Table of Content
5 Best Paris Wine Cellars and Wine Bars for American Wine Lovers in 2026
You did not fly to Paris to drink the same Bordeaux you can buy at home. You came for the cellar on rue de Lancry, the merchant on boulevard Haussmann who has been selling wine since 1850, the natural-wine list a chef pours alongside dinner in the 11th. Paris drinks differently than New York, and the gap is where the interesting bottles live.
We asked our American clients which addresses they keep returning to: collectors building a Champagne stash, couples on a wine-themed weekend, food-and-wine writers stocking the apartment for a long stay. Five names came up. Here are the best Paris wine cellars and wine bars for American wine lovers, with notes on where to drink, where to buy bottles to take home, and where to taste under guidance.
Contents
- La Cave de l'Insolite — The Natural-Wine Pioneer of the 11th
- Le Verre Volé — The Original Cave-Restaurant on Canal Saint-Martin
- Caves Augé — Hemingway's Wine Merchant Since 1850
- Lavinia — Six Thousand Bottles on Boulevard de la Madeleine
- Septime La Cave — Bertrand Grébaut's Modern Natural List
- The Merveil Paris Experience
- Direct Booking Benefits and Personalized Support
La Cave de l'Insolite — The Natural-Wine Pioneer of the 11th
The address is 30 rue de la Folie-Méricourt, in the 11th, a five-minute walk from Oberkampf. La Cave de l'Insolite opened before natural wine became the New York buzzword it is today, and the owner has been pouring small-grower bottles for years. The shop reads like a corner store and pours like a Brooklyn wine bar with a deeper bench.
By the Glass, Then by the Bottle
You walk in around 6 p.m., grab a stool at the wood counter, and ask what is open. Five or six bottles pour at any moment, all from growers most American sommeliers chase by phone: Bornard from the Jura, Cousin from Anjou, Plageoles from Gaillac. You taste, talk to whoever is at the counter, and leave with the bottle you liked. Glasses run six to ten euros; bottles start around eighteen.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Come if you already drink natural wine and want growers you cannot find on the East Coast. Come also if you are curious and want a friendly room to learn in. The staff steers a beginner toward something low-intervention but easy. Saturday late afternoon fills up fast, so plan a Tuesday or Wednesday if you want a real conversation.
Le Verre Volé — The Original Cave-Restaurant on Canal Saint-Martin
Le Verre Volé sits at 67 rue de Lancry, two blocks from the canal. Cyril Bordarier opened it in 2000 and effectively invented the French cave-restaurant model: wines on the wall, a short menu of pork rillettes and steak tartare, and the rule that any bottle on the shelf can be opened at the table for a small corkage. Most Paris natural-wine bars built since are sons and daughters of this room.
How the Cave-Restaurant Works
You sit at one of fourteen seats, pick a bottle off the wall, and the waiter pours it with whatever you ordered. The list runs deep into Loire, Beaujolais, the Auvergne, with several gros rouges from grandparent generations. Reservations are tight. Book ten days out for dinner, or walk in at 12:30 p.m. for lunch. Plates run twelve to twenty-four euros; the bottle markup is the fairest in central Paris.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Le Verre Volé suits the traveler who wants a single elegant evening that is also a wine education. You eat well, drink something you have likely never seen, and the waiter answers questions without theater. The small shop next door, run by the same owner, sells the same bottles for retail. Walk out with three or four for the week ahead.
Caves Augé — Hemingway's Wine Merchant Since 1850
Caves Augé stands at 116 boulevard Haussmann, in the 8th, near Saint-Augustin. It is the oldest wine merchant in Paris, opened in 1850, and the shopfront has barely moved since. Hemingway came here when he was living in the Latin Quarter and walked across the river for a serious bottle. The shelves still run floor to ceiling, and the team knows what is in every box.
The Saturday Tasting in the Courtyard
If you can plan one Saturday around it, do. From late winter through spring, Caves Augé hosts free courtyard tastings most Saturday afternoons, with a different grower pouring each week. You stand elbow to elbow with Parisian collectors and a few sommeliers from London and Tokyo, talking through six or seven cuvées with the winemaker. No reservation, no fee. Bring a tote.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Caves Augé is the merchant for the buyer who wants serious provenance. Burgundy collectors come here because the shop has held mature vintages from premier-cru growers for years. Champagne lovers come for the small grower-producer selection that even Manhattan retailers do not stock. Ask for the head buyer and tell him what you already have. He will read you in five minutes.
