Leisure Wine’s first release dropped in October 2021. ‘I saw custard creams fall from the sky like lighting’ was made using Chardonnay grapes from Essex, driven overnight by the guys to their original temporary site outside of Edinburgh, three-quarters were pressed and spent seven days on skins, the rest underwent carbonic maceration. The wine itself is characterful, textured, rich, a promising debut that quickly became impossible to find as word of it spread among London’s natural wine community.
Their second round of releases will be a trio of as yet unnamed wines. The first a run of Sangiovese left on skins for two weeks, the second a smaller bottling of Sangiovese from the direct press, and finally a Nero di Troia. The grapes this time sourced from Puglia, hand-harvested, unwashed, and organic, and again bottles will be limited and in high demand.
Not to waste anything, the spent Sangiovese and Nero di Troia grapes have been reflushed to produce a light, slightly sparkling piquette that will be ready for release as soon as the weather invites it.
It was Moschopoulos who came up with the name, I saw custard creams fall from the sky like lighting, a bible quote muddled with the smell of custard creams that filled the room during fermentation. A combination of flamboyant grandeur and Ken Loachian Britishness, a bit like creating exciting, modern, low intervention wine in an industrial estate off the Old Kent Road.
