Urban Wine Company: London's Community Winemaking Collective
London's Most Unlikely Vineyard Started Under a Garden Pergola
Tucked behind suburban fences, allotments and railway embankments across the capital, there is a vineyard that does not appear on any map. It is a vineyard made up of kitchen gardens, climbing plants and the occasional rogue vine behind a supermarket, and every September its grapes are pooled together, weighed, loaded into crates and driven 130 miles south to East Sussex to be turned into wine. The project behind it is called Urban Wine Company, and it is widely described as London's only community wine harvest.
At the centre of the project sits a man called Richard, whose question under his own garden vine one sunny afternoon in 2009 sparked a community winemaking movement that has since been written about by the BBC, the Financial Times, The Independent and The Big Issue, and discussed on BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live. What began as one gardener's slightly mad idea has grown into a city-wide collective that turns London sunshine, allotments and back gardens into bottles of English-grown still and sparkling wine sold under the playful label Château Tooting.
From One Garden to a Growing Community
Richard founded Urban Wine Company in 2009 after a moment of quiet reckoning. Sat beneath his garden vine with a glass of wine in hand, he realised that the wine he was drinking had travelled thousands of miles to reach him, while ripe English grapes hung just above his head. Looking across the fence at neighbouring allotments, vines climbing pergolas in nearby gardens, and the wild grape that had taken root behind a local supermarket, he asked himself a simple question: could we make wine from grapes grown right here in English gardens instead?
That September, Richard set out to prove it. He knocked on doors, harvested allotments, gathered grapes from behind shops and along railway sides, and assembled the first ever batch of Urban Wine with the help of winemaking experts willing to take a chance on city grapes. The result, by all accounts, was genuinely drinkable - and the project has grown in his community ever since.
The Idea Behind the Harvest
Urban Wine Company's mission is disarmingly direct: why fly wine halfway across the world when you can grow it on your own doorstep? The collective believes in keeping things local, in knowing where your wine comes from, and in communities gathering around something they have created together. Garden vines deserve a chance. Allotment grapes should not go to waste. The view from your kitchen window can become the wine on your table.
There is a sustainability angle too, which is hard to argue with. No industrial pesticides, no negative impact on wildlife and very low food miles - the only long journey the grapes make is the 130-mile trip from the heart of London down to the partner winery in East Sussex. As Wild + Lees Wine Merchants in Herne Hill put it in their review: “What could be more sustainable?”
How the Community Wine Harvest Works
The harvest follows a nine-month cycle that begins in September and ends the following May. It is a simple, deliberately hands-off model: members look after the vines and bring the grapes in; Urban Wine Company looks after everything else.
The September Weighing-In
Each September the collective hosts a series of Saturday morning sessions at which members bring their grapes in whatever container they have to hand - buckets, pots, pans, mixing bowls, all are welcome. The grapes are tipped into communal crates, weighed and credited to the grower. This annual Weighing-In has become something of a community occasion in its own right: people who only know each other through garden fences catching up over car boots full of pinot and bacchus, sharing tips on vine care and politely arguing about chaptalisation.
For 2026, the harvest sessions are confirmed for two Saturdays in September at the project's Tooting home:
- Saturday 19th September 2026, 1 - 5pm
- Saturday 26th September 2026, 1 - 5pm
Both sessions take place at All Saints Church, Brudenell Rd, London SW17 8DQ - find the venue on Google Maps. Detailed preparation notes and what to bring are published on the About the Harvest page.
From Tooting to East Sussex
Once the grapes are weighed in, the magic gets handed over to the professionals. The harvest is loaded into crates and driven 130 miles south to Downsview Winery near Crowborough in East Sussex, where the team carries out the pressing and fermentation. Members do not need to visit, lift a vat or even know how a pneumatic press works - they simply wait for the next May, when the bottles arrive back in London.
May: Bottles Arrive Back in London
By May the following year, bottles made from your own grapes (pooled with those of fellow growers) are ready for collection. Rosé season, conveniently. Members pay for the wine they have earned at preferential rates and, if they want, can order more for friends, family or that one cousin who keeps asking whether English sparkling can really compete with Champagne.
