The 7 Best Wine Bars in Paris

A popular local hangout for raw seafood lovers and a practical pit stop for those looking for a cheap glass of a wine and a break from market ambling and shopping at the Marché d’Aligre, Le Baron Rouge is a small wine bar, but customers spill out into the street on winter weekends to purchase and suck down fresh oysters. The oysters come with just a bit of lemon and a slice of bread (cheese and charcuterie also an option), and the wine is poured straight from the barrel.

Open: Tuesday-Thursday 10am-2pm and 5pm-10pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-10pm, Sunday 10am-4pm.

Read related: Paris for Wine Lovers (Tasting, Touring, Learning)

Located around the corner from the famous Hotel Lutetia, Au Sauvignon has been owned and operated by the same family since 1954. The small, glass enclosed wine bar manages to come across as both cozy and chic thanks to the high-end clientele and old-fashioned decor. Despite the name which suggests the bar would specialize in Sauvignon varieties, this place is well known for its Beaujolais (light, fresh reds), and offers a wide sampling of some of the best varieties. Au Sauvignon also serves up delicious tartines (open-faced sandwiches) on Poilane bread.

Open: Monday-Saturday 8am-10pm, Sunday 10am-9pm. Closed in August.

A bar menu featuring natural wine and the fantastic home cooking of Raquel Carena bring locals and the occasional tourist alike to Le Baratin, a small, noisy wine bar located in the lively Belleville neighborhood in northeastern Paris. Reservations are recommended. The 16-euro lunch menu is one of the best deals in Paris (please note, prices are suspect to change at any time). 

Open: Daily except for Sunday and Monday

This cozy (read: tiny) wine bar nestled less than a block away from the trendy Canal St Martin area is the darling of the young foodie set. Owner Cyril Bordarier and chef Delphine Zampetti team up to offer an excellent selection of wines, small and large plates. There's a very good selection of organic wines and vintages from small, up-and-coming vintners. The cuisine is French and Spanish-inspired and based on the principal of simple but excellent ingredients: try the wonderful heirloom tomato salad or pan-seared octopus; the cheese and charcuterie plates are also excellent. The "cavistes" are always happy to recommend wines from the shelves to match your meal or palate. The place is small, so make sure to reserve several days ahead.

Open: Daily from 10:30 am to 2am; kitchen open from 12:30 to 2pm and from 7:30pm to 10:30pm.

The wine bar extension of Le Miroir, the bistro owned by Sébastian Guénard and Matthieu Buffet and located just across the street, the Cave offers simple appetizers (charcuterie, cheese and radishes) as well as a daily special, to accompany an eclectic wine list.

Open: Tuesday 2pm-8pm, Wednesday-Saturday 10am-8pm, Sunday 10am-1pm. Closed Mondays.

Located across the alley from Frenchie, a restaurant notoriously hard to get a reservation for, this wine bar annex offers small plates at small prices, with an international wine list featuring plenty of bottles accessible to most budgets. Don’t miss the house-smoked trout, one of head chef Gregory Marchand’s trademark dishes. The bar can only accommodate 15 people, so if you’re hoping to be seated quickly show up at 7 sharp.

Open: Monday-Friday 7pm-10:30pm. Closed weekends.

Located on the Western edge of the Latin Quarter, this wine bar is a focal point of the American community in Paris and a place where English is spoken more often then French. The bar is housed in an old fish shop and the owners have left up the art-deco mosaics from the market on the walls. Fish is a popular foodie spot, with a wine list selected by Juan Manchez, who owns the nearby wine store La Dernière Goutte. It also has numerous decent vegetarian options. 

Open: Daily, 12:30-2:30pm and 7:30-10:45pm.