Wine bars live and die on ambience; like a good wine itself it takes the blend of the right ingredients and usually some time to get it right. From some outstanding suggestions from you lot, we’ve picked ten corkers. Cheers.
Central:
Gordon’s Wine Bar, 47 Villiers St, WC2N 6NE
This is probably the most nominated great little place of all time on our Facebook page. In fact it definitely is, and you can see why. Gordon’s epitomises everything it means to be a GLP. A family-run labour of love since 1890, sticking to what it does best: wine and cheese. Down a set of wooden steps you enter a subterranean den, warm, inviting and rustic. There’s respite in a lovely, and recently enlarged, outside section which has a bbq every night in the summer. It’s easy to get to – a cork pop from Embankment – which also means it’s very popular. Get there early or on weekdays to get the best out of it, and try their very own Fat Bastard wine while you’re there…
Thanks for the tip off: Kitty Stryker, Anna Addison, Chris Rowan, Alex Novakovic, Angela Chatzidimitriou, Jo Ryan, Rukhsana Amin, Vanessa Bakewell, Owen Jones, Angie Greenwood, Sioban Morse, Amy Lawrence, Sara Flanagan, Alexandra Wood, Birgitte Maanson, Emma Bentley, Sophie Gordon, Nims Laban, Benjamin Bean, Taryn Murdey, Lisa Samuelsson, Charlotte Lane, Sarah Brooks, Elaine Lee, Amy Douglas, Virginia Barteluk, Xavier Adam and Michelle Coupe.
Le Beaujolais, 25 Litchfield Street, Leicester Square, WC2H 9NJ
Le Beaujolais also sticks to the time honoured formula of cheese + wine = win, but they also do some fabulous French food and the odd bit of jazz & blues. It’s the oldest French wine bar in London, we think, and it’s properly properly French. It’s dark, cosy and intimate, with a truly special atmosphere. Not often you get that this close to Leicester Square…
Thanks for the tip off: Amy Walton, Honey Salinger, Gail Jones and Agnès Bounolleau-Nel.
Cork and Bottle, 44-46 Cranbourn St, WC2H 7AN
… apart from here, which is also nestled away in Leicester Square. For wine buffs and wine bluffers alike. The owner Don Hewitson has done a darn fine wine job on this place. It’s a delightful gem of a London wine bar, vintage 1972. The wine will never run dry here either with over 40,000 bottles in its cellar reserves at any given moment. Quite the lock in that would be.
Thanks for the tip off: Trish Dever, Emma Dunford and Cathy Stroud.
Fernandez and Wells Food & Wine Bar, 43 Lexington St, W1F 9AL
Full-bodied, refined and woody. With legs of ham in the window, bottles of wine on the counter and enough cheese to last until Christmas, you know you’ve arrived somewhere special when you walk through Fernandez and Wells’ doors. Their coffee shop is equally superb.
Thanks for the tip off: Jo Carter.
West:
Kensington Wine Rooms, 127 Kensington Church St, W8 7LP
Comes equipped with self-service chilled wine cabinets. Like a soft-drinks machine. But with wine. Genius. And they do their own wine tasting classes. In other words, courses on getting merry and trying to sound clever. Genius idea X 2.
Thanks for the tip off: Pooja Vir.
East:
Planet of the Grapes, 9/10 Bulls Head Passage, Leadenhall Market, EC3V 1LU
It’s called Planet of the Grapes. That alone would be enough, but with over 450 wines, a tasting cellar and at your office tasting sessions – all from the passionate team of Marc, Matt and Sam, who have 38 years of wine experience between them – this place is mouth and trousers.
Thanks for the tip off: Bob Knight
’28-50′, 140 Fetter Lane, EC4A 1BT
The name of this wine establishment is inspired by the latitudes within which most vineyards flourish. If you manage to find your way to this sophisticated, brick-lined den, you might leave having lost your bearings. Cheers to that, we say.
Thanks for the tip off: Keith Burrowes.
Vinoteca Bar & Wine Shop, 7 St John St, EC1M 4AA
Wine bar, restaurant and shop. Wine, dine or take-away. And loads of blackboards. Ticks all our boxes.
Thanks for the tip off: Elaine Bremner, Pearl Van Den Ende and Jules Watson.
North:
The Sampler Islington, 266 Upper Street, N1 2UQ
Does it exactly what it says on the tin. This is technically a wine shop but if you hang around a while it will feel like a bar. You can sample an astonishing array of wines, from the finest grapes to your more everyday plonk, from sampling machines lining the walls.
Thanks for the tip off: Andrew Foster.
South:
Oliver’s Music Bar, 9 Nevada Street, Greenwich, SE10 9JL
This just slipped off the list of the best jazz joints, but is a definite GLP. Jazz and delicious wine, a potent combo. It’s easy to miss, dark and warrenlike – again massively atmospheric but far from pretentious. Highly recommended.
Thanks for the tip off: Evi Garoufi.
That’s all for this week folks. Be sure to sign up to our newsletter so you never miss out on the latest gems… http://www.greatlittleplace.com/subscribe-to-newsletter/
