Berry Bros & Rudd

Berry Bros & Rudd has traded from 3 St James's Street since 1698 — the Georgian shop opposite St James's Palace, leaning floors, eighth-generation family ownership, two Royal Warrants. The cellars beneath the shop run under the street and hold one of the deepest fine-wine inventories in private hands in Britain. The retail counter is open Monday-Saturday for walk-in advice and purchase; a private 'Spirits Room' tour and tutored cellar tasting (book ahead, around £100) is the audience booking — an hour-and-a-half through the cellar with a Master of Wine, six wines from the BBR portfolio, the history walked through as it happened. The chapter's wine-merchant pilgrimage.