Metrosexual makeover.

(From Off Licence News)

Never believe what you read on the internet. Erik Laan, owner of the Vineking in Reigate, Surrey, is not Danish. He's half Dutch, half Finnish, brought up in Redhill, and has a thoroughbred Home Counties accent.

After managing stores for London wine merchant Laytons and La Reserve he spent time selling to private customers for Charles Taylor Wines.

He set up his own business doing the same from his kitchen in 2003, turning over AGBP250,000 in the first year, before opening a shop in 2004 and adding a second in Weybridge two years later.

The modern stores are decked out in retro pink wallpaper, with a turquoise and magenta fascia and shelves from Ikea. The Weybridge shop's counter is a kitchen unit from the Swedish furniture store.

The window displays at both stores feature their own vineyards - or vines in planters at any rate.

The wine range is an eclectic premium mix, starting at AGBP4.99 but with a heavyweight brigade between AGBP10 and AGBP30. While many regional wine merchants still snub fridges, the Vineking positively embraces them, offering person-height Vinefrost chillers for sale at AGBP999 as well as keeping stock in them.