Stockport to get ‘UK’s first Bring Your Own Wine’ Wine bar…

It grabbed our attention too, a wine bar where you can bring your own wine?! Sounds too good to be true right? Well, according to founder of Bodega, Tom Wilmot, which is set to open in Weir Mill tomorrow, it isn’t, but there is a little catch.

“What we are trying to do is combine a wine storage concept with a membership model that is in an inclusive setting and is accessible at affordable price points.” Said Tom.

Bodega is set to bring a relaxed, Euro-style approach to food, drink, and socialising. But this isn’t your average wine bar, alongside a very carefully curated range of 18 wines by the glass, including 2 weekly rotating specials, you can expect to see natural bottles, charcuterie, sharing boards, and cold lager on tap.  The  relaxed space with soft lighting is designed for sitting back and sipping rather than downing whatever’s on the table.

Tucked away downstairs is the big talking point. Bodega’s private cellar club. It allows members to store their own wine in a temperature-controlled vault, then return to Bodega whenever to enjoy their bottles in the bar. The vault holds up to 1,500 bottles and sits inside the mill’s historic Engine Room, which once homed the boiler that powered the mill.

The concept is to make wine feel a little less formal and more accessible. Whether you’re an experienced collector or love the supermarket favourites, you can control the cost. The cellar is an extension of what Bodega is trying to create upstairs. The fee, well it’s not been disclosed yet so watch this space.

Tom continued:

” We live in a country where a pint of lager is touching £7 now and a large glass of wine is £15+, so we need to find creative ways of making it more cost-effective for people to eat and drink out.

“Bodega is about capturing that feeling you get in the best little wine bars across Europe – relaxed, social and full of life. It’s a space for the neighbourhood, whether you’re popping in for a glass after work or staying all evening. The cellar club concept adds a genuinely new dimension – we believe it’s the first time something like this has been brought to the UK, and it gives people a sense of ownership and a reason to keep coming back, whatever their budget.’’

No, where’s that Blue nun I got at Christmas!