This summer, there’ll be an unusual new way for consumers to find independent Cardiff venues serving great wine.

The Cardiff Wine Passport (a physical, 16-page keepsake booklet) will cost £25 and entitle each holder to claim a ‘wine flight' from six different bars and restaurants around the city centre.

Intrepid wine explorers will be able to claim a 175ml glass at each venue of their choice, earning a stamp for their passport in return.

Valid from the 7th August for six weeks (from Sunday to Thursday), the independent hospitality businesses who’ve signed up to be part of the Cardiff Wine Passport scheme include:

• Bacareto: A relaxed and informal café bar, inspired by the small bàcari of Venice.
• Curado Bar: This Spanish deli bar in Westgate street serves beer, wine and pintxos (a small snack, traditional to bars in northern Spain)
• Kindle: A sustainability focussed, outdoor-only restaurant serving natural wines and food cooked over fire.
• Bar 44: A lively tapas bar in the heart of the city, serving classic and seasonal small plates and sherry poured straight from the barrel.
• Daffodil: A modern gastro pub, serving quality seasonal food with a focus on local Welsh produce.
• Gin & Juice: An all-day destination, serving healthy breakfasts, lunch and light supper, – and by night, over 350 gins alongside beers, wines and spirits.
• Scaredy Cats: This casual café-bar in the heart Cardiff offers board games to play whilst you sip craft beer, coffee & wine.
• Vermut: A cosy hole-in-the-wall bar which specialises in the sale of Sherry, Vermouth, and wines from Montilla-Moriles.
• Asador 44: This restaurant serves impeccable ingredients cooked over an authentic Spanish grill with a modern touch.
• Rum & Fizz: Bringing the spirit of NYC to the Welsh capital, here you’ll find speciality rums, prosecco and wines.
• Chilled & Tannin pop-up at Little Man Coffee: This coffee shop by day will open late on Thursday evenings, curating a wine list especially for the passport.

The passport will offer a choice of two different wines at each venue, and for an extra cost, passport holders can add a suggested food pairing – matching their glass of wine with a seasonal small plate or bar snack.

The Cardiff Wine Passport has been created by independent PR consultant Jane Cook, who worked with many of the city’s indie hospitality businesses throughout the pandemic. Jane will be working with independent content producer Will Barker, and local graphic design studio I Am Sam Creative to bring the project to life.

Jane said,

“The act of popping out for a quick glass of wine with friends or colleagues after work seems to have fallen away a bit since the pandemic. I thought that this would be a fun and accessible way to bring that ritual back – and a great way to support some of the city centre’s best-loved indie businesses at the same time.”

Becca Thomas from Bacareto, a Venetian wine bar and restaurant on Church Street said,

“We’re really delighted to be part of this first year of the Cardiff Wine Passport, alongside some of the other exceptional independent bars that the city centre has to offer. A very special part of Venetian culture is the ‘Bacaro Tour’, the custom of hopping from one bar to another, enjoying a drink and a bite to eat at each. We hope the passport will mean that Cardiff can enjoy a little bit of this tradition – and people can discover some new favourite haunts along the way!”

The creation of the Cardiff Wine Passport has been supported by the For Cardiff City Ambition Fund, which was set up to help support external projects which contribute to the future of the city.

Adrian Field at For Cardiff explained,

“Our City Ambition Fund was set up to help realise the ambitions of our 2021-26 business plan, so we were delighted to fund the Cardiff Passport Project; it absolutely meets our objective of positively impacting multiple business’s recovery from the Covid-19, whilst positioning the city centre as a leisure and culture destination of choice.”

If successful, it’s hoped that the event will grow to become an annual fixture in Cardiff’s calendar. With limited availability of only 1,500 passports for the first run, it’s anticipated that the first Cardiff Wine Passport will sell out quickly when it becomes available to purchase online (later this month).

To be the first to know when the passports are on sale, sign up for priority access via the newsletter, at www.cardiffwinepassport.co.uk

For more information, follow the Cardiff Wine Passport on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @cdfwinepassport