Here Are The Prettiest Wine Bottles

Food & Drink / 5 months ago

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Wine cellar looking dusty? You’ll want to show off these bottles. Here are our top picks of the most pretty wine bottles and their pairing notes – plus a Q&A with David Farber, the wine expert who collaborated with Idris Elba to open Porte Noir, on how to pick the perfect wine. Pop these bottles open, and make sure to pop a candle in after to make a gorgeous DIY candlestick holder – you will want to save these! 

How To Pick The Perfect Wine

So, rather than just ‘judging a book by its cover’, what’s something to look for it in a bottle of wine?

This is a tricky question – some beautiful and famous wines are great but some are not. Unknown or unaesthetic bottles can be amazing. There’s no general rule, but one trick, the marketing, preconceived ideas and the setting we try wines can impact our experience of them. Rosé might taste amazing on holiday in the South of France but terrible on a cold day after a bad experience at the office. So – the best way to know if a wine is truly well-made, and to your taste, is to try it blind – hide the bottle in a bag and judge with your palate.

So: just try wine, and try a lot of it! Tell us the best wine you’ve ever had in otherwise bland packaging or a bland bottle?

There is a burgundy producer, Domaine de l’Arlot, in Nuits Saint George who makes incredible wines, but the label is the most austere and unattractive I’ve ever seen.

Idris and George launched wine bar Porte Noir near King’s Cross in 2021

And what about new wine trends… Should we buy into the organic and natural wine hype?

This is a controversial subject. At a high level, yes. It’s a good thing if a winery is environmentally friendly and intervening less in the process of wine-making. There are checks and certifications for organic and biodynamic, but not for natural wines. Organic and natural wines can be great or bad, just like traditional wines. I tend to split the wines between industrial wines and artisanal wines and you judge with my palate. Natural wines are sulfite-free but low level sulfite use is actually not that bad… If a natural wine smells funky or is a bit fizzy, this is not a reflection of the terroir, it’s a faulty wine.

Can you tell us a little bit more about how you got into wine?

My grandfather was a wine collector and wine lover and he passed his passion on to me from a young age. I’ll always remember the Sunday family lunches when he took me to his underground wine cellar to help him choose the bottles. It was like being a kid in a candy shop. And then the good moments around the table left strong memories linked to good wine and good food, and him making me try different wines.

And what would your top three ‘pretty’ wines be?

I like the funky shape of Gattinara Travaglini.

We have an Etna Rosso Vigne di Eli from a top producer, Marco de Grazia, who bought this vineyard for his daughter. His young daughter draws a different label for every vintage, I find it very cute.

Of course, I love the silver label on our champagne Porte Noire Grand Cru Vintage.

The Prettiest Wine Bottles For Your Wine Fridge