Lavinia — Six Thousand Bottles on Boulevard de la Madeleine
Lavinia opened at 3 boulevard de la Madeleine in 2002 and remains the largest wine retail surface in Paris. Six thousand references across three floors, a tasting bar where any open bottle pours by the glass, and the only Champagne wall in the city where you can buy nearly every house and grower by the single bottle. If Caves Augé is the old guild merchant, Lavinia is the modern department store.
The Champagne Wall and the Le Bourget Order
The Champagne floor alone is worth the visit. Krug, Salon, Selosse, Egly-Ouriet, Ulysse Collin, Bérêche. Most of the names you would queue for in Manhattan are here, often at the same price as in France. For travelers using Le Bourget, Lavinia handles gift orders directly to private terminals: pick the bottles, give the team your departure detail, and the cases meet you on the tarmac.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Come to Lavinia for range, a precise quote in dollars and euros, and a calm room to compare three cuvées. The staff speaks English and expects American clients. It is also the easiest answer when you are buying twenty bottles for an event, a gift case for a colleague back home, or a single magnum for the apartment.
Septime La Cave — Bertrand Grébaut's Modern Natural List
Septime La Cave is the wine annex of Septime, the Michelin-starred restaurant Bertrand Grébaut opened in the 11th in 2011. The cave sits at 3 rue Basfroid, two blocks from the restaurant, and works as both a retail shop and a stand-up wine bar with a tight food menu. The list is the cleanest natural-wine selection in Paris under one roof.
Drink the List the Chef Pours at Dinner
The bottles on the wall are a near-mirror of the Septime restaurant list, edited for a more relaxed evening. You stand at the marble counter, order a saucisson and a plate of comté, and ask the team to open whatever is drinking best. Many guests pair the cave with a Septime reservation for the next evening: taste here first, then sit down for the seven-course dinner with a clearer sense of what you want. Septime reservations open three weeks out and disappear in minutes; the cave takes walk-ins until 11 p.m.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Septime La Cave is for the traveler who wants a guided tasting under a chef's editorial eye. The team treats the list as a single curatorial statement. Bring a notebook. The retail prices are the same as the bar prices, which is rare in Paris and unheard of in any equivalent New York wine bar.
The Merveil Paris Experience
Knowing where to drink and where to buy is half of a wine-themed stay. The other half is the apartment that holds your case at the end of the day, and the team that helps you ship the rest home. Merveil Paris bridges the privacy of a Parisian residence with the discipline of a five-star hotel, and that includes the part where your bottles arrive at JFK in one piece.
Residences in the Six Districts That Match Each Address
Our apartments sit in the Marais, Saint-Germain, Trocadéro, around Notre-Dame, near the Louvre, and along the Champs-Élysées. Each one is within walking or short-cab range of the cellars on this list. Pick your district by the way you want to drink:
| Cellar | Best Merveil District | Best For | Signature Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Cave de l'Insolite | Le Marais | Natural-wine drinkers | Counter pour, take home |
| Le Verre Volé | Le Marais / Notre-Dame | Single great evening | Pick the bottle off the wall |
| Caves Augé | Champs-Élysées | Burgundy, grower Champagne | Saturday courtyard tasting |
| Lavinia | Louvre / Champs-Élysées | Range, gifting, Le Bourget | Champagne wall by the bottle |
| Septime La Cave | Le Marais (11th adjacent) | Guided tasting | Mirror of the Michelin list |
Five-Star Service for the Bottles You Carry Home
You will have a 24/7 concierge who can hold temperature-controlled storage for cases between purchases, book a private wine class with a sommelier at the apartment, and coordinate export shipping to the U.S. with a licensed broker. The team also handles transfer to Charles de Gaulle, Orly, or Le Bourget, with insulated wine carriers when you fly private.
Direct Booking Benefits and Personalized Support
Booking directly with Merveil Paris is the most efficient way to start a wine-focused stay. You deal with our team end to end, with no third-party platform fees and a flexible 14-day cancellation window on most reservations.
