Locals come to the wine bar to make new friends and have a chat
A wine bar in Cambridgeshire offers its visitors a place to relax and enjoy a range of different wines with the owners on hand to help with finding the ideal wine for each customer. Greg Clifton recently took over Wine in the Willows in Somersham with his partner Emma and wants it to be a “very unpretentious” spot to serve the community.
He said: “It’s a great place to come and have a glass of wine, a chat, and just relax really. We’ve just got our pavement license so we have seats outside. It’s bringing that kind of Mediterranean vibe of summer to Somersham.
“We used to be customers of the wine bar and when the previous owner said she was going to close it, me and my partner said we should take it on. We took it on to kind of keep the bar in the village. It was always dog-friendly and there were some great wines on the menu so the idea of it closing was really quite disappointing. It was the natural step for us to take it over.”
The wine bar has a strong community focus with plenty of events happening each month including a book club that draws in around 20 people to chat about the books they’ve read alongside a glass of wine. Mr Clifton added: “We do the book club once a month. We have a wine and walk once a month, which is for dog owners. We do it on a Saturday afternoon. People bring their dogs, have a glass of wine and then go out for an hour-long walk. They then come back to the wine bar and have a chat.
“It has been great because it brings people together. People are making friends with people in the village they didn’t know so it’s building a real sense of community.”
The owners have a “real love of wine” that they want to share with people and are willing to give customers a little wine tasting and talk them through the menu if they don’t know what to have. The menu has been kept “simple” with five whites, five reds, three rosés, and a few sparkling and champagne options.
All of the wines have been “very carefully chosen” with a special wine that changes every month that has “a bit of a story”. Mr Clifton said: “Our first summer wine is a Vermentino that we’ve sourced from the south of France, which is something a little different that I love to share with people. The bar is somewhere people can come in and try something that perhaps they wouldn’t usually choose. Every wine is a great wine that I’ve tasted and put on the menu.”
Out of all of the wines on offer, Mr Clifton has one that is his particular favourite. He said: “We have a gewürztraminer Riesling, which is a bit of a mouthful to say, but it’s one of my favourite wines. It’s really different and it’s great for the summer. When you smell it, it’s quite floral. It reminds people a lot of roses and lychees and it’s quite tropical but when you taste it, it’s quite dry and citrusy. It’s a bit of a chameleon kind of wine. It’s unusual and a lot of people, when I suggest they try it, absolutely love it.”
Wine in the Willows wants to create an “Italian or Mediterranean vibe” for the bar during the summer with its outdoor seating while keeping it cosy with candles on the tables and “subdued lighting” for the winter. Mr Clifton believes the bar stands out in Cambridgeshire thanks to him getting to know each of his customers and chatting to them to create a familiar and relaxed atmosphere.
He added: “We get to know people. We want people to feel like they can meet new people, make friends, and chat with us if they want to. The bar is small with only 20 seats so it’s quite cosy. I think that’s what makes a big different. We don’t want to look like every other bar. We want to stand out and be a little different.”
Wine in the Willows can be found at 103 High Street in Somersham. The wine bar is open from 6pm to 10pm on Thursdays, 5pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays, and 4pm to 10pm on Sundays.

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