Wine/Whiskey Bars & Shops in Paris

Anyone have any good recommendations on wine and/or whiskey bars & shops in Paris?
I know of a few of the staples, but have a better handle on the whiskey front.
I’ll probably try and hit up LaVinia, Sherry Butt, Le Gamin & Golden Promise to start.
I’m perusing Parisbymouth.com, but there are so many to choose from…

Where is a good place for wine by the glass?
As it’s vacation and an anniversary I’m thinking more old world classics and big deal producers.
Like where can you find first growths or other similar killer wines by the glass I’d never find here in NC?
Still looking for cool places with reasonable wines as well, just don’t want anything generic and lackluster on wine selection and less enthusiastic about the “natural” wine trend, etc.
I’m staying near the Opera house, but am willing to travel around Paris.

Thanks in advance!

Willis wine bar is pretty good. Lots of great Rhone and burg.

Close to where you are staying and on opposite sides of the Madeleine are Lavinia on Blvd de la Madeleine (whisky/spirits are upstairs) and the original La Maison du Whisky on Rue d’Anjou. LMdW has the widest whisky selection in Paris. They also have a shop in the 6th, a few steps away from Odeon, which has a broader selection of spirits but fewer whiskies and holds tastings in its upstairs tasting room. There is another small whisky shop in the 4th, La Carte des Vins, on the corner of Blvd Beaumarchais and Rue du Pasteur Wagner.

The original La Maison du Whisky has the broadest selection of whisky in Paris, including exclusive bottlings by Signatory and Gordon & MacPhail, among others. It also has the most knowledgable staff.

Thanks, I’ve heard good things, it’s on the list!

Thanks for all the help on this. Lavinia was high on the list, as is Maison du Whisky. Thanks for the clarification between the two. Does the original Maison du Whisky have a tasting area as well? Will look up La Carte des Vins

Andrew,

Lavinia sounds like what you want and it will be pretty close to you (on the way to Madeleine from the Opera). It’s a beautiful modern store, the largest wine store in Paris, with a nice wine bar. When I was there they had Haut Brion by the glass, etc.

Caves Legrand is also probably a place you should go. It’s a 140 year old wine store with a truly great little wine bar/cafe now built into it. They have a great by the glass selection, but can also pull anything off the shelves to have for either no corkage or something like 10E (I can’t remember). Everything from morey saint denis village to all the classified growths to multiple vintages of la tache, all in a beautiful historic setting. If you get there at lunch it will fill up very fast with locals (so be prompt/get a reso), but if you go anytime after 1:30/mid afternoon, there is plenty of room. They have endless things also not showing that they can pull out for you if you show special interest/knowledge. The food is very good. It is in the Gallerie/Passage Vivienne, again very near you/the Opera.

I think Willi’s wine bar is way overrated. And even if somehow it is not, you still will be sitting with a bunch of Americans/tourists.

Theo

Andrew - I just checked, Legrand is currently serving among other things Krug, '97 Chave Hermitage, '02 Leflaive Batard, '01 d’Auvenay Bonnes Mares and '75 d’Yquem by the glass … that should keep you busy!

Love Willi’s, love Juveniles even more.

http://www.wineloon.com/single-post/2016/06/23/Pub-crawl-Paris-style-Juveniles-Wine-Bar-Willis-Wine-Bar

Ambassade de Bourgogne, in St Germain. I took the owner’s recommendations and bought producers that I had never heard of, and all of them were very, very good.

I’m totally fine sitting with tourists while I drink raveneau Valmur for 100e. [snort.gif]

More wine bars:
Verjus (and Ellsworth)
Frenchie
Semilla
Septime
Vivant
And my favorite, because they serve the best food, is L’Avant Comptoir.

Like every restaurant and wine bar in Paris, all have their fair share of tourists. Some (Verjus, Frenchie, Semilla) are owned by tourists who stayed.

They also have a shop in the 6th, a few steps away from Odeon, which has a broader selection of spirits but fewer whiskies and holds tastings in its upstairs tasting room.

Agreed here. That said, I usually hit up Odeon because they carry Carpano Antica Formula and a great selection of other vermouths, bitters, etc. Chances are they’ll carry what you’re looking for, but it’s going to be marked up. Odeon location also has some cool “library” stuff downstairs to look at (original A.H. Hirsch, etc.). Both shops are right off of Metro lines, so easy to hit and run.

If you go to the Madeline location, you should be aware you’re right across from http://www.maille.com/en_US/boutiques?sid=paris flirtysmile

Thanks, yeah Caves Legrand was on the list as well. Looks like they’re only open super early so will have to stop by in the afternoon.

Holy crap!!! Yeah on the list now! Thanks for the heads up.

Both look/sound solid!

Looks like they have a good selection of (shocker) burg!

Ditto, there with my wife, company is already great, more concerned with what I’m drinking!

Thanks will research these

Wait, where is this?

So much this! And if you have multiple vintages you will likely meet the owner and be given a separate table to hold your bottles/decanters.

Wait, where is this?

Fill up one of the stoneware mustard pots with some Maille from the tap and then come back and pull a Guinness-is-better-in-Dublin call-out here - > Mustard -- which one is the best? - Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes - WineBerserkers (“Maille ALWAYS tastes great, but there’s nothing quite like getting it poured out of the tap in the boutique in Paris”).
MDW_to_Maille.PNG

There is also a Maille shop in the Carrousel du Louvre (the underground shopping mall connected to the Louvre)…

A little off topic but I tried for a solid couple of hours to find a decent restaurant reservation in Paris on a Monday night and it’s basically impossible. I’m thinking about just going to Willi’s and ravaging their wine list but also came across some other recommendations for food/wine in the form of Septime La Cave or Frenchie Wine Bar. Anyone have thoughts & experiences with the latter two?

I was wondering this same general thing as I’m having similar issues

Lots of good restaurants open on Mondays. Paris by Mouth has a pretty comprehensive list:
https://parisbymouth.com/paris-restaurants-open-on-monday/

Quite a few places are closed on Mondays; I had the same issue pre-move, but still working here. Other thing to note is that you’ve got several National Holidays falling on a Monday this year - May 1, May 8, June 5. I have yet to figure out a logic to who stays open and who closes… yesterday, the mall on one side of the street was open, the mall on the other was closed.

my friend was just there and sent me this:

Last night we managed to get into a secret speakeasy whisky bar called ‘Golden Promise’ run by La Maison Du Whisky, underneath La Maison du Sake. So started the night with Sake upstairs and then disappeared downstairs for whisky at the front of the bar, and then after a bit of negotiating got into the inner sanctum through a heavy metal door! Wow! Over 900 rare and old whiskies in the cellar…and a whole room of Japanese whiskies! A bloody marvellous evening with just us and Francois!! Feeling it today!