A Wine Lover's Playbook to Paris

Hey guys!

I just got back from Paris this week and was able to hit a ton of great places. It really is one of the great wine cities in the world, maybe the greatest depending who you ask. I really do love this city so much. The combination of restaurants, fair bottle prices, and the sheer density of quality places makes it feel like a true playground for wine lovers.

This list could easily be three times as long, so I’m keeping it to the spots I visited on this most recent trip. If there’s anywhere I missed let me know, the list is ever growing. Enjoy! 🇫🇷

I made it here for the first time on this trip after hearing about it from just about everyone. Our friends from BabySips on the Lower East Side even did a pop up here, which gave me one more reason to check it out. The wine list is very strong, with bottles you don’t see all over Paris, and it stays open until around 1 am, making it an ideal nightcap spot. I ended up going twice and will definitely be back next time.

This is one of my favorite spots. Café du Coin is a café, wine bar, and restaurant all in one, and it’s quickly become a regular stop for me, mostly because it’s open all day, which is sometimes hard to find in Paris. You can settle in for a long lunch with a great bottle, which I did this time around, or swing by late night for a snack and another glass, which I’ve absolutely done before as well.

Aux Deux Amis is my idea of the perfect wine bar. The wine list is always fun to flip through, and the kitchen turns out all the small plates you could want. The room has that classic French wine bar feel, a little chaotic in the best way, yet it somehow always finds space for one more table. You’ll likely run into someone you know, and it’s almost always my first stop when I’m back in town.

A creator I’m a big fan of, Dvir, made a great video about it if you’re curious to see more.

Other Spots to Save: Les Oeillets, Chambre Noire, Septime La Cave, Le Baron Rouge, Liquiderie BAR, La Cave a Michel, Folderol, 228 Liters, YARD, Giclette, Montezuma Cafe, L’Etiquette, Bambino, Les enfants du marche

Mokonuts was one of my favorite meals in Paris this time around. It’s a simple, lunch-only spot run by Moko Hirayama and her husband, Omar Koreitem, and it captures that no nonsense, well executed contemporary French cooking that feels effortless but extremely precise. Every dish was beautifully balanced in flavor, and the wine list featured some special bottles, not just from France but also Austria and Italy. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

This was another first-time stop for me in Paris, and it completely delivered. So many people told me it’s one of the best places in the city to drink Jura, and they were absolutely right. The owner, Matthieu, clearly has a deep love for the region, and it shows on every part of the list.

I came for a small dinner, which was excellent, and then came back later that night for a hang where we opened some really fun stuff, most notably wines from Domaine Allante & Boulanger and El Babou.

Le Verre Volé is a place that a lot of my friends frequent, and for very good reason. It’s classic French cooking done right, backed by a cellar to match. I’d been once before and made it back again this trip, and it was just as good as I remembered. They do both lunch and dinner too which makes it even better.

Other Spots to Save: A la renaissance, Dandelion, Des Terres, Bistrot Paul Bert, Septime, Le Servan, Vantre, Maison, La Buvette, OOBATZ, Le Cadoret, Buttes Snack Bar, Cendrillon, Lao Siam, Le Baratin, Early June, Parcelle, Le Bon Georges, Mehmet, Le Maquis, Le Clown Bar, Le Mary Celeste, The Butcher of Paris, Bonvivant, Le Dauphin

I originally started going to La Cave des Papilles out of convenience. It’s just a short walk from Gare Montparnasse, the rail station where you catch the train to the Loire for La Dive Bouteille.

What I didn’t realize at first is that this shop has a long-standing reputation as one of the city’s early champions of natural wine. Every time I walk in, I find something new and exciting to try. You can check out what we picked up here.

Delicatessen Cave is the kind of wine shop I wish we had in New York. It’s a large natural wine store with some really amazing allocations, and I often come here to grab bottles I want to bring back to the US.

What makes it even better is that they’ll open a bottle for a small corkage fee, and you can take it next door where there’s seating and bar space to actually sit down and enjoy it on the spot.

I stopped in here for the first time on my way to lunch at Lao Siam next door and was immediately blown away by the selection. I’ve been told it’s one of the original natural wine shops in Paris, and once you step inside, it’s easy to see why. I really wanted to stay longer so I’ll definitely be back to spend more time digging through the shelves.

Other Spots to Save: La Cave Le Verre Vole, Bien Boire, Crus et Decouvertes, Rerenga Wines, Rock Bottles, Mi Fugue Mi Raisin, Le Comptoir et les Caves Legrand, La Cave Pigalle

February’s shipment is scheduled to go out next week! I really think it’s going to be one of the better lineups in the club thus far. Hope you guys enjoy! If you need anything or have any questions, just email [email protected] and they’ll help you out.

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That’s it for this week. Hope it’s helpful for your next time in Paris. I know there were a lot of spots listed and even more I didn’t get to, so let me know your favorites if you have any. More guides coming soon!

Thanks so much for reading along and, as always, drink responsibly 🥂