30 May 2023

London for wine lovers 2023

What it says on the tin, updated for this summer’s influx of visitors.

This article has long proved especially popular and we try to update it regularly. London continues to offer a huge range of wine-related diversions, and an amazing array of professional tasting opportunities, as outlined in London, capital for wine. This guide represents many decades of accumulated insider knowledge from our team and we’ve also tried to add the latest developments and newest openings, but would welcome any further suggestions.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions for further inclusions, or if you spot any mistakes, via the contact form.

The guide is divided into the following sections – click to jump to the relevant part.

Sights – the essential wine locations for the tourist
Wine shops – where to buy wine in the capital
Wine bars – a hand-picked selection of the best spots for informal wine drinking, where food is often simple
Wine-minded restaurants – where wine is of equal importance to food

Sights

St James's Street remains the spiritual home of wine in London. The road itself has several famous merchant names above its doors. Justerini & Brooks has offices here, though not a conventional shop, and opposite are the extensive, historic premises of Berry Bros & Rudd, whose smart retail operation is around the corner on Pall Mall. It contains a fantastic range of wines and spirits from all corners of the world, and if you ask in advance you might get a peak at the labyrinthine cellars that lie beneath. They are a popular venue for tastings and corporate events, as is the original, London branch of 67 Pall Mall, a club dedicated to all things wine and which boasts an extraordinary range of bottles at very reasonable prices.

Just up the road is the even smarter Oswald’s with its cellars, two restaurants, bargain very-fine wine list and glorious decor. The catch is that only members are admitted – much like the other neighbouring clubs such as Boodle's, Brooks's, The Reform Club and dozens more. Anyone can gain access to the auction houses, however, and there are regular wine sales at Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonhams, all within this area of London. Nearby, go window-shopping at Hedonism (see below for more details), London's largest wine shop featuring some of its most spectacular bottles.

If you venture south-west, the urban winery London Cru is a small operation near Earl's Court that offers guided tours by appointment. Their gimmick is to import grapes from mainland Europe to ferment in London – and the results can be seriously impressive. Apart from Chelsea Football Club, there is not much else in the immediate vicinity to entice the tourist. Other urban wineries include Renegade in E2 (see below under wine bars) and Blackbook in Battersea.

Of strictly historical interest is Vintners' Hall, an ancient yet active livery company in the City of London, the financial district. It is not normally open to the public, and this ancient part of London has in the past catered primarily for busy commuters in finance rather than tourists, but see The City wakes up at the weekend on how this has been changing.

Foodie markets such as Maltby Street and Borough Market (both near London Bridge) have several interesting wine stalls and are delightful for wandering and grazing. Several times a year, London hosts large consumer wine events such as RAW WINE and The Real Wine Fair, which can easily take up an entire day for the committed vinophile.

Wine shops

These listings are grouped roughly by geographical region, and represent a hand-picked selection of London's best independent wine retailers. See also the London addresses in our Where to buy listing. The supermarket chains (Aldi, Asda, The Co-op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Waitrose) between them have by far the biggest slice of the UK wine market but the quality rarely matches what the indies can offer. We regularly publish reports on their current offering by our retail specialist Andy Howard MW. Waitrose probably have the best range.

