New wine shop and bar opens in Mayfair

 A new independent wine shop and retailer has opened in Shepherd’s Market in the heart of Mayfair.

photo: courtesy of Shepherd’s Market Wine House

The Shepherd Market Wine House, which soft-launched this week, was founded by Nathan Lowry, the owner of Pall Mall Fine Wine and the London Beer House. It originally opened in November as a pop-up, but has since been refurbished.

The site was previously two shops, a hairdresser and dry cleaner, but these have been knocked together to create a small wine shop and bar for 18 covers, with a seating area for 12-14 in the cellar, alongside a semi-private dining and tasting area which seats 8. There is also an outside seating area.

Around 75% of the space will be devoted to the bar, with 25% for retail but Lowry expects around 50% of sales to come from the wine shop.   “Although there are four pubs in Shepherd’s Market, there are not many independent wine shops or bars in the area,” he told db. “We are hoping to be somewhere people stop for a pre-dinner drink.”

The bar, which will offer platters of cheese and charcuterie, has a no-reservations policy and will also cater for the lunchtime market with a selection of “quick” food, including toasted ciabattas.

It will initially stock around 80 wines by the bottle, supplied by around 6 different suppliers, with a further 20 or 30 sold by the glass, however head sommelier Ben Van de Meutter,  who was previously at Butler’s Wharf Chop House, is also offering wines from the list using the Coravin system.

Currently these include two white and two red wine, ranging from £14 – £40 per 125ml. but Van de Meutter says patrons will be able to choose from the wider list, which can then be added to the list.