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Even the most ornery Scrooge would have to admit there’s something magical about St James’s and Mayfair in December – all the twinkly lights and extravagant window displays make it feel like a Christmas card. For wine and spirits lovers, it’s a destination that’s now more attractive than ever.
St James’s shopping list
Berry Bros & Rudd
From left: Beyoncé’s SirDavis Rye Whiskey, £79 for 70cl. No.3 Vesper Martini bottled cocktail, £30.50 for 50cl, bbr.com. Samaroli 1997 Caroni rum, £1,500 for 70cl
Justerini & Brooks
From left: Justerini & Brooks 275th Anniversary Bourgogne, £22.70 for 75cl. Justerini & Brooks 275th Anniversary Wine Case of Barbaresco Crichët Pajé Roagna 2016, Echezeaux Grand Cru Domaine du Comte Liger Belair 2013, and Château Lafleur Pomerol 2016, £5,400 (limited edition of 30)
Hedonism
From left: Amargo Chuncho Bitters, £13 for 7.5cl (essential to an authentic pisco sour). Miniature Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon, £35 for 5cl. Citizens of Soil 2023 Small Batch Andalucia extra virgin olive oil, £30 for 50cl
London’s oldest wine and spirits merchant, Berry Bros & Rudd, has been supplying drinks to famous patrons including Byron, Winston Churchill and the British royal family for more than 300 years. Its new star turn is its spirits shop, just a few doors down from the wonderfully creaky old HQ, stocking more than 1,000 bottlings, from rare whiskies through to the latest tequilas (some not available online). “We find wine sales tend to be a bit more transactional,” says BBR’s creative director Geordie Willis, “whereas spirits shoppers like to linger – they are very engaged.” The store’s restful oak stave-clad interior and bookshop-like displays are deliberately designed to encourage browsing.
BBR has long been famous for Scotch, but its selection of Japanese and American whiskies is also good – try Beyoncé’s new creation SirDavis (£79), a meaty rye whiskey, which was co-created with Glenmorangie’s Dr Bill Lumsden. Rum is a strong hand: highlights include exclusives from Foursquare, Barbados and a Samaroli bottling of 1997 Caroni (£1,500), a Trinidadian “ghost distillery”.
In the Reserve – a strong room with the really rare stuff – you’ll find recherché Macallans and old Chartreuse. At the other end of the scale, the signature Berry Bros aprons (£45) have also been proving popular souvenirs. The store hosts regular “barrel-top” tastings, ticketed evening events and, for Christmas, King’s Ginger Liqueur and mince pies on tap.
Just up the road in Burlington Arcade, Justerini & Brooks’s new “boutique” drinks shop and wine bar is styled in a similar manner to the Manolo Blahnik and Ladurée shops that surround it. The wine and whisky selection is concise. It’s where you might drop by in search of a nice bottle to take to a dinner party or have a post-shopping glass of champagne. The two-seater deco-style bar – plus a few more tables outside – serves a regularly changing selection of wines by the bottle and glass (from £13 for a glass of house champagne up to £75 for a glass of 2005 Château Palmer).
Upstairs on the first floor, overlooking the arcade, a 15-seater room furnished with ochre velvet banquettes, marble tables and herringbone parquet can be booked for wine tastings (from £500). And the tiny cellar downstairs is a brightly lit shrine to some of Diageo’s top drams (Diageo owns J&B), where you can ogle the likes of the Brora Tryptich, Port Ellen Prima & Ultima 40yo and several rare Johnnie Walkers (available for tasting, by appointment, POA). J&B is also currently in the process of revamping its headquarters on St James’s Street – the newly refurbished cellars will reopen for tastings and dinners in 2025.
The Christmas display at Hedonism Wines in Mayfair has been known to stop traffic – this year’s kerbside extravaganza is a fantastical gingerbread village. Inside, the theatre continues; I don’t know where else you can admire nebuchadnezzars of Sassicaia, vanishingly rare Japanese whiskies and a vertical of Château d’Yquem going back to 1811, all within the same four walls. New for this year is a vault in the basement displaying the unicorns of the red wine world: Romanée-Conti, Leroy, Pétrus, Lafite. Its champagne list has recently been expanded to encompass secret handshake growers like Georges Laval and Chavost. And the sake list is good too – the beautiful umeshus by Umeshuya (Torotoro No Umeshu, £50) would make a lovely present.
There are daily in-store tastings, and 48 wines available to try from an enomatic machine. And occasional wine dinners – a table for 14 was laid by the jeroboam display when I last visited. Hedonism is agile at gifting: the team can advise, wrap and ship to more than 30 countries. And just 10 minutes’ walk away is its new-look wine bar, The White Horse – a cosy spot where you can enjoy that Christmas bottle for £30 corkage, by the light of flickering candles.