Central London and the West End

10 Cases in Endell St, Covent Garden, has a cave à vin just next door to their popular bistro, offering a great selection of wines to take home, to taste from their Enomatic machines, or to enjoy by the glass, carafe and bottle with charcuterie and cheese in the shop.
Albion Wine Shippers in Lamb's Conduit Street, near Russell Square tube station, has been going strong for over 30 years supplying the trade and private customers with an interesting selection. Enomatic machines in-store for tasting wine.
Fortnum & Mason has, like Selfridges, a wine shop on the premises.
Hedonism, 3–7 Davies Street, London W1, is by far the most luxurious central London wine store. Owned by a Russian tax exile, it is an extraordinary treasure trove of bottles of interest to anyone seriously interested in wine with, for instance, Yquems and Sine Qua Nons coming out of its ears. Prices are not as sky-high as one might expect and there are usually some tip-top wines on taste by the glass. Many a wine lover could spend hours in here. Under the same ownership is Hide, a sprawling restaurant on Piccadilly that offers Hedonism’s entire wine list – at a suitable mark-up, of course.
Jeroboams, fine-wine stores dotted around central London, Chelsea and Muswell Hill, with a pretty good selection and good service.
Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden stocks wine from small organic, biodynamic or low-input vineyards, and 90% of the wines on the list are made by women. They have a little wine bar/brasserie in the shop.
Philglas & Swiggot specialise in hand-picked wines, notably but not exclusively Australian. Now owned by Irish retailer O’Briens, but managed by Justin Knock MW and his business partner Damien Jackman. They have a branch in Marylebone and another in Battersea.
Planet of the Grapes occupies a very handsome shop on Sicilian Avenue in Holborn, where you can drink and eat on the premises. They also operate a shop/bar hybrid in the City.
Selfridges' wine shop doubles as a comfortable wine bar in the basement with a particularly wide range.
Shrine to the Vine, also in Lambs’ Conduit Street, is Noble Rot’s retail shop.
Vagabond Wines have twelve branches in total, including locations on Charlotte Street, Gracechurch Street, and one near Victoria Station. They also have branches in Battersea, Shoreditch, Paddington, Fulham, Clapham, Canary Wharf, and Heathrow and Gatwick airports. All of them have Enomatics allowing a wide range of wines to be tasted.
The Winemakers Club under the vaulted arches of Holborn Viaduct is an outlet for the independent importer of the same name, and offers an eclectic selection of wine to take away as well as a bijou wine-bar area.

City and east

Bottle Apostle in Victoria Park offers sampling via Enomatic machines. They also operate in Clapham in south London, and Primrose Hill and Crouch End in north London.
Borough Wines has operations in Borough Market. Strong on off-piste wines from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, Borough Wines is well known for offering its customers wine straight from the barrel, sfuso style. They are especially sustainability conscious and bottle wines shipped in bulk to London.
Dynamic Vines – to capitalise on the increasing popularity of Maltby Street (and the surrounding area), this importer of (predominantly) biodynamic wines now opens on Saturdays to sell directly to the public.
Newcomer Wines offers up to 250 wines in its range, the vast majority from Austria. Previously based in Shoreditch's pop-up Boxpark, they now have a permanent premises on Dalston Lane, E8.
New Street Wine is close to Liverpool Street station and belongs to the D&D group, who operate several wine-friendly restaurants across London. They have an eclectic range of wines that can be taken away or enjoyed on site at a very reasonable corkage charge. Their small but frequently refreshed wine list offers an interesting selection, generally a little off the beaten track (in tasting-size pours or full glasses), along with small bites. Relaxed atmosphere and good service.
P Franco 'Sister shop to Noble Fine Liquor, has opened on Lower Clapton Road (which is unrecognisable compared with when I lived just off it up until two years ago: I counted at least a dozen new businesses as I walked along it on Saturday evening). It's a wine shop but they're also licensed to sell wines by the glass, so morphs into a bar in the evenings.' (Purple Pager Dave Stenton).
Le Pont de la Tour is the very well-stocked wine store attached to the restaurant of the same name on the south side of Tower Bridge. Excellent and unpredictable selection but fairly robust pricing. (See the D&D website for details of all their operations.)
Quality Wines is the retail and popular wine-bar hybrid offshoot of The Quality Chop House.
Theatre of Wine's most recent location is Leytonstone, where their interesting range goes beyond the obvious. Rather off the beaten track, but worth a visit if you are nearby. Their other branches are in Greenwich and Tufnell Park.
Uncorked is small but strong on classic regions and with a very knowledgeable team. City prices, but you get what you pay for.
Vagabond (see above) have a large branch near Monument.
The Wine Library, an independent wine shop which has been going since 1988, sells great wine and was also a pioneer of the on-site wine bar. They charge an incredibly reasonable £9.50 corkage to drink their wines with French cheeses and English hams as a buffet lunch, or aperitifs between 6 pm and 8 pm.

