Grape Minds: the best design-led wine bars in London
London has a food and drink scene that is tough to define: an exploration of the myriad international cuisines is as important as seeking out the storied seafood houses, the technique-heavy tasting menus, the slow-food restaurants and the fashionable upmarket cafes. Among the welter of options today, a new wave of independent wine bars has come to play a defining role in shaping the city’s social landscape.
The rise of these low-key refuges originally took place in the east of the capital, at pioneering venues such as P. Franco, and has quickly dispersed through the boroughs since. Though London is rich in choice, the finer options often display certain virtues: considered design; imaginative cooking where global influences collide on a plate; and an unwavering commitment to low-intervention producers. Below, we’ve rounded up the spots we frequently find ourselves falling back on, all of which have created a visual identity, ambiance and spirit that help elevate an occasion.
NORTH
1. Hector’s
Jimmy Stephenson, who made his name shaping the wine programme at restaurant Hill & Szrok, opened Hector’s with his partner, Anna Shaffer, in 2021. This paean to the watering holes of Paris, San Sebastián and Sicily has an airy feel thanks to a light-filled interior with plenty of pale wood and a central flower-topped bar faced with beautiful sea-green tiles. During the day, it serves as a coffee stop (roasts come courtesy of Climpson & Sons) and bottle shop; come evening, it turns into a bar with small plates that lean towards a European style – the terrine is made with chicken, leek and truffle; the jamón Ibérico comes with salted Catalan almonds; and the Cantabrian anchovies are slicked in olive oil with rose petals.
Photography Charlie McKay
2. Vins
Vins, run by Vinny Burke and Hugo Thurston, is the neighbourhood wine bar in Canonbury. Inside moody pendant lighting highlights a swathe of neo-bistro-style fixtures, such as dark wood floors and high-back benches, while the terrace, which has room for 20 guests, is an ideal place to perch when the weather is fine. Try the Rosso di Gaetano by Le Coste, which sits alongside other European wines, plus a refined edit of skin-contact bottles. Its market-driven fare – think broad beans and peas with labneh, whey, lovage and brioche croutons – is also worth sampling.
3. Cadet
Cadet is a 2022 venture that opened on Newington Green, a pocket of north London that’s developed a reputation for its independent food and drink scene. This particular outpost is a collaborative effort between wine importers Beattie & Roberts, who use the bar as a shop window to highlight artisan producers such as Pierre Andrey and Anne Laure Laengel; charcutier George Jephson, whose mousse de canard and paté en croute have already become the stuff of local legend; and chef Jamie Smart, who draws upon his Lyle’s and Flor pedigree to devise an evening menu that may list duck-heart-and-cherry tartine and crudités, and sheep’s yoghurt and gooseberry. A dark-brown façade gives way to a low-key contemporary fit-out that juxtaposes a mix of lightly saturated hues.
Photography Sam A Harris
SOUTH
4. Lant Street Wine
Lant Street Wine, established rather fittingly in a 19th-century cork factory, champions furniture and family-run wineries. It was devised in 2018 by wine merchant Ben Wilcock and design dealer and interior designer Jermaine Gallacher, and doubles as a showroom for the latter. “Lant Street has bags of wit and charm,” Jermaine told us when we visited. “Getting drunk on great wine while sitting on a fabulous chair: is there any more fun to be had than that?” The homely space, flush with panelled wood and fireplaces, evokes an aesthete’s living room, and the curation of wares – all of which are for sale – pairs contemporary pieces, such as rugs by Tom Atton Moore, with postmodern finds and Arts and Crafts objects.
5. 40 Maltby Street
40 Maltby Street has provided prestige to natural wines and British cuisine since its 2011 beginning. It’s based in the warehouse of importer Gergovie Wines, sequestered in a revamped railway arch, and the calling card is a list replete with left-of-field bottles – hailing from the Loire valley to Umbria, Valencia, Adelaide Hills and Slovenia – that are tricky to find elsewhere. Of particular note is the fresh selection by Barranco Oscuro, whose vineyard is in Las Alpujarras, Spain. The accomplished provenance-led food menu, which is updated daily and publicised on Instagram, includes the likes of grilled veal sirloin with fried new potatoes, spinach and anchovy butter. Walk-ins only.
