London’s best wine bars

Set in Brixton’s buzzing market, this former pop-up now takes in a wine shop, bar and restaurant. It’s a great place to get better acquainted with organic and low-intervention wines – best sampled with a portion of its famed ’nduja croquettes. Head chef Nicholas Balfe is a talent to be reckoned with; if you haven’t booked ahead for the restaurant, the bar menu’s superb.

This blue-and-white tiled bar is a slice of Lisbon in South London (set in a converted railway arch, it’s five minutes’ walk from London Bridge). Its wine list showcases the best Portuguese tipples, from crisp vinho verde to ripe reds from the Alentejo. Pull up a stool at the marble counter and stay for dinner; the food’s superb, from salt-cod hash to slow-cooked pork with clams.

The clue’s in the name at this Covent Garden cave à vin; it only buys ten cases of each wine on its ever-changing list. It’s a bold approach, but one that means there’s always something new to try, whether it’s a heady Sicilian red or lesser-spotted Australian Riesling. A short, self-assured menu runs from tapas to proper mains, via a dangerously tempting array of cheese and charcuterie.

 Every Londoner’s quaffed a glass or two in the city’s oldest wine bar, in situ since 1890. Set in a dimly-lit, vaulted cellar, it’s darkly atmospheric, with ports and sherries drawn from casks behind the bar. Too crowded for comfort? Pull up a plastic chair on the narrow terrace by Embankment Gardens, and prepare to meet a slightly tipsy cross-section of London life.  

This low-lit, good-looking bar is a favourite with industry insiders, from wine importers to off-duty chefs. It’s also thronged with East London cool kids and couples on dates, flirting over glasses of fizz and deliciously oozy toasties. Its mission? To serve exceptional wines at a minimal mark-up, including around 20 options by the glass. Book ahead; it’s Hackney’s worst-kept secret.