Natural wine and quality cuisine: Saltpeter in Suffolk have pioneered the wave
One of Taberna Saltpeter’s popular tapas dishes
When Steve first brought Sarah to this corner
of Suffolk five years ago, one wine shop
in Woodbridge — Saltpeter Wines — was already
ahead of the curve on biodynamic wines
When Steve Googled ‘natural wines
Suffolk’, he was surprised.
In 2020, natural wines - wine typically from biodynamically farmed grapes, fermented with indigenous yeasts and made with minimal intervention and little to no added sulphites - were scarce in the UK, far from on-trend like they are now. Their occasional haze and lively, slightly volatile edges had some purists calling them faults — a take that’s mellowed as the style has ‘grown up’.
Steve first heard about natural wine from an American health podcaster he followed closely. When he finally tried some in London, the after effects were noticeably less severe — both his hangover and day-to-day functioning — than what he remembered feeling with ‘normal’ wines, even the pricier ones.
Saltpeter Wines in Woodbridge - where it all began
Sarah was easily won over (she only needed to hear the word ‘wine’).
Off they went exploring various upmarket natural wine bars in London. In turn, it spurred Steve on to Google ‘natural wines Suffolk’. To his surprise, up popped Saltpeter Wines in Woodbridge.
That a shop like this existed in Suffolk was a sign something new was brewing — a return to the artisanal in winemaking, working with the land as much as possible, avoiding additives… a shift, perhaps, toward wellbeing.
More than a shop, Saltpeter Wines became a small community.
Saltpeter Wines’ co-owners, Maddie and David, had years of experience curating and procuring fine wine in London before returning to Suffolk, where Maddie is from.
People were learning a new way of tasting and drinking — one that felt unique in Suffolk. Naturally when Sarah and Steve married in autumn 2022, they knew exactly where to get their wine. Not every guest escaped a sore head, but many reported the morning after being gentler.
David loading up the van with their wine-on-tap dispenser for Sarah & Steve’s big day!
A variety of Andalusian-inspired tapas offered at Taberna Saltpeter, utilising the Suffolk Coast for inspiration
After Saltpeter Wines was hit hard by the Covid downturn, Maddie and David continued to press forward, taking a Beach Street unit on Felixstowe seafront to open Taberna Saltpeter — a modern tapas bar with Malagan born-and-bred David in the kitchen and, of course, a strong list of clean, natural wines.
It ran successfully until late summer 2025, when they decided it was time for a change again. As they look for their next opportunity, we’ve brought them in for our first-ever pop-up.
Taberna Saltpeter’s modern take on classic Spanish dishes — together with socialbar’s lineup of independent, minimal-intervention wines and craft beers — makes this a proper socialbar & Taberna Saltpeter collaboration for our October pop-up: community at the table, global flavour in the food and the glass.