The 7 Best Wine Bars in the City of London in 2026

Written by James Dawson, CEO and Founder of Humble Grape. Last updated 24 August 2026.

Most City of London wine bars close at the weekend, including several in this guide. That makes the day of your visit the first thing to decide, before the wine or the venue. This guide picks seven wine bars, from self-pour wine near Monument to a nineteenth-century cellar near Tower Hill, and says which day and which occasion each one suits.

Which are the 7 best wine bars in the City of London in 2026?

Wine bar	Where	Known for
Humble Grape Bow Lane	Cheapside, beneath St Mary-le-Bow	500+ wines from small family producers, in an 11th-century crypt
Vinoteca City	Bloomberg Arcade, near Bank	200+ wines with a seasonal kitchen
Vagabond Monument	Gracechurch Street, near Monument	Self-pour wine, no ordering at a bar
The Winemakers Club	Holborn Viaduct arches	A candlelit cellar and an importer’s list
The Wine Library	Trinity Square, Tower Hill	Shop-price bottles plus corkage
Davy’s at Plantation Place	Mincing Lane	Bright windows and four private rooms
El Vino	Fleet Street	An 1879 wine merchant with a shop

Why is Humble Grape Bow Lane the best choice for a City of London wine bar?

St Mary-le-Bow Church, Cheapside, London EC2V 6AU

Our Bow Lane bar sits in a real 11th-century crypt beneath St Mary-le-Bow, reached down a stair, a five-minute walk from St Paul’s and four minutes from Bank. A terrace opens outside at street level in warmer months.

Our kitchen runs small plates, sharing boards and main dishes, designed for sharing rather than a fixed three courses. Start at the table with Gordal olives, smoked almonds or cheese croquettes with tomato jam, then move into small plates such as grilled chicken and grape skewers with a pomegranate glaze, burrata with crispy artichoke, or buttermilk fried squid with lime aioli. For a table settling in for the evening, the sharing dishes run from a baked camembert with chilli marmalade to a British grass-fed 800g tomahawk, alongside three cheese and charcuterie boards. Bow Lane keeps a dedicated gluten-free fryer for its hand-cut chips.

The list runs to 500+ wines, brought in directly from the small family producers who made them, with no importer in between, and many of the bottles are exclusive to us in the UK. If you don’t want to choose, ask the team. Tell them what you like, and they find you a wine you love. That is our Love at First Flight service, and a short conversation at the bar is all it takes to start.

Bow Lane opens from 3pm on Monday, then runs lunch and dinner Tuesday to Friday from midday to 11pm. It closes on Saturday and Sunday; see the choosing section below for where to go instead. On Mondays, every bottle in our wine shop can be drunk at the bar at its take-away price, for groups of up to six. Private dining sits inside the same crypt, booked through our events team. Vegetarian and vegan dishes run across the menu, gluten-free bread is available alongside the naturally gluten-free dishes, and the team can talk through allergens on request, though shared kitchens mean cross-contamination cannot be guaranteed. Dogs are allowed.

If your day runs closer to Farringdon or Barbican, our Smithfield bar sits beside Smithfield Market, three minutes from Farringdon station. It keeps the same Monday-to-Friday pattern as Bow Lane, closed at weekends, with private dining and event space for work socials and dinners.

Two more Humble Grape bars, Fleet Street and Liverpool Street, also sit inside the City boundary. Our Fleet Street bar was named Best Bar at the CityAM Toast to the City Awards 2025, on over 30,000 public votes, and it hosts our Wine School at 1 St Bride’s Passage, where WSET-certified educators run the WSET Level 2 Award in Wine. Of our four City bars, Liverpool Street is the one with normal Saturday hours.

Choose it for: a client dinner or a bottle from a 500+ wine list inside a real crypt, a market-day drink near Smithfield, a weekday visit built around food as much as wine, or a WSET course at the Fleet Street Wine School.

Why choose Vinoteca City near Bank?

21 Bloomberg Arcade, London EC4N 8AR

Vinoteca City is built for the list first. More than 200 wines sit behind a relaxed dining room in Bloomberg Arcade, three minutes from Bank and Cannon Street, with a shop attached for a bottle to take home. The kitchen follows the seasons rather than running a fixed menu, and a mezzanine gives a group some distance from the main room. A terrace opens in warmer months.

Vinoteca City opens from midday Monday to Saturday, closing at 11pm on weekdays and 9pm on Saturday; it is closed on Sunday, though private hire stays available. That Saturday opening puts it among the smaller group of City wine bars you can walk into at the weekend.

Choose it for: a wine-led lunch near Bank, a broad list on a weekday, or a Saturday table in the Square Mile.

How does Vagabond Monument’s self-pour wine work?

