Best-of list · World Lists
The 20 best wine bars in the world for 2026 — natural-wine basements, hotel cellars, and by-the-glass programmes worth flying for. Updated 2026.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
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.
Septime La Cave runs as the standing-room annex to Septime on rue Basfroi, and the by-the-glass rotation leans hard into low-intervention growers from the Loire and Jura. Expect a dozen open bottles, sharp charcuterie, and no reservations. Arrive before 7pm or stand three deep. Best for drinkers who want to taste a producer they cannot yet name.
Full listing & hours →The Four Horsemen sits on Grand Street in Williamsburg, and the list runs past 600 references with a firm natural-wine spine. The kitchen holds a Michelin star, rare for a room built around the glass pour. Sommelier Justin Chearno keeps the by-the-glass selection tight and unusual. Book ahead for a table; walk-ins take the bar.
Full listing & hours →Noble Rot grew out of the wine magazine and anchors Lamb's Conduit Street in Bloomsbury. The cellar runs deep on Burgundy and aged claret, while the by-the-glass list rewards the curious with mature German riesling and skin contact. The food matches the seriousness of the pour. Best for a long lunch when the markups feel earned.
Full listing & hours →Ved Stranden 10 lines the canal across from Christiansborg, and the team helped write Copenhagen's natural-wine template. The fridge holds several hundred bottles, and the staff will open almost any by the glass if asked. Glassware is proper stemware, not tumblers. Go in late afternoon for a canal-side seat before the after-work crowd lands.
Full listing & hours →Bar Brutal works out of El Born beneath the Can Cisa cellar, and the name is honest about the house style: raw, unfined, often cloudy. The by-the-glass board changes constantly and the markups stay fair for the depth on offer. Plates lean Catalan-Italian. Best for drinkers who already know they like skin contact and want more of it.
Full listing & hours →Ahiru Store hides near Yoyogi-Uehara with roughly ten seats and a queue that forms before opening. The siblings behind the bar pour French natural wine by the glass and bake their own bread each day. There is no English menu and no booking system, so arrive at open or accept the wait. Best for patient drinkers who trust the pour.
Full listing & hours →Bar Liberty holds a chef's hat on Johnston Street in Fitzroy and runs a by-the-glass list that swings from grower Champagne to Victorian pet-nat. The courtyard bar Drinkwell sits behind the main room for a looser session. The floor knows the list cold. Open from 5pm most nights, so go midweek for a seat at the marble counter.
Full listing & hours →Angelita occupies Calle Reina in Chueca, where the Villalon family stocks more than 500 wine references upstairs and runs a separate American-style cocktail bar below. The by-the-glass list favors Spanish growers most lists ignore. It opens evenings only from 5:30pm and closes at weekends. Best for a Madrid night that starts with wine upstairs and ends with a Negroni below.
Il Goccetto pours inside a former fifteenth-century bishop's house on Via dei Banchi Vecchi, the wood-shelved room holding roughly 800 labels. The by-the-glass list stays Italian and well priced, the panini and cheese plates plain. There is no music and no posturing. Best for an early-evening glass before dinner, standing at the counter like the regulars do.
Full listing & hours →Vinifero sits on Karmeliterplatz in Vienna's second district and took Falstaff's Natural Wine Bar of the Year for 2026. The cellar runs organic and biodynamic across Austria, Italy and beyond, with bottles often between 15 and 20 euros. Thursday tastings start at 4pm. Best for drinkers who want a producer-led pour and a quiet seat in the garden.
Full listing & hours →Beyond the 10
SEDE 261 holds a cobblestone corner in Pinheiros, where sommeliers Cassia Campos and Daniela Bravin open roughly 70 new labels each week. There is no wine list; the team asks what you like and pours from there, natural-leaning and kept cheap. Saturdays bring a guest oyster chef. Best for drinkers happy to be guided rather than handed a menu.
Aldo's Vinoteca runs as both wine shop and bar in Buenos Aires, the shelves doubling as the list: pull a bottle, pay retail plus modest corkage, drink it at the table. The range reaches Argentine growers far beyond supermarket Malbec. Plates are proper bistro fare. Best for working through Patagonian and high-altitude Mendoza bottles without restaurant markups.
By The Wine sits in Chiado under a ceiling lined with thousands of green bottles, the Lisbon flagship for Jose Maria da Fonseca. The by-the-glass list runs deep on Portuguese regions most visitors never reach, from Setubal Moscatel to Douro reds. Petiscos pair simply. Best for an introduction to Portuguese wine beyond vinho verde, poured by a knowing floor.
Weinerei Forum in Prenzlauer Berg runs the city's best-known pay-what-you-want evening: rent a glass for a couple of euros, pour your own from the open bottles, then leave what you judge the night was worth. The honor system keeps the room local and unhurried. Quality varies by night. Best for relaxed drinkers who treat the experiment as part of the draw.
Le Volpi e l'Uva tucks behind Ponte Vecchio on a small piazza, the counter pouring small-grower Italian wine by the glass since 1992. The list favors producers too small to export, with cheese and crostini to match. Seating is limited and turnover quick. Best for a focused mid-afternoon flight well away from the bridge crowds.
Verjus returned to Jackson Square for a second act and landed on the New York Times list of the country's fifty best restaurants in 2025. The standing wine bar up front pours European classics by the glass; the dining room behind goes deeper. Stemware and service are exacting. Best for an early counter pour before the room fills after 6pm.
Love, Tilly Devine occupies a Darlinghurst laneway with a list past 300 bottles and a tight by-the-glass rotation favoring small Australian and European growers. The room is narrow, the lighting low, the markups reasonable for the depth. Plates run snack-sized. Best for a date or a solo seat at the bar when you want steering toward something unfamiliar.
O Boufes runs as a natural-wine bistro in Vienna with a Greek lean and a low-intervention list that shifts with the kitchen. The by-the-glass selection rewards trust over familiarity, and the small plates are built to drink alongside rather than fill up on. Seating is limited. Best for drinkers who want the floor to steer them toward an obscure grower.
Crown Wine Cellars stores Hong Kong's serious collections in 1930s British Army bunkers at Deep Water Bay, a UNESCO heritage-listed site since 2007. The clubhouse and conservatory work as a private members venue rather than a walk-in bar, though the cellar program and tastings rank among Asia's most respected. Best for collectors and guests of members, so check access before going.
Territoriet in Grunerlokka pours more wines by the glass than almost anywhere, a rotating board well past 350 options with no bottle service at all. The Coravin and fridge system keeps everything from grower Champagne to aged riesling open and honest. Prices stay fair for the format. Best for drinkers who want to taste widely in one sitting.