Reviews Archives - The Drinks Business https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/tag/reviews/ The Drinks Business is the leading drinks magazine for the off and on trade Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:04:45 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/content/uploads/2023/02/cropped-db-favicon-32x32.png Reviews Archives - The Drinks Business https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/tag/reviews/ 32 32 Wine list of the week: The Braywood https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-the-braywood/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-the-braywood/#respond Wed, 19 Mar 2025 10:04:45 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=674753 Douglas Blyde finds a by-the-glass selection where "everyday meets the exceptional" and an "acutely sweaty Turkish Sauvignon Blanc" at The Braywood in Maidenhead.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-the-braywood/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde finds a by-the-glass selection where "everyday meets the exceptional" and an "acutely sweaty Turkish Sauvignon Blanc" at The Braywood in Maidenhead. The Braywood is what happens when a country pub wins the lottery, hires an interior designer with a black belt in taste, and swaps its pint-pulling past for something far more sophisticated. If you prefer a “real pub,” there’s The White Hart down the road, which advertises itself as such on its sign. Michelin notes the former Royal Oak was given a lavish conversion by the team behind The Woodspeen – though Harden’s put it better: “rises from the rubble”. The result? A sleek, contemporary venue where Dover sole and chateaubriand for two are the order of the day. According to Muddy Stilettos, Sam Brennan is “the man behind the wheel of this gastronomical ship.” Over on TripAdvisor, Gloriar puffs: “Would give it six stars if I could!”

Design

Some buildings evolve. Others vanish with the efficiency of a condemned tower block - nothing left but dust, a planning dispute, and a few indignant letters to the local paper. The Royal Oak fell somewhere in between. “A historic pub and former Michelin-starred restaurant has been reduced to a pile of rubble after demolition took place without the permission of the Royal Borough,” reported the Maidenhead Advertiser, with the scandalised tone usually reserved for a missing Vermeer. Yet, not everything was lost. The centrepiece of the old scheme remains, albeit so dramatically reworked that it might as well have entered witness protection. Under architect, Chris Bagot, the past was swept aside in favour of a gleaming contemporary restaurant, with plate glass walls as polished as a Zalto bowl, terrazzo flooring, a marble wine altar, and lush fatsias softening the edges of all that modernity. Come summer, two terraces open onto roosts for birds, bat boxes, and even a hedgehog highway - because in Berkshire, even the local wildlife is afforded good design.

Drinks

Topping out at 600 bins, The Braywood’s list is the largest in a collection which also includes The Sparsholt and The Boxford, both equally well-heeled, but neither quite so lavishly stocked. It is overseen by Jacopo Maroni, a protégé of Edoardo Amadi, director of wines at The Woodspeen. Under his guidance, the selection is both expansive and deliberate, if occasionally generous to a fault. By the glass, the everyday meets the exceptional. A crisp Soave (£6) sits alongside a Turkish Sauvignon Blanc (£9). Bollinger Rosé (£31) brings a touch of Aÿ glamour, while Château Dutruch Grand Poujeaux 2016 (£14 per 125ml) delivers serious Bordeaux in a manageable pour. For something decadent, but not dangerous, Château Guiraud 2015 (£17 per 70ml) is a premier cru Sauternes thick with golden promise. By the bottle, English sparkling takes its place at the table. Hundred Hills sits alongside Champagne’s greats, with Preamble No.2 2019 and Signature Rosé 2018 (both £116), and Hillside No.3 Limited Edition 2019 (£127) making a confident case for homegrown fizz. Bordeaux is led by titans, Latour 2009 (£2,450), Haut-Brion (£1,975), and Lafite (£2,350) - while second wines like Echo de Lynch Bages (£120) offer a more affordable route into the region’s aristocracy. Burgundy is a clear labour of love, with Domaine Leflaive’s Chevalier-Montrachet (£3,350) and Armand Rousseau’s Charmes-Chambertin (£2,300) taking centre stage, while Dujac’s 2011 Gevrey-Chambertin (£332) makes an appearance, given Maroni is a fan, and clearly hopes you are too. And yet, for all its curation, the list does have its sprawl. Three standard Chablis, three white Sancerres, and a full ten Albariños, though to its credit, some hail from Portugal, South Africa, and New Zealand. Then there are ten Californian Chardonnays - a celebration of variety, excess, or a reminiscence for Amadi, who was once wine director at the USA-led The Vineyard, Stockcross. But when it comes to Italy, Maroni finds his focus. The great estates are well represented – Ornellaia, Sassicaia, and the 2015 Masseto (£2,200). Barolo monarchs are firmly in residence, with Giacomo Conterno’s 2003 Cascina Francia (£750) and Roberto Voerzio’s 1997 Brunate (£790). Further afield, there’s Château Musar 1998 (£271), while Didier Dagueneau’s 2018 Pur Sang (£363) is a reminder of a winemaker who saw Sauvignon Blanc as something far grander than a bistro pour. The considered half-bottle list is worth a lingering look, where Burgundy and Bordeaux feature, as does Sassicaia 2008 (£500), a three-glass glimpse into one of Italy’s most sought-after wines. Meanwhile, cocktails include the surprisingly convincing, banana-bittered non-alcoholic Old Fashioned, and gin from sister restaurant The Clockspire.