6. Peckham Cellars
Launched by locals Helen Hall, Ben McVeigh and Luke West-Whylie, lively Peckham Cellars is a major fixture in the community’s crop of creative ventures. Hall, who is responsible for the design, has conjured a joyful yet sophisticated room that exhibits swathes of richly saturated oak and chestnut, Crittall windows that are perfect for summer months and a teal-front bar. The offering focuses on small-scale producers – try Alessandro Viola’s Note di Bianco – and the inventive seasonal menu has previously offered things like pisco-cured salmon with fennel, blood orange and coriander, and a rolled stuffed pork belly with mojo verde.
7. Joyce
At odds with the premises’ previous life as a funeral parlour, Joyce brims with a vibrant clientele that comes here to sample libations by independent makers of beer, cider, wine and spirits, many of which are local. A roster of 14 drinks are poured from taps affixed to a white-tile wall above the counter. Highlights have included Ciello’s Baglio Antico, an orange wine from Sicily; a herbaceous white vermouth by Brentford-based Vault Aperitivo; and a sour-cherry ale by Bermondsey’s The Kernel. The snacks take a fuss-free approach as small plates are eschewed in favour of boozer favourites, such as Monster Munch, salted crisps and scampi fries.
8. Bottle + Rye
The brainchild of local chef Robin Gill and his wife, Sarah, Bottle + Rye is the Brixton-based natural wine bar established in 2022. It takes cues from the all-day bistros of Paris, with its doors open from morning through to night. Start the day with coffee and a selection of fresh pastries and finish with a glass or two from its ever-evolving wine menu, which favours minimal-intervention bottles full of vibrancy. The French-inspired small plates – featuring smoked eel brandade with pink fir crisps, and vichyssoise oyster tartare – are the icing on the cake.
EAST
9. Planque
In a city flush with tight-spaced wine bars, the multi-purpose Planque, which houses a members’ club, restaurant and retail section in a sizeable pair of converted railway arches, cuts against the grain. The shop purveys a tightly edited selection of magazines, prints and kitchenware, while former P. Franco chef Seb Myers showcases his contemporary French cooking to those sitting within the dining area. A precise interior offsets exposed ducts and strip lighting with e15’s ‘Bigfoot’ tables, and seating by Bruno Rey and Pierre Chapo.
10. Cave Cuvée
Bottle shop Top Cuvée – founded by Brodie Meah and Max Venning – is known by many for its irreverent social-media feed and its role in establishing the Chin Chin Vinho Verde as a viral sensation. Its east London offshoot, on a congested thoroughfare in Bethnal Green, sets its stall across a two-level storefront (shop upstairs; a high-spirited bar below). Here, an industrial aesthetic of bare brick and corrugated ceilings is softened by fixtures in orange and blue, Dyke & Dean orb lighting and graphics by the likes of Sophy Hollington. “It has a bit of a house-party vibe to it,” Brodie told us. Although low-intervention bottles are the main attraction, there are also cocktails by Three Sheets and a noteworthy house vermouth, as well as a considered menu of small plates.
11. Dan’s
Near a lively hub of new-wave bars, including Untitled, Three Sheets and A Bar with Shapes for a Name, lo-fi Dan’s draws an audience with its 600-bottle stock. Bringing together his experience in Australia’s fine-wine scene with the sustainable ethos of his online shop, Natty Boy Wines, founder Dan Long’s selection ranges from the high-end to offbeat contemporary hits. There is an uncomplicated quality about the spot, so minimal is the decor, but a large communal table, candlelight and graphic artwork lend it a lived-in appeal.
