Kernowine, winner of Muddy Cornwall’s Best Bar in 2023, is a cosy, neighbourhood-focused wine bar and shop, with a sustainable, ethical and local ethos, and just what Falmouth’s Killigrew Street needed. Created and run by owners Derek and Natasha, who swapped their previous careers for running a wine bar after they moved to Cornwall in 2017 (Del used to work for Radio 1’s Newsbeat) alongside retail manager Jake, Kernowine is just the place to head for a local bite to eat, to pick up a bottle, enjoy a wine-based chat (or just a solo mooch and an upgrade from your usual supermarket choice).

Del is in charge of the wine, which makes sense, as he completed the WSET Diploma (so he knows his stuff) whereas Tash has opened a delicatessen and small plates restaurant callerd Kernow Dine & Deli next door at number 22.

Wines range from the £7-20 mark right up to the properly fancy bottles if you’re in the market for them, but the main thing Del does well is taking people’s current knowledge and expanding that by introducing them to similar but more unusual grape varieties and styles. Look out for the monthly wine classes which do this as part of a hosted tasting, as well as an excellent section of fizzy and sparkling wines, thanks to Del’s special area of knowledge.

Food wise, the sharing boards and small plates are a must – alongside wine by the glass, or paying the drink in price for a bottle from the shelf, fill up on a surfboard (fish), turfboard (meat) or cheese board. Most of the produce on the boards comes from Cornwall using local suppliers, served with Cornish crackers or locally-baked bread and Cornish butter.

Open from 11am during the summer for coffee right through to late-night drinks, alongside the wine bar/food is a wine shop, where you can choose a bottle from the shelf, or from one of five options using a refill tap for your own bottle!

Not local? Buy online through the website and your purchase is still sustainable – your wine will be delivered using Flexi-Hex packaging, another Cornish supplier, which is cleverly designed to cushion the wine bottles in cardboard and air.

Very local? Deliveroo in Falmouth will deliver all your wine needs…