Where to drink English wine in London

English wine is cracking stuff – it's time to patriotically pop a bottle, says David Ellis
London favourite: Vinoteca
Vinoteca

It may have been slow going, but over the past few years, English wine has been making a name for itself. Our home-grown stuff is proving better than ever, with sparkling wine as our trump card.

Funnily enough, the South Downs share the same chalk soils as the Champagne region and some of our finest fizz has earned itself a reputation as a Champagne killer. In short, we turn out some terrific wine, so it would be unpatriotic not to drink the stuff.

Our artic-summers mean England doesn’t churn out much in the way of red wine (we don’t get enough sun), so for the meantime, drinking a glass English wine in London will likely require raising a glass of bubbly. It’s a hard life…

All about the views: the Oxo Tower
PR SHOT

The Oxo Tower

Glorious views over the Thames are reason enough to visit this sky-high restaurant – but the English wines are definitely a bonus. The jewel in their collection is, unsurprisingly, a sparkling wine, which comes courtesy of Digby. It’s extremely drinkable (trust us…) and exclusive to the Oxo Tower and Harvey Nichols, which does somewhat add to the sense of occasion. The rest of their list is good, too: especially interesting is the Litmus White Pinot. White Pinot is unusual in itself, an English example is practically a rariety. Try it.

Find it: OXO Tower Wharf, Barge House Street, SE1 9PH, harveynichols.com

Deliciously British: Roast
Roast

Roast

Roast’s tagline is “Deliciously British” and their wine list certainly lives up to its billing. They’ve an entire menu dedicated to English produce and not just sparkling, either, though they’ve got a lot of that. Take the chance to try one of their still white, rose or red wines.

Find it: The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, SE1 1TL, roast-restaurant.com

Wine Pantry

Not a bar, but this shop will let you taste and try English wines before you buy: they’re specialists and sell an extremely broad selection of sparkling and rose sparkling and still white, rose and red wines. Their sparkling shines: many English fizzes are the traditional Champagne blend (Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinor Noir) but the Wine Pantry sell English Blanc de Blanc (100% chardonnay) and Blanc de Noir (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) - or, to not be so dull about it, some interesting bits and bobs. Pop down for tasting, too: they sell flights at reasonable prices and you’ll probably try something interesting.

Find it: 8 Devonshire Row, EC2M 4RH, winepantry.co.uk

Sit down, relax: Vinoteca
Vinoteca

Vinoteca

This London favourite does wine from across the world – and an interesting selection it is too – but we’d really suggest trying the English offerings. Their focus is sparkling, so pop open a bottle and have a good time.

Find it: across London, vinoteca.co.uk

Done with care: Greenberry
Greenberry Cafe

Greenberry Cafe

Greenberry’s owner Morfudd Richards says: “we have a good selection of English wines and adore them”, which nicely sums up the wine list: there’s no doubting someone thought about it and that someone cares about it. Again, the focus is on sparkling, but it’s such a charming spot you won’t necessarily feel that it has to be a special occasion: enjoy a relaxed bottle with friends instead. Chin chin.

Find it: 101 Regents Park Rd, NW1 8UR, greenberrycafe.co.uk

Follow David Ellis on Twitter @dvh_ellis

Latest bar reviews

1/80

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT