Il Vino

05/11/2025

If you like the idea of an occasional game of chess with friends in a relaxed and informal environment, we have just the place for you!

Il Vino is usually pretty quiet on Tuesday evenings, so we thought what a great time to have a game of chess with a bottle of wine and some tasty snacks.

We’ll provide quality chess sets and boards for you to use (but please feel free to bring your own if you prefer), so all you would have to do is book a table in advance (available from 6pm onwards) and choose your wine by the glass or bottle on arrival (minimum equivalent one bottle of wine per table during your booking).

We have space for up to nine individual games (single and double tables) and the table is yours for as long as you would like it, up to 10pm. (Sorry, no children and over 18’s only)

Please let us know if this sounds like something you would be interested in and any thoughts or other feedback that would help us make Chess Tuesday a regular weekly evening.

Many thanks

Tony & Eileen

31/10/2025

If you thought that Sherry was just a tipple that your nan had at Christmas, boy are you missing something special!

From the light, nutty saline notes of Manzanilla through to the intense, caramel richness of Pedro Ximénez, there is a Sherry for every palate and occasion.

Drunk mostly as an aperitif with a few olives and almonds, Sherry can also be wonderfully gastronomic and pairs beautifully with a range of meats, poultry, seafood, fish, cheeses and desserts.

We’ll be showcasing a couple of the most popular styles of Sherry in the wine bar next week, so why not try a glass of chilled Manzanilla or Pedro Ximénez with some of our Padrón peppers, lamb chops, garlic & herb prawns or charcuterie & cheese platter. See you soon!

17/10/2025

There are not many things that are more satisfying with a glass of good red than a plate of beautifully cooked lamb chops, perfectly seasoned and with a spritz of lemon juice to bring out all those delicious flavours, accompanied by the mildly sweet, smoky piquancy of Spanish Padrón peppers, all served up with creamy tzatziki and flat breads on the side.

We’ll be serving these little beauties from this evening in the wine bar as part of our new menu choices, so give them a try. We think you’ll agree they’re pretty awesome!

See you soon.

Very best

Tony & Eileen

28/05/2025

Huge thanks to Ranveer at for our fab new window vinyls celebrating our Best Bar in Essex 2025 award from Muddy Stilettos. Great job mate 👍🏻

10/05/2025

Enjoy a delicious Mimosa (Prosecco & Orange) or Bellini (Prosecco & Peach), or any of our Prosecco Spritz’s (Aperol, Limoncello or Venetian) at our Bottomless Sunday Summer Prosecco Brunches.
Prosecco brunches are here!

Join us tomorrow and every Sunday throughout the summer between 12pm and 2pm for two hours of bottomless Prosecco brunch.

As well as flowing Brut and Rosé Prosecco from the excellent Santa Margherita vineyards in Veneto, you can also enjoy any of our Prosecco Spritz versions, all accompanied by delicious cheeses, charcuterie, olives and breads.

Tickets are £50 per person and booking is strongly advised.

To book places for any of our brunches just give us a call on 020 8504 8799 or call into the bar, or email us at [email protected]

Saluti a tutti!

Tony & Eileen

06/05/2025

A big thank you to Andrew Meltzer and our wonderful host Richard at Aperivino in Belsize Park for a fabulous Californian wine tasting today from the portfolio. Outstanding wines and what a wonderful find Aperivino is!! Lovely local wine bar, Incredible burgers and they also have live jazz nights!! Get over to Belsize Park!!

04/05/2025

Go bottomless at our Summer Sunday Prosecco Brunches!

Summer is pretty much here, so what better way to start a leisurely Sunday afternoon than enjoying a wonderful Prosecco brunch at Il Vino?

Starting next Sunday on 11th May we’ll be holding a weekly Prosecco brunch for two hours every Sunday this summer from 12pm to 2pm.

We’ll be serving bottomless Prosecco all the way through (either Brut or Rosé from the excellent Santa Margherita vineyards in Veneto), accompanied by a selection of delicious assorted cheeses, charcuterie, olives, pickles and breads.

As most customers are aware, we have a maximum of 24 covers in the bar, so booking is essential for these events.

Tickets are £50 per person and to book places for our Sunday Prosecco Brunches please either give us a call on 020 8504 8799 or call into the bar, or drop us an email to [email protected]

Look forward to seeing you soon.

Tony & Eileen

30/04/2025

We’re super-delighted to let everyone know that we have just received confirmation that Il Vino has been voted Best Bar in Essex in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2025!

We’d like to say a massive thank you to all of you who voted for and helped us in either or both of the rounds - it was your votes that did it for us and we’re really thrilled to have triumphed with a huge 37% of the total vote (the next closest was on 28%), and we now go forward to the National Finals, more details on which to follow shortly.

Thanks again everyone for all your support and see you soon.

08/04/2025

There is just one week to go until voting closes for the Best Bar in Essex in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2025, so we just wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you who have voted for us so far and to make a last minute request to any of you who haven’t had the chance to vote yet to take a few minutes and give us one last push!

The process is very easy and takes only a few moments -

Click the link below

Choose the Best Bar category from the drop-down

And cast your vote for Il Vino

And don't forget to click confirm on the email they send you to lock in your vote.

https://essex.muddystilettos.co.uk/awards/vote/

Only one vote per email address is allowed, so thank you again for all the votes we have received so far, but please do share the link with any family and friends who may like to support us and help Il Vino become the Best Bar in Essex!!

Very best

Tony & Eileen

The Muddy Stilettos Awards are the most coveted awards for independent lifestyle businesses across 35 counties, and totally FREE to enter!

25/03/2025

Firstly, we want to say a huge, massive thank you to all of you who voted for us in the Muddy Stilettos Awards 2025 - we’ve just been informed that we are one of the top five bars that have been voted for and therefore have gone forward to the finals for Best Bar in Essex!

All the initial votes received have been zeroed and it it is now a straight competition between the finalists, as below:

De La Terre (Great Dunmow)

Deli + Fizz (Maldon)

Ginny’s Cocktail Lounge (Maldon)

Il Vino (Buckhurst Hill)

Vertigo Lounge (Hornchurch)

We’re thrilled to even be in the top five, but naturally we would love to win it now we’ve got to the finals, so can we please ask you to vote again if you did initially, or please vote for us this time if you missed the first round.

The process is very easy and takes only a few moments, so just follow the link below and cast your vote for us in the Best Bar category. You can only vote once, but please share the link with any neighbours, family or friends who may know us, as we’re up against some strong competition!

https://essex.muddystilettos.co.uk/awards/vote/

Voting is open from 25th March to 15th April and the winner will be announced shortly afterwards.

Thanks again everyone in advance for your support and let’s hope we can do it!

Very best

Tony & Eileen

28/02/2025

We were thrilled and excited to find out this week that Il Vino has been nominated as one of the best bars in Essex for the Muddy Stilettos Awards!

The Muddy Stilettos are a national online awards focused on recognising and celebrating independent businesses within their local regions and we are very flattered to have been nominated for Essex.

Becoming part of the community in Buckhurst Hill was an important aspect of opening the wine bar and we’re truly grateful to all our customers for your continued support, and given that we’ve been nominated, we would really appreciate it if you can spare a couple of minutes to vote for us please.

The process is very straight forward - just copy the link below into your browser and they’ll send you back a voting link (for business location just state Buckhurst Hill)

https://essex.muddystilettos.co.uk/awards/nominate/

Thank you in advance for your votes and see you soon!