I

t is hard to see how they cram so many drinkers into London’s oldest wine bar, Gordon’s of Villiers Street. The history has been layered so thickly onto the walls during more than 150 sodden years that, by rights, there should barely be space left to accommodate its careworn bar, sherry barrels and regalia; never mind the steady, jumbled stream of half-familiar regulars, white-collar diners and tourists.

The past is framed and nailed yellowing to the walls. It is smeared on the deliberately neglected russet paintwork. It is seeping in through the mouldering stone ceiling. History has been dutifully preserved by a succession of trusted custodians – the latest of which was warned soon after starting that he should refrain from dusting too vigorously, lest he blow away the heritage.

And there is no lack of heritage to preserve. The building was home to Samuel Pepys in the 1680s and was later a riverside warehouse. But the warehouse became landlocked when the river was embanked and the building returned to accommodation once more, with the addition of a wine bar, set up by Angus Gordon in 1890.

Angus was one of the few remaining free vintners who were entitled to set up and sell wine without a licence thanks to Edward III’s charter in 1364 – the result of his failure to repay a loan from the vintners some years before. During the 1890s Rudyard Kipling wrote The Light that Failed in the parlour above the bar where he was a tenant, and the building has been known as Kipling House since 1950.

Like any ancient bar, Gordon’s has its ghosts. Beyond the usual restless spirits that haunt the upstairs toilet (formerly a bar, so don’t be so quick to judge), there are also the ghosts of drinkers past stamped on brass plaques and attached to the bar as if keeping their place in the queue, and, looming large above the bar amid the tennis rackets, flags and stuffed toys, is a picture of Mr Gordon himself – Luis.

History has been dutifully preserved by a succession of trusted custodians — the latest of which was warned soon after starting that he should refrain from dusting too vigorously, lest he blow away the heritage

Luis Gordon, a wine importer by trade and no relation to the original Gordon family, bought Gordon’s in 1972. His family were the sole importers of Domecq sherry to Britain for around 200 years and during his 30-year stint in charge, he maintained the bar’s emphasis on fines wines, specialising in the fortified variety. To this day you will not be sold a beer or spirit in Gordon’s.

When Luis died in 2002 his obituary in The Times praised his “dynamic entrepreneurial spirit”, his eccentricity and his outrageous parties. Control of Gordon’s passed on to his wife Wendy but it is now looked after by his eldest son Simon and his manager of 12 years Gerard Menan. Gerard has his own standards to maintain — after 22 years in England his French accent remains untarnished.

“The reason Gordon’s has lasted so long is because it is unique,” says Gerard. “People are fed up with chains, they want something with character and Gordon’s has always been special. We keep our staff, we have a lovely clientele, there’s an atmosphere, an ambience and a sense of consistency.”

Gerard joined the team from the Sheraton Hotel, becoming an assistant to one of his best friends before replacing her when she returned to France. “I knew Gordon’s for a long time, and of course I fell in love with it. When I took over, the trend for wine was starting seriously and since then it has always been up, up, up, just with good-quality wine at a very good price. We are maybe one of the best sellers in London for sherry, port and Madeira.”

Gerard has been tasked with giving Gordon’s the occasional spruce-up without smoothing the old boy’s laughter lines or scaring the regulars, hence a new kitchen and improved terrace area. “You cannot change everything too quickly, because people don’t like change. Imagine if you came to Gordon’s and it’s totally white and clean. People would say, ‘ahhh, no way!’ So it is exactly as you can imagine drinking in it 100 years ago. People laugh. They come out and they don’t remember if it’s nighttime or daytime or which year it is. It’s true, everything stops when you are inside. It transports you. People love it
for that.”

While Gerard and his team may strive to maintain the quality of the wine and food and tinker with the peripherals, this is not what will keep drinkers crowding the bar and huddling round the candles. If things continue to be managed the right way, they will come back because Gordon’s remains authentic, discreet, romantic, idiosyncratic and lively.