The journey to the Dog Inn - about 20 minutes east of Canterbury - isn't a straightforward one, but it soon becomes apparent why so many customers go out of their way to get there.
As well as being listed in Egon Ronay's 2006 Guide to the Best Restaurants and Gastropubs in the UK, it was also named Les Routiers wine pub of the year for London and the south eastern region in 2005. Not bad for a business that's only been up and running in its present form for under a year.
Owned by Richard and Sherry Martin, it is a 13th-century, Grade II-listed inn in the pretty Kent village of Wingham, 10 minutes from the championship golf course at Sandwich (there's a reason for mentioning this).
Welcoming fug of wood smoke
A welcoming fug of wood smoke greets you as you swing open the heavy, latched door. His head just clearing the low oak beams, Richard welcomes diners warmly as they enter. Most are here for a meal and a glass or three of wine, though there is still space for locals to enjoy a pint if they wish.
The couple bought the place, "complete with sticky carpets" and eight bedrooms, for £500,000 in 2004, living with it for a while to establish the lay of the land. "But it was always our intention to take it upscale," says Richard.
Not that the couple are new to the area - the Martins live three miles down the road and used to run their family-owned hotel nearby. Before that, Richard was in the golf business - in sales and marketing - the proximity to the championship golf course was just too good to pass up. And it's just down the road from the popular tourist attraction of Howlett's Zoo, with big employer Pfizer nearby. "It's all about location - and I think we've got it right here," he declares.
They set about transforming the place (with an extra £150,000), blasting off the ubiquitous black gloss and woodchip, stripping the wood floors and wall panelling, and introducing pleasingly-worn antique pine furniture (including a table that seats 10 picked up from an auction) to create 55 covers, with an additional 60 on the lawn in the summer months. Add to that hop garlands (from Essentially Hops down the road) hanging from every lintel and ledge, and you get the picture.
Richard is a huge Rick Stein fan
Next, the Martins set to work on the menu.
They recruited ex-House of Fraser catering
consultant Steve Hogben as the head chef,
who turns out modern British dishes making full use of local produce (Richard is a huge Rick
Stein fan) - their bread is supplied by next-door neighbour, celebrity baker Paul Hollywood. Starters include the likes of smoked Dungeness eel with fresh horseradish mousse and oak-smoked sprats (£7.50) (fish is a focus here), and roasted Romney Marsh lamb with a potato and carrot dauphinoise and red berry jus (£14.95).
Then they re-did the wine list, creating 78 bins. The Martins decided to stick with just the one supplier. "It's easier that way, especially when we have so many other things to think about," adds Richard. They put the list out to tender, inviting six local merchants to compete for the business. Ben Bevan at Yum Yum Wines, based in the nearby village of Staple, impressed Richard and the pair have been working closely on the list ever since. They've even started a wine retail business, selling each wine on the list by the case to interested customers (charging 20% less than the list price). Now wine sales make up 80% of overall alcoholic drinks sales.
"I love wine," says Richard. "You know that old industry saying, 'it's a way of life' - well, it's not, it's a business. When I'm here, I'm a salesman - if I see someone tucking into a cheeseboard without a glass of port, I'm in there."
Richard is lucky - he has Charles Greenacre for restaurant manager. The 60-year-old former P&O restaurant supervisor (he looked after the Langham's Brasserie franchise) is rather partial to wine - so partial, in fact, that he got into the regional finals of the Ruinart Sommelier of the Year competition.
"I'm no Oz Clarke," Greenacre says, modestly, "but I do love talking to customers about wine." If they ask for a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, he might steer them towards lesser known Vacqueyras, which he prefers anyway. And he usually has no trouble selling port - "because I love it," he says.
Healthy uptake on Kentish wine
The old Dog Inn list was chocka with bland brands, and the house wine accounted for 70% of sales. Now house wine makes up 40% of sales, with a healthy uptake on the Kentish wine section which kicks off the list. There are five from
Chapel Down (the Bacchus is the biggest seller) and the English wine even makes it on to the menu - chef Hogben braises his oxtail in Chapel Down's Pinot Noir.
The new list, broken up into flavour categories such as aromatic dry whites and light reds, is a mix of big names and their better blends (such as Mas La Plana, from Torres, and Penfolds Bin 389) and lesser-known producers.
The first thing that hits you is the prices - modest with a capital M. The average mark-up is 45%. "Our wines are 30% to 40% less than you'll find them elsewhere," boasts Richard, who says he is fed up with the prices being charged for wine in pubs and restaurants.
Consequently his customers are trading up. "I actually underestimated the upturn," he says. "And I have been surprised by the level of knowledge from customers. So yes, our customer profile has changed dramatically." Though he still turns away around 50 customers a week on the hunt for scampi and chips, he feeds another 500 a week so I guess he's not too worried.
And once the wedding market kicks off - he's got 28 already booked in this year - he should start to see a dent in stocks for his separate 21-strong Champagne and sparkling wine list, which is currently tying up a fair bit of capital. "It's already blown our holiday budget," he jokes.
It's nice to see a Prosecco on there (Extra Dry from Fantinel, £17.95), and New Zealand cult bubbly Pelorus, while the heavy hitters are there to tempt further - from 1999 Cristal at £220 to Veuve Cliquot's La Grande Dame 1999 at £175, helping the Dog to further its gastropub status.
English wines at the Dog Inn
If you're a licensee in Kent reading this and you have no English wines listed - then shame on you.
One of the country's best producers, Chapel Down, in Small Hythe, hails from
your county and offers a line-up of wines
that any good winery would be proud of.
But Richard Martin already knows that -
he offers five of its wines, which he buys direct.
Chapel Down's wines have long since proved themselves - especially the sparkler, which should convert any doubters among you (Richard sells the 2001 Pinot Brut Reserve for £32).
It also makes still whites, mostly from grapes designed to withstand the chilly northern latitudes and often bearing Teutonic names that will twist your tongue - though winemaker Owen Elias has ripped up some of these to make way for more traditional Champagne varieties, which are working much better here.
Richard's best seller is Chapel Down's 2004 Bacchus Reserve Dry White, on at £18.95, which makes up nearly half of the pub's house wine sales.
He also offers Chapel Down's 2003 Nectar (£15.95), a sweet wine made with Siegerrebe and Ortega, and, bravely, a couple of reds, which Chapel Down makes in small quantities as they are rather tricky varieties to ripen.
Interested? Then simply visit
www.englishwineproducers.com to find
out which vineyards are near you.