A collaboration between PR consultant Jane Cook, content producer Will Barker and Sam Phipps (of local graphic design studio I Am Sam Creative), the Cardiff Wine Passport is a very simple idea at heart. It draws people into the city centre and encourages you to get out there and enjoy Cardiff hospitality for a very reasonable outlay.
It’s a treat – or a succession of them – on a budget, with your £25 Passport getting you six glasses of wine from a choice of independently-owned participating venues every Sunday to Thursday.
Your booklet includes everything you need to know: details of the businesses, and the wines they will be serving, including those all-important tasting notes. Impressing your friends with your wine wisdom has never been easier.
The list includes some of the biggest names in Cardiff food and drink. Spanish mainstays Curado and Vermut feature, as do both Bar 44 and Asador 44. Some newer venues like Bacareto and Kindle, and bars such as Rum & Fizz and Scaredy Cats, have also signed up.
Each stop offers a choice of two wines, and to sweeten the prospect further, you can pay a little extra for your passport’s suggested food pairing to match your specific choice of wine. That’s it – off you go. And we did. Bar 44’s own Uva range, as well as Bacareto’s Italian red, slipped down particularly well. And you should never need an excuse for a vermut at, yes, Vermut. The whole thing works seamlessly.
The passports (sorry, they don’t come in red or blue) run until Thurs 15 Sept, so you can take your time completing them. Apparently, one passport holder got all six stamps in one afternoon, and you can only applaud that dedication to the cause, but the rate at which you enjoy yours is very much up to you.
Cardiff Wine Passport is a great idea, stylishly realised, and great fun too: I’m already raising a glass to 2023’s version.
Info: here
words JONATHAN SWAIN
