Wine Bars in Paris --- Le Petit Monceau, Willi’s Wne Bar and Lavinia in Paris

I review three wine bars, one where I used to go with my neighbors when I lived in Paris during 2002 to 2005, one where I would go with my visiting friend from the US and one where I would go with my visiting friend from Germany.

Le Petit Monceau

When I lived in Paris my “down the road bar” was Le Petit Monceau, just next to my apartment building in the 8th district.

93 rue de Monceau 75008 Paris
01 45 22 55 97

There are hundreds of these wine bars in Paris. This is the place where people from the neighborhood meet after work “pour un pot”. You would stand at the bar, talk about Carla Bruni and other gossips and have a decent French table wine. Typically, only French wines are on the wine list, but not the expensive ones,only the reasonably prices ones. Many of the wines at the Le Petit Monceau are from the South of France. The food is simple, nothing special, but good. I would stand at the bar from 7 pm to 9 pm and then move on to one of the tables and have some food. Le Petit Monceau in the rue de Monceau was run and owned by a guy by the name Richard, my friend , when I was there, but has changed ownership and management since then.

Willi’s Wine Bar

When I had visitors from the US,

Willi’s Wine Bar, 13 rue des Petits Champs, 75001 Paris

was the place to go to. In the first district, right in the center of right bank Paris, it is one of Paris’ classic wine bars with an excellent selection of French wines and it is a place where you would here some English at the bar. Willi’s wine bar was created by Mark Williamson and has become one of the meeting points of the Anglophones in Paris. It is very strong on Rhone wines, among others, and has half a dozen tables were you can have excellent French Bistro food.

Lavinia

When I had visitors from Germany, I would take them to

Lavinia – restaurant et bar a vin, 3-5 bd de la Madeleine,75001 Paris

Also on the right bank (I used to live on the right bank myself), Lavinia is one of the biggest wine shops in Paris, with a broad and deep selection of French wines, but also some New World wines. Upstairs there is a restaurant and a bar where you can drop in for a glass or a bottle of wine at the wine bar, until 8 pm. At the wine bar, you can choose any of the more than 5000 bottles they sell at the shop and just pay the shop price.