The Bottleneck has been serving Broadstairs since 1988 and, in this time, has won UK off-licence of the year and been recommended in Matthew Jukes wine list. We have a whole lot of history behind our little brand and a bright future ahead.
The brand was created by Chris & Lynn Beckett in 1988 with 60 years of wine industry experience between them. They created a wine merchants that remains a staple in Broadstairs and Thanet.
The shop was taken over by us, the Swift family in 2020. My family has always had a passion for wine. Avid travellers, we have visited vineyards across the world from the Napa Valley in California and the Mclaren Vale in Australia to the Alsace region of France and the Mosel in Germany. But nothing beats a visit to the vineyards right here on our doorstep in the Garden of England.
We moved to Broadstairs 20 years ago. Although we have since lived in a number of countries due to my father's work. this has always felt like home to me and now feels like the right time to set up my own business here.
Having a passion for wine, we really enjoy sampling and choosing new products to keep our shop stock fresh and we love helping our customers learn more about wine. Due to the pandemic, we have not yet been able to offer our wine tasting sessions but very much look forward to doing so when the situation allows.
We offer a very relaxed, friendly environment in which to taste and purchase wines, beers and spirits. Regardless of whether you are a wine enthusiast or know very little about it, we can help you with buying and understanding wine, picking out the perfect wine as a gift, ideas of what to take to a dinner party.
We ship our products nationally and deliver locally free of charge. We also offer a click and collect service to best serve our local customers.