best wine bars in london
A legend since 1879. Fleet Street used to be the home of London's newspapers, and this is where the journalists would drink and gossip. Women weren't allowed at the bar until the 1980s! It's less raucous now, as the customers are mainly lawyers. The food is basic; the meat pies are the thing to go for. The wine list is extremely old-fashioned, with lots of claret and generic white burgundy by the glass, and none the worse for it. It's recently been taken over by Davy's, a wine bar chain, so it's not clear what the future is. Today, wine bars are fashionable. There's even been talk that wine itself might be... *whisper it* cool. Things were very different when I was growing up. Wines bars were considered terribly old-fashioned. Most weren't even aimed at wine lovers. Instead, they were places to drink that were open later than pubs. You might have gotten some cheese and crackers or shop-bought pate to eat, if you were lucky. There was a chain in the north of England called Yates's Wine Lodge;
from the name, you'd imagine it was a good place to discuss the difference between left bank and right bank Bordeaux. If you tried, you'd be in for a rude shock. On a Friday and Saturday night, Yates's would be crammed with people getting uproariously drunk on anything but wine. Even during the dark days, however, there were places serving good quality wine and food, and some of them are still around. What the newer places offer is sharper cookery and more adventurous wines, many of which are available by the glass thanks to the wonders of Enomatic machines or the Coravin (a sort of handheld Enomatic that dispenses a tasting measure and then seals the bottle with an inert gas). So I thought it would be interesting to examine the now-thriving wine bar sector in London. I've tried to group them roughly in order of opening, so you go from very old school to bang up to date. Buried deep beneath cobbled streets in Covent Garden, Gordon's Wine Bar is composed of multiple caves and tunnels filled with small candlelit tables and copious bottles of wine, which is somehow more romantic than it is gimmicky.
There's an old joke that justifies the love of wine: nobody ever came up with a brilliant idea after their second bottle of water.
best wine bar chelsea london And wine drinking, like any upstanding pastime, requires a little practice. Fortunately, London is pleasingly rammed with decent bars all honouring the grape's greatest achievement (a moth turning into a butterfly has nothing on this humble fruit transforming into a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape.) The city is even producing its own stuff, as Gavin Monery from London Cru explains in the video below. The idea of a wine bar has a little stigma attached, but fortunately, old-fashioned sommeliers with intimidating moustaches and dismissive glances have long been banished from the best of London's wine hotspots. The idea of small, snobby rooms can be thrown out like the sediment in an old bottle – wine drinking in London is meant to be fun, not an extended lecture.
Whether a quiet night savouring a modest fifteen glasses of white with a friend is on the cards or a celebratory evening of champagne is required, London caters for all. Our list includes old-fashioned bistros, one of the finest restaurants in town, a modern spin on things and true a London institution. Explore, be merry, learn a little, and raise a glass to good health. Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout Things to do in London28°-50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen This exciting collaboration between sommelier Xavier Rousset and executive chef Agnar Sverrisson (their second, following haute cuisine restaurant Texture) is focused on wine, but has much more attention on food than the average wine bar. KWR is thoroughly modern in using dispensers to keep wine fresh for longer, so allowing single glasses to be served and thus facilitating experimentation. The name ‘Mission’ doesn’t refer to a position, or even a crusade to save souls.
It is a homage to California where the wine country is littered with Spanish Missions: the first sacramental grape was called The Mission. This Mission – named after the San Francisco neighbourhood – is a big step up for Michael and Charlotte Sager-Wilde (of critically acclaimed wine bar Sager & Wilde). Coming from the pair behind the wine mag of the same name, Noble Rot is an old-school hangout with a soul that is very much still alive. Cracked stone floors, dodgy brown furniture and vineyard-themed frescos are a throwback to the former site of Vats and the food is as classic and unpretentious as the surroundings - we're still swooning over a stunning piece of monkfish in a tangy white wine sauce. Warm, knowledgeable staff are lovely, while in the front the room, the boisterous spirit of a wine bar is very much alive – hardly surprising, given the affordability of the list (with a sizeable by-the-glass offering kicking off at £3 for a 75ml ‘sampler’, or bottles from £20).
The Quality Chop House carries deliberate echoes of its 19th-century origins by offering ‘a chop and a glass’. Wine rather than ale is the main draw now (though Kernel beer is offered). There’s a wine shop alongside the bar and dining room, with plenty to interest both casual sippers and serious imbibers. In the 90s and Noughties, ‘ABC’ – Anything But Chardonnay – was the term used to describe a movement that avoided the obvious, the mass-produced, the populist. More than a decade later, in a city that’s now brimming with exciting and unusual wines to try, there’s no excuse for ordering the usual. Pop down to The Remedy for some proper excitement in your glass. With its good looks and pooch-friendly policies, this Hoxton wine bar (a Shoreditch pop-up gone permanent) has plenty going for it. Not to mention a flat-rate £20 mark-up per bottle. Venue says: “Join our next 'Cellar Cinema' on May 15 at 7pm. Screening "Good Tings Await" plus a glass of wine £15.
Terroirs positions itself as an evangelist for natural wines, but is equally valued for the quality of its informal French cooking and its buzzy atmosphere. Venue says: “May 2 - May 3: Stop by our 'Giro d' Italia' wine tasting series - £20 + 5% off wine on the night. The term ‘vin naturel’ – natural wine – was revived in France during the 1980s to describe a process of ‘natural’ fermentation, with minimal intervention in the viticultural process. Terroirs in London pioneered a similar approach in 2001, and soon had branches, as well as imitators – Toasted is the latest in the Terroirs tradition. A second outpost from the crew who opened The Truscott Arms gastropub in Maida Vale, The Truscott Cellar has a vaguely nautical vibe with suspended storm lanterns and cabin-like booths. A backlit wall of resting bottles tells you the list of reds, whites and rosés, which is tip-top. Most come by the glass and the food menu is compact, offering cold meat or cheese boards plus a few hot plates and puds.