West

Handford Wines, on Old Brompton Road, SW7. Small, very personal shop whose stock is driven by passion and interest – especially good at burgundy, southern French, South African and Portuguese table wines.
Haynes Hanson & Clark in Elystan Street, just off Chelsea Green, SW3. Master of Wine Anthony Hanson is buying consultant. Burgundy a speciality but good-value bordeaux and much else besides.
Huntsworth Wine Co is next to the Kensington Church Street branch of Lea & Sandeman (see below). Strong burgundy and bordeaux focus but there's a smattering of hand-picked wines from further afield.
Lea & Sandeman have five branches across west London, in Kensington, Chelsea, Barnes, Fulham and Chiswick. These bright, modern shops offer a wide range of individually chosen wines. The selection is particularly strong on Tuscany, Rhône, burgundy and south-west France.
Mother Vine, on Pavilion Road in Chelsea, SW1X. Small, independent wine shop/bar. Head upstairs for older vintages.
Vindinista, 74 Churchfield Road, Acton. Strong focus on biodynamic, organic and minimal-intervention wines.
The Winery in Clifton Road, London W9 and Fulham Road. Excellent hand-picked, actually foot-driven, selection from anywhere that owner David Motion has recently visited. Dry Germans are a speciality.

North

Bottle Apostle (see City and east) has branches in Primrose Hill and Crouch End.
Highbury Vintners – fantastic selection of wine but also a wide range of microbrewery beers.
Made in Little France in Stoke Newington specialises in regional French wines and was recommended by a reader.
The Sampler is a very useful shop in Upper Street, Islington, which offers a rotating range of very fine wines indeed by the 25-ml pour and also has one of the UK's most wide-ranging selections of fine wines available anywhere retail.
Theatre of Wine (see above) have a shop full of surprises in Tufnell Park, N19.
Yield brings natural wine (and beer, charcuterie and cheese) to Newington Green in their shop/bar hybrid.

South

Artisan & Vine in Putney sells boutique wine, craft beer and artisan coffee.
Bottle Apostle (see City and east) has a branch in Clapham.
City Wine Collection in Richmond sells mainly fine wine from France, Italy and Spain.
D Vine Cellars, North Clapham, always have 16 wines on Enomatic machines for tasting, along with charcuterie and cheese to nibble on while assessing the relative merits of their 'niche, ethical and artisan' wine selection.
Eagle's Wines in Clapham Junction looks like a bog-standard off-licence but has an unexpectedly interesting selection, especially of Australian wine.
The Good Wine Shop has four shops, in Kew, Richmond, Teddington and Chiswick, selling wines from small producers.
Specialist Cellars opened at Pop Brixton in 2015 (under its previous name, The New Zealand Cellar) thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign that showed how much support there was for Mel Brown's project – in London and back in New Zealand.
Philglas & Swiggot (see above) specialise in hand-picked wines, notably but not exclusively Australian. They have branches in Battersea and Marylebone.
Theatre of Wine started in Greenwich but also has branches in north and east London. It has an eclectic range of wine and is run with great passion. The shops are far better than the website!
Unwined is a wine bar, shop and kitchen in Tooting Market that comes recommended by several members. They have another wine bar in Waterloo.
Vagabond Wines has three branches in south London, located in Fulham, Battersea and Clapham. All of them have Enomatics allowing a wide range of wines to be tasted.
The Wine Tasting Shop in Balham is run by Julia Michael, 'the very engaging owner' – a recommendation from Purple Pager and winemaker Jonathan Hesford. They have 400 wines available to take home as well as 20+ available by the glass, and cheese, charcuterie and other snacks. Themed tastings take place every Thursday.

Wine bars

The difference between a wine bar, a wine shop and a wine restaurant is not always easy to discern these days, but this category is devoted to establishments which primarily provide informal wine drinking with some food available, and where you might also be able to take bottles away, retail-style. Davy’s is not just a wine merchant but operates a group of wine and tapas bars all over London.

