England has never been famous for growing wine, but London has been one of the world’s great wine-drinking and wine-trading cities for centuries. Walk through the City today and you’ll find the traces everywhere: in street names, livery halls, pub signs and the cellars under your feet.
The Vintners and the Gascon wine trade
In the Middle Ages, much of England’s wine came from Gascony in south-west France, around Bordeaux, which was ruled by the English crown for about three centuries. Ships unloaded barrels on the Thames in an area of the City still called Vintry.
In 1363 the Vintners received their first royal charter, which effectively gave them control of wine imports from Gascony. The Worshipful Company of Vintners still exists, and its hall on Upper Thames Street dates from 1671. Its motto: Vinum Exhilarat Animum, “wine cheers the spirit”.
Swans with two nicks
One of London’s oddest wine traditions involves swans. Since the reign of Edward IV, the Vintners have shared the right to own swans on the Thames with the Crown and the Dyers’ Company. The Vintners marked their swans with two nicks on the beak, which is thought to be the origin of the old pub and inn name “Swan with Two Necks”.
Britain’s oldest wine merchant
In 1698 a widow named Bourne opened a shop at 3 St James’s Street, under the sign of the Coffee Mill. That shop became Berry Bros. & Rudd, Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, still trading from the same address and holding Royal Warrants.
Claret, port and Victorian wine bars
Over the following centuries, London drank claret, port, sherry and Madeira, and the city’s merchants stored them in vast vaults by the river. In the 1890s, Angus Gordon opened a wine bar in the old vaults on Villiers Street; Gordon’s is still serving today and is often called London’s oldest wine bar. Meanwhile, on Fleet Street, wine merchants turned wine bars like El Vino kept journalists and lawyers supplied. (Read more in London’s oldest wine bars.)
Wine wasn’t the only drink with a dramatic London history, of course. Gin had its own scandalous moment, which you can read about in Mother’s Ruin: a short history of gin in London.
London’s wine scene today
Today London is one of the best places in the world to drink wine. Natural wine bars, sommelier-led wine shops, English sparkling wine and old-school cellars sit side by side, and many of the best spots are hidden down alleys and staircases.
Drink your way through the history
On our Secret Wine Bars of London tour, you’ll taste this history for yourself: cheese in London’s oldest wine bar, a tasting in a former Victorian water tunnel, sommelier-chosen flights in a townhouse wine bar and skyline views over the river that made it all possible. Meets on Fleet Street at 6 PM, around three hours, up to six guests.
Want to taste 700 years of history? Book the Secret Wine Bars of London tour.
