I first met Amy back in the autumn of 2002 when she came to work at Blackfriars as our restaurant manager.

Her sheer enthusiasm and bubbly personality earnt her instant popularity with the customers and staff alike.

She turned the place around from a sluggish loss-making dinosaur to a lean, mean, dynamic restaurant that competed and still competes with the best in Newcastle (Blackfriars has just scooped the readers choice ‘Best Restaurant in the North East’ award in The 2006 Observer Food Awards)

And so it was no great surprise that with a good business head and a love of all things food and wine, Amy, together with another ex-Blackfriars team member, Ben, decided to head off to start her own business.

Festival Wines was born in Newcastle in May 2004 when Ben and Amy decided to take a pitch at the Newcastle Green Festival to raise money for the Rainforest Foundation (and a tour of some of Europe’s finest Organic and Biodynamic Vineyards if there were funds left over!).

Since then Ben and Amy have traveled a long and winding road, attending Festivals and food fair’s the length and breadth of the country. Now settled down in Brighton, Festival Wines imports quality wines from small producers and delivers them to people’s doors. Their website has information on the vineyards and methods of production for every wine as well as introductory guides on topics such as Organic wine and Biodynamic wine even Vegan wine! It’s a nice site to navigate and the information is colourful and fun!

And Festival Wines is just the first stage in Ben and Amy’s plan, next is moving into Biodynamic farming. By rearing livestock and crops and encouraging their wild relatives, through a system of composting and astral awareness (yes, it’s true!) the farming system slowly begins to be independent of synthetic chemicals and modern technology. Not only is this a massive benefit to the environment, but the quality of the produce improves beyond recognition.

Hugh Fernley- ‘Whittingstall’ has a lot to answer for!

If you’re gasping for some of Ben & Amy’s fabulous organic wine a little off the beaten track then get in touch or place and order through their website: http://www.festivalwines.co.uk