I Found London’s Best Kept Secret Under a Railway Arch (And It’s Not What You Think)

I spend a lot of time looking for the things in London that most visitors, and most Londoners, walk straight past. So when I was researching the city’s wine scene and kept seeing the name Blackbook Winery come up, tucked away in Battersea rather than anywhere near a vineyard, I knew I had to go and see it for myself.

I wasn’t prepared for quite how hidden it would be. Blackbook sits inside Arch 41 of the London Stone Business Estate, just off Broughton Street in Battersea, about five minutes’ walk from Queenstown Road station. There’s no grand entrance, no rows of vines, nothing that says “winery” from the outside apart from a useful sign! 

What is Blackbook Winery?

Blackbook is one of only a handful of genuine urban wineries operating in London, alongside names like London Cru, Renegade and Vagabond. And I want to stress the word genuine, because this isn’t a wine bar with a clever name or a tasting room bolted onto a shop. This is a real, working winery. The grapes are pressed here, the wine is fermented here, and it’s aged here, in old Burgundian barrels stacked along the arch. You can see the whole process happening around you while you drink.

It was founded in 2017 by Sergio and Lynsey Verrillo, and here’s the detail that surprised me most: Blackbook doesn’t grow a single grape of its own. Every year they buy in fruit to their own exact specifications from selected English growers, with Clayhill Vineyard in Essex a key source among others. The growing happens in the countryside, but everything after that, the pressing, the wild fermentation, the barrel ageing, the bottling, happens right here under this one railway arch in south London. 

The philosophy is minimal intervention winemaking: natural, wild yeast fermentation, very little added sulphur, and bottled without much fuss. It’s a world away from the polish of a big commercial operation, and that’s the point.

The Tasting Experience

Tastings run most Saturdays, with occasional Thursday evenings too, and need to be booked in advance as they do fill up. Mine cost £25 and lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, sitting among the barrels while our host walked us through four wines one by one.

I’ve done my share of wine tastings, from proper vineyard tours in France to other urban wineries closer to home, and this was a noticeably more casual, hands-on affair than most. There’s no white tablecloth formality here. Our host was clearly passionate about the wine and knew every detail of how it was made, but the whole thing felt like standing in someone’s workshop rather than sitting through a lecture, which I really enjoyed.

The Wines

We tasted four wines across the hour and a quarter, and each one told a different part of Blackbook’s story.

First up was the Blanc de Noirs, a sparkling wine made in collaboration with a separate sparkling wine specialist, since the arch simply doesn’t have the space to produce traditional method fizz on site. It was a light and bright but still had a rich, slightly creamy mouth feel – I could have drunk alot more of it! 

My favourite of the tasting was the Painter of Light, a 100% Chardonnay from the 2023 vintage, aged nine months in oak. It had exactly the kind of depth and roundness I look for in an oaked Chardonnay, without tipping into anything heavy handed.

The wine that genuinely surprised me was Controversy, a 100% Pinot Meunier. If you know Champagne, you’ll know Pinot Meunier as one of the supporting grapes blended in alongside Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. It’s very rare to see it bottled entirely on its own, and tasting it that way was a proper “did you know” moment for me. It’s a grape most wine lovers have drunk plenty of without ever tasting it in isolation.

We finished with a red field blend, sold under names like Drums>Space, made from four different grape varieties grown together. It was noticeably lighter in body than I expected from a red, easy drinking rather than a big, brooding wine.

A Nod to London in Every Label

One detail I loved: Blackbook’s experimental range takes its labels from no longer used London transport designs. Their core range nods to other London landmarks in its design references.

Battersea’s Best Kept Secret

Battersea these days is best known for the glossy Battersea Power Station redevelopment, all polished apartments and designer shops. A few streets away, under a railway arch, there’s this scrappy, artisanal, minimal intervention wine operation quietly getting on with it. It’s a nice contrast. 

Good to Know Before You Go

Book ahead. Sessions are small and personal by design, which is part of the charm, but it does mean they fill up. If you can, time your visit for summer, when Blackbook opens a pop-up wine bar with trestle tables outside the arch on Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, a lovely way to linger a bit longer once the formal tasting wraps up. If you’re going in the cooler months, dress for it. The arch isn’t heated, so a jumper is a good idea even if it’s mild outside. Make sure you check opening details before heading out as they can change. 

Getting there is easy. Queenstown Road station is about a five minute walk, and the 156, 137 and 452 buses all pass close by on Queenstown Road. I made it a standalone trip in its own right rather than bolting it onto a bigger day out.

Tastings include cellar door discounts on any bottles you want to take home. I didn’t buy on the day, though I was tempted, particularly by the Painter of Light, and I’d recommend budgeting for at least one bottle because you won’t want to leave empty handed.

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Amanda OBrien

Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.