FREE TO READ: independent bottle shops to support this Christmas
Suggestions across the UK, in time for Christmas.
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I’m going to keep this brief.
Firstly, thank you for all you patience with the Digestif. It’s been book-hand in central in my life for the past month, and now I can say that I handed in yesterday, I’m back to pouring love into this newsletter — starting now. Below, a variety of independent bottle shops that you can support over the festive season. They’re up and down the country and at a variety of different delivery deals and price points — make sure you check out the individual websites linked to see when cut off dates are for Christmas.
I will continue to update this list as suggestions come in, so be sure to check back close to Christmas :)
H x
Bedford Street Wines
📍 London
📦 Pop in just before Christmas
www.bedfordstreetwines.co.uk
It’s rare to find a wine shop this good, so central — especially in Covent Garden. I spy some Au Bon Climat up for grabs…
Butler’s Wine Cellar
📍 Brighton
📦 Free delivery over £150
www.butlers-winecellar.co.uk
This came highly recommended from my Brighton followers. Plus, 10% off your first order fi you sign up to their newsletter. I’m a sucker for Nero Mascalese.
Cava Spiliadis
📍 London
📦 Free local delivery over £100, free nationwide delivery over £200
www.cavaspiliadis.uk
An online bottle shop specialising in Greek wines, with some other European and American wines thrown in for good measure. Try this Mandilaria.
Cellar Next Door
📍 London
📦 Free next day delivery when ordered before 2pm
www.cellarnextdoor.com
From the team behind the perennially popular Peckham Cellars (and recently opened Little Cellars) is this truly fabulous selection. All I want for Christmas is this Saumur Blanc.
Cépage
📍 Cheshire
📦 Free delivery over £150
www.cepage.uk
As the technical name would suggest, Cépage errs on the fine wine side of proceedings. Probably somewhere to go if whoever you’re spending Christmas with loves the classics. 12-year-old Rioja here for £40 (although could certainly go on for far longer).
Cork & Cask
📍 Edinburgh
📦 Free delivery over £85
www.corkandcask.co.uk
Wine and whisky from Auld Reekie. I’d like this vintage whisky from Bruichladdich and this Dog Point Chardonnay.
Crystal Palace Wine Club
📍 London
📦 Free delivery over £120
www.crystalpalacewineclub.com
These guys are all over the London wine scene. Pop by their shop in southeast London or order online. Mmmmmm, skin contact Macabeo.
DeFINE
📍 Cheshire
📦 Free delivery over £100
www.definefoodandwine.com
DeFINE is a Cheshire-based restaurant, deli and wine shop. If you’re in the area, they’re doing a Christmas Eve Jazz night. This Santenay looks nice.
Dina
📍 London
📦 Free delivery over £85
www.dinawines.com
Based in Leytonstone, this wine shop has alllllll the natty bangers. They’ve still, miraculously, got stock of Anders Frederik Steen.
Farthinghoe Fine Wine
📍 Farthinghoe
📦 Nationwide delivery for £25
www.farthinghoefinewine.com
This is a proper family affair, their ‘About’ page on their website is quite touching. They specialise in fine wines (obviously), sold mostly by the case. Take some time to trawl through their website, their Emidio Pepe is particularly tempting.
Kill the Cat
📍 London
📦 Nationwide delivery for £25
www.killthecat.co.uk
And now for something completely different. For the craft beer nerds, a few of you have suggested Kill the Cat of east London. I might order this case to get exploring. They sell cider and wine too.
Must & Lees
📍 London
📦 Free delivery for orders over £140
www.mustandlees.co.uk
Wine school, bottle shop, event space… there aren’t many things that Wine & Lees isn’t, but it’s also a worthy indie for your Christmas shop. One of the few places I’ve seen that sells amazing Champagne Lallier.
Natty Boy Wines
📍 London
📦 Free delivery for orders over £65
www.nattyboywines.co.uk
This site seamlessly blends the natty and hyped with the classic and rare. There are far too many bottles I want on their website to count, so it’s impossible to pick just one.
