7 of the best wine bars in London English Wine Week, which starts on 28 May, celebrates the very best of England’s burgeoning wine industry. But you’ll find a wide range of wines from all over the world in our selection of the top wine bars in London. Whether you are wanting to try different grape styles or simply looking for a new drinking spot, we have chosen some of the best wine bars in the capital Wednesday, 25 May, 2016 London is famous for its pub culture but the city is also home to an impressive range of wine bars. The wine scene in the capital is delightfully diverse, offering everything from independent sellers to award-winning vintages and rare wines. London’s wine bar scene is constantly evolving as fresh concepts, menus and international flavours are introduced, and it can be hard to keep track of the best places to visit. In this guide we take you to some of the top wine bars in the city. Whether you are seeking a sophisticated venue in which to test your wine knowledge or simply looking for a new drinking den, we select the top places in London to enjoy wine.

Wind: E at 9.3 mph Enter a Brand (optional) All products / store types Enrol for the SHOP TAX FREE Card Shop in your own currency Download the mobile appOne would think that in a city where beer is taken very seriously and consumed in large quantities, it’s hard to find a good wine bar. Au contraire, wine enthusiasts in the EU capital have quite a few options for all budgets. Here’s a list of the best wine bars in Brussels that I’ve been to so far. A bar that celebrates wine. Here you can taste different wine labels in different quantities (full-glass or half-glass) thanks to a wine dispenser and accompany them with delicious tapas without breaking the bank. Etiquette has also a great terrace that overlooks the Abbaye de la Cambre, so it’s a good place for after work drinks on a sunny day too. > Read the full review here < The perfect place to unwind and enjoy delicious tapas and wine at affordable prices. Le Petit Canon has arguably one of the best terraces in Brussels and is located between Avenue Louise and Flagey. Their tomato tapenade is a must-try! > Read the full review here < My favourite wine bar in Brussels not only because of its broad wine selection but also its very tasty nibbles which come in generous potions and are very good value for money. Be sure to arrive early in order to find a table as this is definitely a popular spot! > Read the full review here < A small wine bar with character in the heart of Chatelain where wine lovers will be happy. Great wine selection ranging from classic labels to more premium ones which you can also buy and take home. > Read the full

Have you tried any of these places? Which are your favourite wine bars in Brussels? From cheap budget places to stay to luxury 5 star suites see our discounts for hotels, including Radisson Blu Edwardian Grafton Hotel from 59% off.where can i buy a wine coolerThey were big in the 80s and now they’re back – with not so much Sade, and a whole lot more good winebest everyday red table wine Photograph: Katherine Rose for Observer Food Monthlygood wine in england Growing up in the 1980s and 90s, the idea of the “wine bar” gave me the creeps. best years for oregon wineTo my late teenage self, it basically stood for soft-focus bad taste and desperation, all soporific saxophones and Sade at a barely perceptible volume while ladies in red endured singles’ night cheek-to-cheek chats with smart-casual regional sales directors. best wine tour champagne

In those pre-All Bar One, days, “wine bar” was a euphemism for “drinking hole that isn’t a pub”. And, when it came to defining a wine bar as a softer, safer, supposedly more female-friendly and sophisticated alternative to the traditional boozer, the quality of what punters actually drank was far less important than the yucca plants, half-baked bistro food and relaxing jazz compilations.good wine to drink with dessert The wine bar has now returned with a vengeance and unlike most 80s revivals there’s nothing ironic about its comeback. best red wine on amazonThe new breed of wine bar has little in common with its predecessors: decor, music, and even food mostly play supporting roles. food and wine best tea shopsRun by obsessive oenophiles, they are, instead, all about the wine.best cheap dry red wine

Like many of the changes in our food and drink culture, the advent of the low-cost city break is key. When you’ve been charmed by unpretentious wine shop-cum-bars in even the smallest southern European airline destination, you begin to wonder why there’s nothing similar back home. It’s no coincidence, for example, that one of the original, and still best, of the new wine bars, Vinoteca, which opened in Farringdon in 2005 and now has four branches around London, claims “the wine bars of Spain and Italy, which often also function as wine shops” as its inspiration. The trickle of openings has turned into a flow, particularly in London, where the likes of Hackney’s Sager & Wilde, the two Square Mile bars of retailer Planet of the Grapes and Farringdon’s Quality Chop House, among many others, have each put a slightly different spin on the Italian enoteca or Parisan bar à vins idea. is a good place to start). Though all of these places have enticing bottle lists, it’s the range by the glass that marks them out.

Technology has helped: the advent of affordable Enomatic machines that keep wine fresh for up to a month after opening has meant bar owners no longer have to worry about waste if they open a bottle, particularly an expensive one, for a single glass. Now its manufacturers have resolved the problem with exploding bottles, a new gadget, the Coravin, takes things even further, extracting wine through the cork via a needle, and using inert gas to preserve the remains as if it had never been opened at all. The result is that bars can take a chance on the esoteric, and drinkers can try wines they’d never be able to afford by the bottle. I’m thinking of the 2008 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie (£14.50 a glass, £80 a bottle at Sager & Wilde at time of writing) or the 1989 D’Oliveiras Sercial Colheita Madeira (£11.20 for a 50cl glass, £100 a bottle at 28-50) – wines so good even a Kenny G sax solo couldn’t spoil them. Six wine bar favourites by the bottle Domaine de l’Ecu ‘Gneiss’ Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie, Loire France 2011 (£15.99, Market Row Wines, h2vin.co.uk)On the list at Hackney’s Sager & Wilde for £7.50 a pop at the time of writing, if you add a fiver to the retail price, you can also enjoy a bottle of this superbly salty-mineral and nervy dry white on the premises of the excellent wine shop Market Row Wines across town in Brixton.

Robert Plageoles Mauzac Nature, Gaillac, France NV(£17.99, Joseph Barnes Fine Wines)The local mauzac grape variety makes for a lipsmacking dry but rich, slightly honeyed and green apple-flavoured fizz from southwestern Gaillac, a typically adventurous selection on the list at Terroirs in London’s West End, which is owned by the wine’s importers, natural wine specialists Les Caves de Pyrene. Villa Wolf Pinot Gris, Pfalz, Germany 2013(£10.49, The Oxford Wine Company)Longstanding wine merchant The Oxford Wine Company bought up the former Somertown Wine Café last year, and this rich but rippling quince-laden dry white from top winemaker Ernie Loosen is a standout on the bar and retail shelf. Les Cépages Oubliés Marsanne-Roussanne, IGP Pays d’Oc, France 2012(£7.35, slurp.co.uk)The cheapest by the glass white on the list at 28-50 in Marylebone the last time I visited, but this is way above the level of most house wines: a Rhône-style blend from the other side of the south of France, it mixes fleshy peach and blossom with brisk acidity.