Top 10 Paris wine bars

Wine bars have always been popular in Paris – but now that innovative young chefs are opening their own, there is excellent food on offer as well. Our writer picks out 10 of the best

Albion

Not far from the Gare du Nord, and perfect for a pre- or post-Eurostar meal, Albion is run by English chef Matthew Ong and Kiwi barman Hayden Clout, who used to work at the popular Fish La Boissonnerie. Here in the scruffy but rapidly gentrifying 10th arrondissement, Clout offers a monthly selection of wines, while Ong cooks up worldly eats such as vichyssoise with oysters, and orange and lemon curd tart.
Address 80 rue du Faubourg-Poissonnière, 10th arrondissement (+33 1 42 46 02 44; restaurantalbion.com). Closed Sunday and Monday
Cost €40pp, with two glasses of wine

Le Dauphin

Many of the city's best young chefs are opening wine bar annexes – this, one of the most notable, by Inaki Aizpitarte, is a few doors down from his bistro Le Chateaubriand. An international crowd throngs the sleek U-shaped bar. Teamed with the first-rate wine list is an edgy menu of small plates that changes almost daily, from snails and cabbage to buttermilk-and-olive-oil ice cream.
Address 131 avenue Parmentier, 11th (+33 1 55 28 78 88). Closed Sunday and Monday
Cost €45pp, with two glasses of wine. Reservations essential

Le Verre Volé

Dauntingly popular, this hipster spot near the pretty Canal Saint-Martin is considered by many the best new-style wine bar in Paris. It was recently expanded, making it marginally easier to bag a table – reservations are de rigueur, and when you arrive check out the wine bottles on display, library-style, on open shelves. Don't miss the lamb and fig terrine and excellent cheeses.
Address 67 rue de Lancry, 10th (+33 1 48 03 17 34; leverrevole.fr). Open daily
Cost €40pp, with two glasses of wine

Vivant Table

As well known for his elaborately tattooed arms as his love of organic and natural wines, Swiss-born Pierre Jancou worked at La Crèmerie on the Left Bank before launching popular Racines. "I love places with history," says Jancou, whose latest address is a small shop that once sold exotic birds. Dishes such as foie gras with artichoke salad and grilled poularde with organic baby vegetables are typical.
Address 43 rue des Petites Ecuries, 10th (+33 1 42 46 43 55). Closed Saturday and Sunday
Cost €40pp, with two glasses of wine

Frenchie Bar à Vins

Chef Gregory Marchand's wine-bar annex to his bistro Frenchie offers a great opportunity to sample his cooking without the ordeal of trying to book a table at the restaurant. Expect tantalising small plates such as an earthy terrine de campagne with country bread and smoked trout with cucumber, pickled onions and garlic flowers. Sommelière Laura Vidal manages one of the most interesting wine lists in Paris right now.
Address 6 rue du Nil, 2nd (no phone, no reservations; frenchie-restaurant.com). Closed Saturday and Sunday
Cost €40pp, with two glasses of wine

Juvenile's

This friendly and reliably convivial wine bar in the heart of Paris is a terrific place to have a gab with a band of vinophile expats. Scots proprietor Tim Johnston raised eyebrows when he was just about the first to pour Australian wines in Paris but is best known locally for a superb offering of Rhône Valley wines by the glass. Haggis is always on the menu, along with terrific British farmhouse cheeses and charcuterie plates.
Address 47 rue de Richelieu, 1st (+33 1 42 97 46 49). Closed Sunday and Monday lunchtime
Cost €40pp, with two glasses of wine

Les Papilles

Bertrand Bluy's bistrot à vins has become a Latin Quarter institution with an international and often academic crowd. At noon you can pop in for a glass of wine and a quick bite, but in the evening reservations are necessary to sample the value-for-money €33 prix-fixe menu by chef Ulric Claude. Dishes include pumpkin soup with tiny croutons, lardons, chives and shavings of raw chestnut, and panna cotta with stewed reine-claudes.
Address 30 rue Gay-Lussac, 5th (+ 33 1 43 25 20 79; lespapillesparis.fr). Closed Sunday and Monday
Cost €45pp, with two glasses of wine

