Natural wine in Paris, where to actually go

Where the scene is

Paris invented modern natural wine bar culture in the 1980s and the geography has moved east ever since. Today the core is the 11th arrondissement, particularly the streets around Rue de Charonne, Rue Paul Bert, Oberkampf, and Saint-Maur.

North and east of that, Belleville and the 20th have the newer, cheaper, less polished rooms. The 10th around Canal Saint-Martin has a dense cluster. The 9th and South Pigalle have a smaller but serious set.

The Left Bank has good wine bars but is not where this particular scene lives, with a handful of long-standing exceptions in the 5th and 6th.

The cave a manger format

The dominant format is the cave a manger: a wine shop with a few tables where you can either buy a bottle to take away, or drink it there for the shop price plus a corkage fee of typically EUR 7 to EUR 12.

This is the key to drinking well in Paris without spending EUR 200. A bottle that costs EUR 28 on the shelf plus EUR 8 corkage is EUR 36 for four glasses, against EUR 9 a glass at EUR 36 for the same four. The difference is that you get to choose from the whole shop rather than the six things open by the glass, and the wine is usually better.

Ask for the carte or just point at the shelves. The staff will open anything and will usually give you a taste of what is already open first.

• Buy from the shelf, pay corkage, drink in
• Corkage is typically EUR 7 to EUR 12
• Staff will taste you on what is open before you commit
• Food is small plates: charcuterie, cheese, one hot dish
• Card is fine almost everywhere now, cash is not needed

What to order

The Loire is the spiritual home of French natural wine. Ask for Chenin Blanc from Anjou or Savenniers, Cabernet Franc from Chinon or Bourgueil, or a Gamay from Touraine. All are light, high-acid, and food-friendly.

Beaujolais is the other pillar. The ten crus, Morgon, Fleurie, Chiroubles, Brouilly and the rest, made with minimal intervention, are the wines that convinced a generation that light red served cool was the right answer.

Jura is the connoisseur move: Savagnin under flor, Ploussard, Trousseau. Small production, distinctive, and increasingly expensive.

The Auvergne, Ardeche, and the Languedoc are where the value still is.

Timing and the reservation problem

Most of these rooms are small, hold twenty to forty people, and either do not take reservations or take them only for the earlier service. The result is that between 20:00 and 21:30 on a Thursday to Saturday, the good ones are full and there is a group of people standing on the pavement outside.

The two solutions are the same everywhere: arrive at 18:30 and eat early, or arrive after 22:00 and drink late. Both work, both are pleasant, and neither involves standing in the rain on Rue de Charonne.

What it costs

By the glass: EUR 6 to EUR 10 for most things, EUR 12 and up for anything from the Jura or a name producer. By the bottle in a cave a manger: EUR 30 to EUR 60 all in including corkage. In a full restaurant with a natural list: EUR 45 to EUR 90 a bottle.

Food is small plates at EUR 8 to EUR 18 each. Three plates and a bottle for two people lands around EUR 70 to EUR 90 total, which is the realistic number for an evening.

Groups, which Paris does not accommodate

A group of eight will not get into a Paris natural wine bar together on a Friday evening. This is not negotiable and no amount of planning changes it.

What works: split into two groups of four in adjacent bars on the same street, or book a table at one of the larger wine-focused restaurants and drink there. The 11th has several rooms that seat groups properly and still have a serious list. Do that, and do the small rooms in twos and fours on a different night.