HK’s best natural wine bars

Along with cashew nut butter and avocados (though a good avocado is still hard to find) the popularity of natural wine bars has gone through the roof in Hong Kong. We round up six good places for all the purists out there.

‘Natural’ wine has had a little bad ‘press’ of late (sorry) with wine lovers complaining that the concept of natural wines is too vague – a good point when there is as yet, no official accreditation deeming a wine as natural.

Plainly speaking, natural winemakers use only organic and/or biodynamic grapes, and very little in the form of additives such as sugar, new oak and sulphur or yeast.

Fortunately, there are plenty of wines out there which do fall into this category and a great many of them have found their way to Hong Kong.

Here are our recommendations for where to seek them…

Le Quinze Vins (LQV)

The cosy interior of LQV Swatow Street, made for rainy afternoons with a bottle of wine and a heap of bread, meat and cheese

Initially starting life hidden away in Wan Chai’s Swatow Street, LQV has now expanded its empire (and retail unit) to Gage Street and still offers a vast array of natural, biodynamic and organic wine by the glass and bottle at extremely reasonable prices and most sensibly, alongside elegant platters of ham and cheese.

Following on the heels of its Parisian counterpart, LQV Hong Kong is just the ticket for mid-week drinks. Try the 2013 Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Vosne-Romanée or 2001 Hubert Lamy Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Macherelles for some organic wine love.

Every Tuesday, LQV offers all its wines at retail price for drinkers at its Central bar. Even better than Happy Hour.

LQV, G/F 32 Gage Street, Central, 2652 0588 and G/F 9 Swatow Street, Wan Chai, 2673 7636 

Serge et le Phoque

Fresh from receiving its first Michelin star, Serge et le phoque (Serge and the seal) continues to bring no-nonsense French, small-plate dining complete with a monster natural and organic wine list which will need some explaining either by the charming manager, Charles Pelletier or the enthusiastic somm, Manon Barthes – an in-joke is to invite diners to ‘meet the Phoquers.’

Like most cool places in Hong Kong, Serge lacks a website, has no viewable wine list but now does take reservations – still a good idea to book in advance in order to snag a cosy window seat.

Serge et la Phoque, G/F Shop B2, 3 Wan Chai Road, 5465 2000 

Aberdeen Street Social

Jason Atherton’s trendy, all-day casual dining local is well-known for its cocktails but also owns an impressive wine list with plenty of organic and biodynamic wines to soothe every wine purist’s brow. Try the 2012 Domaine Leon Barral, Clos du Rouge Gorge from Cyril Fhal and the superb South African Grenache from David and Nadia Sadie.

Aberdeen Street Social, 35 Aberdeen St, Central, 2866 0300

121 BC

Boasting a wide array of organic, natural and biodynamic wines from small-scale Italian producers paired with rustic, wholesome Italian comfort food, 121BC hosts regular wine tastings and dinner pairings in its out-of-the-way position on Peel Street.

It’s also just launched its online retail site and the wine list changes every quarter. A particular crowd-pleasing favourite is the 2011 Le Ragnaie Chianti Colli Senesi.

121BC, 44 Peel St, Central, 2395 0200

La Cabane

Arguably the pioneer of natural wine in Hong Kong since 2010, La Cabane is a fool-poof choice on Hollywood Road offering up small plates, big plates and a heft of cheese and charcuterie boards (which are also available at its wine and cheese cellar further along Hollywood).

Wines to look out for include grower Champagne, Domaine Marie Curtin and 2013 Domaine Valette Macon-Villages.

La Cabane, 62 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, 2776 6070

MyHouse

One of 2015’s most renowned openings, MyHouse is an an achingly cool mix of natural wine, contemporary European food and late-night vinyl which is nothing like as pretentious as it sounds and instead, offers relaxed drinking (and dining) with natural wine experts and sommeliers, Alison Christ and Karim Hadjadj at the helm.

Free-range meat and seafood rule the menu and hundreds of natural wine are ripe for the picking, including the 2013 Morgon and 2014 Le Loop Blanc Rosé.

MyHouse, 202 QRE, Wan Chai, 2323 1715