Quick answer: For natural wine, go to Loose Canon on Drury Street or Frank’s on Camden Street. For the best wine by the glass, try Bar Pez on Kevin Street. For a huge list, there’s Ely Wine Bar on Ely Place. Piglet in Temple Bar and Note on Fenian Street are the ones to pick when you want good food with your wine.
Dublin’s wine bars range from a place that calls itself Ireland’s original wine bar, open since 1999, to small natural wine bars with a handful of tables. These are the twelve we’d send a friend to, and most of them are a short walk from each other around Drury Street, George’s Street and Ely Place.
The best wine bars in Dublin
Loose Canon
Where: 29 Drury Street, Dublin 2 (on the Drury Street side of George’s Street Arcade)
Loose Canon started Dublin’s natural wine wave when it opened in 2018. It’s a small wine shop and bar with Irish farmhouse cheese and its famous toasties. You can take a bottle off the shelf and drink it there for a corkage fee. Star Wine List includes it in its Dublin guide.
Website: loosecanon.ie
Bar Pez
Where: Unit 3, College Court, Kevin Street Lower, Dublin
From the team behind the Fish Shop, Bar Pez does Basque-style seafood tapas. Its list is arranged as Ocean, River and Mountain, and a Coravin lets it pour good bottles by the glass. Star Wine List named it By the Glass List of the Year.
Website: barpez.ie
Ely Wine Bar
Where: 22 Ely Place, Dublin 2
Ely opened in 1999 and calls itself Ireland’s original wine bar. The list runs to more than 1,200 wines, with one of the longest by-the-glass selections in Dublin. Wednesday is its wine night.
Website: elywinebar.com
Piglet Wine Bar
Where: 5 Cow’s Lane, Temple Bar, Dublin 2
Piglet’s list runs to 27 pages, split into “usual” and “weird” (the natural wines), with magnums and older vintages for a celebration. The food is Italian osteria-style plates, and there’s a mezzanine upstairs. The Irish Times included it in its pick of restaurants with winning wine lists.
Website: pigletwinebar.ie
Note
Where: 26 Fenian Street, Dublin 2
Note pours natural, producer-led wines, including grower Champagnes. The kitchen is just as good: the Irish Times gave it a glowing review. Book if you want to eat.
Website: notedublin.com
Frank’s
Where: Camden Street Lower, Dublin 2 (in a former butcher’s shop)
A small natural and low-intervention wine bar around a marble communal table, with some wine on tap and regular winemaker events. It’s walk-in only, so arrive early on a Friday.
Website: franksdublin.com
Green Man Wines
Where: 3 Terenure Road North, Terenure, Dublin 6W
A wine shop and bar out in Terenure. You can drink any of its 900-plus bottles on site for a corkage fee, and the kitchen does Mediterranean small plates. The Irish Times review asked whether it might be Dublin’s most drinkable room.
Website: greenmanwines.ie
A Fianco
Where: Unit 6, Norseman Court, Manor Street, Stoneybatter, Dublin 7
The vineria from the team behind Grano. It pours natural and regional Italian wines, with a focus on Calabria, alongside small plates. Star Wine List included it in its Dublin guide.
Website: afianco.ie
Margadh at the RHA
Where: RHA Gallery, 15 Ely Place, Dublin 2
A café by day and a wine bar by night, inside the RHA Gallery. A Coravin means more by the glass, the food uses Irish produce, and there’s a wine-bar tasting menu. Its sister is Mamó in Howth.
Website: margadh-rha.ie
Amy Austin
Where: Drury Street, Dublin 2 (at the car park entrance)
Industrial-looking and busy, with lots of wine on tap and oysters and small plates to go with it. It has held a Michelin Bib Gourmand in recent years, and dogs are welcome.
Website: amyaustin.ie
La Cave
Where: South Anne Street, Dublin 2 (down a steep stairs, off Grafton Street)
La Cave calls itself Dublin’s oldest wine bar. It’s a basement with velvet curtains and the feel of a Parisian lounge, and it’s a good place to escape Grafton Street.
Website: lacavewinebar.com
The Wine Cellar at Fallon & Byrne
Where: Basement, Fallon & Byrne, Exchequer Street, Dublin 2
A candlelit cellar under the food hall. Pick any of around 200 bottles from the shelves and they’ll open it for you.
Website: fallonandbyrne.com
A few more worth knowing
Row Wines is a vinyl listening bar pouring organic and natural wines, and Olesya’s on Exchequer Street has more than 400 bottles. Two Faced on Montague Street is a café by day and a wine bar by night, and Lulu’s on Aungier Street is Italian. Dollars at The Hoxton turns into a natural wine bar in the evening.
Planning a wine night
Drury Street, George’s Street and Exchequer Street make an easy wine crawl: Loose Canon, Amy Austin, the Wine Cellar at Fallon & Byrne and Olesya’s are all within a few minutes of each other. Ely Wine Bar and Margadh share Ely Place, near St Stephen’s Green, and Note is a short walk east on Fenian Street. Opening hours and menus change, so check before you go.
Prefer a cocktail? See our best cocktail bars in Dublin. For independent bars of every kind, read our hipster bars guide, and for late openings, our Dublin by Dusk guide.
Getting there
Most of these bars are near Grafton Street and St Stephen’s Green, on the Luas Green Line. A Fianco is in Stoneybatter, a short walk from the Smithfield stop on the Luas Red Line, and Green Man Wines is a bus ride out in Terenure. Use our live bus, train and Luas times to get home, see our getting around Dublin guide for fares, and browse our places to stay in Dublin if you’d rather walk back.
Wine bars in Dublin: FAQs
What is the best wine bar in Dublin?
It depends what you like. Loose Canon on Drury Street is the natural wine favourite, Bar Pez has one of the best by-the-glass lists in town, and Ely Wine Bar on Ely Place has more than 1,200 wines on its list.
Where can I drink natural wine in Dublin?
Loose Canon, which started Dublin’s natural wine wave, plus Frank’s on Camden Street, Note on Fenian Street, A Fianco in Stoneybatter and the “weird” half of the list at Piglet in Temple Bar.
What is the oldest wine bar in Dublin?
La Cave on South Anne Street calls itself Dublin’s oldest wine bar. Ely Wine Bar, which opened in 1999, calls itself Ireland’s original wine bar.
Can I buy a bottle in a Dublin wine shop and drink it there?
Yes, in a few places. Loose Canon and Green Man Wines in Terenure let you drink a bottle from the shelves for a corkage fee, and the Wine Cellar at Fallon & Byrne will open any of its shelf bottles for you.
Which Dublin wine bars have good food?
Note on Fenian Street has a kitchen the Irish Times rated highly, Bar Pez does Basque-style seafood tapas, Piglet does Italian plates, and Amy Austin holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Do I need to book a wine bar in Dublin?
It helps at the weekend for the places with kitchens, such as Note and Piglet. Frank’s is walk-in only. Check each bar’s website before you go.
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Sebleouf (CC BY-SA 4.0); N Chadwick (CC BY-SA 2.0); Hohenloh (Public domain).