Best Rates and Real People
Reserve through merveil-paris.com and you are guaranteed the most competitive rate. You also get a direct line to our office on rue Royale: a real human, in English, who answers within hours. Whether you need a private appointment at Caves Augé, a Septime reservation already full online, or a chauffeured car to Champagne, our concierge handles it before you arrive.
A Welcome Detail You Will Remember
Guests who confirm a reservation this week receive a complimentary bottle of champagne in the apartment on arrival. We pour a grower Champagne we keep in rotation, not a generic house bottle. For a bespoke proposal, call our advisors at +33 1 76 38 11 02 or visit merveil-paris.com. We are available 24/7.
FAQ
Which Paris wine cellar is best for an American natural-wine drinker?
La Cave de l'Insolite at 30 rue de la Folie-Méricourt is the closest match. It opened before the natural-wine wave hit American retail, the staff knows the growers personally, and you can drink five or six bottles by the glass before deciding what to take home. Septime La Cave on rue Basfroid is a close runner-up.
Where do I buy serious Burgundy or grower Champagne in Paris?
Caves Augé at 116 boulevard Haussmann is the historic answer. The shop has been open since 1850, holds mature vintages most American retailers cannot source, and runs free Saturday tastings with growers in the courtyard. Lavinia at 3 boulevard de la Madeleine gives you the broadest single Champagne wall in Paris.
Can I ship wine from Paris back to the United States?
Yes, with the right broker. Lavinia and Caves Augé both work with licensed export partners who handle U.S. customs paperwork. Your Merveil concierge can coordinate pickup, temperature-controlled storage, and shipment to a residential or commercial address in any U.S. state that allows direct import. Plan two to four weeks for delivery.
Should I book a wine tasting or just walk in?
Both work, depending on the address. Caves Augé Saturday tastings are walk-in and free. Le Verre Volé and Septime La Cave take walk-ins for the bar but require reservations for the table: book ten days to three weeks ahead. For a guided tasting across all five cellars, ask your concierge to arrange a private day with a sommelier.
5 Best Paris Wine Cellars and Wine Bars for American Wine Lovers in 2026
You did not fly to Paris to drink the same Bordeaux you can buy at home. You came for the cellar on rue de Lancry, the merchant on boulevard Haussmann who has been selling wine since 1850, the natural-wine list a chef pours alongside dinner in the 11th. Paris drinks differently than New York, and the gap is where the interesting bottles live.
We asked our American clients which addresses they keep returning to: collectors building a Champagne stash, couples on a wine-themed weekend, food-and-wine writers stocking the apartment for a long stay. Five names came up. Here are the best Paris wine cellars and wine bars for American wine lovers, with notes on where to drink, where to buy bottles to take home, and where to taste under guidance.
Contents
- La Cave de l'Insolite — The Natural-Wine Pioneer of the 11th
- Le Verre Volé — The Original Cave-Restaurant on Canal Saint-Martin
- Caves Augé — Hemingway's Wine Merchant Since 1850
- Lavinia — Six Thousand Bottles on Boulevard de la Madeleine
- Septime La Cave — Bertrand Grébaut's Modern Natural List
- The Merveil Paris Experience
- Direct Booking Benefits and Personalized Support
La Cave de l'Insolite — The Natural-Wine Pioneer of the 11th
The address is 30 rue de la Folie-Méricourt, in the 11th, a five-minute walk from Oberkampf. La Cave de l'Insolite opened before natural wine became the New York buzzword it is today, and the owner has been pouring small-grower bottles for years. The shop reads like a corner store and pours like a Brooklyn wine bar with a deeper bench.
By the Glass, Then by the Bottle
You walk in around 6 p.m., grab a stool at the wood counter, and ask what is open. Five or six bottles pour at any moment, all from growers most American sommeliers chase by phone: Bornard from the Jura, Cousin from Anjou, Plageoles from Gaillac. You taste, talk to whoever is at the counter, and leave with the bottle you liked. Glasses run six to ten euros; bottles start around eighteen.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Come if you already drink natural wine and want growers you cannot find on the East Coast. Come also if you are curious and want a friendly room to learn in. The staff steers a beginner toward something low-intervention but easy. Saturday late afternoon fills up fast, so plan a Tuesday or Wednesday if you want a real conversation.