Central London and the West End

Antidote, just off Carnaby Street, is a wine bar that has been around for a while but seemed to escape people's attention. Wines are organic and biodynamic, mainly French.
Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels is a wine bar in Neal's Yard, Covent Garden, with a nice little courtyard. It's good but a little bit pricey and although it does focus on natural wines, as its name suggests, it has plenty of more conventional choices.
Cork & Bottle is one of several of the old guard of wine bars, in the tourist epicentre of London, Leicester Square. They have a branch in Paddington, too.
Ducksoup in Soho has a focus on natural wine (and it pays to ask for a taste before committing to a glass). Their offspring Little Duck ('a fermenting kitchen and wine bar') is in Dalston.
Fortnum & Mason has, like Selfridges, a wine bar as well as a wine shop on the premises.
Gordon's is the oldest wine bar in London, a popular cave-style haunt that is nearly always crowded and has recently expanded to sprawl over the path that runs alongside it.
Lady of the Grapes in Covent Garden serves organic, biodynamic and natural wine (most of it made by women) in their cosy brasserie-style wine bar/wine shop with small plates of well-sourced food. They also do takeaway food.
Noble Rot, the Lamb's Conduit Street wine bar and restaurant that grew out of the mould-breaking eponymous publication. Great meeting place for oenophiles and a wine list put together by real wine obsessives. Reviewed by Nick here. The Mayfair branch also has a little wine-bar area.
The Remedy is 'a small wine bar in Fitzrovia that has been open for a while now but seems to operate slightly under the radar. It's run by Terroirs alumni' (Purple Pager Dave Stenton). The wine list changes frequently and has a very good selection of madeira, including some pretty old bottles, and orange wines, along with lots of other interesting picks from smaller producers.
Selfridge's recently refurbished wine bar is definitely worth checking out when on Oxford Street.
The Wine Place is a wine bar in Covent Garden market, serving Italian food and wine in a casual bar setting all day.

City and east

Under the rumbling railway arches of London Bridge you'll find 40 Maltby Street – more wine-bar-serving-food than restaurant. The small plates cooked to order in their postage-stamp kitchen are delicious and the wine list is full of unusual gems featuring a lot of natural and biodynamic producers. You can take a bottle home at retail price, and the mark-ups are transparently low.
Planet of the Grapes has two wine bars: in Leadenhall Market (this is a shop as well where you can buy to take away or drink in with a simple flat corkage rate of £10 on top of the retail price) and Moorgate, where the famous Fox umbrella shop has become Fox Fine Wines (with restaurant and private dining room).
Quality Wines just round the corner from Exmouth Market in Farringdon, EC1, is under the same ownership at The Quality Chop House next door but is run autonomously with great flair by chef Nick Bramham. The eclectic collection of wines is also offered for sale to take away or for an additional £15 a bottle to drink with a meal.
Renegade in Bethnal Green is an urban winery making wine from grapes brought in from all over the world. They're open Tuesday to Sunday as a wine bar and you can bring your own food. They have another location in Walthamstow.
Sager & Wilde in Hackney Road is one of the most interesting and buzziest wine bars with a particularly famous selection of great-value fine wines. They also have a restaurant in Paradise Row, Bethnal Green (see below).
The Wine Library on Trinity Square has a popular wine bar serving good cheese as well as a wine shop.

West

Bar Boulud is in smart Knightsbridge, in the basement of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, with a fine, mainly French, wine list and always something superior available by the glass.
Capote y Toros provides reliable tapas and over 100 different sherries.
The Kensington Wine Rooms, Fulham Wine Rooms and Brackenbury Wine Rooms were early adopters of Enomatic machines and have a wide selection available, including several more-expensive options. There is also a full menu available, and wine can be bought to take home.

