South East

The Swan at the Vineyard

Lamberhurst, Kent

With a pub named the Swan at the Vineyard, most people would naturally assume that the wine offering is top-notch. It is now, but it wasn't when Sean and Vanessa Arnett arrived as managers in July 2002.

At that time, the pub was owned by

English Wines. It also owns the vineyard next door and wanted the Swan to showcase its produce and English wine in general.

But the only choice for customers was

wine produced in England.

Limited choice

Sean says: "The wine list was very limited and people were reluctant to pay more for English wine than they paid for wines from other countries."

One of the couple's first actions was to

introduce a more cosmopolitan wine list

including Old and New World winemakers.

Sean says: "As soon as we introduced the new list, wine sales started to soar - including English wines."

At the same time, they set about changing the customer profile at the Swan.

"We wanted to develop it from a local drinking pub that focused heavily on sports, and games into a wine and food operation," says Vanessa.

Food spurs wine sales

In 2003, a private landlord bought the Swan from English Wines and the Arnetts haven't looked back. When they arrived, food sales stood at £1,500 per week - now the annual turnover exceeds £250,000. The increasing importance of food has been matched by wine sales, which topped £100,000 over the past 12 months and are up 35% for the year.

The wine list contains 32 white, red, rosé or sparkling varietals, including nine from England and two organic wines from Italy, plus two Champagnes. Of these, 21 are available by the glass in 175ml and 250ml measures or 125ml flutes for Champagne and the sparkling wines.

The Arnetts credit WaverleyTBS with helping to develop the list and hosting tasting sessions for staff. Sean says: "We can tell who worked a

particular shift by which wines have sold well - we encourage staff to tell customers about their favourite wines."