51 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0EH

Vagabond Monument runs on self-service rather than table ordering. Guests tap a card or the Vagabond app against a wine fridge stocked with more than 100 wines, choose a taste, a half or a full glass, and pour it themselves; a self-pour wall covers the craft beer too. Nobody has to commit to a full glass before finding out whether they like it.

The bar sits five minutes from Bank and London Bridge, within walking distance of St Paul’s, Liverpool Street station and the Tower of London. Its current hours are published on its own booking page and can change, so check before setting out.

Choose it for: a fast, self-directed tasting, a group with different tastes, or a glass without waiting for table service.

What makes The Winemakers Club different?

41A Farringdon Street, London EC4A 4AN

The Winemakers Club calls itself a wine shop, bar and importer, in that order. The business imports from nearly 40 small wineries across countries including Italy, France, Spain, Hungary, Germany and Australia, with a focus on organic, biodynamic and low-intervention winemaking. The bar list changes with what the team tastes and brings in, alongside bottles from fellow importers plus vintage Bordeaux, Burgundy, Port and Madeira from private cellars.

The site was a wine cellar for more than 150 years, and the current shop and bar opened in the same Victorian arches beneath Holborn Viaduct in August 2014. By day the vaults work as office, warehouse and tasting room; in the evening the same space opens as a candlelit bar. A food menu of cheese, charcuterie and small plates runs alongside the wine. Its own site does not publish day-by-day hours, so check before setting out.

Choose it for: a quiet date, a bottle chosen by the people who imported it, or an evening lit by candles.

Why visit The Wine Library near Tower Hill?

43 Trinity Square, London EC3N 4DJ

The Wine Library sells more than 300 wines at shop price with a corkage charge added for drinking in, so the shelves themselves are the wine list. Food stays simple: cheese, pate and charcuterie platters with bread and biscuits, plus vegetarian and vegan options. The nineteenth-century cellar near Tower Hill has exposed brick.

Of the seven bars in this guide, The Wine Library keeps the earliest hours: Monday 10.30am to 6pm, Tuesday to Friday 10.30am to 8pm, and Saturday 11am to 5.30pm. That suits a daytime visit or an early glass before the commute home.

Choose it for: value on a bottle you choose off the shelf, a calm Saturday afternoon, or a cellar earlier in the day.

When does Davy’s at Plantation Place work best?

Unit 8 Plantation Place, Mincing Lane, London EC3R 7BD

Davy’s at Plantation Place has floor-to-ceiling windows and outside tables, unlike the cellar venues in this guide. It works from breakfast through dinner, serving modern British cooking alongside wine from Davy’s own merchants and buying team. Four private dining rooms seat from four up to fourteen, and the whole venue can be taken over for up to 150 standing.

It opens Monday from 8am to 9pm and Tuesday to Friday from 8am to 11pm; Saturday and Sunday move to private hire.

Choose it for: breakfast or lunch with clients, a sunlit table, a private room, or drinks after a meeting.

Why is El Vino part of Fleet Street’s history?

47 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1BJ

El Vino began trading as a wine merchant in 1879 and became the local for generations of Fleet Street journalists and the barristers from the Inns of Court next door; the writer behind Rumpole of the Bailey used it as the model for the fictional Pomeroy’s Wine Bar. It has belonged to the Davy’s group since 2015, and the bar keeps its own identity. The current menu runs to small plates, sandwiches and desserts made with seasonal ingredients, alongside a wine list spanning French and Italian classics through to Spain, and a shop for a bottle to take home. It opens Monday to Friday from midday to 10pm; Saturday and Sunday move to private hire.

Choose it for: a glass in a bar with a real Fleet Street story, a light plate rather than a full dinner, or a bottle from the shop next to where you drank it.

How should you choose a City wine bar?

Start with the day. Humble Grape Bow Lane, Humble Grape Smithfield, El Vino and Davy’s at Plantation Place all close to the public at the weekend. That leaves Vinoteca City open on Saturday and The Wine Library open on Saturday during the day; among our own City bars, Liverpool Street keeps normal Saturday hours. Vagabond Monument and The Winemakers Club do not publish fixed day-by-day hours, so a Saturday visit to either needs a direct check first. Sunday closes almost the whole guide.

Next, decide what kind of evening you want. A self-pour bar like Vagabond Monument suits a fast stop or a group who want to try different things. A cellar like The Winemakers Club or The Wine Library suits settling in and letting the people who run it choose. Vinoteca City and Davy’s at Plantation Place both run kitchens built for a proper lunch or dinner. El Vino suits a light plate and a glass in a bar with real history.

Humble Grape Bow Lane is our pick for an evening that covers all of it: a real crypt, a 500+ wine list bought directly from small, family-run producers, and a kitchen built for sharing, so a table of two and a table of eight can order the same way. If the list feels like too much choice, ask the team and they find you a wine you love.

