The Winemakers Club is a wine importer, bar and restaurant in Holborn, well regarded for its extensive wine cellar.
Head through a shabby-looking entrance under Holborn Viaduct, down a corridor, through swing doors, and under dimly lit, cathedral-like brick arches, and you’ll find oenophile magnet, The Winemakers Club. Championing innovative small producers who embrace biodynamic and organic principles, this shop-cum-‘wine pub’ also supplies lots of top London restaurants with their deeply drinkable delights.
Australia, France and Italy make for happy hunting grounds. From the latter, stonking Malibran Sottoriva Col Fondo - offered, like all bottles, at retail price, plus corkage. Choose from a dozen or so perfectly kept by-the-glass options on rotation, or dive further into the enormous bottle collection, including a few pages of majestic old world vintages.
‘Meet the producer’ soirées are a regular draw as are the regular tasting evenings, which often focus on specific styles or winemaking regions.
A concise selection of bar food includes everything from small nibbles (extra virgin olive oil crisps, nuts, olives) to plates of mortadella, duck rillettes, boquerones on toast, and potted beef with horseradish. There are also a range of cheese and charcuterie plates (fennel salami, coppa, and soppressata for example) and raclette toasties for hungrier bellies.
The Winemakers Club also boasts an upstairs available for private hire, complete with private members’ rooms. It also offers membership to keen oenophiles, where subscribers benefit from exclusive pricing (both in the shop and drinking-in) as well as early access to ticketed events and now additions to the cellar.