Newcomer Wines
📍 London
📦 Free delivery for orders over £99
www.newcomerwines.com
They’re a wine bar, bottle shop, and importer, so the wines Newcomer offer are ones they truly believe in. 10% off your first order if you subscribe to their newsletter. Use it to get this.
Nysa Wine
📍 London
📦 Free delivery for orders over £150
www.newcomerwines.com
Nysa Wine have several shops around London to peruse — I’ve never visited before but may well d if I’m ever in southwest. There are some gorgeous looking wines. This Nebbiolo is beautiful.
Pour Decisions
📍 Dorset
📦 Nationwide delivery for £12
www.pourdecisions.co.uk
Quirky website. Good pun. They even do adorable bottle bows. They’re currently only takin pre-orders, but this is a brilliant excuse to get the Christmas shopping done early. I’m always a sucker for this pét-nat.
Provisions London
📍 London
📦 Free local delivery over £50, free nationwide delivery over £75
www.provisionslondon.co.uk
There’s a few Provisions shops in London, wine amongst other exciting delicious things (breton cider, cured meats, pasta etc). You can get free pick-up if you live in the area, too. All I want for Christmas is a bottle of this aperitivo.
Renegade Urban Winery
📍 London
📦 Free delivery over £50
www.renegadelondonwine.com
Now headquartered in Walthamstow, urban winery Renegade offer nationwide delivery on all their wines. I’m particularly fond of their Crystal sparkling wine.
StarmoreBoss
📍 Sheffield
📦 Free delivery over £150
www.starmoreboss.co.uk
StamoreBoss is at the heart of its local community, with Sheffield shops at Sharrow Vale and Fulwood Road. They’ve got the incredible Black Chalk sparkling I tried earlier this year.
Tenaya Wine
📍 Sheffield
📦 £9.50 nationwide delivery
www.tenayawine.co.uk
I can’t tell if there’s a minimum for free delivery, but this shop comes highly recommended. This wine from Ruth Lewandowski is in low stock, so snap it up while you can.
Tuck Shop
📍 London
📦 All orders and click and collect from Hackney
www.tuck-shop.co.uk
Grab your turkey here too, while you’re at it. This is quintessential Hackney, and this East London starter pack is delicious proof.
Theatre of Wine
📍 London
📦 Free delivery over £90
www.theatreofwine.com
I’ve got a lot of love for Theatre of Wine. Not only is it one of the few places you can casually grab a glass in the city, you can also get their wines delivered to your door (which I only just found out), including this 2024 Château Tour Sieujean.
Thorne Wines
📍 Cambridge
📦 Free local delivery over £45, free nationwide delivery over £125
www.thornewines.com
A family-owned wine merchant who, as well as supplying restaurants, also offer home delivery. We a love Xinomavro on this substack, and this one by Naoussa is a particular fave.
Valhalla’s Goat
📍 Glasgow
📦 Click and collect only
www.valhallasgoat.com
Beer, wine, gifts. This Glaswegian shop is pick-up only and you can select a mystery case according to size. A good thing to take the guesswork out of the Christmas shop.
Wayward Wines
📍 Leeds
📦 Free delivery over £95
www.waywardwines.co.uk
Wayward do too many things to mention in a few sentences. Importer. Bottle shop. Delivery service. Lovely people. So much delicious choice from their own imports, but I swear by this Aligoté.
WineKraft Edinburgh
📍 Edinburgh
📦 Free delivery over £125
www.winekraft.co
I never went to Good Brothers before it closed (the plastic jock I am), so I was pleased to learn their memory lives on in WineKraft. Lots of natural favourites as well as a few classics. I like the look of this Austrian Riesling.
Amazing, have added all the London spots to my Google Maps list (wine shop crawl in the new year...?).
Fantastic list 💕 another great one, The Winery (in Maida Vale and Fulham) does free walk-in monthly tastings. They have a great Rieslings and German wines selection because the owner is half-German!