Travis Mooney-Evans visits an American enclave making fine English wines, a stone’s throw from the US Embassy
If I told you that there’s a winery less than a mile from the US Embassy in London, run by an Amercian expat, making award-winning English wine, would you believe me?
Founded in 2017, Blackbook Winery makes their wine in a railway arch, five minutes walk from the Queenstown Road rail station. Sergio and Lynsey Verrillo wanted to be in wine, be in London, and express a sense of place and time through Blackbook’s wine.
“Lynsey and I loved London and couldn’t see ourselves in the countryside. I also saw the rise of the craft beer scene in America, and later the rise of urban wineries. While craft beer embedded itself in London, urban wineries weren’t particularly popular. We also knew that England has a big wine drinking culture but that it was very traditional. Lynsey and I sought to disrupt that and bring single vineyard English still wines to the forefront.”
Blackbook’s wines are also uber-local. They are made from grapes grown within two hours travel of London. They are mostly gown in Essex – the hotspot of grapes for English still wines – but there are also growers in other places, including an out-of-the way vineyard within the London’s boundaries.
“From the beginning, we focused on sustainability, cutting down environmental impact but also creating a sense of community. Limiting our grape sourcing to two hours travel allows us to understand what is happening in the vineyard, reduce our carbon footprint, and mitigate our risks.”
Sergio has a self-proclaimed obsession for cold-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. But the variable English weather – which most of us have come to know too well – creates its own challenges.
“The main issue is vintage variation and yields,” said Sergo. “Given our marginal climate here in England, we have inconsistent years which as winemakers we need to make consistent. In the same vein, the ripeness levels wildly differ from one site to another, varying flavour profile. However, on the other side, with the cool climate, I am able to create intrinsically more interesting wines, that have, in my view, more aromatics, tension and over all texture.”
Sergio espouses a minimalist style, opting for indigenous yeasts, and little to no use of sulphur. While Blackbook focuses on still Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, they do produce other special releases, along with the occasional sparkling wine. The wines are mostly single vineyard, showcasing their collaboration with growers. All their wines are also certified vegan.
Sergio came up through hospitality, and was on the wine team at Maze, a Gordon Ramsay restaurant. He studied at Plumpton Collage, the home of British winemaking. Originally from Connecticut, he spent time consolidating his education as a travelling winemaker in California, France, South Africa, and New Zealand before returning to London.
I visited the Blackbook Winery at the end of the 2025 harvest, which has been so generous that they’re struggling to figure out how to deal with the amount of wine they’re making.
“The 2025 vintage is the perfect storm of quality and quantity,” said Sergio. “The warm and dry growing season has led us to this moment of near perfection. Our winery is busting with one of the largest harvest we at Blackbook have seen. All the grapes that have come through the cellar door have been outstanding, which is not something we see every year; far from it. But with certainty if anyone has a bad wine from this vintage, it’s not the fault of the grapes or the year.”
Unlike the bigger commercial operations which are mostly clustered in the Southeast, Blackbook is funded by sweat equity and is a labour of love. The winery is mainly self-funded, and is staffed by a mix of workers and volunteers – especially during harvest/crush and more labor-intensive times. In an effort to increase production and add to their tasting room opening times, Blackbook is currently running a Crowdfunder. For more information, see https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/blackbook-winery
You can find Blackbook wines at many independent shops and they feature on wine lists across the city. You can also meet the team at their tasting sessions in Battersea — Blackbook will start hosting tasting sessions again from November. Sessions include a tour of the winery, a tutored wine tasting of a selection of four wines, and ‘cellar door’ discount prices on any wine purchases. In the Summer months they also run a wine bar on trestle tables outside the winery.
The Blackbook range includes about ten wines, mostly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but including occasional experiments with other varietals. In 2025, Blackbook won three WineGB trophies: Best Red Wine and Best Pinot Noir for Nightjar 2022, and Best Regional Wine South East for their Pygmalion 2022 Chardonnay.