North

Bar Rioja (no website quite yet), the UK’s only bar serving nothing but rioja, operated by the Camino group in a courtyard just east of King’s Cross
The Drop is the Hart brothers of Barrafina fame’s wine bar in Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross. It serves good-quality, simple food and offers wines with a natural bent.
Primeur is in a 1970s car-repair shop in Highbury, and the list is strong on Italy and Alsace (one of the co-owners is from Alsace).
Vermuteria is a ‘vermouth-inspired’ all-day bar and café, also in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross.

South

Bar Douro is, as its name suggests, a Portuguese wine bar. It’s in a railway arch in Flat Iron Square, with excellent and authentic local dishes and a good range of Portuguese wines by the glass and bottle, including some they import directly. Mostly bar seating but with a private room upstairs. A second branch opened in Finsbury Square in August 2019.
The Sourcing Table have a wine bar/wine shop on Bellenden Road in Peckham and another on Westow Hill, Crystal Palace, selling wines imported by sister company, Indigo Wine, and others. Bar menu available with wines offered by the glass, or any bottle bought in-store (plus £12 corkage).
Streatham Wine House has been recommended by several readers of this site as a good local wine bar with plenty of fine wines available by the glass.

Wine-minded restaurants

This selection is primarily for dining, at various levels of formality, although some of them may have a small wine-bar element. Davy’s operate seven, traditionally-styled wine bars and dining rooms, mainly in the City of London. One of the first, The Boot & Flogger in Borough, is especially popular with port lovers and the Liv-ex team. See also Nick’s reviews of London restaurants.

Central London and the West End

10 Greek Street in the heart of Soho is very wine-minded with mark-ups significantly below the London norm and has an interesting selection of one-off bottles in a little hand-written notebook.
28-50 has shrunk to one location, in Marylebone Lane, under new ownership.
Les 110 de Taillevent started in Paris. Its name refers to the fact that there are 110 wines available by the glass.
Andrew Edmunds in Soho is a long-standing haunt for wine lovers which has survived the demise of its founder. Very modest mark-ups throughout the list.
Barrafina is a group of five superior tapas restaurants with a good sherry selection. The food is not cheap, but it is very good quality.
Blandford Comptoir comes from Xavier Rousset, previously of 28-50 and Texture. There is a compact but pretty dining room, and a well-chosen wine list organised by price. The Mayfair site, which is a little more casual and also has an excellent shop downstairs, is called Comptoir Café and Wine.
Clarette, a French restaurant established in Marylebone by Alexandra, the daughter of Ch Margaux chatelaine Corinne Mentzelopoulos. Extensive selection of wines by the glass (not exclusively French) and a wide-ranging and smart wine list.
Clipstone, the casual version of Michelin-starred Portland (see below) round the corner from it. Interesting selection of house wines on tap as well as a more formal list. You can eat outside and dishes are particularly visually attractive (chef is ex art school).
Dehesa in Soho belongs to the Salt Yard group, who specialise mainly in Spanish cuisine, with a smattering of Italian. The wine list does likewise.
Gymkhana is one of London's best Indian restaurants, with prices to match its Mayfair location. The sommelier team there do great work finding matches for their spicy dishes.
Hakkasan is now a global network of restaurants, wine bars and even a Las Vegas nightclub – but it started in London, where there are now two restaurants. Expect fashionable people, supreme Chinese food and plenty of premium wine to choose from.
Hawksmoor is a chain of upmarket steak restaurants with seven venues around London, all of which have a great wine proposition as well as a good deal on cheap corkage every Monday evening. Their central London locations are in Covent Garden and Air Street. Now also in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, New York and Dublin.
Hide – see above under Wine shops, Hedonism.
Hunan – the Chinese restaurant famous for not having a menu (diners are served whatever is being cooked that day) also has a well-respected wine list – which you can choose from.
Meson Don Felipe near Waterloo station is a long-established Spanish tapas joint with a cheap and cheerful atmosphere and some decent sherry to choose from.
El Pirata in Mayfair is proud of their Spanish wine selection, including sherry and cava as well as some top Spanish whites and reds.
Noble Rot (see above) has very wine-minded restaurants in both Soho and Mayfair. Range is great and prices very fair.
Noizé near Goodge Street is extremely wine-friendly with many a fine wine on the list. Wine lovers are welcome to bring bottles; £20 per bottle corkage.
Opera Tavern is another outlet of the Salt Yard group, convenient for West End theatres, with reliable Spanish and Italian wine and food.
Portland in Great Portland Street just north of Oxford Circus is the second venture of Will Lander, son of Jancis and Nick. The Michelin-starred food here is a little lighter than at The Quality Chop House and has been described by the guides as 'modern European'.
Salt Yard is a Spanish- and Italian-inspired restaurant close to Oxford Circus that has a good selection of sherry. In addition to the Opera Tavern and Dehesa (see above), the group also own Ember Yard in Soho's Berwick St.
Vinoteca is a thriving wine and food destination with branches in Marylebone and King's Cross, as well as Chiswick, Farringdon and the Bloomberg building in the City.

