Hi Angela. Tell me all about your family...

Paul and I have known each other for 20 years, and have been married for 11. We have two children, George who is 10, and Annabelle who is eight, and our third child is our gorgeous black Labrador, Lottie, who is five.

 

What's the history behind your business in Cookham?

In 1986, Paul discovered and then purchased what was a derelict historic building that was originally the village butchers and slaughterhouse, built in the 1500s. 
He then spent two years restoring it back to its original glory, most of it done by himself.  The Old Butcher's Wine Cellar was established and has remained in the village for 30 years. We have lived in Cookham for 12 years, and we love being in the heart of the community, meeting interesting people and, of course, the glorious surroundings. We walk with the children and Lottie every day, either by the river or by Odney. It’s a very special place to live and bring up our children and we feel very lucky.

   We love our food and some of our favourite haunts when we’re not working are The White Oak, Caldesi in Bray and, of course, Anong Thai. The most important thing for us is freshly made quality food that is cooked well, and the wine list is just as important as the food.

 

What do you do at the Old Butchers Wine Cellar?

Together we import new and interesting wines from around the world from smaller, unusual and hand-produced vineyards that put care and attention into every bottle they produce. We strive constantly to keep our range fresh and exciting, with the overall objective of finding great value wines that over-deliver
in quality. Many new visitors to our retail shop on Cookham High Street are surprised just how diverse our range is and covers every price range.

   Paul has run a wine importing business from the age of 20 and has, over the years, supplied independent retailers, wholesalers and national accounts across the UK. I was brought up by parents in the booze trade has worked with Paul for 20 years.

   We love wine – from grape to bottle it fascinates us beyond belief and we are always learning. Our subject is huge, from terroir to grape variety to climate,
this is so diverse from country to country across the world and we love nothing more than finding different things to try.  Paul travels the most as I am at home managing the family and the business. Long term, when the children have flown the nest, our plan is to travel to all the wonderful wine-producing areas in the world together and leave the children holding the fort!

 

Any recent developments?

It’s not easy being an independent wine shop on a quiet high street, as it’s so convenient for people to pick up their wine at the supermarkets, so we are
trying to diversify. You can buy any of our wines online using our website www.oldbutcherswinecellar.co.uk and we offer free local delivery to all SL postcodes. 

   We also have a great monthly wine box scheme – sign up via our website and have regular deliveries directly to you door! In January, we took the plunge and purchased a 14-seater table with benches that now takes pride of place in the middle of our shop. This has inspired us and we now host regular pop-up wine
bar nights that encourage customers to pop in for a glass of wine on a Friday night. They are informal, sociable and fun evenings, and have been successful. 

   To elaborate on the theme, we have also teamed up with the adorable Prema Piercy, who is the most amazing Sri Lankan lady and a fantastic cook. We hold regular dinners hosted by us, but cooked by Prema and we have sold out in a week with further dates to follow. 

   Another string to our bow is the corporate side of our business – we can despatch wine as a thank you or a gift to anywhere in the UK, personally or as a corporate gift, and we are 'popping up' with Prema in December to host special evenings for corporate Christmas parties.

   Because we are independent, we are flexible, which means that we can tailor-make each event specifically for every customer and maintain quality. We are more than happy to hire out our table for corporate events, meetings and bespoke wine tastings – you name it, we can do it.

   All in all we love what we do, we love our customers and we welcome anybody through our door, wine knowledge is not a necessity when you visit!

 

Visit www.oldbutcherswinecellar.co.uk

The next pop-up wine shop is on Friday 9th September

​

​

​