Last week, the wine store and bar “80-20 Wine” opened in Peckham, London, complementing the already open “80-20 Shop”. The concept for the latest 80-20 product began to be developed two years ago, seeing a group of friends decide to offer a new kind of wine experience to London wine enthusiasts.
“The idea is to stock 80% of the best Georgian wines and 20% of wines from less well known but equally amazing winemaking countries – like Japan, Lebanon, England, Argentina, and Greece,” co-founder Mako Abashidze tells GEORGIA TODAY. “We have deliberately chosen to exclude the wines of France, Italy, California, Australia, and Italy – the usual suspects, who already have no lack of marketing.”
Wine lovers can thus discover the most unique wines from less explored winemaking countries in the new shop-and-wine bar 80-20.
The 80-20 Shop was opened in Shorditch, not far from the famous ‘Little Georgia” restaurant. This was a strategic decision, as local gourmand fans had known “Little Georgia” and Georgian cuisine for over 15 years already.
80-20 Shop sells wine and also functions as a delicatessen offering popular Georgian takeaway food, like khachapuri, supplied by “Little Georgia”.
“Two years on and we decided to expand,” Mako says. “Our 80-20 Wine bar opened on December 6, in the trendy Peckham district, a vibrant and artistic part of London.
“In this part of London, our food partner is another famous Georgian restaurant – Kartuli, which provides ready-cooked meals and takeaway Georgian lunch packs.
“Our team’s concept is to select and import Georgian wine but also to buy wine from all Georgian wine importers in the UK. This makes our place unique: our selection of Georgian wines is the biggest in the UK – we have over 80 varieties!” Mako notes, adding that their vision is to expand further, establish an online platform and offering UK customers the best experience and choice of Georgian wines.
“In our Peckham bar, we also have a special space with a film projector, and a tasting area- so from next year we’ll be offering wine tastings, lectures and wine tasting sessions too.”
The December 6 opening event was held with the support of the Georgian Embassy in the UK.
“Our special thanks to all Embassy staff and especially to Ambassador Sophie Katsarava for her ongoing work and support for Georgian wine promotion,” Mako says. “We also work very closely with the Georgian National Wine Agency and with Sarah Abbott, Master of Wine, and right now we are looking ahead and planning our activities for 2024.”
By Katie Ruth Davies
