Last Tuesday my boyfriend and I attended the launch event for Papilles pop-up wine bar. For one month the old street cafe; Papilles at the Brew, becomes a wine bar at night. Owned by husband and wife team Anne Roque and Jonathan Dupont, Papilles offers guests Frapas (French tapas) and various types of carefully sourced and selected French wine.
Around 50% of the wine selections are available by the glass as well as 500ml carafe, which means you can sample the wide variety that Papilles has to offer.
On entering the cafe I noticed the minimal decor, with a serving area at the front and benches and bar stools
along the right. We were greeted by some of the staff and handed a glass of Champagne SANGER “An exquisite boutique champagne produced by the students and teachers of the winemaking school in Avize” which I can attest was really good, not too sweet and very reasonably priced.
After I finished my glass of champagne I was able to try all of the white wines available such as The Four Graces “A Pinot Blanc from Willamette Valley, California, produced by Laurent Montalieu of Médoc, France” and enjoy the accompanying cheeses, dips and charcuterie. Some of the cheeses were sourced from the local Borough Market, and some of the charcuterie, I’m told, ham from Nottingham forest. I wasn’t particularly fond of the dips, but I thoroughly enjoyed that one of my all time favourite cheeses, Comte, was part of the cheese selection.
After the white wines I was able to try the various red wines available such as Château de Chambert “A full bodied matured wine from the Cahors, the birthplace of Malbec”. My favourite of the night was called Ego, an organic blend from France which had a rather smokey after taste. I was told that “smokey taste” is referred to as “Leather” in the wine industry. Go figure.
The staff at Papilles were very knowledgeable about all of their products and were very friendly and inviting. Co-owner and sommelier Jonathan Dupont says, “Our aim is to share our love for wine by allowing people to experiment with new and exciting wines that are not marked up based on high margins. By offering excellent value for money wines we are making higher shelf wines more affordable to customer and spreading the appreciation for more unique small-scale producers.”
Papilles’ wines by the glass are available in tasting flights of three or five wines 50ml each. Papilles’ house wines start at £15 a bottle or £12 a 500ml carafe. Wines by the glass start at £3 per 125ml glass and £4 per 175ml glass.
Ideal for an after work drink or light evening meal, Papilles is an ideal choice in Old street. I really loved the selection of wines and their reasonable prices; as with so much gentrification going on in the neighbourhood, its encouraging to see that Papilles is appealing to a wide demographic. They even got a white wine depricator such as myself to enjoy pinot blanc!
For more information on Papilles, follow @Papilles_UK on Twitter and Instagram. To join in on the social media conversation, follow and use the #PapillesWineBar .
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Photos: Papilles Wine Bar
All the best,