It’s a balmy London evening at The Dreamery, the buzzy De Beauvoir ice-cream parlour and natural wine bar that opened in 2024. Couples scoop fig leaf ice-cream from steel coupes and sip Alsatian riesling, as across the road in sister venue Goodbye Horses, a “nothing in, nothing out” wine philosophy is imparted with passion by the team as punters pick at beurre blanc-draped mussels at an imposing carved oak bar by architect Leopold Banchini.
From here, a quick hop in any direction reveals the depth and breadth of London’s contemporary wine scene: there’s popular hospitality hangout Yuki Bar in London Fields, a celebration of female winemakers at Cav, rotisserie chickens and dark rosés at Bruno in Victoria Park Village, and wines defined by playful descriptors – “hectic”, “turbo-chilled” – at Dan’s in Dalston.
It’s an East London microcosm of how London’s wine scene has transformed over the last decade. “We’re seeing so many cool indie places open with their own point of view,” Holly Willcocks, co-founder of York Way’s Half Cut Market, tells Broadsheet. This breezy bottle shop, bar and kitchen (headed up by ex-Brat chef Aidan Richardson) embodies this shift.
“When I started out, everything was much more traditional and classical in style but we’re all getting more adventurous,” says Willcocks, who also heads up wine buying at Tomos Parry’s Michelin-starred Mountain. “Rather than simply going for what they know, people want to speak to someone and are willing to be swayed in new directions, which opens so many doors.”
She’s witnessed the natural wine revolution of the past 15 years challenge conventions and break down barriers, while also re-righting some of its early negative connotations. “Today we’re talking about wines made in a ‘natural’ style rather than full on natty wine,” she says, in reference to the funky unfiltered numbers that helped bring the category to the public’s attention. “As we understand natural wine more, the really crazy bottles are making their way out of the market and these wines are far less scary.”
This evolution, coupled with what Willcocks sees as a movement away from big, oaky styles towards more fruit-driven, thirst-quenching “glou-glou” (light-bodied, easy drinking) wines is bringing new drinkers to the table and broadening our collective tastes.
Fuelled by this shift, pioneering central London institutions such as 40 Maltby Street, Noble Rot and 10 Cases have been joined by a burgeoning number of neighbourhood spots, which often serve low-intervention wines alongside chef residencies, raves and supper clubs. It’s all about creating hype and democratising a wine scene that hasn’t traditionally been egalitarian and inclusive.
“Wine is cool now – it’s not just for the red-trouser brigade,” Mark Gurney, founder of Peckham restaurant Levan and neighbouring Bar Levan, tells Broadsheet. Levan – inspired by Parisian wine institutions like Septime La Cave and Aux Deux Amis – recently wrapped up a residency series starring friends from the French capital.
“It’s a much more dynamic scene and you can go to bars today and find bottles from Greece, Serbia or Tenerife, and smaller places that aren’t Bordeaux or Burgundy that rarely get a look in,” he says, adding how rock-star natural wine producers – including Christian Tschida, Matassa or Claus Preisinger – have built a following, helping inspire a new generation of winemakers and drinkers.
This concept of community is crucial for Louis Redley, who was inspired to launch Black Wine Club following a stint working in a wine shop. “I noticed many customers of colour were quite timid walking into the shop,” he tells Broadsheet. “The second thing was that I kept experiencing microaggressions from customers – interactions where it came across as though they assumed I didn’t know about wine, which made it clear that there was a need for something like Black Wine Club.”
Launched this year to bring more people of colour into the world of wine and help adapt the industry in the process, its sell-out events include music- and wine-centric parties that pop up across the city. “There’s still a stigma around wine that it’s stuffy and stuck-up. I’m trying to make it more fun, enjoyable and diversified,” says Redley, who is also a resident at Rinse FM, a gig that influences the soundtracks at his events. “Good music is guaranteed but on top of that you’ll meet like-minded people, be guided through some great wines and provided a space where you can ask questions.”
Music also plays a part at two big autumn events – the British-focused natural wine fair Pour Choices at Tate Modern on September 13, and the UK’s biggest wine festival, Winedrops, which promises “good vibes and great pours” in Walthamstow on October 10 and 11.
For Gurney – whose Strictly Bangers events, which pair DJ sets with wine tasting sessions, began as a way of making wine accessible – attracting people from different spheres of life is key. “I love that people are open to different things,” he says. “Five years ago that was a struggle but now they increasingly trust you to pour them something delicious and long may that continue.”
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