Le Verre Volé — The Original Cave-Restaurant on Canal Saint-Martin
Le Verre Volé sits at 67 rue de Lancry, two blocks from the canal. Cyril Bordarier opened it in 2000 and effectively invented the French cave-restaurant model: wines on the wall, a short menu of pork rillettes and steak tartare, and the rule that any bottle on the shelf can be opened at the table for a small corkage. Most Paris natural-wine bars built since are sons and daughters of this room.
How the Cave-Restaurant Works
You sit at one of fourteen seats, pick a bottle off the wall, and the waiter pours it with whatever you ordered. The list runs deep into Loire, Beaujolais, the Auvergne, with several gros rouges from grandparent generations. Reservations are tight. Book ten days out for dinner, or walk in at 12:30 p.m. for lunch. Plates run twelve to twenty-four euros; the bottle markup is the fairest in central Paris.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Le Verre Volé suits the traveler who wants a single elegant evening that is also a wine education. You eat well, drink something you have likely never seen, and the waiter answers questions without theater. The small shop next door, run by the same owner, sells the same bottles for retail. Walk out with three or four for the week ahead.
Caves Augé — Hemingway's Wine Merchant Since 1850
Caves Augé stands at 116 boulevard Haussmann, in the 8th, near Saint-Augustin. It is the oldest wine merchant in Paris, opened in 1850, and the shopfront has barely moved since. Hemingway came here when he was living in the Latin Quarter and walked across the river for a serious bottle. The shelves still run floor to ceiling, and the team knows what is in every box.
The Saturday Tasting in the Courtyard
If you can plan one Saturday around it, do. From late winter through spring, Caves Augé hosts free courtyard tastings most Saturday afternoons, with a different grower pouring each week. You stand elbow to elbow with Parisian collectors and a few sommeliers from London and Tokyo, talking through six or seven cuvées with the winemaker. No reservation, no fee. Bring a tote.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Caves Augé is the merchant for the buyer who wants serious provenance. Burgundy collectors come here because the shop has held mature vintages from premier-cru growers for years. Champagne lovers come for the small grower-producer selection that even Manhattan retailers do not stock. Ask for the head buyer and tell him what you already have. He will read you in five minutes.
Lavinia — Six Thousand Bottles on Boulevard de la Madeleine
Lavinia opened at 3 boulevard de la Madeleine in 2002 and remains the largest wine retail surface in Paris. Six thousand references across three floors, a tasting bar where any open bottle pours by the glass, and the only Champagne wall in the city where you can buy nearly every house and grower by the single bottle. If Caves Augé is the old guild merchant, Lavinia is the modern department store.
The Champagne Wall and the Le Bourget Order
The Champagne floor alone is worth the visit. Krug, Salon, Selosse, Egly-Ouriet, Ulysse Collin, Bérêche. Most of the names you would queue for in Manhattan are here, often at the same price as in France. For travelers using Le Bourget, Lavinia handles gift orders directly to private terminals: pick the bottles, give the team your departure detail, and the cases meet you on the tarmac.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Come to Lavinia for range, a precise quote in dollars and euros, and a calm room to compare three cuvées. The staff speaks English and expects American clients. It is also the easiest answer when you are buying twenty bottles for an event, a gift case for a colleague back home, or a single magnum for the apartment.
Septime La Cave — Bertrand Grébaut's Modern Natural List
Septime La Cave is the wine annex of Septime, the Michelin-starred restaurant Bertrand Grébaut opened in the 11th in 2011. The cave sits at 3 rue Basfroid, two blocks from the restaurant, and works as both a retail shop and a stand-up wine bar with a tight food menu. The list is the cleanest natural-wine selection in Paris under one roof.
Drink the List the Chef Pours at Dinner
The bottles on the wall are a near-mirror of the Septime restaurant list, edited for a more relaxed evening. You stand at the marble counter, order a saucisson and a plate of comté, and ask the team to open whatever is drinking best. Many guests pair the cave with a Septime reservation for the next evening: taste here first, then sit down for the seven-course dinner with a clearer sense of what you want. Septime reservations open three weeks out and disappear in minutes; the cave takes walk-ins until 11 p.m.
