Where to buy wine in London at Christmas time
Written by Historian and Wine/Gastronomy Writer and Author Giles MacDonogh in London
Posted December 03 December,2025
Christmas Publicity from the website of Lea & Sandeman- One of London’s most respected Wine Merchants
When I lived in Paris, decades ago now, catering for Christmas was a frustrating business, not because the shops were barren, quite the reverse; it was frustrating because I was not rich enough to buy any of the fabulous things that called out to me, siren-like, from every shop window.
“The great Paris wine-chain Nicolas used to plunder its huge cellars in suburban Châtillon and provide its better branches with first growth clarets and grand cru Burgundies, marvellous bottles of mature Champagne, Sauternes etc from mouth-watering vintages – in short, all those things which make for a memorable Christmas.”
Faced with this new Tantalus, I stood forlorn on the pavement outside, bewailing my lot – quite unlike Tiny Tim in the film A Christmas Carol, who is goodness incarnate. Things did improve with time and from then
on, I used to scrape together just enough to buy one or two magnificent old wines to consume with family and friends.
Champagne and popular British Sparkling wine Nytimber on display in Fortnum and Mason
To the best of my knowledge, London has never been like that, but there are surely places where you could go if money were no object. The first that springs to mind is Berry Brothers &Rudd www.bbr.com with its venerable bare boarded shop in St James’s, or downstairs at Fortnum and Mason https://www.fortnumandmason.com/wine-spirits/wines nearby. The dust and the men in morning coats have gone from Berry Bros, and the bottles are on display. No one fetches them up from the depths any more. Prices have hit the stratospheres, but they are still battling on, even if the range is broader than it was, and the really grand wines no longer come to Britain in the way they did in the past.
Then there is obviously Harrods https://www.harrods.com in Knightsbridge, or Selfridges https://www.selfridges.com in Oxford Street. Both of these should be able to find you a first growth claret or a grand cru burgundy at a price, or the sort of champagnes crooners favour. The other, much newer place to try would be Hedonism https://hedonism.co.uk in Mayfair, which used to be a favourite stamping ground for oligarchs with money to burn, but people I respect speak (with respect) of the owner Evgeny Aleksandrovich Chichvarkin, and the oligarchs have to some extent gone into hiding in their mansions up on top of Highgate Hill, since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian War.
Caviar and Champagne Bar at Fortnum and Mason
For hoi polloi, Christmas wines are bought more often at Waitrose https://www.waitrosecellar.com (where there are frequent 25% off sales) or the Wine Society www.thewinesociety.com which tends to be the province of country doctors and lawyers, both of whom generally drink wine on a regular basis but dislike any of the sort of things that might be called flashy, making them the polar opposite of oligarchs. Others stock up at Majestic https:/www.majestic.co.uk , which reduces prices if you purchase six bottles and although it is nothing like what it used to be, you may still find classed growths there too and the sort of things like vintage port, that you might want to roll out at Christmas. I have found it is better to shop at the branches than use their unreliable on-line service. The staff in Highbury are charming.
The other big chains of off-licenses have all been liquidated over the years so that the supermarkets must handle over 60% of wine sales in the UK. At this time of the year there may be a bit of tinsel knocking around, a tape of Bing Crosby singing White Christmas and some cut-price mince pies, but let’s face it, London was never Paris.
There are, however, some small shops and chains that are worth mentioning. Here in Camden, there are two local places, L’Epicerie https://authentique-epicerie.com in the Fortess Road which sells a good many Rhone wines imported by that famous old Rhone and Loire house of Yapp in Mere in Wiltshire. You may also buy them to drink there and pay only a fraction of the mark-up you’d pay in an ordinary restaurant. The other establishment in Junction Road is The Theatre of Wine https://www.theatreofwine.com – a miniscule chain that deals in small lots of interesting wines and puts on lots of tastings.
A little further away, in Little Venice ( a 2nd branch in Fulham) is The Winery www.thewineryuk.com owned by my friend David Motion. David is a huge specialist in German wines, and he is pretty good on everything else as well, but maybe (I’m guessing) he is not so excited when it comes to trading in the wines that please oligarchs. Two other places deserve a mention, but in the case of The Sampler https://thesampler.co.uk in Islington, I have never been inside. The other is another small chain that has been around for years: Jeroboams http://jeroboams.co.uk . They have a branch in nearby Hampstead and there is another in plutocratic Belgravia.
Lea & Sandeman Wine Merchants
Most of London’s old money is located in the west and that is where you would expect to find the best places to buy good wines. Of course, almost all these firms deliver, so the mere location is no longer so important. If I were to choose the best all-round small chain of off- licenses in London, I think I should have to say it was Lea & Sandeman https://www.leaandsandeman.co.uk ,which has a handful of shops in the south-west of the city.
Lea and Sandeman was founded in 1988 by Charles Lea and Patrick Sandeman. Patrick was a scion of the old port and sherry firm based in Oporto, who died in a tragic accident a decade ago. Charles has now taken a back seat but is still very much a presence and an inspiration to his knowledgeable team. He trained with the late, lamented Steven Spurrier in Paris and worked for Mark Williamson at Willi’s Wine bar at the time it opened in 1980. Willi’s was the place to go to for Rhone wines and the Rhone is still not only close to Charles’s heart, it remains an important part of the list, along with Burgundy, the Loire, Tuscany and all those other places wine-lovers love the most. There are also some very well-chosen growers’ champagnes that few pop stars will have ever heard of.
It was in Paris all those decades ago that I first met Charles Lea, but that’s another story.
