Along the canal at this wine bar in Pantin with tiled floors and wine crates on the walls, former journalist Jim Mougin pulls out all the stops with his collection of natural bottles. And he’s always happy to take you on a tour of the shop in search of the perfect bottle, suggesting little-known micro-cuvées or tried-and-true crowd-pleasers: a Bourgueil from Stéphane Delettre (€18); Jajatoès, a Gard white blend from Le Petit Oratoire (€14 a bottle), Lagazi, a Georgian Rkatsiteli produced by David Pakhuridze and Shota Lagazidze (€29.90)… At the end of the day, grab a seat at one of the big tables to share a bottle (in exchange for a €7 corkage fee) or pop open a chilled MIR beer brewed in Romainville, while snacking on some charcuterie or vegetarian dips from Bernard Marot. And don’t worry too much about closing time: it’s determined by the general atmosphere of any given night! // Henriette Ma

The bullet-proof bottle: Métisse (€22), a macerated Syrah and Viognier blend from Patricia and Rémi Bonneton, who run the Domaine de l’Alezan in the Ardèche department.