What a shame. Chapel Down the U.K.’s biggest and fastest expanding wine operation, is closing down its Gin Works at King’s Cross in London, This is a few months after it closed the restaurant there. They are to be commended for taking swift action to close a lossmaker that has been open barely a year rather than let it bleed on but this doesn’t alter the fact that this is one of the few big setbacks in the seemingly unstoppable revival of UK wine and spirit industry. The rest of Chapel Down’s vineyard expansion continues apace but this should come as a timely reminder of the danger of expanding too fast on too many fronts. Why did it happen? We don’t know the full story yet but I have to ask myself why as a long-term advocate of UK wines, a regular diner in King’s Cross and – disclosure – owner of a few shares in Chapel Down (because of a generous 33% discount on wine purchases which still obtains and which I explained here https://bit.ly/398dvp8 ) I never actually drank or dined at the Gin WorksIt looked lovely and I was impressed when I had a brief look around but despite meaning to go on a number of occasions when we finally decided to the restaurant it had closed. One of the key problems was that it was definitely off piste being several hundred yards away from a huge variety of restaurants that are springing up in the new King’s Cross development and more recently into Coal Drops Yard. Also it had a bit of an identity problem. It was a brazen expansion into the fast growing gin industry but it was also selling English wine with a restaurant. the lure of gin does not seem to have been enough.
Victor Keegan 