Top 10 new wave London wine bars

Over the last five years, London’s wine scene has changed beyond recognition, blossoming in tandem with the small plates revolution in the capital.

London is heaving with cosy, charming and unpretentious spots serving hard-to-find wines by the glass, bottle and carafe, often with a focus on light, fresh, ‘smashable’ sips.

The likes of Sager + Wilde in Hoxton, The 10 Cases in Covent Garden and The Remedy in Fitzrovia changed the game, opening up wine to a younger audience and offering an ever-evolving list of eclectic, esoteric drops from lesser-known regions and varieties, or timeless classics with tiny mark-ups.

The wine bar boom is showing no sign of slowing, with new hotspots emerging almost every month. Most of the new players have set up shop in East London where minds are open and rents are cheap, meaning exciting sipping in trendy Dalston, Shoreditch, Hackney and even Deptford.

With many following the formula of a small, ever-changing wine list, low mark ups and a smart small plates offering, there’s never been a better time to get your fermented grape fix.

We’ve rounded up ten of the best new wave wine bars to have opened in the capital recently – if we’ve missed anyone key off, then let us know in the comment box below. Happy sipping!

Noble Rot

When Noble Rot magazine founders Mark Andrew and Dan Keeling opened a wine focused restaurant with a casual wine bar up front on Lamb’s Conduit Street in Bloomsbury in 2015, it soon became a wine trade hang out and had people rhapsodising about the turbot braised in oxidised 1998 Batard-Montrachet.

Going against the grain, the wine list is Bible-thick, and reads like a wine lover’s wet dream, offering up the likes of Krug 1982, Roumier, Corton-Charlemagne 2012, Trimbach Clos Ste Hune Riesling 1985 and Jean Grivot, Richebourg 2007.

More relaxed than the restaurant, but both are pretty chill, at the bar you can tuck into rustic patés and saline oysters while you sip, and flick through the latest edition of the irreverent magazine. Wines are poured in super sleek Zalto glasses but beware of small measures – on our visit we felt a bit short changed by the size of our sip.

The Laughing Heart

Named after a rather wonderful poem by Charles Bukowski, The Laughing Heart is an effortlessly cool late license wine bar in Hackney.

Run by Australian Charlie Mellor, previously of the popular P Franco, Brawn and Primeur, the bar’s chef comes by way of celebrity haunt the Chiltern Firehouse and New York’s Per Se, so expect the grub to be top notch. Open until 2am, wine nuts can get their natural, organic and biodynamic fix in the basement bar, with a large number of the drops on sale for under £50.

The restaurant upstairs boasts over 300 wines resting in an ice-filled trough running the length of the dining room. Among the wines on offer are a Ligurian Vermentino from Testalonga; Swartland rosé from Intellego; and an old vine Garnacha from Ribera Sacra made by Daniel Jimenez Landi.

P Franco

Another trendy East London haunt is P Franco in Clapton, which, as is customary with cool places these days, doesn’t take reservations. Wine shop by day, wine bar by night, P Franco is a little brother to Broadway Market’s Noble Fine Liquor.

Housed in an old Cash2Carry shop, it’s so cosy and laid back it’s like drinking at your best friend’s flat. Action is centred around a 15-seater communal table.

The focus here is on organic, biodynamic and ‘natural’ wines designed to be paired with dishes like ricotta ravioli and mussels with spicy nduja, whipped up by head chef Giuseppe Lacorazza. Glasses start at just £5 and include the likes of Michel Guignier Mystère de Rosée; Rinaldi Barbera d’Alba; and Cristiano Guttarolo’s Xira, a 100% Susumaniello from Puglia.

Naughty Piglets

The brainchild of husband and wife dynamic duo Lyon-born Margaux Aubry of Terroirs and Joe Sharratt, the former head chef of Trinity in Clapham, the 30-seater Naughty Piglets brings a touch of va va voom to Brixton. Dishes of the day are scrawled on a large blackboard in chalk and prepared by Joe in the basement.

Among the dishes on offer are steamed mussels in bonito butter, duck rillettes, oxtail and parmesan croquettes, Korean pork belly with chili miso, lemon sole, and a black tomato and ricotta salad, with dulce de leche and chocolate mousse for dessert. The majority of the wines on pour are natural, organic and biodynamic, which have managed to win round natural wine skeptic Jay Rayner.

