Sager & Wilde

Address: 193 Hackney Rd, London, E2 8JL, United Kingdom
Door: Open door
Style: Wine bar
Food: Bar Snacks

Review

This wine bar, which opened in summer 2013, serves great wine in a stylish, urban but unpretentious setting. The elegant, one-room corner site on up-and-coming Hackney Road is just the type of thing an area needs to propel it from up-and-coming Shoreditch wannabe to a destination in its own right. A utilitarian, industrial design aesthetic includes bare brick walls, a novel bar-top made out of cast iron pavement lights and old gin bottles used as water carafes. Early doors, light filters in moodily through Venetian blinds - the rest of the time it's candlelight only = instant atmosphere.

Husband and wife team Michael and Charlotte Sager Wilde are behind the concept, which boasts a small selection of good quality, daily changing wines from established producers and left-field new bottlings - just enough to tick a list of different styles, and all limited to one side of A4 - a longer 'market list is available. Expect to pay from £5-£14.50 per glass, and from £27.50-£156 per bottle. Knowledgeable staff further keep things democratic and approachable by talking through the choice for wine rookies - and if they really can't convince you there's always a selection of vermouths, sherries and locally brewed beer.