7 Best Wine Bars in Athens According to a Greek Sommelier (2023)

Looking for the best wine bars in Athens? I’ve got you covered. I go to Athens as often as possible to keep tabs on the emerging wine scene. I always check out a new wine bar in Athens every visit but I have some favorites wine spots that I go back to time and time again. A few new spots have opened up that are worth discovering and supporting. Read on for the best wine experiences in Athens from a woman who loves to drink and eat.

Best Wine Bars in Athens

Athens is the perfect city for wine lovers; truthfully, it has been since ancient times when wealthy Athenians would host symposia to eat and drink and have lively philosophical debates. Greece’s capital city has fully embraced the country’s wine renaissance with new wine bars popping up in every corner of Athens. Young Athenians and visitors alike flock to the many wine bars in Athens to try new wines, eat inspired food, and, of course, discuss a multitude of topics. There are a lot of wine bars in Athens to choose from but these are my personal favorites based on their wine selection, service, atmosphere, and food.

If you’re looking at this list and seeing that there are some big names missing, that’s on purpose. I only recommend places I would go myself and after years of shitty service and snobby sommeliers, I’ve deliberately omitted some of the more popular wine bars of Athens. Sorry, not sorry.

Materia Prima Wine Bar and Bistro- Best Overall Wine Bar in Athens

My first stop every time I visit Athens is Materia Prima Wine Bar and Bistro. I met owner and sommelier, Michalis Papatsimbas at a wine event and was struck by his modesty and ability to communicate tasting notes and flavors. That cool and unpretentious aura has translated to his wine bars in 2 of Athens chicest neighborhoods, Pagrati and Koukaki. Materia Prima has a deliberate collection from very small producers that are creating some of Greece’s best and most unique wines. They focus on minimum intervention wines from passionate winemakers. All of their menu items are carefully selected to accompany the wines.

The staff at Materia Prima is highly-trained and very friendly. If you’re a wine nerd, you can even ask them to blind taste you on a few wines to test your palate. Materia Prima also has an e-shop with wines and deli items that you can enjoy at home.

Materia Prima Wine Bar and Bistro, Pl. Mesologgiou 3, Athina 116 34 & Falirou 68, Athina 117 41 materiaprima.gr

Want a crash course in Greek orange wines before you go?

Wine Barrique- Best New Wine Bar in Athens

Love for food and wine brought couple Anna and Taso together to open Wine Barrique in Athen’s Ymmitos neighborhood. I had the great pleasure of getting to know Anna when she worked at Dourakis Winery in Chania. She has an infectious smile and a lively passion for wine and wine education. Those looking to learn all about Greece’s grapes and vineyards should taste and learn from her. She selects small family producers to showcase the best wines Greece has to offer. All their wines are available by the glass and half glass so you can experience and try plenty of Greek wines from native and international varieties. Anna will gladly pick out wines that will best match with Taso’s modern Greek culinary creations, as well. Be sure to try the potato salad with smoked trout with a passion fruit glaze paired with an organic rose wine of Xinomavro and Merlot from Aslanis Winery.

Wine Barrique, Pl. Imittou 1, Imittos 172 37, www.facebook.com/winebarriqueathens/

Cinque Wine & Deli Bar + Cinque Wine Delights- Most Iconic Wine Bar in Athens

Please do not leave Athens without a visit to one of the Cinque Wine bars! A total family affair, husband and wife team, Gregory Prassas and Evangelie Tseliou, run all three wine bars with their son Nikitas, a trained oenologist. A visit to Cinque is a full on educational experience. Expect the staff to whip out maps and graphs and pictures so that you will fully understand the wine you’re drinking and where it came from. For the full immersion into Greek wine, order a tasting of 3 or 5 wines. The wines are selected with a specific goal in mind, whether it is to understand the grape, the region, or the style.

Cinque wine bar has three locations, the original- since 2015- is Cinque Wine & Deli Bar in the Psiri neighborhood. It’s a very intimate atmosphere with only a few tables indoors and a lovely patio. A small but mighty food menu is available.

It’s nearly impossible to make lightning strike twice, but the Prassas/Tseliou family managed to do it in 2017 with the opening of Cinque Wine Delights in the Monastiraki neighborhood. It has the same spectacular service that loyal customers have come to love in an inviting atmosphere.

New in 2022 is Cinque Wine & Deli located in Marousi, a northern suburb of Athens. The new project is fast casual wine bar, meaning that they offer a small wine list by the glass but a large list of bottles in a take away price. People can be seated on a barrel and asking for a cheese and meat plate, Cinque’s famous plate.

