Since a few years back it seems the craze on the Paris wine bar and bistro scene is restaurants focusing on “natural” wines, and similar low-intervention wines (sometimes also called “primitive” wines). This is a curious trend in some ways since these wines are sometimes hard to understand and not immediately appreciable by many wine enthusiasts.
Many of these modern wave of wine bars / restaurants are small and tucked away in not so well-known parts of Paris. You will not find them next to the Champs-Elysee or the Eiffel Tower. Instead they are in the more true Parisian areas of this metropolis, often worth visiting in their own right for their charm and genuine feeling of Paris.
In Britt’s latest article on Forbes she gives you some recommendations on interesting wine bars-restaurants to try, try if you dare dive into this niche of “natural” wines (although they often do have some more “normal” wines on offer too!):
Paris’ hidden, “natural” wine bars / restaurants
Hidden is actually the right word to use for some of these small, often unpretentious Parisian wine bars. They are not located in the tourist areas around Notre Dame, Champs Elysées or the Eiffel Tower. You often need to go north east, to the 9th, 10th, 11th, 19th and 20tharrondisement. And the further away from the tourist crowds, the more “natural” the wines.
Because “natural wine” is the common denominator for these wine bars. Mostly only the Parisians themselves find these bar but you will hear English voices now and then. The secret of these natural wine bars is out in the open but you can still find the odd wine bar where you feel you made a Livingstone-like discovery .
Often they have no wine list, but that is not a problem. You just go behind the bar and look at the bottles. This will not, however, make you a lot wiser. With natural wines, even if you consider yourself quite knowledgeable about wine, you will not recognize many labels.
Read Britt’s full article on Forbes: Paris’ hidden, “natural” wine bars / restaurants.
