Hi. I’m Katie. The owner of Chinwag Wines! I live in North Yorkshire with my partner and our 3 labs – 2 girls Comet and Blitz and our big yellow boy, Ace. I am originally from New York, but moved to the UK for University in 2013. I met my partner, and many, many, many visa’s later, I’m here to stay!

Despite growing up in the heart of New York wine county, I never used to like wine!It wasn’t until my partner and I started going out to meals, that I’d occasionally have a glass of red, but it was solely saved for those moments. This did change slightly, especially doing my masters dissertation, I was fueled by 50% coffee and 50% wine!

My real passion for wine actually started in 2019, on a vineyard tour with my parents and partner. My parents had gotten it for me as a graduation present, as I had seen it on Instagram! I wasn’t a “wine person” at the time, but at this point I appreciated a nice glass when I tried one. I knew what wine I liked, and didn’t stray from those tastes. This tour changed my mind, and I really loved the wines that I had tried.

I found an English wine I loved, and when drinking this particular bottle for the third time, I decided that I wanted to venture out. I wanted to learn about wine, and also branch out and try new wines, but I didn’t know where to start! I thought that I’d have to spend thousands of pounds on education and wine!

Then lockdown happened…

I had been working as a wedding and banqueting manager and all of a sudden the industry came to a halt. I took this opportunity to set my plan into action! I signed up to a virtual WSET course and by the end of the year I had my WSET Level 1 and Level 2!

I was hooked! It felt great to find an industry that I really loved. After businesses started opening back up again, I went back to work in events. However, I kept thinking about English wines and that wine tour I had gone on, as well as all the amazing UK wines that I had tried over lockdown.

I didn’t realise how diverse the wines were or appreciate the distinctive tastes that grapes grown in our climate have. Wine produced in the UK has a different taste when compared to wine from more well-known producers in Europe and rest of the world. UK wine is unique, so unique that it regularly wins multiple awards against these well-known international producers, and there’s a whole community of producers and wine enthusiasts that are dedicated to UK wines. I wanted to be one of them!

It took a lot of thinking, and during 2021, I decided that I was going to start a wine company selling UK produced wines, with a goal of bringing in US wines. I started with a number of UK vineyards that I was a customer of for the past year, reaching out and seeing if they’d be interested. To my excitement, they were! It was finally going to be a reality.

Unfortunately, the events industry is a very demanding one, and Chinwag Wines got put on the back burner for many months. After leaving an events role in January 2022, I decided now was the time! We put the wheels in motion, and after a busy 4 months, we launched in May 2022!

Like many people, I have a passion for small businesses. Rather than pay supermarkets for big mass produced brands, I wanted to pay small, boutique and family-run vineyards for the hard work that they put into producing world-class wine. My relationships with our vineyards and wineries are close and genuine. We care about each of them and love supporting their business.

If-you’re like me when I started, and the only thing you know about wines is their different colours, then I am here to help! I welcome you to send a message with a list of wines you like. I’ll take your list and come back to you with a recommendation that is sure to become your new favourite, because that’s exactly what happened to me!

I also want UK produced wine to be accessible. I’ve worked with a great Sommelier named Lucia who is dedicated to finding fun ways to teach people about wine. Lucia chose food pairings for each of the wine we have in stock.

When you get your order, you’ll get a thank you card, and on the back there’s QR codes for each of the wines. Scan the QR code with your phone camera, and you’ll get details of the wine, as well as a meat/fish, vegetarian, vegan and cheese pairing for each wine, as well as a foods to avoid section so that you can get the best taste from your wine!

Thank you for reading this blog post, I hope you enjoy the website and the wines!