The best wine bars in Soho

The best wine bar in Soho is The Black Book, a basement on Frith Street run by two Master Sommeliers, and the order is whatever they are pouring from the Coravin cellar tonight. Soho has always been a place to drink wine with your elbows on a small table, and the new wave of bars has only made it better. Here is where we go, glass by glass.

The Black Book, Frith Street

Gearoid Devaney and Xavier Rousset, both Master Sommeliers, run this basement off Old Compton Street. It pours one of the biggest by-the-glass lists in London, drawn from a walk-in Coravin cellar, which means serious bottles opened by the glass. It opens Wednesday to Saturday, with Italo-American small plates and grills, and members can stay on after 1am. Go late, and ask for something you could never justify by the bottle.

Bar Crispin, 19 Kingly Street

The Carnaby end of Soho, with a list of around 150 low-intervention wines, mostly European. The focus is on the Loire, Beaujolais, Savoie and the Jura, with volcanic wines from Tenerife, Sicily and Greece. It is open from noon until half nine, Monday to Saturday. Order a glass from the Loire with the crab rarebit, and the fries.

Ducksoup, 41 Dean Street

Ducksoup is the Dean Street natural wine room, compact and informal. The by-the-glass and cellar lists change daily, curated by Bertie King, and head chef Tom Lake cooks relaxed Mediterranean food. Lunch runs Wednesday to Saturday. Sit at the bar, order whatever is newest on the by-the-glass list, and let them choose the next one.

Noble Rot Soho, Greek Street

Noble Rot took over the old Gay Hussar, and the room still feels like a corner of old Soho. The list is classic Europe, heavy on Burgundy, Bordeaux and the Rhône. It is licensed as a restaurant, so you must eat, and there is a set lunch every day it opens, Monday to Saturday. Book lunch and order a white Burgundy by the glass with whatever fish is on.

Forza Wine Soho, Manette Street

The third Forza Wine, after Peckham and the National Theatre, with a terrace off Charing Cross Road. Time Out found bread and butter at £3 and a white vermouth on the rocks, the Forza fiver, at £5. The wines are natural and mostly Italian: orange, chilled reds and Lambrusco. Order the cauliflower fritti with aioli and a glass of Lambrusco, and finish with a custardo, espresso with house custard, also £5.

Andrew Edmunds, 46 Lexington Street

Not a wine bar, but the reason many of us learned to drink wine in Soho. Andrew Edmunds has a list of older and rare vintages priced nearer to retail than to restaurant, in a candlelit Georgian room. Book a table and order the bottle you would normally only read about.

Two more for a glass

• The Shaston Arms, 4-6 Ganton Street. A pub with a list of low-intervention European wines. Order a glass and the onion rings on liver mousse.
• The Mulwray, above The Blue Posts, 8 Rupert Street. A first-floor bar from The Palomar team, on the Chinatown edge of Soho. Order a glass of something French and a saffron negroni for the walk home.

Wine with dinner

Some of the best glasses in Soho are poured in restaurants rather than bars. Three we rate:

• Kid, 53-55 Frith Street. The new Anatolian grill pours eastern European wines, and an orange wine Cosmopolitan for the brave. Order a glass of something eastern European with the sucuk.
• Osteria Vibrato, 6 Greek Street. Italian wine in fishbowl glasses, by candlelight, with a waiter at the piano. Order a bottle of red for the table and the rigatoni alla gricia.
• The French House, 49 Dean Street. Around 30 champagnes and wines by the glass in a pub that only does halves of beer. Order a glass of champagne at the bar at six.

Drinking wine in Soho, the rules

Most of these rooms are small, so book where you can and go early where you cannot. Ask for a taste: every bar on this list would rather pour you a sip than a glass you do not like. And trust the by-the-glass list, because in Soho, that is where the bars put their best ideas. Our evening: a vermouth on the Forza terrace at six, dinner at Ducksoup, and a last glass in The Black Book basement when everyone else is heading for the night bus.