We opened the first Bottle Apostle in July 2009 with the idea that a wine shop could cater as much to the wine novice as it does to the seasoned tippler. We believe customers should be able to explore wine without feeling intimidated simply because they might not know much about it. At the same time we strive to offer much more than the often predictable off-license or supermarket selections. We aim to carry a broad range of wines at various price points and believe anyone should be able to buy a great bottle at a competitive price, without compromising on flavour or quality.
All the wines sold in our shop and online are colour-coded, food matched and concisely described. You can sample from a rotating selection in our tasting machines at both shops. If you still have trouble deciding, then our qualified winos are on hand to share their knowledge - with none of the attitude - either in person or on bottleapostle.com. With a view to rewarding customers we now have Bottle Apostle loyalty cards which offer a discount after you've collected 9 stamps. If we forget to mention it please ask for one at the till.
Our self-service Enomatic® machines dispense wine directly from the bottle for a small fee – the wine samples are priced according to the value of the wine and are paid for using a free Bottle Apostle smart-card (available in-store).
If you're in London come visit us in Victoria Park, a corner of East London that has the feel of a dinky village - plus highly-rated restaurants and other great independent shops - yet is only a ten-minute drive from Liverpool Street station. Likewise, if you find yourself in Crouch End, a pretty and unique area of North London close to Alexandra Palace, pop into our second Bottle Apostle situated on Park Road.
At both shops we offer regular Wine Tasting events and courses, Supper Clubs featuring award-winning chefs (Supper Clubs are in the pipeline for Crouch End) and free tastings on Friday evenings of key wines we're featuring.
We were delighted when the Telegraph Magazine kindly awarded us Britain's Best Small Wine Shop in 2011 after only a short time of trading... And very recently, we were awarded "Small independent Merchant of the Year" by the IWC, with which we were equally chuffed! We hope you'll take the opportunity to pop into either shop and discover why.