While on a recent vacation in Lyon, we randomly discovered Illustre and it became the favorite part of our trip. This is a small wine bar that focuses on minimal intervention wines - I would say a majority of the customers were French so we felt a bit intimidated to be the only American tourists. However, Matthias, the sommeliers is a hoot and so welcoming. Super friendly and funny, he really knows his wines and he's all about helping his customers expand their palates and learn something new in the process, all in a super chill, non-pretentious way. For example, the first night we stopped in, we ordered a bottle to drink at the bar. After he popped the cork and took a sniff, he exclaimed "merde!" - the wine was corked and it was the last bottle. Not a big deal though, we just picked something else off the menu, which turned out to be great. But he went around to all of the other tables and asked them to smell the corked wine and explained what had happened and what to look to see if it is corked. The atmosphere here is relaxed - it's the kind of place you want to go after a long day at work (or sightseeing), hang out with friends, and enjoy some nice wines.
If you're looking for a great spot to grab a glass of wine (or two, or a bottle), make your way over to Illustre and you won't be disappointed! read more