During our 1-week London trip planned for our WSET3 education, we of course didn't waste our evenings. In order to both prepare our palates for the exam ( 🙂 ) and make new discoveries, we tried to explore London's wine bars as much as possible. Although the intensive studying required by our course made these explorations difficult, we managed to stop by at least 4 wine bars and experienced firsthand why London holds an important place for wine lovers with the options it offers and the importance they give to wine.
The point that surprised us the most in our initial research was the abundance of wine bars in London. As an example, the density of wine bars found just around the WSET school:
Source: Google Maps
London, with both its number of wine bars and the variety of wines from all over the world, is truly like paradise for a wine lover. After experiencing the lack of wine bars in Paris, we were absolutely amazed here. Since the British love to drink, the number of bars is incredibly high, and among them, the number of those focusing solely on wine is not insignificant. We took notes for planning a vacation focused solely on exploring these wine bars on our future trips.
Our notes on the wine bars we had the chance to visit and the ones we definitely plan to stop by on our next visit (Click to add to Google Maps):
Bedales of Borough Market
On Monday, when most of the wine bars we had previously researched and selected turned out to be closed, we redirected our route to Bedales of Borough Market, one of the rare places that was open. The venue was a quite local wine bar mostly frequented by the English.
At this wine bar, which has a total of 20 by-the-glass wine options on their menu, it's possible to find wines from different countries like Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, as well as less accessible wines from places like Georgia and Bulgaria.
We were extra pleased that it was one of the rare places we've seen that serves Prosecco, Champagne, and Crémant de Bourgogne options by the glass simultaneously. We found the opportunity to order Champagne and Crémant de Bourgogne and compare them with each other.
We really liked the venue's fast service and appetizers. At this place where they bring octopus and sausage together as a skewer and make their arancini with saffron, all the flavors were original and quite delicious. Especially if you want to visit a wine bar on a Monday, this could be the right choice.
Vagabond (Monument Branch)
At this venue, by far the best wine bar we visited during our trip, the drink service is entirely self-service. At this place where nearly 300 different types of wine can be self-served from wine dispensers, you can fill your glasses in 25ml, 125ml, and 175ml options. The venue, which houses many wines from different segments ranging from the most affordable to the most expensive, is a complete educational venue where wine lovers can find the opportunity to develop their palates. We especially loved that they serve premium wines like Hermitage and Châteauneuf-du-Pape by the glass. We strongly recommend visiting if your travels bring you to London.
The Monument branch is one of the branches with the most options at Vagabond, where you can find similar venues with the same franchise concept at different locations.
Vagabond (Charlotte Street Branch)
After being more than satisfied with Vagabond Monument, we stopped by this venue for a glass of wine while wandering around Soho, and it made us miss Vagabond Monument quite a lot. The negatives for us were that it was smaller as a venue and had a bit of a ventilation problem. Still, this venue with approximately 100 wine varieties will certainly be more enjoyable during spring and summer months. While this place could be a difficult choice especially for winter days due to the ventilation issue, if you're very far from the Monument or another branch, it's still worth going to experience the concept.
Baccalà Seafood & Wine Restaurant
Although its main business concept is a restaurant, Baccalà is a venue that has put great care into its wine menu. Their by-the-glass wine menus, which change weekly, have approximately 10 different options. Their bottle menu is quite rich. Since the concept is Italian cuisine, only Italian wines are available. The regions where the wines come from are also described in detail on the menu.
At this restaurant owned by an Italian and Turkish couple, there was also a Turkish waiter working when we visited.
We were more than satisfied with both the food and the atmosphere of this restaurant, and we recommend visiting especially for their delicious seafood.
Trivet
We also had one of our dinners at Trivet, a freshly 2 Michelin-starred restaurant (when we went it was still 1 🙂 ) in which İsa Bal, our national pride and the first and currently only Turkish Master of Sommelier, is a partner.
As fresh WSET3 graduates, while we had incredible fun examining the wine menus, we had great difficulty making a choice because the number of options is vast and the options are excellent 🙂
This wine menu called Cellar, where you can access wines from all over the world from Iran to Canada, is so rich that we could call it the holy book of wine lists. The menu starts by showing the historical flow of wine along with the names of the countries.
At this restaurant, one of the rare places in England where you can drink Turkish wine by the glass, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, and Turkey are at the top of the list in both white and red bottle options. This also stands out as one of the indicators of how much importance they place on the history of wine. Those who want to browse can access the online version of the menu here.
General Comments and Notes
- Thursday, Friday, and Saturday venues are incredibly crowded. Especially from the hours coinciding with the end of the workday (5 PM to 6 PM), it becomes impossible to find a place. At least 5 or 6 wine bars we visited as of 6:15 PM on Thursday (despite one of them having very large capacity) were all full. Although the venues start to empty out a bit later, the crowds are much bigger on Friday and Saturday. For this reason, making reservations is essential, especially for busy days.
- If your trip falls on a Monday, most of the places you'll want to visit may be closed. Nearly all venues have their opening and closing hours up to date on Google Maps. We recommend checking whether a venue is open before going.
Favorite Wines
Although we tried many wines from different parts of the world at these bars, some of the wines we tried were so good that we couldn't resist adding our favorites list as well.
Our top 3 favorite wines we tried were:
- Clos des Papes (Paul Avril), Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Syrah, 2017, Red, France, Châteauneuf-du-Pape: Top-level aroma intensity on the palate. Dark, dried fruits, dried meat, forest floor. Tertiary aromas have developed beautifully. The finish is one of the longest of any wine we've ever tried. Its style is superb. 7.9/10
- Gallimard Père & Fils, Cuvée de Réserve Blanc de Noirs Champagne Brut N.V., Pinot Noir, Sparkling Wine, France, Champagne: Bread and yeast aromas dominate the nose. Light in color, the effervescence level is slightly less compared to regular champagne. Nice fullness on the palate, slightly ripe apples, long persistence, full body. Balanced and enjoyable drinking. 7.5/10
- Cune (CVNE), Gran Reserva, Tempranillo, 2017, Red, Spain, Rioja: Complex aromas on the nose, on the palate the oak feels a bit much at first but balanced out as it opened up. A nice food companion, a balanced wine. 7.35/10