City and east

Brawn in Columbia Road, specialising in natural wine, was originally an offshoot of Terroirs but is now wholly owned by chef Ed Wilson.
Cabotte is yet another offspring of Xavier Rousset, this time in partnership with another Master Sommelier Gearoid Daveney of Flint Wines, specialising in burgundy.
If you're interested in eating typical French cuisine, you might try the Club Gascon, 57 West Smithfield, for lots of little portions of foie gras, local sausages, etc, and interesting wines from south-west France. Anyone for Marcillac?
When Ellory closed down in 2018, its owners opened Leroy in Shoreditch and were rewarded with a Michelin star for their sharing plates and compact but intriguing selection of wine.
The Guildhall outpost of Hawksmoor is very popular with hungry city workers tucking into steak and fine wine. The Borough branch is well situated near London Bridge and Borough Market, while the Spitalfields address is close to trendy east London. They all offer cheap corkage on Monday evenings.
British-Italian fusion restaurant Luca has a fine Italian-focused wine list.
Morito is on Exmouth Market, a small paved street lined with many independent restaurants, and also has a second branch on Hackney Road. Their Spanish menu is accompanied by a good sherry list. Their original restaurant Moro, opened in 1997 but perhaps less wine-focused, is also on Exmouth Market.
The Quality Chop House in Farringdon Road specialises in interesting wine at good prices and British, produce-driven food in a restaurant and the next-door wine bar (see Quality Wines).
Sager & Wilde's second opening, in Paradise Row, Bethnal Green, originally known as Mission (they had to change the name because of a legal challenge), is a bigger and more formal restaurant than their Hackney Road space, albeit with the same much-vaunted wine selection, including a strong emphasis on California wine.
St John, 26 St John Street, London EC1, has a wine importer attached. It's world-famous, very minimal, very meaty, very English, near the old Smithfield meat market, where there are now lots of bars and restaurants. 'Nose to tail eating' is what they claim to offer. Some, especially vegetarians, find it a little stark. Quite interesting French wine list but not great glassware. Also in the St John empire is the more basic St John Bread & Wine in Spitalfields, near Liverpool Street station and a branch in Marylebone Lane.
Vinoteca (see above) is a thriving wine and food destination with a branch in Farringdon and another in the Bloomberg building in the City.

North

Vinoteca opened their most recent branch in the newly redeveloped King's Cross area. It also has a well-maintained wine-shop section.

South

Chez Bruce is one of the stars of south London dining, with its unassuming but elegant dining room and comprehensive wine selection.
Medlar in Chelsea has hundreds of wines on their list, and is a popular destination for wine-trade lunches.
Soif in Battersea bills itself as a natural wine bistro and shop.

West

The Ledbury, a Platts-Martin restaurant, boasts two Michelin stars and an extensive wine list including some attractive older vintages.
Vinoteca is a thriving wine and food destination with a branch in Chiswick, opposite destination restaurant La Trompette.
La Trompette, Platts-Martin does Chiswick.