“I just want to make really good wine that hopefully showcases the varieties we work with and the grower/vineyards we have relationships with,” said Sergio “My winemaking philosophy is using traditional techniques and putting my own spin on things. I use native yeast and bacteria, may or may not fine or filter, minimal sulphur use, etc. However, it’s more of a pragmatic approach rather than dogmatic. Every vintage brings a new set of challenges and versatility which requires adaptability and understanding of what can be done that year.”
You can purchase Blackbook wines direct on their website at https://www.blackbookwinery.com/
Wine Name: Pygmalion
Vintage: 2020
Wine Category: Chardonnay
Grape blend: 100% Chardonnay
Region: England
State or country: Essex
Alcohol: 12.5%
Pygmalion is Blackbook’s premier Chardonnay, and was my entry into their wines. Rich, complex, and structured. Golden in the glass, with melon, lemon, and honey on the nose and palate. The oak brings butter, pineapple, and richness, which will become more subtle with age. A bit of English acidity helps break down the buttery mouthfeel and develops as the wine loosens in the glass. An excellent example of a generous English Chardonnay, which will happily age longer than the winemaker purports. Recommended.
Winemaker Notes: This is a late release, limited edition Chardonnay made in the fantastic 2020 vintage. Grapes were sourced from Crouch Valley vineyard nestled in the Crouch Valley of Essex. This wine represents the wonderful unique microclimates that showcase this versatile variety. The grapes are whole bunch pressed into Burgundy barrels where they undergo natural fermentation using indigenous yeast. The wine has matured a further 20 months in barrel with frequent lees stirring. 270 cases produced. Drinking Window: 2024-2032.
Wine Name: Painter of Light
Vintage: 2022
Wine Category: Chardonnay
Grape blend: 100% Chardonnay
Region: England
State or country: Essex
Alcohol: 13.5%
Painter of Light displays restraint and English character while looking towards crispness and minerality. Pale yellow in the glass, with lemon verbena, and green apple on the nose. Additional citrus, and flint on the palate, with pronounced English acidity delivering a lingering, but very pleasant, sharpness. Highly recommended.
Winemaker Notes: 200 cases produced. Drinking Window: 2024-2032.
Wine Name: Nightjar
Vintage: 2022
Wine Category: Pinot Noir
Grape blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Region: England
State or country: Essex
Alcohol: 12.5%
Nightjar is both old school and somehow also too cool for school. Deep red colour. Earth, strawberry, cherry, and spice scents. Fruit-forward mid-mouth with controlled acidity balancing ripe cherry, red current, and raspberry. Good structure with satisfying length. Highly recommended.
Winemaker Notes: Essex born and Battersea bred, hailing from Clayhill Vineyard, situated on the coastal peninsula of Crouch Valley and positioned between the rivers Crouch & Blackwater, the vineyard is a beautiful south facing site with clay soils. The 2022 vintage has given us a generosity of Pinot Noir reflecting the warm dry summer of the year. Fermented naturally in small open top fermenters and aged in Burgundy oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. May contain sediment. 270 cases produced. Drinking Window: 2025-2033.
Wine Name: Trouble Every Day
Vintage: 2022
Wine Category: Pinot Noir
Grape blend: 100% Pinot Noir
Region: England
State or country: Essex
Alcohol: 13%
Trouble Every Day is not a New World Pinot Noir — it’s also not an Old World Pinot Noir. It’s something completely its own. Light ruby colour. Wood, and strawberries on the nose. On the palate blackberry, sour cherry, and black pepper with soft mid-mouth leading to zing. Recommended.
Winemaker Notes: Trouble Every Day is made from a single Pinot Noir clone chosen for its exceptional flavour and structure. The grapes were hand picked and sorted in the vineyard and transported to our Battersea winery. Fermented naturally in small open top fermenters and aged in Burgundy oak barrels. Unfined and unfiltered. 120 cases produced. Drinking Window: 2027-2032.
Originally Published in The American Magazine, Issue 807. Transcribed for web presentation. Copyright 2025 Travis Mooney, all rights reserved.