the mailing list for release news and event updates.
Final Glass
Blackbook is a winery that takes its craft seriously without taking itself too seriously. The labels carry the names of paintings, films and songs; the cellar bar feels more like a summer house party than a tasting room; and the wines - shaped by Burgundian clones, indigenous yeasts and a deep faith in English terroir - have helped to move still wine to the centre of the English wine conversation. From Arch 41 in Battersea, the team continues to push English still wine forward with every vintage.