West Street Vineyard, Colchester

Jane and Stephen Mohan wanted to own a vineyard. Having worked on them in their teens (Jane in France, and Steven in Germany), they knew that this was something they wanted to do for themselves.
They found the perfect spot in Coggeshall in Essex, with the right soil, sunlight and location for them to create not just a vineyard to grow their own wines, but to create a whole new wine experience. Their wine barn concept was born. A place for people to come and experience great English wines, and learn how they are made and where they are from.

The business is based in Coggeshall, and was literally built from the ground up, with sustainability, eco-friendliness and design right at the core of what the Mohans wanted to achieve. The building itself is nominated for a RICS award for its design, and offers stunning views from each of the levels out over the vines. West Street Vineyard is made up of specific areas. Obviously there are the vines, from which Jane and Steven make award winning reds, whites and roses. Then there is the 60-seater restaurant headed by Nick, their incredibly talented chef. Then there is their wine school, in conjunction with Neil Bull, where courses will be taught throughout the year on all aspects of wine and tastings. The cellar of the building offers a bar and private hire space, perfect for tastings and parties, and has a glass wine cellar, which is the focal point of the whole room.

Then there is the Wine Wall – or our By The Glass system, as we like to call it. Jane’s brainwave for using our system was simple – not many people have tried English wines, and indeed, not many people know of how many varieties are actually available to try. Therefore in order to get people to get tasting and trying them, there needed to be a vehicle with which to do this. By using a By The Glass system, Jane is able to offer visitors a taste, small or large glass of a variety of wines from around the country. These are then available to buy by the bottle to either drink on the premises, or at home. What is brilliant about this concept is that it allows visitors to try more than one wine before making their selection, but also takes the risk out of buying something new and not known. The visitors know exactly what they are buying and are comfortable in spending the money on the bottle.

Having attended the soft-launch in April, some of the feedback was really interesting, everything from people thinking it was a ‘sensible idea’, to comments like ‘it allows me to try wines at my own pace, without having to think up something intelligent to say about the wines, and without feeling pressured’. Many loved the interactivity of the system, and that they could buy credit from the bar and use it as and when they wanted to.

Make sure you regularly check their website (hyperlink?) to keep up to date about all of their upcoming events, and also to find out more about the wines which are available both by the bottle, and by the glass at the vineyard.