Teddington Nub News aims to be supportive to EVERY element of the community from business and shops to people and charities and clubs and sports organisations.

Everyone is finding it tough at the moment and is desperate to get back to normal.

We are be profiling some of these local businesses and those groups regularly over coming weeks in a feature called UP CLOSE IN TEDDINGTON in the hope that we can be a supportive springboard for their full return to business as usual or in the case of The Good Wine Shop their new launch!

This week we talk to Mark Wrigglesworth, owner of The Good Wine Ship in High Street, Teddington.

During an in-depth Q and A session he reveals why he set up his business in Teddington as well as his affection for the community and he is also generous enough to share his tastes in wine.

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What made you set up your business in Teddington and what, in particular, made you think your business would work in a place like Teddington?

Over the years I have had many customers move to Teddington, many telling me that there was a desperate need for a quality Independent wine shop there. Living in St Margarets (where the business had its first shop) for 20 years, I know Teddington well and the demographic is pretty similar to our current shop locations in Kew and Chiswick. My predecessor opened a site on Waldegrave Road in 2003 which was very popular for the short time it was open, but had to close due to personal circumstances. It, therefore, felt like Teddington made sense for a number of reasons as we looked to expand.

The Good Wine shop has been established for over 20 years with shops in Kew, Chiswick and Richmond. You've been a long time getting to Teddington - why is that?

I have looked at many shops in Teddington over the past seven years or so, but they just haven't been suitable in terms of size or location, or the terms that were on offer. I actually got very close to acquiring this site seven years ago, when the previous owner of Famous Wine's was selling up but he went with the most recent owners who closed last year.

You will be aware that before you moved in there was a wine store in the same premises - what makes you think you can succeed where they apparently failed?

The previous operators were an old fashioned off licence model based on stocking national brands with poor levels of specialist knowledge and customer engagement. We have many years of experience offering a completely different model of customer engagement, through highly qualified and passionate staff, tastings and events, as well and our drink in service (temporarily suspended). We also offer an interesting and unique range of smaller family owned wineries & artisan spirits & beers, rather than big high street brands. This, we think, sets us apart and gives us a unique offering.

It might seem to be a surprise to many that you choose to set up a shop when so much wine is now ordered online - perhaps even more than ever during this period of the lockdown. In some ways a shop seems slightly old-fashioned?

A lot of wine is sold online, and we have found a huge explosion in this side of the business during lockdown and expect that will continue as habits change. But as so many people have a genuine interest and a real passion for wine, they often want to chat to the staff, hear the stories of the winemaker or the winery and be introduced to new grape varieties or just find out what is new and interesting. It is very difficult to do that online. I guess this is most clearly demonstrated by our company strap line: Good Wine | Real People | Great Stories. We also have a large range of great, easily accessible, everyday drinking wines for those who perhaps don't have that level of interest though. A lot of what we sell is somewhat a "hand sell" and we may not have huge volumes of these wines but that is part of the intrigue, small parcels of limited production wines.

What do you think makes The Good Wine Shop different from any other store? Am I right in thinking that you will have an actual bar in the store too? How does that work?

Apart from the unique range and the passionate staff, yes, customers (under more normal circumstances) can sit and drink a glass of wine from our by the glass menu or choose any bottle from the shelf and pay a corkage fee to drink in. We have 16 seats at Teddington and it has proved extremely popular at our other branches since we trialled this hybrid model 3 years ago, so we felt it would be very well received in Teddington. We also have an underground cellar we are calling "The Vaults" - a brick-arched cellar available for private tasting events for up to 8-10 people. Once social distancing is relaxed this will be an amazing space to hold ticketed or private tasting events.

Do you have a good idea of who are your customers? Older or younger, weekly, monthly?

We try to appeal to as many customer groups as we can from the younger crowd who enjoy experimenting with orange wines and cocktails, to the socially conscious who care about organic and biodynamic practices through to a more mature generation who love their classic wine regions and enjoy being able to buy great fine wine that is ready to drink rather than lay down for 10 years.

As well as the online competition there are the supermarkets, Tesco, Sainsbury's and M&S in Teddington - how do you compete with the convenience and value they can offer?

I think we offer wines and an experience that is very different from a supermarket but that doesn't mean we can't also offer great value wines for everyday drinking. We don't try to compete with the supermarkets as we would lose that battle every day of the week on price alone, so we try to offer something different in terms of quality, knowledge and passion.

How do you spend your spare time away from the business? Do you have time for other interests?

The business is pretty all consuming, particularly with the expansion in the last few years and a serious fire at our Kew Shop in 2018 but when I can, I love to play golf, go ski-ing and also cook and BBQ for the family, matched by drinking some great wine too! I also have a wonderfully supportive family with two girls of 12 and 8 years, so they tend to keep me grounded and sane, as does my wife Ellie.

What do you like about Teddington and the area?

The sense of community and the river, there is nothing better than a stroll over the lock on a sunny day with perhaps a visit to The Anglers for a family lunch!

If you are transported to a Desert Island tomorrow and you have one bottle of white, one bottle of red and a bottle of champagne, please share your choices?

White - Any Puligny Montrachet by Etienne Sauzet / Red - Poggio Di Sotto, Brunello Di Montalcino, 2004, Italy / Champagne - Ulysse Collin, Les Maillons Blanc de Noirs Extra Brut

I'm not a wine expert at all but I do like a nice bottle now then - can you give me three recommendations for a bottle of wine under £20 which you think represents good value?

Edoardo Miroglio, Soli Pinot Noir 2016 - £14.50 - amazing quality Pinot Noir from Bulgaria which we have stocked for years / Paradou, Cotes de Provence Rose 2019 - fantastic Provence Rose' which knocks spots off the big brands in terms of price and quality at £17 / Roberto Sarotto, Gavi di Gavi Bric Sassi 2018 - £13.00 - crisp and refreshing but with character and some texture too.

Tell us the three vital qualities you think you need to succeed in business?

Passion, determination and resilience

Check out The Good Wine Shop, Teddington>