Aki Uncorked: every Thursday rare wines poured by the glass

There is a point on every good wine list where the most interesting bottles become slightly theoretical. You recognise the producer. You clock the vintage. You imagine the occasion that might justify opening it. Then you order something more familiar, perhaps very good, perhaps perfectly sensible, and the rare bottle stays where it is.

At Aki, wine by the glass is not a short afterthought at the top of the list. Every day, the cellar is poured both by the glass and by the bottle: Champagne and English sparkling wine, whites from Chablis to Koshu, reds from Pinot Noir to Bordeaux, plus rosé, sweet wines and sake. You can move from sashimi to robata without committing to a single bottle, or settle on one and let the table unfold.

Aki Uncorked exists to change the calculation for the bottles that still wait. Every Thursday, Aki opens one exceptional wine from that same cellar and serves it by the glass for one evening only. The point is access. Wines that usually ask you to take the whole bottle become a single glass beside dinner. The bottle is selected close to service by Antonio Palmarini, Head of Wine, Sake and Tea, or Luca, Head Sommelier. It is not announced in advance. It arrives on the trolley, is introduced at the table, and is poured in front of you.

Think of Thursday as an omakase for wine: trust the selection, follow the story, and let one serious glass change the shape of dinner. For Japanese food lovers who want more than an automatic Asahi beside their sushi, and for wine drinkers who know that sashimi, nigiri and wagyu can be extraordinary with the right bottle, Aki Uncorked is the night to book in Marylebone.

Wine by the glass in London, every day at Aki

If you are looking for wine by the glass in London, Aki is not a self-pour bar with a hundred open bottles. It is a Japanese restaurant whose cellar is built to be drunk with the food, including a standing by-the-glass selection that runs through the week.

The current glass list includes English sparkling wine and Champagne, whites such as Petit Chablis, Riesling and Pouilly-Fumé, Provence rosé, and reds from Pinot Noir and Côtes du Rhône through to Nuits-Saint-Georges. Sake is poured by the glass as well. The bottle list goes much further: Burgundy, the Loire, Italy, Japan, England and the rest of the cellar.

That everyday programme is the foundation. Aki Uncorked does not replace it. It takes bottles that sit further down the same list, the ones people tend to save for a larger table, and opens one of them on Thursday.

For the wider cellar, and for individual matches from the standing glass list, explore Aki’s wine page in Marylebone.

“The wine selection is exceptional, and the sommelier was both entertaining and perfectly attuned to what paired best with our delicious food.”

Agnieszka Kita, Google review, April 2026

Aki Uncorked: when the rarer bottles become a glass

Aki Uncorked exists for the part of the list that usually stays theoretical. Every Thursday during dinner service, the sommelier team opens one exceptional bottle and pours it by the glass for that evening only.

These bottles are rare, researched and often difficult to replace. Their availability, condition and moment of readiness all matter, so Antonio and Luca choose close to service rather than to a marketing calendar. One week may bring a tightly wound Loire Chenin Blanc. Another may reveal mature Burgundy, classical Bordeaux, an unconventional Lebanese white or a volcanic Italian red. The category changes. The standard does not.

It asks for a small amount of trust, the same trust that makes omakase rewarding. You arrive without ordering that particular wine from a list, and leave having tried something you might never otherwise have chosen, or encountered.

What Aki Uncorked has looked like so far

No two Thursdays are designed to be the same. These recent selections offer a glimpse into the cellar’s range: age-worthy whites for sashimi, mature Burgundy for richer seafood, serious Bordeaux and volcanic Italian reds with enough structure for wagyu, and the sort of unconventional white that turns a dinner into a conversation.

Why Aki is a different kind of wine by the glass in London

Wine by the glass, beside Japanese food

This is not the full pairing guide. That article will come. What matters here is that the glass list, and the Aki Uncorked bottle, are chosen with Japanese food in mind rather than parked beside it.

A mineral white can sharpen sashimi. Mature Chardonnay can meet richer seafood and umami-led dishes without flattening their detail. A red with freshness, perfume and fine tannin can make wagyu feel more complete rather than simply more powerful. Sake remains on the table. Wine is the other serious conversation.

Ask the team to shape the order around what you are drinking, whether that is a glass from the everyday list or the bottle opened for Aki Uncorked. For a chef-led way to share sushi and sashimi, discover omakase at Aki.

A table, whatever the occasion

Wine by the glass at Aki is not a tasting with scorecards. It is a way to drink from a serious cellar without needing a grand occasion, every day of the week, with Aki Uncorked as Thursday’s extra reason to book.

Wine omakase, dinner omakase

Aki Uncorked has the same spirit as omakase: a decision made by someone who has spent time with the ingredients, the cellar and the evening ahead. You do not need to know the bottle before you arrive. You only need to be curious enough to let a specialist guide the choice.

For a shared dinner built around chef-selected sushi and sashimi, explore Aki’s omakase platters in Marylebone. Pair that sense of culinary trust with Aki Uncorked, and dinner becomes a conversation between the kitchen and the cellar.

When the cellar becomes less theoretical

The rarest wine experience is not always a flight, a masterclass or a room full of people taking notes. Sometimes it is simply dinner in Marylebone, a serious glass from a list that is open every day, and, on Thursday, one bottle opened at the right moment.

Aki Uncorked is for guests who enjoy the unexpected, but not the ordinary: wine lovers willing to trust the sommelier, Japanese food lovers unwilling to compromise on the glass beside dinner, and anyone who believes a Thursday in London can be more than a default order.

Antonio Palmarini leads wine, sake and tea at Aki. His professional profile is public if you want the longer version of that CV. On the floor, ask for Antonio or Luca.

Aki serves an extensive wine list by the glass and by the bottle every day at 1 Cavendish Square, Marylebone, London W1G 0LA, a short walk from Oxford Circus and Bond Street. Aki Uncorked takes place every Thursday during dinner service. One rare bottle is selected by the sommelier team and served by the glass for that evening only. The Aki Uncorked selection is not announced in advance. Reserve your table at Aki online.