Bedales fine Wines & Foods

Arnaud Compas, our wine buyer and managing director is a passionate drinker (he hates to be called an expert), and has enthusiasm enough to share with the world. Arnaud has been ‘living’ wine since growing up near Burgundy and has compounded a natural love of wine with plenty of academic study and years experience in the trade.

Amy Harrison has learnt the trade here at Bedales and is now conducting regular and varied wine tastings. With the WSET Higher Certificate completed, the next stage is her Wine Diploma. To be started as soon as she can drag herself away from tasting and talking about all that lovely wine with customers!

Stephen Harrison – one of the original traders on Borough Market, Stephen has been eating, drinking and importing products form the South West of France for many years. Nice work if you can get it! Plenty of anecdotes about truffle hunting with Kiki the pig, standing ankle deep in snow at vineyards in the Pyrenees and more…
Richard Cartwright - not only handles all the operational and logistical sides to the company, but also oversees the management of our Spitalfields branch. With Bedales since the beginning he is an invaluable member of the team.

As mixed a group as you could hope to meet although heavily influenced by the French connection! Pascale, Carrie, Matteo, Tal and Mike. There are often new faces, but once here, it’s very hard to leave! You will also see more than the fair share of family members in and out of the shop, lending a helping hand where necessary…

Opening Hours: Mon:Closed, Tue:12-8.45pm, Wed/Thu:12-10.15pm, Fri:10am-10.15pm, Sat:9am-5.45pm
Last order is 45minutes before closing

Noel, Kat, Didi, Edyta and Douglas are the team at Spitalfields. Having all been with us for a fair while, Kat and Didi since we first ventured over the river, they run an efficient and very friendly bar. Noel and Douglas are available to help customers select something to drink and the girls ensure a relaxed atmosphere.

The friendly team at Bedales at Leadenhall is run by Debbie and her assistants Greg and Angela. Debbie loves the hustle and bustle of the City life and spending quality time with her daughter and family. Frenando, runs the kitchen, pulling from his 10 years worth of expereinece in this actual bar and makes the finest sandwiches in the City. Greg, Angela, Radek, Remi and Aganeiska are all waiting to meet you.

As with any company, we have people working away who rarely come face to face with the customers. Martin and David Cartwright (shareholders) are often to be seen enjoying a bottle of something good in the bars and David also pulls a few Saturday shifts in the Boro Cellar, selling his beloved Saint-Emilions. Georgina Crawley (née Cartwright), along with her Dad Martin, handles our accounts and Pete Harrison (Stephen’s brother) watches over our computer type things.

Understanding more about what you find on our shelves is easy. We search for two things: Firstly, perfect examples of the classic wines that will never go out of style. Secondly, winemakers who are really pushing the boundaries. Our buyer Arnaud has established his credentials in both areas time and again. A few years back he was heard saying he wanted the biggest range of Priorat in London. Then a passion for Kiwi Pinot’s overtook him and a constant love of the unusual from Italy and his home country of France has resulted in extensive ranges from both.

If you have some like minded friends who want to celebrate a birthday or special event with a wine tasting evening then give us a call!

1. Cellar Tastings - The intimate atmosphere of our fine wine cellar is perfect for the more serious wine tasting. Open fine old vintages and rare wines accompanied by a selection of cheeses, foie gras, charcuterie and more. Evenings start at £40 per head.
2. Larger Groups - These evenings often tend to be a little more informal, but again we can tailor them to the style you prefer. Taste between 6 and 8 wines served with a selection of nibbles including cheese, charcuterie and antipasti. Evenings start at £25 per head.

As often as we can, we take the opportunity to welcome wine makers and suppliers to one of our stores to lead tutored wine tastings for our customers. These are nearly always ticket only events and sometimes organised at short notice so for the most up to date information about tutored tastings, please check the events page or e-mail tastings@bedalestreet.com and ask to be added to our mailing list. Events can be anything from superb old vintage Rioja Gran Reserve to our latest Argentinean and Chilean imports.

And for a bit of fun…
Wednesday nights can be difficult to enjoy, being not quite the weekend, but past the half way point. So to help out, we hold our ‘Flag Tastings’ every Wednesday from 5pm-9pm. Try 3 different wines, approx half a glass of each, with tasting notes and maps provided and widen your knowledge and experience of wine. Every fortnight the wines will change and there will be a staff member on hand to give you any further info you would like.

See our Events section for more information.

An enjoyable, relaxed and relatively informative evening complete with plenty of top quality wine? Perfect for staff entertainment! As with all our tastings, we offer a wide range of styles for staff or client entertainment. Prices are charged per head and include at least 6 wines and a selection of our nibbles. For more information about themes, quizzes and layout for evenings, please get in touch

Fragrant cherry and spice appear on the nose of this wine. The appearance is medium dense with a crimson colour on a polished copper background. The palate is savoury, trailing to the fruit in the finish. The wine would be perfect with roasted quail and delicate meats.

Fruit with hints of mint and herbs are on the aroma. The colour is dense crimson. The palate is medium weight, while the fruit is fresh with a touch of mineral ‘amaro’ character making it perfect with pizza and pasta!

Aromatic Cabernet Franc berry aromas dominate this wine. It has an attractive deep pink, almost red colour. The palate has fruit with an impression of sugarless sweetness, as the wine has been fermented dry, showing in the clean fresh finish. It is a very versatile wine that would suit a number of Asian dishes.

With a mixture of over 4 white varieties in this wine you would expect an aroma with many facets. However, it is the fusion of Viognier and Pinot Gris aromas that dominate the wine at this stage. Honey dew-like fragrance is the result. The fruit fills the mouth leading to a crisp fresh finish. As an accompaniment to a picnic on a warm day, or just as a refreshing drink, would be ideal for this wine.

The appearance is garnet/ruby with a ripe morello cherry fragrance. It has medium bodied fruit with soft tannins. The balance is good and results in an approachable wine for casual occasions. Cold meats or good Spanish ham would draw out the flavours of the wine.

Sold in boxes of 6 for £69 inclusive of VAT and shipping. That's a saving of nearly £9 on the retail price and free shipping too!.