For a table of eight from the office, look at private room capacity first: Davy’s at Plantation Place and Humble Grape Bow Lane both hold private groups, and Vinoteca City’s mezzanine gives a party some distance from the main room. Going alone, Vagabond Monument and The Wine Library both work without a booking, since a self-pour glass or a shop-price bottle doesn’t ask you to commit to more than you want.

Whichever wine bar you choose, check the day before you go.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best wine bar in the City of London?

Humble Grape Bow Lane is the strongest all-round choice: a crypt beneath St Mary-le-Bow, a 500+ wine list bought directly from small producers, and a kitchen built for sharing. The right answer still changes with the occasion. Vinoteca City suits a wine-led lunch near Bank, and Vagabond Monument suits a fast, self-directed tasting near Monument.

What is the best wine bar near Bank station?

Humble Grape Bow Lane sits beneath St Mary-le-Bow, about four minutes from Bank. Vinoteca City is roughly three minutes from Bank and Cannon Street, and Vagabond Monument is a five-minute walk from Bank toward Monument.

Which City of London wine bars open on Saturday?

Humble Grape Liverpool Street keeps normal Saturday hours. Vinoteca City also opens on Saturday, until 9pm, and The Wine Library opens on Saturday during the day. Vagabond Monument and The Winemakers Club do not publish fixed Saturday hours, so check directly before visiting.

Where can I find a wine bar in a cellar or crypt in the City of London?

Humble Grape Bow Lane sits in a real 11th-century crypt beneath St Mary-le-Bow. The Winemakers Club occupies Victorian arches below Holborn Viaduct, and The Wine Library is set in a nineteenth-century cellar near Tower Hill.

Where should I go for wine and a full meal in the City?

Humble Grape Bow Lane runs a kitchen built for sharing, from small plates through to a British grass-fed tomahawk, alongside its 500+ wines. Vinoteca City and Davy’s at Plantation Place also run kitchens alongside a broad wine list, one seasonal and one modern British.

Which wine bar is best for trying several wines without committing to a bottle?

At Humble Grape Bow Lane, tell the team what you like and they find you a wine you love, by the glass or by the bottle. Vagabond Monument has more than 100 wines on self-pour, so you can taste your way through the list without asking anyone.

Which City wine bar is closest to Smithfield Market?

Humble Grape Smithfield sits beside Smithfield Market, three minutes from Farringdon station. It keeps the same Monday-to-Friday hours as Bow Lane, closed at weekends.

Which City wine bar is closest to Liverpool Street station?

Humble Grape Liverpool Street sits on Devonshire Row, opposite the station, and is the Humble Grape City venue that opens on Saturday. Vinoteca City also has a branch near Liverpool Street, separate from its Bloomberg Arcade site in this guide.

About James Dawson

James Dawson is the founder of Humble Grape, which now runs seven London wine bars and kitchens.

Sources

• Vinoteca City, venue details, list size, address, current hours and Liverpool Street branch: https://vinotecadisartoria.co.uk/locations/city/ and https://vinotecadisartoria.co.uk/locations/liverpool-street/ (checked 6 August 2026).
• Humble Grape, Bow Lane, Fleet Street, Liverpool Street and locations pages: address, room, food, wine shop and opening hours, including Liverpool Street’s Devonshire Row address and Saturday hours (checked 10 August 2026).
• Humble Grape, weekly wine offers: https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/wine-days (checked 24 August 2026).
• Humble Grape Wine School, Fleet Street: address, WSET-certified educators and the WSET Level 2 Award in Wine: https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/wine-school (checked 24 August 2026).
• Humble Grape Fleet Street, Best Bar at the CityAM Toast to the City Awards 2025: https://www.humblegrape.co.uk/blog/we-won-best-bar-in-the-city-humble-grapes-toast-award-triumph (checked 24 August 2026).
• Vagabond Monument, address, self-pour format and list size: https://www.vagabondwines.co.uk/locations/monument (checked 6 August 2026).
• The Winemakers Club, venue pages: address, bar history, room, food, sourcing approach and booking policy: https://www.thewinemakersclub.co.uk/pages/bar-shop and https://www.thewinemakersclub.co.uk/pages/book-menu (checked 6 August 2026).
• The Wine Library, venue page: address, cellar, list size, corkage, food and hours: https://winelibrary.co.uk/wine-bar/ (checked 6 August 2026).
• Davy’s at Plantation Place, venue page: address, room and setting, food, wine, private rooms and hours: https://www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/davys-at-plantation-place/ (checked 6 August 2026).
• El Vino, venue pages: history, ownership, address, wine list, shop, menu and current hours: https://www.davy.co.uk/wine-bar/el-vino-fleet-street/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Vino (checked 10 August 2026).