Gordon's: Oldest Wine Bar In London

Gordon’s Wine Bar is considered the oldest wine bar in London.  Really?  Gordon’s only started uncorking bottles in 1890 and London’s been selling wine since Roman times!  (Londinium) True, but Gordon’s was the first wine BAR.  And, they don’t sell other adult beverages.  No beer.  No spirits.

Except for a little wear and tear, it looks about the same as it would have looked in the Victorian era, and in the same historic building.

Getting to Gordon’s is an adventure.

You work your ass off finding 47 Villiers Street London WC2N 6NE.

Embankment is the closest tube stop.  Then you wonder if you’ve really found it.  A small alley offers plein air seating, but doesn’t seem attached to anything.  A closer look reveals a few rickety stairs leading into a cellar.  The entry appears a little grungy, but what the hell, you’ve come this far and siphoned off enough beer along the way to have several barkeeps say “Holy shit!”  A little grunge?  Bring it on!

The entry and bar area is small and elbow-to-elbow with thirsty Brits.  Gotta be something special about this hole-in-the-wall.  Atmosphere. The ancient walls are plastered with old newspaper clippings and posters and photos.  The bar is small, rustic and swarming. An enthusiastic crowd is either sipping or waiting, or chewing on olives and cheese.  Big wooden barrels promise glasses of sherry from the tap.  Open bottles of wine stand in regimental order.  

Salads, cheeses, and tubs of olives beckon. Away from the bar, bricked caves offer hewn wooden tables and wellworn chairs.  So dark in the caves you could meet your girlfriend with your wife sitting right beside you…I mean in theory you could.

This place is a melting pot, a social leveler.  Tattooed men and women in t-shirts share gossip with men in suits and fashionable women.  Backpacks rest on the floor next to briefcases.

Is this London or a hidden bodega in backstreet Madrid?  The redolence of wine and olives is like nothing I’ve experienced outside of Spain.  Hemingwayesque.  Yes, you can swill wine (which we did), munch olives (which we also did) and write a novel, which we didn’t do because at this point several curvy women started asking us for our phone numbers….well, they didn’t actually ask, but we insisted.

Speaking of novels, the building has a long, luxurious literary history.  Samuel Pepys lived here in 1688.  Francis Bacon was born here in 1579.  In 1890, Ruyard Kipling wrote “The Light that Failed” in the parlor above the bar.  Chesterton also used the parlor to good advantage.

But, to really get in the historic mood, let’s trot back a few centuries.  The building was first mentioned in 1237 and was then owned by the Bishops of Norwich.  Gallop forward to 1364 and the rein of Edward III.  Seems vintners loaned the king large sums, which he was unable to repay. So, he more or less told them “Boys, here’s what I’ll do for ye…Ye can sell wine anywhere and ye won’t even have to buy a license!”  What a pal.  Those so graced were titled “Free Vintners.”

I won’t bore you with every century’s change of ownership (not to mention changes in the street and building  and even the River Thames).  But you should know the original building burned in 1684 and was rebuilt four years later.  A little item called the Great Fire of London (1666) probably prevented an earlier rebuild.

In 1890, Angus Stafford Gordon opened the bar.  Angus was one of the last of the “Free Vintners.”

Where there’s a bar there are women.  All sorts of women.  In 1923, one Alfred Frederick Joyce stood convicted and fined for running a brothel in the building.

See how ruthless governments can be!  Sorta cuts down on anybody ordering a bottle of horizontal wine, wink, wink.  Governments are also shortsighted. The place is still packed with women, only now they don’t charge.  Way to kill off taxable income, boys.

In 1972, something strange happened. Luis Gordon noticed the bar with his name on it and bought the place.  After he died, his son, the current owner, Simon Gordon, took over.  And so, one of the most hidden and interesting places to sip some grape continues to attract crowds.  It’s like walking into your favorite backstreet bar that you’ve never been to before.

By the way, I can’t remember the name of the first, or second, or third glass of wine I sipped, but I’m pretty sure all three tasted really good.

http://gordonswinebar.com