A great wine bar is built around the by-the-glass list, not the cellar. Twenty open bottles that change weekly. A staff who can talk through skin contact, pét-nat, and Mosel riesling without becoming smug. A list that makes you reach for something you'd never have ordered. The 20 below all qualify. From the natural-wine pioneers (Septime La Cave, The Four Horsemen, Ved Stranden 10) to the iconic old guard (Le Volpi e l'Uva, Il Goccetto), these are the rooms where wine actually gets discussed, not just poured.
The 20 best wine bars in the world
01 · Paris
11th
$$
Natural wine · Iconic
Bertrand Grébaut's natural wine bar opposite the restaurant.
Order: Whatever the rep brought today
02 · New York
Williamsburg
$$$
Natural wine · Michelin
James Murphy's Michelin-starred Williamsburg natural wine bar.
Order: Whatever's first on tonight's by-the-glass
03 · London
Bloomsbury
$$$
Iconic · Wine magazine
From the wine magazine team — serious by-the-glass programme.
Order: Bartender's pour from open bottles
04 · Copenhagen
Indre By
$$$
Natural wine · Canal-side
Indre By natural-wine canal-side bar.
Order: A glass of skin-contact white
05 · Barcelona
El Born
$$
Natural wine · Iconic
Iconic El Born natural wine bar.
Order: Whatever's open tonight
06 · Tokyo
Yoyogi
$$
Natural wine · Counter
Tiny Yoyogi natural-wine bakery-bar.
Order: A glass with the bread board
07 · Melbourne
Fitzroy
$$$
Natural wine · Iconic
Iconic Fitzroy natural wine bar.
Order: Whatever the somm pours stirred
08 · Madrid
Malasaña
$$$
Wine + cocktails
Modern Malasaña wine bar with serious by-the-glass programme.
Order: A glass of orange wine
09 · Rome
Centro Storico
$$
Iconic · Old guard
Iconic Centro Storico wine bar since 1980.
Order: A natural glass with the cured meats
10 · Vienna
Innere Stadt
$$
Natural wine · Modern
Modern Innere Stadt natural wine bar.
Order: Whatever's freshly opened
Natural wine pioneers
11 · São Paulo
Pinheiros
$$
Natural wine · Modern
Pinheiros natural wine + small plates.
Order: A glass with the chef's bites
12 · Buenos Aires
San Telmo
$$
Argentine wine · Iconic
Iconic San Telmo Argentine wine bar.
Order: A glass of Mendoza Malbec
13 · Lisbon
Chiado
$$
Portuguese wine · Vaulted
Vaulted Chiado Portuguese-only wine bar.
Order: A glass of vinho verde
14 · Berlin
Prenzlauer Berg
$$
Pay-what-you-want · Iconic
Iconic Prenzlauer Berg pay-what-you-want wine bar.
Order: A glass of riesling, then another
15 · Florence
Oltrarno
$$
Iconic · Tuscan
Iconic Oltrarno Tuscan wine bar.
Order: A Tuscan red with the cheese plate
16 · San Francisco
Jackson Square
$$$
Natural wine · Modern
Lindsay & Michael Tusk natural wine bar.
Order: A glass paired with the small plates
17 · Sydney
Darlinghurst
$$
Natural wine · Iconic
Iconic Darlinghurst natural wine bar.
Order: Whatever the somm is excited about
18 · Vienna
Innere Stadt
$$$
Wine list · Modern
Modern Innere Stadt wine + small plates.
Order: A glass of grüner veltliner
19 · Hong Kong
Shouson Hill
$$$$
Members club · Cellar
Iconic former WW2 ammunition tunnel turned wine cellar.
Order: Whatever the somm decants
20 · Oslo
Grünerløkka
$$
Natural wine · Iconic
Iconic Grünerløkka natural wine bar.
Order: A glass of skin-contact white
The full guide, city by city
Each entry below is a deep dive into the best 10 bars in that city — picked by editors who live there.
Browse the full wine-bar indexWine bars by city — every featured venue has a profile.
See the full list
What makes a great wine bar
Forget the cellar list. The best wine bars work because of what's open tonight, not what's still corked. The 20 above all do that. Septime La Cave and The Four Horsemen represent the natural-wine vanguard. Noble Rot the editorial. Le Volpi e l'Uva and Il Goccetto the old-guard Italian. The Copenhagen and Vienna entries the Northern European seriousness. Pick the room that matches the wine you want.
