In 1979, Margaret Thatcher came to power, Sid Vicious died, and the AyatolahIn Khomeni was voted ‘Man of the Year’ by Time Magazine.

None of which mattered very much to Henry Butler’s parents Gillian and Geoffrey.

They were busy opening their small family-run wine shop in Brighton’s Queens Park Road, with the intention of bringing interesting, characterful wines to a British public then largely unfamiliar with much beyond Black Tower and Mateus Rose (historical fact: there were only three good bottles of wine in the whole of the UK in 1979, and all of them belonged to Mick Jagger).

Now in its fifth decade, with a second retail outlet in Brighton’s Kemp Town, mail order and internet operations, and supplying many of Brighton’s best restaurants, pubs and bars, Butler’s can claim the title of Brighton’s Oldest Independent Wine Retailer.

Still very much a family business under the dynamic and imaginative management of Henry (now a fully grown man with a beard and everything), Butler’s continues to grow and develop, whilst never losing touch with its original vision: to offer the best available examples of carefully selected, realistically priced and exciting wines in a friendly, down-to-earth style.

If you are curious about wine, but have been put off by its (slowly fading but still pervasive) image of snobbish exclusivity, a visit to Butler’s should prove a breath of fresh air (but with notes of greengage, apple and a fresh light acidity).