Congratulations To Willi's Wine Bar: Paris First Real Wine Bar Turns 40

Englishman Mark Williamson opened Willi's Wine Bar, Paris' first real wine bar, in 1980. The location in the first arrondissement, at 13, Rue des Petits Champs, could not be better. A charming narrow street near the old Opera, the Palais Royal and the Louvre, in short, it is in the heart of Paris. It actually turns 41 this year, but as it was closed much of 2020, the year of celebration will be 2021.

I was not in Paris when Willi’s opened, but I remember my first visit to Willi's in the early 1990s. An impressive wine list with great emphasis on the Rhône Valley (still Mark's great speciality) but also on the Languedoc. I discovered many producers from these regions, thanks to Willi's. And where else in Paris could you find sherry and even German wines? Willi's has done its part to diversify the wine habits of the French.

Mark has used the corona lockdown time to write an amusing book about 40 years with Willi's. "Immoveable Feast, forty years of feeding the French" is the name. It contains a mixture of memories from Mark but also from good friends in the wine business who helped and encouraged him, recipes of food Willi's has served over the years, and lovely drawings. I particularly enjoyed reading about an unknown Sylvain Fadat coming up from Languedoc to Paris in 1991 in his old Peugeot 305 trying to sell his white wine from Ugni Blanc and red wine from Carignan, not the most sought-after grape varieties at the time. He and Mark hit it off of course, and now Sylvain and his Domaine d'Aupilhac are superstars.

But it is the Rhône wines that are the centrepiece. Patricia Wells, the American journalist and cookbook author, writes in the book how she drove down from Paris and met Marcel Guigal, August Clape and Jean Louis Grippat. This was in 1978; none of these producers were the icons they are now. Patricia was an early Rhône lover, and she could not understand how Parisian restaurants could ignore this amazing region. She was thrilled that Willi's wanted to be different.

Another good friend who appears in the book is Jonathan Livingstone Learmonth (aka "the gull") who already in 1983 published the second edition of his book The Wines of The Rhône. The book was launched at Willi's Wine Bar, and several growers came up to Paris to celebrate. They brought wines with them, of course. Gérard Chave was there with his son Jean-Louis, then 16 years old, today one of the biggest names in the northern Rhône Valley. The launch party guests could enjoy the Chave Hermitage 1978, Guigal Condrieu 1982, Guigal Hermitage Blanc 1980 and a few other gems.

Next time you come to Paris, plan a visit to Willi's and preferably also to the sister restaurant Maceo (more “elegant dining” than bistro) on the same street, number 15. And around the corner, on 47, rue de Richelieu, is Paris' first tapas bar which doubles as a wine bar and wine shop. It is called The Juveniles and Mark and his good friend Tim Johnston opened it in 1986. It is now run by Tim's daughter Margaux and her husband. In this troika, you will find wine lists that should make many other Parisian restaurants green with envy.

You can buy Immoveable Feast on Amazon, or, even better, directly at the bar.

And Mark, congratulations on the first 41 years.