London's swankiest wine weekend returns November 6-8, 2026, when Golden Vines takes over venues across the city for its sixth edition. The ticket isn't cheap — £10,000 (roughly $13,250) — but it covers more than two dozen events featuring heavyweights like Château d'Yquem, Château Lafite Rothschild, Screaming Eagle, Biondi-Santi and Ridge Vineyards. Here's what stands out.
Friday is stacked. Dom Pérignon cellar master Vincent Chaperon leads a vertical tasting of seven vintages of the late-release Plenitude 2 at Celeste, while over at Sotheby's there are two contrasting sessions: an Old Vines masterclass digging into why ancient vineyards make better wine (with Catena Zapata, Trimbach, Ridge and Warre's Port pouring), and a Next Generation Icons tasting spotlighting Domaine Vincent Dancer, Spain's Commando G and South Africa's Mullineux — a country having a big year, with Mullineux, Sadie Family and Alheit all nominated for awards.
The most social event of the weekend is the Paulée at The Old Bailey, newly opened to all guests for the first time. Modelled on the Burgundian harvest-closing feast, it's a bring-your-own-bottle dinner: 150 guests and 50 winemakers each bring a bottle or two (producers bring four) and share them over food by Jonny Lake of Trivet. Co-founder Lewis Chester warns of inevitable one-upmanship — one winemaker is reportedly bringing a double magnum of Le Montrachet. The evening honours the late Frederic Panaiotis, Ruinart's cellar master, so expect serious champagne.
Saturday's Gala at Banqueting House is the centrepiece. Simon Rogan of three-Michelin-starred L'Enclume cooks a menu of British produce, matched to a wine list running from Krug and Château Angélus to Penfolds Grange. The evening includes the Golden Vines Awards — voted on by over 1,000 industry figures and often called the Oscars of Wine — plus a charity auction benefiting the Gérard Basset Foundation, which has awarded more than 2,000 scholarships across 30 countries. Remote bidding is available if you're not holding a ticket.
Sunday eases off with experiential outings pairing wine with other luxuries: a Vega Sicilia tasting at Chelsea Football Club, Panerai watches with Taittinger Comtes at the Italian Embassy, or simply roast chicken with Château d'Yquem.
Tickets are by request via liquidicons.com. At £10,000 a head this is firmly a collector's weekend, but the auction's remote bidding and the Awards themselves give the wider wine-curious something to follow — and a wishlist for which names to hunt down in their own cellar.
Via Elite Traveler.
