English wine, reimagined
There’s something rather satisfying about discovering a product that makes you question why things have always been done a certain way.
The Uncommon is one of those businesses.
Founded in 2017 by Henry and Alex, The Uncommon set out with a simple ambition: to make exceptional English wine while doing things differently. They left their jobs, retrained in oenology and set about challenging one of the most familiar conventions in wine — that great wine belongs in a glass bottle.
Their answer was wonderfully simple:
Put English wine in a can.
It was an unconventional idea at the time. In fact, The Uncommon became the first company in the UK to can English wine, beginning with just five tonnes of Bacchus grapes in 2017.
And it wasn't simply about making wine more convenient. The founders believed that cans could actually help preserve the freshness of young English wines, while offering a significantly lower-impact alternative to traditional glass bottles.
From the Kent Downs
The story starts in the vineyard.
The Uncommon's vines grow on a south-facing slope of the Kent Downs, within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The vineyard sits on the same chalk band as Champagne, with a cool climate that lends itself beautifully to fresh, aromatic English wines.
Here, grapes including Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Bacchus are carefully cultivated and hand-picked before being turned into the wines that have become The Uncommon's signature.
There's a lovely sense of locality to the whole operation.
The grapes are grown in Kent. The wine is made in England. And the finished product is designed to be enjoyed wherever the occasion takes you.
Meet Eleanor
For Lawrence & Co., we've chosen Eleanor Bubbly Rosé for The Classic.
Eleanor is a light, dry and beautifully fresh English rosé made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grown in Kent. The Uncommon describes it as bursting with red summer fruits, with strawberries at its heart.
The 187ml format is roughly the equivalent of a medium glass of wine, making it a particularly lovely addition to a gift box: enough for a little moment of celebration without asking the recipient to open a full bottle.
And then there's Eleanor herself.
The wine's character is embodied by a rather eccentric fictional character who travels by hot-air balloon, landing unexpectedly wherever adventure calls. It's playful, unconventional and deliberately different — much like the wine itself.
Breaking tradition for the better
What we particularly admire about The Uncommon is that the can isn't treated as a gimmick.
It's part of the philosophy.
The company says its cans have an 86% lower carbon footprint than glass bottles, and The Uncommon became the UK's first B Corp-certified winemaker. It also works with Kent Wildlife Trust on rewilding and biodiversity around its vineyard.
That combination of quality, English provenance and a willingness to challenge convention is exactly what caught our attention.
The result is wine that feels distinctly modern without losing its sense of place.
Why we chose The Uncommon
At Lawrence & Co., we're interested in the people and ideas behind the products we put into our hampers.
We don't want to fill a box simply because something looks good on a shelf.
We want to discover makers with something worth saying.
The Uncommon has that in abundance.
From a vineyard in the Kent Downs to a can designed to land in your hands at exactly the right moment, it's an example of English food and drink at its most imaginative.
And that's why Eleanor has found a place in The Classic.