‘Who needs a wine shop when the supermarkets are so good these days’? That’s what a friend said to me recently, and they’re right, supermarkets are good, but a wine shop can do things which no supermarket will ever be able to do – talk to you, ask who’s coming to dinner and why, take your hand and help you explore. A good wine shop will make the question red or white the beginning of an inspired conversation about travel, culture and people – or maybe just about cash and curry. The point is, a good local wine shop is a treasure, and it’s worth digging around in one, like Prohibition of
This is a piece I found on wine expert Jancis Robinson’s website, written by a loyal fan. And since I couldn’t say it better myself, here’s over to you Jeremy Smith:
‘In the 17 years I have lived in Muswell Hill in North London, few openings have given me as much happiness as the arrival of Prohibition Wines, run by Paul and Louise Shanley. It started with the happy – if initially disconcerting – realisation that ‘the offie knows my name’. Now it has changed the route I take around the shops, as I make a point of always ending my shopping there, so I can put my bags down, browse happily and buy a bit more than I maybe planned, knowing I haven’t any more shops to visit before heading home…
Their innovative and globally ranging stock has helped me explore the wonders of Albarino and Godello, introduced me to Cannonau, the Grenache from Sardinia, and furnished me with a rolling supply of reds from what has become my favourite current vineyard – Domaine Treloar of Rousillion. I am never encouraged to spend beyond what I plan to, with recommendations often being for wines costing less than whatever nominal budget I have declared I am looking to spend. Meanwhile their range of London micro -brewed ales, from the likes of Brew by Numbers to Beavertown, means I haven’t drunk a boring beer or an insipid IPA in over a year’.
Prohibition Wines, 34 Fortis Green Road, N10 3HN Tel: 020 8444 4804 http://prohibitionwines.com