WEST
12. Carmel
Chef Josh Katz and front of house Mattia Bianchi first found success together at Berber & Q Grill House in Haggerston, and Shawarma Bar in Clerkenwell. Carmel, meanwhile, is an all-day eatery that takes its culinary cues from the eastern Mediterranean and north Africa. However, visitors are encouraged to pop by as much for a glass of orange wine as for one of their signature flatbreads (although the two go rather well together). As well as low-intervention bottles there are speciality cocktails too: ‘A Walk in QP’ is made with a plum spirit, maraschino liqueur and Branca Menta. The warm, rustic design, devised in collaboration with MATA Architects, counters exposed brick with masses of foliage, Ercol chairs and plush furnishings – and is particularly inviting when bathed in sunlight.
13. Next Door Records
Although within strolling distance to the riotous retail outlets and restaurant chains of Shepherd’s Bush, this wine bar and music store, founded by a trio of vinyl aficionados, is fiercely independent. Here, dedicated fans thumb through the diverse mix of new and vintage records, most of which are displayed in Fables Creative’s mixed-material shelving units, while a pair of Stanton ST.150 turntables allow customers to try before buying. Plus, it hosts a constantly revolving roster of events, including workshops, exhibitions, DJ sets and supper clubs. When it comes to wine, attention is on producers in Alsace, Pfalz and Franken.
CENTRAL
14. The Mulwray
Situated in a converted Georgian tavern, The Mulwray is tucked away on the first floor above its sibling venues: The Blues Posts pub, and basement restaurant Evelyn’s Table. Though the sake and cocktail selections are exquisite, this loungey hangout is known for spotlighting under-the-radar wine producers and varieties – cherry-picked by sommeliers Honey Spencer and Sarah Wright – with menu listings categorised under headings such as ‘Firm Favourites’, ‘The Path Less Trodden’, and ‘Wild + Free’. Settle into a velvet-and-veneer banquette with a glass of Cascina Zerbetta’s Shan Pan, ogle the impressive backlit cabinet displaying 500 bottles, and soak up the sultry interior.
15. Bar Crispin
Asked to come up with a sharp design for Bar Crispin, Jermaine Gallacher (he of Lant Street Wines), installed a scheme of zinc fixtures, with a rigid colour palette of purple and off-white paint that keeps it all from feeling too sterile. Sommelier Alexandra Price is the brains behind the 150-bottle list: it zones in on organic and biodynamic producers from Europe – including those from Tenerife, which has a volcanic terroir – while wines by the glass are chalked up on a blackboard. The libations are supported by dishes that tie together a Continental slant with ingredients from small-scale, local producers; the beef tartare with peppercorn sauce and crispy potato is hard to ignore.
16. Noble Rot
Named after a fungus that enhances a grape’s sweetness, Noble Rot – which started as a food-and-wine magazine – is one of the most influential wine bars in the world, celebrated for how its low mark-ups have made traditional offerings more accessible. At this particular outpost, the wine goes down all the better with snacks from the bar, such as octopus, chorizo and aioli or smoked cod’s roe on toast. The interior, meanwhile, is timeworn yet polished, with updated period features, leather banquettes and triptychs by political cartoonist Martin Rowson.
Photography Tom Cockram
17. Antidote
Although the look of this Soho institution evokes a Spanish tapas joint, with its high counter seating and marble-backed bar, a strong Gallic influence runs throughout. The choice of biodynamic and organic wines derives mostly from France, and the daily-changing menu has in the past featured Burgundy snails with white wine and cream; and wood pigeon, beetroots and sweet potato. For a deeper dive into Antidote’s cellar, try one of its three wine-tasting sessions: the classics, the unconventional or the current stars of the scene.
RELATED ON THE MODERN HOUSE
Our Guide to Oxford: cinnamon buns, honey-hued domes and small plates in the 'city of dreaming spires'
Our guide to Kentish Town: Technicolor townhouses, natural wine and nature in north London
Take a Dip: London’s best swimming spots – from lakes to lidos
Our Guide to Dulwich: from modernist architecture to master paintings
Plate in the Sun: London’s best restaurants for alfresco dining
Our guide to Herne Hill and Tulse Hill: vibrant markets and outdoor swimming in south London
Best Buds: the most beautiful garden centres in London
Good Start: the best breakfasts in London
Our guide to Camden Town and Primrose Hill: from panoramic views to a community ceramics space
Nice Slice: the best pizza in London