Hedonism - Mecca For Wines and Spirits Lovers

If you like wine and spirits (seeing as you are even reading this, I'm betting you probably do) then Hedonism Wines in London is definitely worth a visit.

Cristal - former favourite of Jay-Z

Backed by Russian businessman Evgeny Chichvarkin, who has employed ex-Harrods wine and spirits buyer Alistair Viner to do the worlds best job; choosing what goes on the shelves, Hedonism is essentially the world's best off-license. The Davies Street store sells some of the world's most rare wines and spirits and with about 5,500 wines in the store and a further 2,500 in bond, there is plenty to choose from.

I happened to be going into London the other day and thought I would pop to Hedonism, just to see what all the fuss is about.

Clayton Smith - Former fine
wine manager at Majestic,
now part of the Hedonism Team

No sooner had I gone through the door and my jaw dropped than Clayton, a member of the shop's incredibly well informed team and who previously headed up fine wine for majestic, approached me. Before I knew it, he was showing me the £120,000 bottle of John Walker and Sons (who also make Johnnie Walker, duh!) Whisky which was made exclusively to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. Even though only 60 bottles have been made, it's a pretty steep price tag but with the money going to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust and you also getting a couple of glasses thrown in for good measure, the price is totally worth it. I bought two; one for the train on the way home and one to drink with coke on Friday night (obviously I didn't actually buy any, but most of all, mixing it with cola would be punishable with death by ultimate titty twister).

Every shelf in Hedonism has a wine or spirit on it that takes your breath away, and prices to match, with bottles even going into the hundreds of thousands of pounds. Although to be fair, nothing is priced higher than it's worth and prices in the shop do start from around £10, which I think is great as it means there is something for just about everyone.

Besides the Chateau d'Yquem wall (yes, there is an entire wall display of d'Yquem), something that really caught my attention was a little room in the corner, with a glass front, displaying some real beauties. Just as I was about to offer Clayton inexplicable favours in order to be allowed in, he luckily asked if I would like to have a look inside.

There are shelves on each wall, full of some of the most exclusive wines in the world - historic vintages of Domaine de la Romanee-Conti Montrachet, right next to some of the oldest Dom Perignon and Cristal that I have ever seen, amongst many others. At any other wine shop in the world they would be happy to have such a prestigious collection of stock but this little room was nothing compared to what I was about to see.

Just as I was wondering how things could get any better, Clayton showed me into the room where they keep the real stunners. behind the counter and down a corridor is a solid iron door with a hefty padlock. What I saw inside really took my breath away. Amongst the ancient bottles of Romanee Conti, Petrus and 1st growth Bordeaux was the most expensive single bottle of wine in the whole shop; Chateau d'Yquem from 1811 for a cool £100,000 - which Clay very comfortably picked up to show me, whilst I watched and practically shat myself out of sheer nervousness.

Although Hedonism is almost sickeningly flash, what with the sheer amount of money having been spent on the place, even the little table in the kids play area cost €600 for example, I'm so pleased it exists. It has only been open since August 2012 so it's still early days but I get the impression it hasn't been opened with the intention of making money, more because the tycoon who owns the place is a bit mental and really loves his wine.

Hedonism Wines is located at 3-7 Davies St in London - about a 5 minute walk from Bond Street tube station. If ever you are near by, pop in for the experience.

Been to Hedonism yet? Let us know what you thought, either below or on our twitter and facebook.