Dishes

Sam Brennan works with the restaurant collection’s own single finca olive oil, turning out à la carte dishes which feel rooted, generous, and reassuringly unfussy - a contrast to the minimalist interiors, where one half-expects a lecture on foraging and a procession of tasting plates arranged on pebbles. Lunch began with a wonderfully, acutely sweaty Turkish Sauvignon Blanc, drawn theatrically from a marble ice well, a centrepiece somewhere between a font and a folly. Beyond the label’s moon phases, Sevilen 900 Füme Blanc – imported direct by Maroni – hails from Güneym, a region known not only for its wine but also a waterfall. It was poured alongside a pretty starter of Jerusalem artichoke, Castelfranco, cashews, sliced pink lady apple, and balsamic, crowned with an enthusiastic scattering of black truffle. A concern, initially – without enough richness elsewhere to carry it, truffle can sit inert, like a squandered inheritance. But here, the effect was pleasingly savoury, almost suede-like, requiring a moment to adjust before revealing its charms. The wine added its own persuasive argument, lively and conversational. The artichoke, in fact, turned out to be more compelling than the partridge, which came with a hint of raspberry vinegar, warm beetroot, and chicory, along with hazelnuts for texture. The bird itself was polite, though its more interesting bits had been relegated to stock, which felt a shame. The pairing, however, was thoughtful – a warm-year (2017), Nebbiolo-esque Grignolino from Tre Bicchieri, Tenuta Santa Caterina, Monferrato. One of only 30 magnums, from Maroni’s home region of Valtellina, it did its best to bolster the dish’s character. Then came a properly substantial tranche of turbot, well seasoned, with supple clams, homemade strozzapreti, and crisped leek, bathed in a white vermouth sauce which could only have been improved by stirring in a spoonful of caviar. Served alongside, smoked buttered pink fir potatoes, which were so good they almost outshone the fish. The wine, another from Santa Caterina – Silente delle Marne 2020 – was fearless, golden, deep, the product of three altitudes, made by a winemaker who spent time in Puligny-Montrachet, and it showed. It amplified everything, especially those potatoes. The match of the meal. To finish, a chocolate slice with coffee caramel, mascarpone, and a seeded snap, sheer indulgence created by pastry chef, Chiara Russo, paired with Brolo delle Giare Recioto 2017. There was also a taste of the ferment from the operator’s own Linden Estate in Boxford, set to make sparkling wine, though the late-harvest Ortega before us was an appetising, honeysuckle scented blend of three years, with only 3,000 halves available. Maroni noted that guests can visit by arrangement. It could also serve as a perfect aperitif wine.

Last sip

Once a celebrated pub under the tenure of chef of The Crown at Burchett’s Green, Dominic Chapman, the setting is now altogether more refined under Westbury Street Holdings (WSH) – a group which doesn’t so much run restaurants as acquire them and leave them gleaming in their wake. Their reach extends from the banquettes of Searcys to the caffeinated queues of Benugo, via BaxterStorey, which quietly sustains the ambitions of corporate Britain. Even the nation’s prep schools aren’t spared, with Holroyd Howe ensuring little Tarquin’s first encounter with a mille-feuille happens somewhere between Latin and lacrosse. Now, it’s grander, sleeker, its country-pub past still susurrant beneath the surface – reassuring but irrelevant. It has been reupholstered for a new generation of power lunches, with locals returning in numbers and praising the results. A magnum of Camino de Santa Cruz, comprehensively signed by the team at the nearby Fat Duck, sits as testament to its welcome among the old guard. One suspects former owner, Michael Parkinson, would have admired its ambition. His son, Nick, certainly does - he’s already been back five times. Because WSH doesn’t deal in half measures or half-finished projects. As Parkinson himself put it: “I finish every book I start.”