The Right Buyer for This Address
Septime La Cave is for the traveler who wants a guided tasting under a chef's editorial eye. The team treats the list as a single curatorial statement. Bring a notebook. The retail prices are the same as the bar prices, which is rare in Paris and unheard of in any equivalent New York wine bar.
The Merveil Paris Experience
Knowing where to drink and where to buy is half of a wine-themed stay. The other half is the apartment that holds your case at the end of the day, and the team that helps you ship the rest home. Merveil Paris bridges the privacy of a Parisian residence with the discipline of a five-star hotel, and that includes the part where your bottles arrive at JFK in one piece.
Residences in the Six Districts That Match Each Address
Our apartments sit in the Marais, Saint-Germain, Trocadéro, around Notre-Dame, near the Louvre, and along the Champs-Élysées. Each one is within walking or short-cab range of the cellars on this list. Pick your district by the way you want to drink:
| Cellar | Best Merveil District | Best For | Signature Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Cave de l'Insolite | Le Marais | Natural-wine drinkers | Counter pour, take home |
| Le Verre Volé | Le Marais / Notre-Dame | Single great evening | Pick the bottle off the wall |
| Caves Augé | Champs-Élysées | Burgundy, grower Champagne | Saturday courtyard tasting |
| Lavinia | Louvre / Champs-Élysées | Range, gifting, Le Bourget | Champagne wall by the bottle |
| Septime La Cave | Le Marais (11th adjacent) | Guided tasting | Mirror of the Michelin list |
Five-Star Service for the Bottles You Carry Home
You will have a 24/7 concierge who can hold temperature-controlled storage for cases between purchases, book a private wine class with a sommelier at the apartment, and coordinate export shipping to the U.S. with a licensed broker. The team also handles transfer to Charles de Gaulle, Orly, or Le Bourget, with insulated wine carriers when you fly private.
Direct Booking Benefits and Personalized Support
Booking directly with Merveil Paris is the most efficient way to start a wine-focused stay. You deal with our team end to end, with no third-party platform fees and a flexible 14-day cancellation window on most reservations.
Best Rates and Real People
Reserve through merveil-paris.com and you are guaranteed the most competitive rate. You also get a direct line to our office on rue Royale: a real human, in English, who answers within hours. Whether you need a private appointment at Caves Augé, a Septime reservation already full online, or a chauffeured car to Champagne, our concierge handles it before you arrive.
A Welcome Detail You Will Remember
Guests who confirm a reservation this week receive a complimentary bottle of champagne in the apartment on arrival. We pour a grower Champagne we keep in rotation, not a generic house bottle. For a bespoke proposal, call our advisors at +33 1 76 38 11 02 or visit merveil-paris.com. We are available 24/7.
FAQ
Which Paris wine cellar is best for an American natural-wine drinker?
La Cave de l'Insolite at 30 rue de la Folie-Méricourt is the closest match. It opened before the natural-wine wave hit American retail, the staff knows the growers personally, and you can drink five or six bottles by the glass before deciding what to take home. Septime La Cave on rue Basfroid is a close runner-up.
Where do I buy serious Burgundy or grower Champagne in Paris?
Caves Augé at 116 boulevard Haussmann is the historic answer. The shop has been open since 1850, holds mature vintages most American retailers cannot source, and runs free Saturday tastings with growers in the courtyard. Lavinia at 3 boulevard de la Madeleine gives you the broadest single Champagne wall in Paris.
Can I ship wine from Paris back to the United States?
Yes, with the right broker. Lavinia and Caves Augé both work with licensed export partners who handle U.S. customs paperwork. Your Merveil concierge can coordinate pickup, temperature-controlled storage, and shipment to a residential or commercial address in any U.S. state that allows direct import. Plan two to four weeks for delivery.
Should I book a wine tasting or just walk in?
Both work, depending on the address. Caves Augé Saturday tastings are walk-in and free. Le Verre Volé and Septime La Cave take walk-ins for the bar but require reservations for the table: book ten days to three weeks ahead. For a guided tasting across all five cellars, ask your concierge to arrange a private day with a sommelier.
