Bars & Pubs

Independent wine shops

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Handford
A Piat d’Or-free zone where you can pick up high quality and unusual wines of most types, at both high and low price points.
Handford, 12 Portland Rd, W11 4LE (020 7221 9614/ www.handford.net) Holland Park tube.

Oddbins
Okay, so it’s hardly a small independent shop, but Oddbins is still the best off-licence chain in London, with well-trained staff and a great selection of interesting bottles. When you compare Oddbins to the other high street off-licence chains, there is simply no comparison.
See www.oddbins.com for branches.

Philglas & Swiggot
Terrible pun, great shop. Lying behind Selfridges, this new Marylebone branch opened in May; the original is in Battersea, and there’s one in Richmond too. You won’t find a bottle of Blossom Hill in any of them.
Philglas & Swiggot, 22 New Quebec St, W1H 7SB (020 7402 0002/ www.philglas-swiggot.co.uk) Bond St or Marble Arch tube.

Wapping Food
This east London restaurant now also imports and sells an interesting though limited selection of Australian wines. Most customers order by the case-load, but you can drop in and buy just a bottle if you want.
Wapping Food, Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, Wapping Wall, E1W 3ST (020 7680 2080) Wapping tube or Shadwell DLR.

Wimbledon Wine Cellar
The original branch of this award-winning off-licence is in Wimbledon, but there’s also one in Chiswick. The service is friendly and well-informed, and the wines are the pick of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Italy.
Wimbledon Wine Cellar, 84 Chiswick High Rd, W4 1SY (020 8994 7989) Stamford Brook or Turnham Green tube.

Wine of Course
Wine of Course prides itself on avoiding the big, heavily branded wines and instead stocking bottles from 150+ small producers that are superior to many supermarket wines.
Wine of Course, 216 Archway Rd, N6 5AX (020 8347 9006/ www.wineofcourse.com) Archway tube.

The Winery
Burgundy is the strength of this shop, but northern Italy, the Rhône and Spain are well-covered too. There’s also a new branch inside the Liberty department store in the West End.
The Winery, 4 Clifton Rd, W9 1SS (020 7286 6475/ www.thewinery.com) Warwick Avenue tube.