Aux Deux Amis Paris - a legend, no less

Aux Deux Amis in the 11th arrondissement of Paris is a famous watering hole for natural wine lovers. Despite its world fame - it’s still got a quintessentially Parisian vibe.

This is what I imagine all wine bars in Paris were in the 70s and 80s before they turned fancy and swanky.

Aux Deux Amis in Paris - these lights make everything look like you are under a Las Vegas sign. Trippy and nostalgic

11th arrondissement in Paris is where the natural wine magic lives

My inspiration for this Paris trip was Action Bronson's "From Paris with Love" series on YouTube.

It is a must watch for anyone who is into the natural wine/food scene or just wants to live life to the fullest.

We performed a sort of pilgrimage to the places that Action visited.

And I am delighted to report that we too experienced an incredible magic of natural wine bar-hopping through the 11th arrondissement.

No other place in the world has such a high concentration of natural wine shrines in one neighbourhood.

However, we encountered 3 challenges:

Numero Uno - everything closes early

At least by Toronto standards.

I know natural wine bars are no clubs or tequila joints, but closing at 11pm? Really?

Two - random opening hours

Some places are not open Monday through Thursday. Others are closed on weekends.

You really gotta check the working hours before you head somewhere. It’s a short window of opportunity.

God forbid you are in Paris on a Monday - your only alternative is to drink conventional wine at a café on some street corner.

Three - you have to make a reservation

It’s natural for Europeans and completely unthinkable for us North Americans. Making a reso at a wine bar? Yep.

We were turned down multiple times.

Parisians have this down to a science. They call. They always call beforehand. We - hope for the providence.

Here's my advice - take control over your life and make a reservation.

Aux Deux Amis in Paris

The place that you can’t miss when crawling through the 11th looking for natural wine nirvana is Aux Deux Amis.

And yet - we almost missed it.

Aux Deux Amis - love the brass bar and the food menu on the mirror

We tried to sneak in at 8 pm on a Tuesday night without a reso and the place was already full.

It was a blessing in disguise because we ended up spending that evening at the lovely la Buvette and the super cool Yard - both legends as well.

As we were walking back home from Yard to our airbnb by the Canal, we passed by Aux Deux Amis again.

To our surprise, the place was empty. We decided to try our luck. It was close to midnight.

Chairs on the tables and only a handful of locals by the bar. They were closing up although Google clearly states that they stay open until 2 am. Can never trust Google.

Locals and us rubbing shoulders at Aux Deux Amis

Just us and a couple of locals at the bar - looks like a scene from an Alain Delon movie

Closing time - chairs and tables at Aux Deux Amis

The guys recognized us from before and had mercy on us. I guess we looked like we needed another glass of wine.

“Fine, one glass, and then you’re out of here.”

Here’s what we were served.

Blanco Litro 2022, García Pérez

Blanco Litro 2022 by García Pérez - in the middle of cleaning action

When I drink wine like this, I get giddy like a school boy.

One sip - and suddenly you are in a completely different place. It is like a teleportation machine.

You’re in la Mancha, south-central Spain.

This land was made famous by Don Quixote, spaghetti westerns and crazy weather patterns.

The continental climate means that the summers are super hot and the winters are crazy cold. An interesting place to grow grapes.

The 60-year old vines of Macabeo for this wine grow at a decent altitude and are trained as goblets.

They are spread out to make sure that there is enough water in the soil for everyone - cause ain’t nobody watering these babies. And there sure is no rain during the summer months.

The key in this climate is to harvest as early as possible - to preserve the freshness.

Mandarine juice in a 1 litre bottle - hence the name.

Vineyards are certified and farmed organically, with very rare spraying of sulphur and copper - if needed.

In the cellar - spontaneous fermentation, unfined and unfiltered.

This wine didn’t even taste like wine. It tasted like fermented mandarin juice with the seabuckthorn infusion. So pure and exquisite.

As much as I wanted to savour the wine - I inhaled it in 5 minutes.

I know better than anybody else - that at the end of the night, when the staff wants to go home to feed their cats and walk their dogs - you chug your wine and beat it.

Thanks aux Deux Amis for the perfect end to our evening of debauchery in the 11th arrondissement of Paris.

And here is the link to Action Bronson's Parisian natural wine and food escapades in the 11th:

I apologize for the lack of drool-inspiring photos in this post.

As I said - it was the end of the night, I was at a 10 out of 10. My sister and cousin were not far behind. Nobody thought to take pictures.

I guess I’ll have to go back to aux Deux Amis Paris on our next trip. Difficult life of a wine blogger.

Aux Deux Amis Paris

45 Rue Oberkampf, 75011 Paris, France