Exclusive: Zeren Wilson to open new wine shop in Kent

A new wine bar, the John Dory Wine Shop and Tasting Room, is opening in the seaside town of Sandgate in Kent this summer, backed by CODE’s own wine writer Zeren Wilson. 

Zeren is joining forces with the team behind Folkestone’s Space Bar and Kitchen and local wine expert Louisa Walls to curate a list of 150 bottles from around the world. Customers will be able to take home wine or drink it in-house accompanied by tinned fish, cheese, charcuterie and terrines, and Docker Bakery bread. 

‘There’s a growing community of people in Folkestone and Sandgate who are keen to explore all the new food offerings which have arrived on the scene in recent years, and with that comes an interest in wine’, Zeren said. 

‘It feels like the perfect moment to be opening something wine-focused here’. 

The restaurant will take over the former Old English Pine Shop on Sandgate High Street. Diners and wine drinkers can sit in the conservatory at the back of the shop or on the terrace with views of the sea. 

‘We’re beyond excited to have been able to secure such a beautiful premises for our wine venture, and having benefitted from Zeren’s wine expertise at Space for a few years now, we’re delighted he’s fully involved in this project,’ said co-founder Andy Shorten. 

Louisa, who has just returned from two years in Provence, said the opening is a personal dream of hers. 

‘To be opening a wine shop in my hometown and with such a great team of people is really more than I could ever have imagined’, she said. 

‘The important thing for me is to be able to share fantastic wines at every price point, things that can’t be found at the supermarket’. 

The wine shop and bar, which will deliver locally for free, is set to open this August.