Muru Winebar — The Boom Begins

Samuil Angelov opened Muru Winebar in 2020 around the corner from Restaurant Muru on Lönnrotinkatu 14 — validating the idea that Helsinki could sustain a dedicated wine bar, not just a restaurant with a good list. Over 750 wines, daily-changing by-the-glass selection, and the kitchen sends over cold cuts, risotto, and small plates from Muru proper. The space has become one of Helsinki's top locations to drink wine. Wednesday-Saturday, 16:30-23:00. Come early — the 30-odd seats fill fast.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Decode the Thursday Champagne Before Leaving Your Hotel Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: On your phone, the morning of any Thursday you're in Helsinki. Pull up Instagram and search @murunviinibaari.

   What: Every Thursday, Samuil Angelov — three-time Best Sommelier of Finland and two-time European Championship semi-finalist — personally selects a champagne from Muru's deep cellar to pour by the glass that evening. Not a supermarket champagne. Not an Alko-shelf champagne. A self-imported bottle that never passed through Finland's state alcohol monopoly. He announces it on Instagram the same afternoon with no advance reservation system. First come, first served. When it's gone, it's gone. Here's the why: Finland's Alko holds a retail monopoly on wine. Angelov built a 750-label self-import cellar specifically to bypass the state filter — he is, in the most Finnish of ways, the resistance. Thursday is when he cracks open the best of it.

   How: Check @murunviinibaari on Thursday afternoon. Screenshot the post. Arrive at Lönnrotinkatu 14 when doors open at 16:30 — sharp, not fashionably late. Tell the person behind the bar you're here for the Thursday champagne. They'll know what you mean.

   Backup: If the Thursday champagne is sold out, ask what's on Coravin. Muru's Coravin system preserves opened bottles with inert argon gas — you can drink Domaine Taupenot-Merme Corton Rognet Grand Cru Burgundy by the glass, a wine that retails at €80+ per bottle, in central Helsinki. That is not a thing that happens in most cities on Earth.

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2. 2 Take the Wednesday Blind Tasting — Three Wines, €15 Wine · Price: low

   Where: At the bar at Muru Winebar, Lönnrotinkatu 14, any Wednesday from 16:30 onward.

   What: Three wines poured blind — you get the glass but not the label. €15 per person. You taste, you argue, you embarrass yourself, you learn. This is one of the best wine-education bargains in northern Europe. Anywhere else, a tutored tasting with three wines of this calibre would cost €35–50. Here Angelov's team does it nightly because the philosophy is that wine culture should be spread, not gatekept.

   How: Walk in and say you want the blind tasting. No booking required — it runs throughout the evening. The format is open: taste at your own pace, ask questions. The sommelier on duty will tell you what the wines are at the end (or you can ask for hints — they don't make it cruel). The three wines rotate, sourced from the self-imported European list, so you're not tasting Alko supermarket blends — you're tasting producers Angelov specifically brought to Finland because nobody else would. SEASONAL NOTE: Program runs year-round, confirmed open Wed–Sat. Wednesday is the quietest night — best chance of a seat in the ~30-seat room.

   Backup: If you can't make Wednesday, the full wine list is available any evening. Ask for the sommelier's current recommendation by the glass — around 100 wines are poured daily by the glass, more than most restaurants carry in total.

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3. 3 Ask to See the Little Black Book Wine · Price: very high · Optional

   Where: At the bar or your table at Muru Winebar, any evening.

   What: Every customer gets the standard wine list — 750+ labels. But Muru Winebar and Restaurant Muru (around the corner on Fredrikinkatu 41) share a single additional bottle list that staff call 'the little black book.' It contains the wine world's real classics: Romanée-Conti, Armand Rousseau, prestige cuvées, and older vintages reaching back to the 1940s. These are bottles from one of the deepest private wine cellars in the entire Nordic region. Bottles that existed when Finland was fighting the Winter War against the Soviet Union in 1940.

   How: When your sommelier arrives, say: 'Can I see the little black book?' They'll know exactly what you mean. You don't have to buy — looking is free, and the list itself is a story. If something catches your eye and budget allows, any bottle can be opened. The Coravin system means even single glasses from these bottles are possible on some selections. This is the Access Reveal: the thing tourists who just walked in off the street never think to ask for.

   Backup: If budget doesn't stretch to a black book bottle, ask for a Coravin pour — the system is specifically in place to let you drink Grand Cru Burgundy by the glass without the bar opening a full bottle. Expect €20–40 for something extraordinary.

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4. 4 Follow @murunviinibaari — Then Show Up Adventure · Free

   Where: Your phone — before you arrive in Helsinki, or from your hotel room the morning of your visit.

   What: Muru Winebar runs one of the most honestly useful Instagram accounts in Helsinki's restaurant world. The Thursday champagne is announced here — and only here — the same afternoon it's poured. Friday's iconic bottle gets the same treatment. Saturday's tutored tasting (1+ hour, Finnish and English) is ticketed through the Muru shop at murudining.fi/en/shop/ — and spots fill fast. None of this is on a printed schedule. It's all live, all social, all first-come. Samuil Angelov runs this operation personally. He has been named Finland's Best Sommelier three separate times. He is the deputy treasurer of the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale — a global body that oversees sommelier competition worldwide. And on Thursday afternoons he's posting champagne bottle photos on Instagram like anyone else with good taste and better access.

   How: Follow @murunviinibaari before your trip. Enable notifications if you're arriving Thursday or Friday. Check the grid for any upcoming ticketed Saturday tastings and book via the website before they sell out. The cost to follow is zero. The cost of missing the Thursday champagne because you didn't check is much higher.

   Backup: If you miss the social posting, just arrive at opening (16:30) and ask what's special tonight. The team will tell you. Arriving first means sitting — the room holds ~30 people and fills by 19:00 on weekends.

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5. 5 Order the Risotto That Travels Around the Corner Adventure · Price: low

   Where: At Muru Winebar, Lönnrotinkatu 14. Order alongside your wine, any evening.

   What: Muru Winebar has no kitchen. What it has is a back channel to Restaurant Muru around the corner — the same kitchen that earned Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence in 2017. The risotto, cold cuts, and charcuterie that arrive at your table have been carried from Fredrikinkatu 41. This is not a gimmick — it's a real working collaboration between two addresses that Angelov operates as one organism.

   How: Order the risotto and whatever cold cuts are on the board. Pair it with whatever the sommelier is pouring well by the glass that night — they've been pairing these exact dishes with these exact wines for years. Ask: 'What would you drink with the risotto tonight?' The answer will be specific and correct. THE DETAIL THAT MATTERS: 'Muru' in Finnish means 'crumb' — an intentionally humble name for what became Helsinki's most decorated wine destination. Angelov opened the restaurant in 2010 naming it after a crumb. Fifteen years later it has one of the deepest cellars in Scandinavia and a finalist spot at the Star Wine List International Final 2025. The risotto is the crumb that started all of it.

   Backup: If risotto is unavailable (kitchen sends what's ready), the charcuterie and cheese selection is always present. The food is deliberately minimal — this is a wine bar, not a restaurant, and the restraint is architectural.

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