Grands Vins de France
Anguilla's storied French wine cellar, curated bottle by bottle since 1994
Why Go
Tucked into a chic-modern building in Lower South Hill, this is the little shop that quietly stocks half the wine lists on the island ΓÇö a 1,300-strong cellar assembled by two owners who fly to France every year to taste it themselves.
The Experience
Push open the door and the Caribbean heat gives way to a cool, softly lit room lined floor-to-ceiling with bottles. It feels less like a liquor store and more like a Provençal caviste that somehow drifted across the Atlantic — spare, elegant, and stocked with real conviction. Nathalie and Donette run the place like a personal project: they'll ask what you're eating tonight, where you're staying, and how adventurous your budget is, then walk you through the racks pulling bottles as they go. The clientele is a quiet mix of villa chefs, five-star sommeliers restocking their cellars, and travellers who realised too late that their rental fridge was empty. Prices run the full spectrum, from an $8 easy-drinking rosé for the beach cooler up to $3,000 collector Bordeaux locked away for the serious buyer.
What to Try
Start where they start — the French rosés, especially the Provence pinks like Saint Roch Les Vignes, Famille Abeille and Clos Beylesse, which are made for Anguillian afternoons. Champagne buyers should look past the usual grande marques for Gosset or Henriot, both stocked at fairer prices than you'll see at hotel bars. For dinner, ask them to walk you through the Bordeaux, Rhône and Alsace shelves — this is where their curation shows. Non-French drinkers are well covered too, with Napa (Coppola, Mondavi), Argentine, Italian and New Zealand bottles, plus a tidy spirits corner featuring Gautier cognac, Glenfiddich and Saint James rhum from Martinique.
Insider Tip
They deliver straight to your villa ΓÇö a lifesaver if you're staying somewhere remote or don't want to drive with a case in the boot. Call ahead (264-497-6498), tell Nathalie your menu for the week and your rough budget, and she'll build you a mixed case tailored to what you're cooking and where you're eating out. It's the same service Anguilla's top restaurants use, minus the markup.
The Practical Stuff
Lower South Hill, on the right just before the Lower South Hill mall. Open MonΓÇôTue and ThuΓÇôSat 9:30amΓÇô1pm and 2ΓÇô6pm; Wed 9:30amΓÇô1pm and 2ΓÇô4pm; closed Sundays ΓÇö plan restocks accordingly, as Sunday sunsets have caught many a villa guest off-guard. Phone 264-497-6498 or 264-235-6498. Cash and cards accepted; ask about villa delivery when you call.
Pair It With
- Sandy Ground / Sandy Island — Grab a chilled Provence ros├⌐ and a couple of plastic flutes on your way to the jetty ΓÇö Sandy Island's short boat ride and barefoot lunch is the natural next stop from South Hill.
- A private villa rental in West End or Shoal Bay — The shop delivers, so a mixed case waiting on arrival turns any villa kitchen into a proper dinner-party setup without a supermarket run.
- Blanchards or Veya for dinner — Both restaurants source from Grands Vins, so buying a bottle here first ΓÇö then eating at one of Anguilla's fine-dining rooms ΓÇö is a neat way to taste the same curator's palate twice in a day.
- Meads Bay sunset — Ten minutes down the road; a bottle of Laurent-Perrier or a crisp Alsace white on the sand as the sun drops is the classic Anguilla wind-down.