There’s a restaurant in London where the food warms the soul, where the staff are remarkably informal, and where you can access a wine list pretty much unique in London, because that restaurant is tied to an importer of zero-sulphur natural wines. It’s also a restaurant that doesn’t appear on Instagram anywhere near as much as some more fashionable names further east. It is, of course, 40 Maltby Street, and the importing arm is Gergovie Wines.

Gergovie is a plateau of the Massif Central in the Auvergne Region of France, named after a village of the same name, or Gergovia in its former incarnation as the chief oppidum of the Averni people. The fortified village is famous for a battle between the Gauls under Vercingetorix and the Romans under Julius Caesar in 52BCE.

As I hadn’t visited since before Covid I was keen to jump on this opportunity. I’m not usually someone who likes to dine alone, but my wife had an event in the City to go to and I was desperate to get back to 40MS, both for the food and the wine. With an anticipatory rumbling stomach, I was practically queuing outside the door, ready for their 5.30pm opening on a Wednesday.

The first change I noticed on arrival were the new retail wine shelves. A lot of restaurants and wine bars have begun to offer bottles retail as an obvious way to generate a bit of extra revenue. Winemakers Club has been doing it for years, and up here in Edinburgh I pop into Spry Wines or Smith & Gertrude more frequently to buy a bottle or two than I do to eat or drink a glass on the go (sadly).

My reason for visiting 40MS was no less to grab a couple of bottles of Alsace wine (the Dreyer and the Meyer in the photo) than to dine. Gergovie does many things well, not least Auvergne and Ardèche, and Jeff Coutelou, and the list goes on…but I’d put them in the top three UK Alsace importers (natural wine, of course), along with Vine Trail and Tutto Wines. I keep telling people that Alsace is the most exciting region for natural wine in France at the moment, but I still have to travel far and wide if I want to pick and choose my bottles. Anyway, So-long as you check out the restaurant’s opening times you can access the Gergovie range from the shelves as you go in if getting a case sent to you doesn’t work for any reason.

I said above that 40 Maltby Street serves food to warm the soul, and perhaps you can make out some of the dishes on offer on the blackboard menu. I started off with a cheese platter (because they open at 5.30 on a Wednesday but the kitchen doesn’t really kick into action until 6pm).

The extensive Gergovie list is available, but dining alone I decided to go for a couple of wines by the glass, whatever they had open, just for variety.

First up, Eruption 2022 Domaine des Trouillères. This is Gamay d’Auvergne from, of course, the Auvergne, specifically the village of Martres-de-Veyre. Six hectares have been farmed here by Camille and Mikaël Hyvert since 2015. Off limestone/clay terroir on the Puy de Tobize, part of the Massif de Sancy, whole bunch maceration/fermentation, farming is biodynamic and “bon sens paysan” (I love that description). Initially lovely gentle fruit dominates, but this gives way to something blood-like and more savoury. A genuinely joyful wine, but a Gamay to accompany a cheese platter if you want to go red. £28/bottle from Gergovie.

Then Demontre 2021, La Gutina. This is a Garnatxa (Grenache) made by Barbara and Joan Carles Torres at Sant Climent Sescebes on the apparently windswept slopes of the Aspres des Alberes close to the French border. Grenache is their main baby, and it thrives on the poor granite soils. Their farm also grows olives, and of course everything is done with minimal intervention and zero sulphur. This is a medium-bodied wine full of lively fruit with mineral tension and brightness. A wine whose 13% abv (it says 12.85 online) hides beneath abundant fruit and zip. Lots of good Spanish Garnacha’s around, for sure, but this is a nice one and only £25/bottle.

Both wines were lovely. The Grenache/Garnatxa went especially well with the roast lamb, anchovy, bitter leaves and mint, a very tasty dish…I made the right choice. I topped off the meal with a blood orange sorbet and walked it off with an hour-long stroll through a misty City of London.

As far as 40 Maltby Street goes, if you know, you know, but if you don’t, then pay a visit. Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, open 5.30 for dinner on Wednesdays, Thursday to Saturday they serve lunch 12-3pm and dinner 5.30-9.30, no reservations! I like no reservations. First come, first served and zero no-shows. It was quite busy even on a Wednesday by the time I left, around seven. I’m sure the kitchen cope. Everyone working there seemed very happy, with no visible stress. Also check out Gergovie’s portfolio in the on-site shop whilst you are there. I can’t imagine how anyone would not be tempted by a bottle or two.

Before I go, I want to just give you a few personal recommendations from the Gergovie Wines portfolio. Purely subjective as there are quite a few producers I’ve not tried, but all of these would be challenging for a place in a mixed case:

• Anything, literally anything, from Alsace (Dreyer, Meyer, Ginglinger, Dirringer)
• Jeff Coutelou (Languedoc)
• Patrick Boujou & Justine Loisseau (Auvergne)
• Dom des Trouillères (Auvergne)
• Fabio Gea (Piemonte)
• Julien Peyras (Languedoc)
• Vincent Marie/No Control (Auvergne)
• Lucy Margaux/Anton van Klopper (Adelaide Hills)
• Sam Vinciulo (Margaret River)
• L’Anglore/Eric Pfifferling (Rhône)
• Jean-Yves Péron (Savoie)
• La Vigne du Perron (Bugey)
• Barranco Oscuro (Alpujarras)
• La Gutina (Catalunya)