A new wine store is set to open in Keswick town centre next month.
Work is under way to convert the former Hungry Caterpillar cafe in Packhorse Court into a venue where wine will be celebrated.
Jenni Hutchinson, of Lake District Wine, is behind the new venture and is looking forward to offering tasting sessions where she will encourage customers to “try something new”.
She is a familiar face as she and her husband, James, used to run the Square Orange cafe in St John’s Street. He has Lakes Coffee Services based in a unit on the Southey Hill Industrial Estate, Keswick.
“I have always loved wine,” said Jenni, who on Monday learnt that she had passed her level three Wine and Spirits Education Trust exam. “My aunty and uncle ran the Underscar Manor and my uncle was the sommelier and when we had the Square Orange I did the wine list. We used to import wine from Italy.
“When we sold the Square Orange I thought I would start my studies in wine and set up a business having done tastings and supply.”
Jenni has done popular tasting sessions at the Alhambra, Maker’s Mill and Lake Road Brunch and tastings are to be a feature of the new wine bar.
“The retail shop is going to be the main part of the business and within the shop I will be selling wine by the glass and wine to be drunk by the bottle,” said Jenni. “But I will also have taster measures of wine so that customers can have an informal wine tasting with wine that I have opened.
“There will be a tasting room where I will describe wine to customers and encourage people to try something new.”
Keswick Town Council has supported the licence application which includes a request for a piano in the shop to create an ambience at certain times of the year. The bar may also have live music which would be unamplified and not on a regular basis.
The licence application also says that the company would like to have the option of screening wine documentaries as part of an organised event and there would be recorded background music from a small speaker system.
“My plan had always been to have a shop and it just happened a bit sooner than we had in our minds. But this unit became available in a good location and was the right size and we thought that we should just go for it.”
