Summer and a glass of wine go hand in hand for me, the perfect pairing like an ice cream with a Flake, ketchup on a hot dog, and potato and salad. When I’m not attempting to save my cash by buying a bottle from the local wine shop to drink in the park – à la age 16, except now with a posh picnic blanket – then I’m searching for the cheapest and best wine on the wine bar menu.

To make sure we’re on the same page, I would say an affordable glass of wine sits between £5 to £10, with a tenner on the (obviously) steeper end, but if the vibes are right, and the wine glass stem is thin, then that adds at least a couple of quid on to what I’m willing to pay for a good-time vino.

Now we’ve cleared the numbers, these are the most affordable wine bars in London to enjoy a tipple.

Top Cuvée

The Top Cuvée motto is “wine for everyone”, and with its buy one, get one free deal, it really practises what it preaches. Get two glasses of wine for just £7 during happy hour at Top Cuvée – all day, every day, at all sites until 6 pm. That is a pretty sweet set-up.

Sometimes, I don’t want to break into a bottle of Top Cuvée wine as it looks so good. The arty wine labels make for a cute Instagram story, “Wine with this one”, but the product lives up to the look. The Tuscan Vino Rosso Italo Disco and the House Orange in the House Party Mix are my newfound loves.

Highbury, N5, Shoreditch, E2 | topcuvée.com

Yield N1

Serving artisan wine in the setting of its bottle shop, Yield N1 is your local Islington wine bar serving minimal intervention wine. Visit here for an honest glass, with a tidy price tag.

With a small but select menu, all glasses of wine here are £8 and under, with a £5.50 Rioja in White or Red being the Stars of the Show (may be biased to personal tastes). They also do La Sueca Sangria for just £6 to enjoy on a particularly sunny day, when you want to pretend you’re in Costa Del North London.

Islington, N1 | yieldn1.com

Vine

Bermondsey Street is lined with tiny delis and indie spots serving some of the best food and drink in London, and Vine is the new-ish kid on the block. The wine, beer, and spirits shop is a no-reservation, try-your-luck for a seat space, and it’s simply adorable.

What keeps this spot affordable is that they don’t charge a corkage fee on the bottles you buy in store. The wines change with the seasons, and the staff personally taste each one to make sure it’s the best it can be (dream job). So whatever you pick from the curated shelves, it’s going to be good, with no added fees between you and enjoying a glass, either.

Bermondsey, SE1 | vine-bermondsey.com

Little Cellars

Turn seeking for London’s most affordable wines into a date night at Little Cellars, a bistro and wine bar in Camberwell.

The wine menu has glasses of red, white, rosé, and orange for all under a tenner, and a sparkling for £11. Think Spanish Tintos, German Riesling, and Sicilian orange Grecanico.

And I have to mention the food menu’s set sharer, where you can enjoy six plates between two people for £24 each. There are oozy croquetas, pork belly with apple ketchup, and gilda. The perfect accompaniments to a glass or two of vino.

Camberwell, SE5 | littlecellars.co.uk

Renegade Urban Winery

Wines produced by hand in East London, you can’t get more local than that. Renegade Urban Winery sources grapes from across the UK and races them back to London to make its wine.

If you’re after interesting low-intervention wines, take your pick from the Renegade menu and be delighted. With wine bars in Walthamstow and Bethnal Green, where it all began, there’s plenty of room to have a glass amid the action.

The best deal here is the tasting flights, priced at £21 or £22 for four 75ml pours. And all its 125ml glasses of wine are also £10 and under, so it pays to go to the source.

Walthamstow, E17, Bethnal Green, E2 | renegadelondonwine.com

Wine Bar

Considering its Mayfair postcode, the Wine Bar below the Farm Shop has some handsome prices for an infamously bougie area of London. It’s “hidden”, it’s candlelit, and it has a red Caminante Tempranillo for £5 a glass.

Ignoring the fact that you can also buy a bottle of Burgundy for over £6,000 from the Shop. Champagne lifestyle on a lemonade budget, am I right?

Mayfair, W1K | farmshop.co.uk

Marjorie’s

It’s new! It’s exciting! I’ll admit, I haven’t seen the actual wine list to confirm its affordability, but exploring a new spot adds an even further couple of quid onto what I’m willing to spend on a glass, so please, Marjorie, make sure there is something for under £12 on the menu.

What I do know is it’s an all-French wine list, and some of the best wines come from regions in France. There’s Bordeaux, Burgundy, Provence, and, of course, Champagne. And I’m excited to see what Marjorie’s has to offer.

Soho, W1F | marjorieslondon.co.uk

One One Six Wine Bar and Shop

This is the type of place where you walk by on a dusky evening, seeing couples leaning over a cosy table for two or friends clinking glasses and think to yourself, I must come back here. One One Six Wine Bar in North West is picturesque, as is its menu.

Spend the evening here sans guilt, choosing like Pick'n'Mix from its wine menu. There’s a £9 Provence Château Beaulieu Rosé, Chateau Le Peyrat from France for £8.50, or make it sparkle with a glass of Italian Monopolio Durello Spumante for £6.50. Keep ’em coming.

Kensal Rise, NW10 | 116wine.co.uk

Editor's note: Spot any incorrect information? Or have an article idea for HeadBox.com? Get in touch at submissions@headbox.com