Its 200 wines are terroir driven and small production, the list changing with the seasons. By the glass you’ll find the likes of Hugues Beguet ‘Oh Yeah’ Arbois Savagnin; Domaine Giachino ‘Marius & Simone’ Savoie and La Stoppa Emilia IGT Macchiona, Emilia-Romagna Barbera Bonarda.

Winemakers Deptford

One of the wine trade’s best kept secrets, The Winemakers Club in Farringdon, a sprawling subterranean bar with an atmospheric whiff of dank wet dog, has branched out with a sister site in sunny Deptford.

A much smaller space than its big sister, Winemakers Deptford specialises in the unsung heroes of the wine world, focusing on characterful sips from small producers like Barolo’s Enzo Brezza, Isamael Gozalo in Rueda and Pelle Pince in Tokaji.

On the food front, expect rustic small plates designed to pair with the wines, like rabbit grilled over oak with cannellini beans and zucchini fritti, crab croquettes, and lamb with farro and capers.

Yield

Championing organic, natural, locally sourced artisanal wines, cheese and meats in a rustic setting, Yield in Newington Green is all tiled walls and wooden furnishings. A deli and wine shop by day, Yield doubles as a wine bar at night with a cosy, down to earth vibe.

On the food front, you’ll find Cobble Lane cured bresaola, fennel and garlic salami, and nduja and rocket bruschettas served alongside cheeses from Neal’s Yards Dairy and bread from Hackney’s E5 bakery. Wines hail from France, Spain and Portugal. Best of all, if you buy a bottle from the shop, corkage is just £7.

Farley Macallan

Opening with the bold ambition to ‘reinvent the local’, the quirkily titled Farley Macallan in Hackney (yes, another cool East London wine bar), serves small plates inspired by cuisines from all over the world specifically designed to pair with the abundance of boutique wines on pour, where the focus is on natural, organic and biodynamic drops, from punchy Primitivos to sprightly Picpoul de Pinets via old vine Carignans from Maule. Glass prices begin at a fiver.

Serving brunch and dinner (lunch is for wimps), small plates include cauliflower fritters, curried yoghurt and cucumber; mackerel escabeche, peppers and toasted pine nuts; and breaded lamb cutlets, with lemon, za’atar.

Newcomer Wines

London-based Austrian wine specialist Newcomer Wines has opened a wine shop and bar in hipster Dalston. The site serves Newcomer’s core offering of esoteric Austrian drops. It also has a ‘friends’ section including international wines from importers that share the same mindset.

Focusing on honestly made natural wines, the bar also serves Austrian beers and ciders and boasts an outdoor terrace for whenever the sun decides to make a cameo. The brainchild of young Austrian Peter Honegger and his partner Daniela, the bar serves 250 sips from small producers like Franz Weninger, Weingut Pranzegg and Bianka & Daniel Schmitt alongside small plates like celeriac tagliatelle, and confit lamb neck with yoghurt.

Furanxo

Inspired by Andalusian groceries, the bright white Furanxo is a deli by day and wine bar by night specialising in artisan charcuterie, cheese, tinned fish, and jamón sourced from independent Spanish farmers. Giant ham legs swing from the ceiling.

On Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights Xabier Alvarez from Newington Green’s Trangallan transforms the shop into an aperitvo bar serving drops from small producers with a strong focus on Spain. By the glass wines are chalked on the wall and start from £6 for an effervescent Txakoli, and drops from Cordoba, Granada, Madrid and the Veneto. On the food front, go for the Galician octopus or the jamón de Bellota.

After Hours

Art lovers can get their late night wine fix at After Hours, the Whitechapel Gallery’s wine and craft beer bar from the team who brought you 10 Greek Street and 8 Hoxton Square.

Filled with diverse, wallet-friendly drops, the list moves from light to heavy wines, and shines a light on Argentina with wines from Susana Balbo and the Michellini brothers, which can be enjoyed with cheese and charcuterie boards.

After hours also hosts live music and talks, including an evening with harpist Tara Minton, as well as beer tastings.

Time your visit carefully, as the name is slightly misleading. After Hours is open until 11pm, but only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.