Membership, Pricing and What It Costs
Becoming a member of the collective is intentionally low-friction. The model is built around one annual fee and a pay-as-you-go approach to the wine itself.
- Harvest Entry Fee: £25 one-off subscription. This secures your place at the 2026 harvest sessions and covers the venue, the crates, transport to the winery and storage. Members receive a serialised voucher in the post after purchase.
- Still Wine: £15 per bottle.
- Sparkling Wine: £20 per bottle.
You only pay for the wine you want when you collect it the following May. Members can choose from rosé or white still wine, with sparkling varieties also available. The pricing is unusual in the English wine world - significantly below typical cellar-door prices - because it reflects the value of having contributed the grapes themselves. The 2026 harvest membership ticket can be purchased directly from the online shop.
Where the Urban Vineyards Are
Although the project is rooted in South London - Tooting, Balham, Streatham, Clapham, Brixton and Wandsworth provide a regular stream of grapes - Urban Wine Company welcomes contributions from anywhere in the UK. Active growing clusters stretch across West London (Richmond, Ealing, Kingston, Twickenham) and North London (Stoke Newington, Islington), with dedicated members hauling grapes in from Essex, Surrey, Kent and beyond.
Every bottle of Château Tooting is therefore a true cross-borough blend. The label celebrates the fact that a single bottle might contain grapes from a Clapham kitchen garden, a Balham allotment fence and a wild vine spotted by a Peckham dog-walker - what the project calls “a true celebration of urban and suburban viticulture”.
The English-Grown Wines, Fizz and Merch
Wines and merchandise can be bought directly from the online shop. The current range includes:
- Tooting Sparkling Fizz - the headline cuvée, a deep reddish-pink sparkling rosé described by Wild + Lees as “crisp and toasty, with bright red berry flavours and a celebratory feel”.
- Sparkling White Fizz - a traditional-method English sparkling from vineyards across the country.
- Tooting Red - a still red from English-grown fruit, a more recent addition to the range.
For those who want to wear their allegiance, the shop also carries Château Tooting branded merchandise: a canvas tote bag, and unisex t-shirts in classic black or vivid orange. All proceeds support the harvest.
Behind the Scenes at Downsview Winery
As well as the Tooting weigh-ins, Urban Wine Company periodically hosts vineyard and winery visits at Downsview Winery near Crowborough, East Sussex - the destination for the grapes each autumn. The most recent visits took place in spring 2026 and were open to both members and non-members.
A typical day begins with a walk through the Downsview vineyards, where guests pick up tips on vine care from the on-site viticulture team, before strolling back to the winery for a leisurely tasting. Locally sourced cheese and charcuterie accompany a generous wine flight of Bacchus and Sauvignon Blanc, after which founder Richard Sharp gives a short talk on the fifteen-year history of the Urban Wine experience. Chief winemaker Toby Spires also joins in to talk through what makes English winemaking in Sussex distinctive.
For members, the highlight is the chance to taste their own wine - made from grapes they grew at home in London - straight from the tank. Every guest leaves with a complimentary Urban Wine tote bag and a bare-rooted vine to plant at home. Future visit dates are announced through the Urban Grapevine newsletter, and these events are popular as gifts for friends, neighbours and small corporate groups.
The Press Coverage
The story of urban winemaking in London has captured imaginations far beyond the city's winemakers. The collective's media footprint is unusually strong for a community project of this size, reflecting genuine public interest in the idea that exceptional wine can emerge from gardens, allotments and unexpected urban corners.
- BBC London came to film the harvest for a feature in which “Londoners turn their gardens into vineyards” - read the BBC article.
- BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live hosted founder Richard Sharp in conversation with Adrian Chiles about community, sustainability and urban wine - listen on BBC Sounds. There is also a clip on Instagram.
- The Financial Times ran a feature on the project - read the FT article.
- The Big Issue published an opinion piece on London's community gardens and the Urban Wine Company - read the Big Issue article.
- The Independent covered the inaugural “Château Tooting” vintage - read the Independent article.
