Yuki Bar, a beautiful natural wine bar in London
Yuki Bar instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yukibar.london/?hl=en
Tucked away in a surprising location in London Fields is one of London’s newest and most interesting natural wine bars. Yuki Bar is named after its owner, Yukiyasu Kaneko, who has experience working in natural wine hot spots Noma and P Franco.
It’s a beautiful space, with around 20 covers. Food isn’t strictly Japanese, but has strong Japanese influence.
This is all about the art of hospitality. Making people feel welcome and giving them good interesting healthful things to eat and drink, in a setting with a strong sense of the aesthetic. The focus is clearly on the wines, and this isn’t just another lookalike selection of the same old standards – it’s a carefully chosen range, and because of the rarity of many of the bottles, even someone who follows the natty scene quite closely (that is, me) will be grateful of some guidance. And this is the sort of place that can give that guidance.
We drank:
Maupertuis Pink Bulles 2023 Auvergne, France
Pale crisp, linear and delicious with lovely citrus core and some redcurrant brightness. Such focus and so refreshing. 90
Jean-Yves Péron Champ Levat 2021 Savoie, France
9.5% alcohol. This is Mondeuse from Savoie. So fresh crunchy and delicious with tart cranberries and raspberry, but also some flesh and richness. So fine and refined. Wild strawberries, minerals and herbs and lovely peppery notes. Great drinkability here, and just a touch of nice wildness (there’s a hint of lift which emerges as the wine warms), finishing tart. Lovely acidity. 94/100
La Perdida O Pando 2020 Valdeorras, Galicia, Spain
Godello fermented naturally in clay with no added sulfites. Full yellow colour. Fresh, lively and intense with apricot and lime bookending some ripe pear and apple. Finely spiced and with nice focus and a really nice stony minerality. 93/100
We ate:
