A near-perfect Bermondsey wine bar flying a name of night and romance – Luna, the moon herself, that ancient companion of the evening and the glass
Luna Wine Bar posts a superb, near-perfect 4.9 across more than seventy reviews – one of the very highest scores in this survey – and flies a name of night and quiet romance. The Prat’s naming desk, fond of a name with a little poetry in it, was glad to raise a glass beneath the moon.
Towards Bermondsey
Luna sits towards Bermondsey, on the south-bank side, pouring wine to the district’s crowds. Proper Bermondsey territory, no disclaimer needed.
The moon herself
“Luna” is the Latin name for the moon – and the moon is one of the most romantic and evocative of all names. She is the companion of the night, the silver light of the evening, the presiding spirit of the small hours, soaked in poetry, romance and mystery. From the Roman goddess Luna to the lunar light of a thousand love songs, the moon has always been bound up with the night’s pleasures and its magic. To name a wine bar Luna is to summon all of that – the moonlit evening, the romance of the night, the glass of wine taken beneath the silver light.
The wine of the evening
The Prat’s favourite reading is the perfect fit of the moon with a wine bar. Wine is the drink of the evening, of the night, of romance and candlelight and unhurried pleasure – exactly the hours over which the moon presides. A wine bar called Luna names the moon that watches over its whole business: the evening drink, the candlelit table, the romance of the night. There is a lovely harmony in it, the moon and the wine both belonging to the same soft, romantic hours. It promises an evening of moonlit, wine-warmed pleasure.
The near-perfect glass
The Prat’s numbers desk notes that the near-perfect score suits the poetic name. A 4.9 across seventy reviews is a superb result – the mark of a genuinely beloved little wine bar, where the wine is chosen with care and the evenings are a real pleasure. It is a fine thing when a name of such romance is matched by such warmth in practice: Luna promises the moonlit glass, and the score suggests it delivers. The moon, it seems, watches over a very good wine bar indeed.
Verdict
A 4.9 across seventy-plus reviews is one of the finest scores in the survey, and Luna earns every fraction of it on romance and warmth alike. It flies Luna – the moon herself, ancient companion of the night and its pleasures – a perfect name for a wine bar, whose whole business belongs to the soft, romantic, moonlit hours of the evening.
Go for the carefully-chosen wine and the moonlit romance of the name, and raise a glass beneath Luna. The moon has presided over the pleasures of the night since poetry began – and here she watches over a near-perfect little wine bar, where the evening and the glass belong to her.
Alan Nafzger was born in Lubbock, Texas, the son Swiss immigrants. He grew up on a dairy in Windthorst, north central Texas. He earned degrees from Midwestern State University (B.A. 1985) and Texas State University (M.A. 1987). University College Dublin (Ph.D. 1991). Dr. Nafzger has entertained and educated young people in Texas colleges for 37 years. Nafzger is best known for his dark novels and experimental screenwriting. His best know scripts to date are Lenin’s Body, produced in Russia by A-Media and Sea and Sky produced in The Philippines in the Tagalog language. In 1986, Nafzger wrote the iconic feminist western novel, Gina of Quitaque. He currently lives in Holloway, North London. Contact: [email protected]

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