Les Fines Gueules

Near the Louvre, this popular bistrot à vins has a fine setting in a handsome 18th-century stone house. The menu sources from the best producers in Paris, including butter from Breton Jean-Yves Bordier, and meat from star butcher Hugo Desnoyer. Typical dishes include pork loin with wild mushrooms and Jacques Genin's airy Paris-Brest (hazelnut cream-filled choux pastry).
Address 43 rue Croix des Petits Champs, 1st (+33 1 42 61 35 41; lesfinesgueules.fr). Open daily
Cost €45pp, with two glasses of wine

Verjus Wine Bar

Americans-in-Paris Braden Perkins and Laura Adrian formerly ran the Hidden Kitchen supper club before opening a restaurant and sister wine bar last winter. This cosy vaulted place behind the Palais Royal is only open in the evenings but pulls an interesting crowd. Bar snacks include buttermilk-battered fried chicken and a butterscotch budino that partners their dessert wines perfectly.
Address 47 rue Montpensier, 1st (no phone; verjusparis.com). Closed Saturday and Sunday
Cost €35pp, with two glasses of wine

Willi's Wine Bar

After opening his popular wine bar in front of the Palais Royal 32 years ago, Englishman Mark Williamson, who has probably had a bigger influence on what Parisians drink today than almost anyone else, is completing a major expansion. What's unlikely to change is the international crowd, the brilliant selection of wines by the glass and a menu that follows the seasons with dishes such as quail breast on salad leaves with spiced nectarines.
Address 13 rue des Petits Champs, 1st (+33 1 42 61 05 09; williswinebar.com). Closed Saturday dinner and Sunday
Cost €45pp, with two glasses of wine

Alexander Lobrano

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Top 10 wine bars in Bordeaux – chosen by experts
It’s arguably the world’s top wine city. So where do local insiders head for a good glass of red or white with food to match?

Jon Bryant

28, May, 2017 @6:00 AM

Article image
Top 10 new restaurants, bars and cafes in Paris
Gluttony, c’est chic. Paris is a-buzz with a new breed of trendy bistros and clandestine bars. We pick 10 of the hottest openings in town

Sam Gosling

17, Oct, 2014 @5:00 AM

Article image
Cafe society returns to Paris as bars and bistros spill out on the pavements
Inside spaces reopened this week, but it’s the relaxed rules on outdoor terraces that bar and restaurant owners feel will create a quintessentially Parisian summer vibe

John Brunton

16, Jun, 2020 @3:29 PM

Article image
Top 10 caves à manger in Paris
Paris is offering a fresh twist on the wine bar experience with the increasing popularity of its caves à manger, where you can savour impressive wines, provided you also sample something from their deli-style food menus

John Brunton

02, Sep, 2015 @5:30 AM

Article image
A bicycle gourmet in France

Following the longest main road in France, the route to the sun from Paris to Provence, cyclist Adam Ruck makes the most of the vineyards and foodie pit stops that have been refuelling travellers for centuries

Adam Ruck

07, Jul, 2012 @11:08 PM

Article image
Top 10 Paris cafes for sipping vin chaud

In Paris mulled wine isn't just for the festive season – sample a warming glass at these cafes

Stephanie Hills

16, Jan, 2010 @12:06 AM

Article image
In search of chic: fashion shopping in Paris
A day out with a fashion guide in the Marais neighbourhood gives Harriet Green and her daughter the chance to turn on the Parisian style

Harriet Green

05, Mar, 2017 @10:00 AM

Where to find foodie Brits in Paris

Willi's Wine Bar | Le Timbre | Juvéniles | La Tour D'Argent | Alcazar | The Hemingway Bar | Macéo | Somo

John Brunton

22, Oct, 2006 @4:28 PM

Article image
Naked attraction: art and tragic tales in Modigliani’s Paris
As Tate Modern prepares a new exhibition of his work, including 12 of his famous nudes, Louise Roddon explores the artist’s haunts around Montmartre and Montparnasse

Louise Roddon

19, Nov, 2017 @7:00 AM

Article image
Northern star: small and friendly, Aarhus is having a moment
Denmark’s second city will officially step out of Copenhagen’s shadow to become joint European capital of culture next year. But the student city already has a world-class food, arts and nightlife scene

Richard Eilers

05, Apr, 2016 @5:30 AM