Little London Wine Tour June 2019

Whether a glass by the water 🌊, a glimpse of an arty pocket of London 🎨 or a discovery of South African wines 🇿🇦, UnscrewMe has everything covered.

Already started making holiday plans 🗓? How about hitting a wine bar for inspiration 💡 about what places make the most exciting wines 🍇? Our recommendations this month could be a good starting point for your exploration! 🍷

And of course, you can find more wine tastings across London on UnscrewMe. 🍾

Vagabond Paddington, Little Venice, W2

• Name: Vagabond Paddington
• Location: W2, Little Venice. A little hidden away at a great spot behind Paddington station, right by the water 🌊, somewhere between Little Venice and Paddington Basin on the Grand Union Canal.
• Background: Vagabond already operates a few wine bars in London, including one next to Battersea Power Station and another one opposite Victoria station. Now they have added a brand new branch in Paddington. This is very welcome news 🎉! Although there is Cork & Bottle Paddington on the other side of the station and not too far away Flora Fine Wines in Maida Vale, having a shop with 120 wines to taste by the glass or even smaller taster sips is an excellent opportunity to get to know some more wines by taking advantage of these dispenser machines.
• Wine Picks:
  2017 Blanc de Noir by Willems-Willems from Rosenberg vineyard in Konz in the Saar area in Germany 🇩🇪 . Yes, another “Blanc de Noirs”, also based on Pinot Noir, but this time not from England, but from Germany. I must admit that I found this wine a tad confusing, but at the same time outstanding. Besides expected notes of strawberry, I got strong impressions of orange peel and an overarching freshness which made this a perfect summer drink ☀️— better than any lemonade, and just as refreshing. This wine had also been featured 🏆 in the 2018 Falstaff Weinguide Deutschland.
  2017 Spätburgunder by Vagabond 🇬🇧 & Weingut August Eser from Rheingau in Germany 🇩🇪 . This Vagabond wine is not from the Vagabond urban winery in London, but instead a collaboration with German premium winemaker August Eser. In our own little London Urban Winery tasting earlier this year, the Vagabond Pinot Noir from Limoux in France was well received, and I believe this Spätburgunder from German Pinot Noir grapes would probably have scored even higher — just that it wouldn’t have qualified for the tasting, since it seems this hasn’t been made in London.
  In any case, the glass showed plenty of beautiful red fruit flavours and as a surprise to me, it was also quite a bit smokey, likely in part due to some oak influence.
• Tastings: When I visited, one of the staff was kind enough to walk me through all the different styles they stock and also mentioned that they are planning to do tasting events soon, so stay tuned.

Vivat Bacchus, Farringdon, EC4

• Name: Vivat Bacchus
• Location: EC4, Farringdon. Almost right across the street from the excellent Winemakers Club, this place offers a different atmosphere, somewhere between pub and rustic wine restaurant with a rather tempting cheese offering.
• Background: This place had been on my list for a while, and recently I went with a friend to celebrate passing my WSET Level 3 exam. Vivat Bacchus has a focus on South African wines. The interior looks nice with a lot of wood in combination with industrial elements. The wood panels create a pleasant and warm atmosphere.
• Wine Picks:
  Brut Rosé NV by Graham Beck from Western Cape in South Africa 🇿🇦 . This was probably my first sparkling wine from South Africa 🍾. It is made like Champagne, using the same grapes, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, as well as the same method. Just they call it “Méthode Cap Classique”.
  Matching the rosé colour, the smooth wine was full of strawberry flavours with a bit of raspberry mixed in and some white peach notes. It was a great start to our evening, although personally, I like wines with slightly higher acidity.
  This tasty sparkling wine has been internationally recognised and won a range of awards 🏆 including ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ by Platter’s Wine Guide in 2018, a Gold Medal by Veritas Awards in 2015 and the “House Wine Bubbles: Trophy Winner“ at The Sommelier Selection in 2015 where leading sommeliers from South Africa review wines. Tim Atkin MW, a Master of Wine, reviewed the sparkling wines from Graham Beck repeatedly with very good ratings. And Jancis Robinson MW, another Master of Wine, also has offers kind words for this rosé sparkler.
  2017 Estate Pinot Noir by Paul Cluver Wines from Elgin Valley, Western Cape in South Africa 🇿🇦. I preferred this wine a bit cooler, where the fruit flavours of cherry and strawberry blended delicately with spicy notes of black pepper and smoke. If you prefer more oaky and earthy flavours, just let it warm up a bit.
• Tastings: Vivat Bacchus hosts regular tasting events, and we are planning to add them to UnscrewMe from July on!

Soutine, St. John’s Wood, NW8

• Name: Soutine
• Location: NW8, St. John’s Wood. Just North of Regent’s Park and just a short walk from Primrose Hill. While some restaurants had been closing in the area in recent years, it is good to see Soutine opening. It is right on St. John’s Wood High Street, just a few steps away from The Ivy St John’s Wood, which we can also recommend.
• Background: Having lived not too far away and passing through the area quite often, I was excited when I read about this new restaurant a while ago. They claim to take “inspiration from the great boulevard cafés of Paris and the artistic heritage of St John’s Wood”. And it is not as much of an overstatement as you might expect, once you step in, you feel transported into a different time. The walls are covered with figurative paintings 🎨, posters and photographs which are matched by dark, polished wooden panels with vintage brass lamps as decoration sprinkled around.
  I was surprised how busy it was, given it had just opened. Looks like this is what St. John’s Wood was missing. Service was a little bit patchy at first and I was almost rushed out by another guest who began lurking behind me with his wine glass after he spotted that I might be leaving in the not too distant future. Not a perfect experience, but a big promise and some decent wines I got to taste, until I settled with the house red.
• Wine Picks:
  2017 Vouvray Sec by Domaine Champalou from the Loire Valley in France 🇫🇷 . Impressive notes of stone fruits such as peach with a hint of sweetness and a slight grassy aftertaste.
  2017 Vignes d’Oc Rouge by SO Vignerons from around Montpellier in Languedoc, Pays d’Oc, in France 🇫🇷 . A fun, relatively simple, fruit-driven house red blend from the South of France, recommended to me as the lightest of their reds.
  I enjoyed the bold cherry fruit flavours and punchy black pepper notes with a bit of oak. Mainly based on the spiciness, I guessed it could be a Syrah, but it turns out to be a blend of Grenache Noir, Merlot and Cinsault.
• Tastings: Unfortunately, it seems like they do not do tasting events.

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We’re always happy to hear about new restaurants with great wine lists, newly opened wine bars in London or just a nice wine you discovered recently.

If you have any recommendations, please let us know! Either comment on here or get in touch via social media through Twitter @unscrewmeapp, Facebook UnscrewMe or Instagram @unscrewmeapp.

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We are already busy filling up the wine tasting calendar on UnscrewMe for July while also putting together this month’s favourite wines next. In parallel, we’re preparing some major technical improvements in the background, which we might explain in another article soo as well.

(I would often struggle to finish new posts without the guilty pleasure of coffee ☕️. Luckily, London has not just a flourishing wine scene but also plenty of great coffee shops, including Kaffeine, Clerkenwell Grind and Department of Coffee Paddington, which all serve regularly as inspiring writing desks for me.)