Dreams of producing the first wine in a part of London for 300 years have been left crushed after the grapes were taken. Nik Darlington hoped vines in Richmond would be harvested and the first brew from that patch since the 18th century would be made. However, when he and other bosses at Red Squirrel Wine woke on Friday, they found more than 70 per cent of the grapes had been plucked from their stems. Darlington said the depleted vines were a trend across Europe, with crops across the continent showing a decrease in yield by as much as 70 per cent because of poor weather conditions. Mr Darlington said he was keen to try again next year and urged people in the area to donate excess grapes to create a London wine. He said: “We are now appealing to anyone who has surplus grapes to give them to us so we can make some wine at least from London. Roughly 1kg of grapes makes a bottle of wine.”