The collective also visited the @thisisriverside studios for a longer interview (see the Facebook post) and The Wine Press gathers the coverage in one place.
Voices from the Urban Wine Community
Grower testimonials capture what the project means to participants, with many collected on the reviews page. Agnes from King's Cross joined because she values organic, local food and wanted a hands-on way to live more sustainably. Tom Standage, Deputy Editor at The Economist and a long-standing member, describes the annual ritual of “picking the grapes, taking them to a car park in Tooting, and getting to meet some of the other members of this unusual wine collective”. Robert, a member since 2017, calls founder Richard “quite amazing, brilliantly organising the whole operation and representing Château Tooting to the wider world”. Josh from Tooting froze his grapes after they ripened early and was delighted to find them accepted without question.
Liam from Wild + Lees Wine Merchants in Herne Hill sums up the appeal from a trade perspective: customers are always “greatly surprised at its quality”, particularly the sparkling rosé, which he describes as crisp and toasty with bright red berry flavours and a celebratory feel.
Growing Your Own: Vine Advice for First-Time Members
You do not need to be an experienced viticulturist to take part. Many Urban Wine members simply inherited a vine on a pergola or allotment fence and have learned on the job. The collective's Vine Growing Advice page distils the essentials.
Where and When to Plant
Vines need sun, and in the UK the more the better. Most soil types are acceptable provided drainage is reasonable - waterlogged roots are the enemy. Plant in early spring so the vine can establish while putting down roots, and if your soil is light and dry, plant deeper (around 200mm) to encourage roots to chase moisture.
Watering and Feeding
Established vines are drought-tolerant, but young plants need watering during the growing season. The trick is fewer, heavier soakings rather than frequent light sprinkles - that encourages roots to grow down rather than sprawl near the surface. Grapevines have modest nutritional needs. A little organic matter at the start of the season is plenty; overly fertile soil produces too much foliage and not enough fruit.
Support and Pruning
Vines are vigorous climbers and need a sturdy structure - a pergola, vine eyes on a wall with thick wire, or a simple stake in the early years. Pruning is the single most important job: vines can be cut back brutally (up to 90% of growth removed in winter) and still thrive. Aim for a balance of fruit and foliage, and remember that some stress - low nutrition, low water - produces better grapes. The Royal Horticultural Society has a thorough guide to grapevine pruning.
The First Three Years
Year one is about roots; year two is about structure; year three is the first small crop. Remove any grape clusters in the first two years so the vine's energy goes into foliage and framework. By year three you can let some fruit develop - and if you have got the pruning right, that crop is the start of your own contribution to the next community vintage.
Joining the 2026 Harvest
Spaces for the 2026 community harvest are limited and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. To join, purchase a 2026 harvest membership ticket for £25, then turn up at All Saints Church in Tooting on either Saturday 19th or Saturday 26th September 2026 with your grapes. No vine of your own? A neighbour with a glut or a wild patch round the corner is enough.
Harvest and event updates are shared through the Urban Grapevine newsletter, with general enquiries handled via the Contact page. The collective is also active on social media, sharing winery visits, posts and merchandise news through @urbanwineuk on Instagram, the Urban Wine Company Facebook page and @urbanwineuk on X (formerly Twitter).
Final Pour: Why Urban Wine Matters
It is easy to be cynical about wine that arrives with a good back-story, but Urban Wine Company is one of those projects where the story happens to be true. The bottles are made from real grapes, grown by real people, in real London gardens. The journey from a Tooting car park to an East Sussex winery and back again is small enough that you can drive it in a day and low enough in carbon that no placard is required. The wine - still rosé, white, sparkling rosé, fizz - is genuinely well-received by trade buyers and consistently surprises first-time tasters.
For growers, it is rare to be able to drink something you have personally tended in your own back garden. For Londoners, it is a way of supporting local food and local winemaking without ever picking up a secateur. For the wider English wine scene, it is a vivid demonstration that great wine does not have to come from rolling Tuscan-style hills - sometimes it comes from a vine your neighbour planted on a whim and has been trying to give away ever since.