Top 7 things things for wine lovers to do in London

To celebrate London Wine Week, wine expert Ruth Spivey tells us what should be on everyone's wine bucket list - including downsizing, drinking off the shelf and doing a London wine crawl.
Wine buff: Ruth Spivey wants keen drinkers to take on London's wine scene (Photo: Lucy Young)
Ruth Spivey5 June 2014

VISIT AN URBAN WINERY

You’ve got to start somewhere, so learn how to make wine without leaving London - visit LDN CRU, Roberson’s ‘Urban Winery’ in Fulham. Here grapes are imported from the Languedoc in France, and the first reds and whites will be bottled this year.

21-27 Seagrave Rd, SW6 1RP (020 7381 7871, Londoncru.co.uk)

HANG OUT AT HEDONISM

Much more than just a wine shop, Hedonism has one of the most impressive wine collections in the world, a relax-luxe décor, a kids corner, record decks, enomatics, a whole wall stacked up with bottles of Chateau d'Yquem (probably he most expensive and top dessert wine in the world) and large format bottles – and you can find out what a Nebuchadnezzar looks like.

3-7 Davies St, W1K 3LD (020 7989 0085, hedonism.co.uk)

Sager + Wilde

DO A WINE CRAWL

Go east – start in Clapton with Verden and P.Franco, pop in to see me at Rotorino on Kingsland Road and end at Sager + Wilde on Hackney Road for a bottle of something ‘off-liste’ and a grilled cheese toastie. Or, stay central: start at The Ten Cases in Covent Garden, hit up Remedy and Vagabond Fitzrovia or swing by Vinoteca Soho and then finish in style at 28:50 Mayfair.

LOAD UP

Load up a tasting card and get stuck into the wine samplers at one of the outposts of Bottle Apostle, Vagabond, Hedonism and The Sampler around town.

The Ten Cases

DRINK OFF-THE-SHELF

Several wine shops now double up as bars allowing you to buy off-the-shelf and drink in for a small corkage. Planet of the Grapes in Leadenhall Market and The Wine Library in Tower Hill lead, followed by The Ten Cases in Covent Garden, L’Entrepot in Borough, New Street Wine Shop near Liverpool Street, and P.Franco in Clapton.

DOWNSIZE

Drinking by the glass is the best way to expand your palate by sampling lots of different wines. A great place to do this is at 28:50, where 75ml is the new 125ml. Line a few up and try them side by side. Downsizing allows you to have more glasses than usual - quality and quantity.

28:50, branches in Marylebone, Fetter Lane and Maddox Street, 2850.co.uk

Berry Bros. & Rudd Club

JOIN A CLUB

Discover the joy of a tailored case of wine arriving at your door every few weeks. Learn as you drink and drink as you learn, plus no more last minute desperate dashes to the corner shop. Berry Bros & Rudd has re-launched its club with an impressive welcome pack, including some comprehensive wine basics alongside beautiful, contemporary photographs.

Ruth Spivey is organiser of the Wine Car Boot Sale, wine consultant at Dalston’s Rotorino restaurant, and founder of Street Vin. Follow her on Twitter @legslonglength

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