Gordon's Wine Bar
Gordon's Wine Bar, at 47, Villiers Street, London, is thought to be the oldest wine bar in London, and has been established since 1890. As you enter the bar, you'll see the old wooden walls covered in historical newspaper cuttings and memorabilia faded with age, and the atmospheric cellar is lit by candles. The bar sells a variety of wines including, Sherries, Madeiras and Ports which are served from the barrel. The building in which the bar is situated was home to Samuel Pepys in the 1680s and in 1820 by Minier & Fair, a firm of seedsmen who used it as a warehouse. This came to an abrupt end when, in 1864, the river was embanked and the warehouse landlocked, following which it was turned into accommodation and Gordon's wine bar began its life. Rudyard Kipling lived in the building in the 1890s as a tenant and famously wrote “The light that failed” in the parlour above the bar, the building is now named Kipling House. Angus Gordon who set up the bar in 1890 was one of the few remaining “free vintners” who were able to set up and sell wine anywhere without applying for a license as a result of Edward III’s Charter to them in 1364, granted as a result of his financial embarrassment at being unable to repay a loan made by the Vintners to him some years earlier! The current Gordon family who own the bar are not actually related to Angus Gordon but Luis Gordon, (now deceased), discovered the bar and took it over in 1975 so was able to maintain the Gordon name, and it is still run by his family.
