The Sampler

The Sampler is a nice shop that has all of my favourite wines and they offer a good amount of choice.

The best thing about them is that you are able to sample wines you wouldn't be able to buy on a whim. This is all very good but you really do only get a SAMPLE and it does get rather expensive.

It is an expensive shop and you do feel like you pay a premium. The wines they sell ARE good but if you know you wine, you can find them elsewhere and save a few quid!

Nevertheless, it REALLY is good for tasting stuff you wouldn't normally buy...

My favourite wine shop ever. You might pay a few percent more - but you are absoluetley sure of good wine and a breathtaking range.

Any other store with this level of wine would be over priced or insist on case quantities.

The wine dosing machines are very dangerous and should come with a warning - my brother and I seem to always get trapped into a vicious cycle.

I've not seen another place like this. They have racks of bottles with suction systems that allow you to buy a small sample to taste before you go the whole hog and buy the bottle. It means you can taste some very expensive wines you wouldn't normally be able to afford, or check out some mid-range wines before you buy them for this evening's drinking. The staff are helpful and knowledgable.

The selection isn't as large as you would get with a standard wine merchant, but the fun of purchasing makes it worth it. They also run tutored tasting evenings.

NB it's very short on cheaper wines.