It's not often that Londonist gets to try lots of different wines for less than a tenner. So we were excited to hear about The Sampler, a new wine store on Upper Street in Islington, that lets you try before you by.
On a recent weekday evening, one dog and two very friendly, knowledgeable, non-pushy salespeople helped guide us through ten wines from a variety of regions. The Sampler uses the Enomatic Wine Serving System to deliver a perfect tasting-amount of any wine on offer. It's one of the first establishments in London to use the Enomatic system.
Buy a Sampler Top-Up card upon entering, and make your way from one end of the globe to the other, helping yourself to 25 mL pours along the way. (You use your Sampler card—pictured—in the Enomatic like you would your bank card at a cash machine.) 25 mL servings range from less than a pound to, well, quite a lot more than that when you get into their Icon range...Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Grands Echezeaux 2000 anyone?
The Sampler
266 Upper Street
Islington
London N1 2UQ
tel. +44 207 226 9500