Cinque Wine & Deli Bar, Agatharchou 15, Athina 105 54, cinque.gr

Cinque Wine Delights, Voreou 10, Athina 105 51, cinque.gr

Cinque Wine & Deli 6 Dionisou, Marousi 151 24 cinque.gr

BoBo Wine Bar- Wine Bar in Athens with the Best Atmosphere

If you’re looking for a wine bar in Athens with a delicious food, a killer wine list, and a fresh and lively atmosphere, check out BoBo Wine Bar in the Koukaki neighborhood. It was started from four childhood friends with a mutual love of wine and a desire to create a place where wine can be enjoyed comfortably and stylishly. BoBo stands for Boheme Bourgeois which may seem like a juxtaposition but works perfectly for the ethos and decor of this wine bar. They focus on Greek wines but with many wines from abroad from regions the team has traveled to together. Be sure to check out their chalkboard with the daily wine offerings, too.

What is wine without food? Well, still pretty damn good, but the food at BoBo is excellent and only makes the wine better. Be sure to have the burrata and the beef carpaccio or the picanha if you’re really hungry.

BoBo Wine Bar, Anastasiou Zinni 36, Athina 117 41, bobowinebar.gr

Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro- Best Wine Bar in Athens for Food

Seriously good eats at Vintage Wine Bar in Athens’s Plaka neighborhood. I would classify Vintage as more of a wine restaurant than wine bar because you should not miss out on the food there. The wine list at Vintage Wine Bar is over 30 pages long with wines from all over the world nearly all of them available by the glass. What’s particularly great is there are some very high end wines offered by the glass for those who can’t splurge and buy the whole bottle but still want to try it. If you get overwhelmed by large wine lists, ask for help, the staff is super knowledgeable and friendly.

But let’s get back to the food. Local ingredients, prepared well to accentuate the delicate flavors of each. The menu is small but perfectly executed. The calamari is outstanding- pair it with Santorini Assyrtiko, beef carpaccio to die for- pair it with Cretan rose, the beef short ribs is melt-in-your-mouth good- pair with Naoussa Xinomavro, and do not skip dessert and be sure to pair it with one of their dozens of dessert wines available like Muscat of Samos.

Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro, Mitropoleos 66-68 Plaka, Athens 105 63, winebarathens.com/

Heteroclito Cave & Bar a Vin- Best Wine Bar in Athens Wine Geeks

Heteroclito is the wine bar in Athens that you always end up at for that last bottle of wine for the night. I’m not sure I’ve ever been there sober or before midnight on the weekends. The vibe is just- a vibe- so cool, so hip, so positive. It’s where are the cool kids hang out but the cool kids aren’t snobs. Heteroclito means to deviate from the common and they have really embodied that. They have a focus on natural and minimal intervention wines on their exclusively Greek wine list. They also have some rare wines if you want to geek out a bit.

It’s a small and cozy space that is a bit tricky to find in the alleys of Syntagma. There’s an upstairs and a bar, but if the weather is good, sit outside. The food items are modest, this is not a spot for dinner but rather just to nibble while enjoying your wine and getting philosophical with your friends.

Heteroclito Cave & Bar a Vin, Fokionos 2, Athina 105 63, heteroclito.gr

Paleo Wine Store- Best Sommelier

Have you ever met someone and were just like, wow this person is seriously fucking cool? Well that’s Giannis Kaimenakis of Paleo Wine Store. He’s a legend here in the Greek wine industry; an accessible one. He opened Paleo in the Piraeus, the bustling and industrial port city in the south of Athens. Kaimenakis has snagged a quiet old factory and has kept its industrial charm and 20 foot celings! The focus here is wine. wine. wine. No pretense, no hoopla, just fermented grapes. Even the decor is just lined up wine bottles.

Allow Kaimenakis to select wines for you; he’s a master at picking the perfect bottle for your price range, preferences, and mood. There are roughly 300 wines coming from mostly European countries that he has hand-selected from his travels. While there are wines by the glass, he’ll encourage you to share a bottle so that your whole party can experience the wine together.

The food menu is small with only a dozen or so dishes available. Each dish is associated with a place; presumably a dish that Kaimenakis enjoyed on a specific trip. The experience at Paleo is worth the trip to Piraeus.

Paleo Wine Store, Polidefkous 39, Pireas 185 45 facebook.com/paleowinestore

Honorable Mentions

There’s a few wine bars in Athens that I haven’t been to yet so don’t feel super comfortable writing about them. However, that doesn’t mean you should miss them; I’ve heard great things. If you’ve been to any of these, leave me a comment and I promise to visit on my next trip to Athens.

In no particular order:

Tanini Agapi Mou

Tanini Agapi Mou, meaning Tannins My Love, is a trendy wine bar in the Exarchia neighborhood. I love their vibe so I’ll be getting over there soon.

Ippokratous 93, Athina 106 80 taniniagapimou.gr

Kiki de Grece

Located in the heart of Athens, Kiki de Grece is a chill place to grab a glass of wine in the pedestrian areas of Syntagma.

Ipitou 4, Athina 105 57

Monk Grapes and Spirits

This wine and cocktail bar has a roof garden so there’s a good chance I’ll be hitting it up next time I’m in Athens.

Karori 4, Athina 105 51

Tell me your favorite wine bars in Athens in the comments.

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