The Best Wine Bars in Paris

What to Know About the Paris Wine Scene

Looking for a good wine bar in Paris may seem straightforward, but once you start searching, you’ll see terms like “bar à vin”, “cave à vin”, and “cave à manger”, and you might find it more confusing than you first thought. Here’s what to know when choosing where to go for wine in Paris.

What is a Bar à Vin ?

Bar à vin translates literally to wine bar. Bars à vins serve wine by the glass and by the bottle, to be consumed there (sur place).

What is a Cave à Vin ?

Meaning wine cellar, a cave à vin is more wine shop than wine bar, selling wine by the bottle, in general, not to be consumed on site. Many wine cellars do also have tasting rooms (salles de dégustation) where patrons can taste wines by the glass or by the bottle.

What is a Cave à Manger ?

The translation of this one’s a bit trickier — word-for-word, it means eating cellar (not very appetizing, we know), but essentially, a cave à manger is a wine shop with a tasting room where they also serve snacks.

Halfway between a wine cellar and a tapas bar, the main focus here remains selling wine by the bottle, with the small dishes serving just to better appreciate the wine.

Due to liquor licensing rules, you can’t drink your wine at a cave à manger unless you get something to eat, so you will have to order food if you want to taste wines by the glass or bottle at the bar.

The concept’s fairly simple: order some charcuterie (or another item off la carte), then order a glass of wine or buy a bottle at caviste prices — meaning much cheaper than you’d normally pay for a bottle of wine at a restaurant or bar. You usually also have to pay a corking fee though, ranging from 3-8€.