Vinstukan Tiu Sopar holds a small room at Laugavegur 27, on Reykjavik's main shopping and drinking street, and the name translates as Ten Sips, a clue to the house philosophy of pouring widely and savouring slowly. It is a natural wine bar with a sommelier on the floor, the kind of place built for tasting rather than for volume.
The space has a story regulars know. It opened in 2019 in the address that for years held the loved cafe Tiu Dropar, which closed in 2016; Tiu Sopar kept the cosy basement-cafe feel and turned it toward wine. Star Wine List, the international guide to wine destinations, files it among Reykjavik's notable rooms, and the list leans hard into low-intervention and natural bottles.
What to order is whatever the sommelier steers you toward, since the by-the-glass selection rotates and the staff are there to match a pour to the table. Wines run from skin-contact whites to lighter natural reds, backed by small plates and snacks designed to sit alongside the glass rather than to anchor a meal. Expect Reykjavik pricing, which is to say this is a considered night out, not a cheap one.
The crowd is a local one: neighbourhood drinkers, wine-curious visitors who found the place on a list, and small groups settling in for a few glasses over a couple of hours. The room is compact, so it reads as intimate when full, and the volume stays at conversation level rather than climbing into a party.
Best time to go is the early-evening window on a weekday, when seats are easy and the sommelier has time to talk through the list; the kitchen opens at three. Friday and Saturday run later, to one in the morning, and fill faster, so a table early in the night is the safer plan in a room this size.
Laugavegur is Reykjavik's main artery for eating and drinking, and Tiu Sopar reads as the quieter, wine-led counterpoint to the street's beer bars and late venues. The room is small and warm, a handful of tables and a counter, the kind of space that fills with conversation rather than noise once the after-work hours arrive.
The format is built around the sommelier. Rather than a fixed list to scan, the move is to say what you like and let the staff pour toward it, since the by-the-glass options change with what the bar is opening. Small plates, cheese and charcuterie among them, are sized to share across a table and to carry a few glasses without turning into a meal. Star Wine List and Visit Reykjavik both point to the natural-wine focus as the draw, and for travellers used to Iceland's high drink prices, the bar reads as a place to slow down and drink less but better, one careful glass at a time. Regulars treat it as a room to learn in rather than just to drink, and the staff are happy to pour a small taste before committing to a full glass.
Who it suits: anyone who wants natural wine with guidance, a quiet date over good bottles, or a slower stop on a Laugavegur crawl. Who it does not: anyone after beer, cocktails or a loud night. For more of the city, see the best bars in Reykjavik and the list of wine bars in Reykjavik, or browse the national wine bars pillar. For a craft-beer counterpoint nearby, MicroBar in Reykjavik pours Icelandic and imported taps.