Best for

  • Italy and homegrown wines
  • Sleek design
  • Traditional cooking
Value: 94, Size: 96, Range: 96, Originality: 96, Experience: 96; Total: 95.6 The Braywood - Paley St, Littlefield Green, Maidenhead SL6 3JN; 01628 361873; thebraywood.co.uk]]> Wine list of the week: Locale Firenze https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-locale-firenze/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-locale-firenze/#respond Mon, 10 Mar 2025 09:12:45 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=673059 Douglas Blyde continues his trip around Florence with a visit to Locale Firenze, where "medieval stonework and Renaissance grandeur rub shoulders with cocktail lab wizardry".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-locale-firenze/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde continues his trip around Florence with a visit to Locale Firenze, where "medieval stonework and Renaissance grandeur rub shoulders with cocktail lab wizardry". Framed within the historic Concini Palace, Locale Firenze is less a restaurant and bar, and more, as The World’s 50 Best Bars describes it, “a time machine that takes you both backwards and forwards.” Back to the 1200s, when the palace was built, and the 1500s, when it gained its elaborate Renaissance features recalling the time of the Medici. And forward, to a bar ranked 36th best in the world, where cutting-edge mixology uses lab tech to craft low-waste cocktails which harness seasonal produce. Step into the lounge bar, and as Condé Nast Traveler notes, you’ll find bartenders in vests and ties, surrounded by “mini-greenhouses that store micro garnishes, eccentric glassware, dry ice, and foamed ingredients.” Michelin praises Simone Caponnetto’s “creative, innovative cuisine”, from globally influenced plates to standouts like “Risoni pasta with cuttlefish liver and cherry tomatoes.” The Sybarite’s Lucy Corcoran simply calls it “an otherworldly dining experience.” But be warned, as TripAdvisor’s “sbh56” from Los Angeles put it: “if you’re not an adventurous eater, you should probably choose another place.” This is Florence at its most daring – and delicious.

Design

Stepping into Locale Firenze is like opening a Florentine history book, only with optional disco lights illuminating its warren of subterranean private rooms, and considerably more alcohol. Beneath the bar’s polished floors, where the likes of Leonardo di Caprio hold their parties, an ancient fireplace still bears the insignia of the Knights of Santo Stefano, a symbol once stamped onto loaves before baking, presumably to remind diners who they had to thank for their daily bread. Alongside the rhythmic shake of cocktail tins, the soundtrack includes Buvard by Diskay and Diana Krall’s S'Wonderful.

Drinks

Stored wherever space permits, including beside remnants of a Roman amphitheatre, and within a former well, the list is overseen by the ebullient, Burgundy-loving, Stefano Rizzi who spent six years as a sommelier at Florence’s famed Enoteca Pinchiorri, before moving to London, where he worked with Chris and Jeff Galvin. The expansive sparkling selection spans Dom Pérignon back to 1993 (€1,900), alongside Armand de Brignac (€790) for those who prefer their bottles golden. Outliers include Domaine Les Monts Fournois Champagne Grand Cru Vallée 2014, sourced from a single plot in Aÿ (€490), while homegrown options extend to a rare sparkler from Bruno Giacosa – Extra Brut 2018 (€90). Even Sussex gets representation. Still wines open at a democratic €45 for albeit polarising, chestnut barrel raised, flor wine, Contini Vernaccia di Oristano 2018. Around the €60 mark, there are nearly 40 options, including Chapoutier’s Les Meysonniers 2022 Marsanne, a terracotta-aged Castello di Lispida 2019 Ribolla Friulana, and, from across the border, a Slovenian entry – Gredič Movia Exto Gredič 2021 Friulano. At the opposite end of the spectrum, the list peaks, as it so often does in premium establishments, with 2012 Romanée-Saint-Vivant from Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (€3,800). That rarefied air is reached via the long lees aged Terlano Rarity 2011 Pinot Bianco (€440), Tenuta di Trinoro Palazzi 1998 with its palm tree label (€1,800), Lafite 1978 (€2,500), Masseto 2001 (€2,600), and Cheval Blanc 1995 (€2,200). For those with a sweet tooth, halves include Petreto Pourriture Noble 1998 from Tuscany (€105) and Austrian Tschida Chardonnay Beerenauslese 2017 (€70/37.5cl). If there’s one criticism, it would be Locale Firenze’s timidity to stray outside Europe, especially given Caponnetto has worked in Australia, Japan, and the USA. Crafted by Fabio Fanni and Alessandro Mengoni, Locale Firenze’s cocktails might include “Giardiniera”, mixing blueberries, pickles, rye whisky, champagne, and chili, while “Locatini” is a briny blend of olive distillate, Fino, and salt. Jars of kombuchas, including one informed by hemp teems away in the depths of the palace, provoking non-drinkers to participate.

Dishes

Locale is flamboyant, and so are the dishes of Mugaritz-trained Simone Caponnetto. The tasting menus - ours titled “Awareness” - are blind, a gamble of trust. If you’d rather not take the leap, the à la carte options are printed plainly, no concessions required. The opening assaggio consists of an interpretation of traditional Tuscan stew, reduced to its barest essence, with borlotti beans, alongside a trio of mussels blanketed in spicy butter, bringing depth and warmth. This is followed by more substantial snacks, perched on gilded plinths. A white Americano infused with gentian, citrus, and fennel acts as the transition. A convincingly sculpted vegan burratina, wrought from pine nuts, proves slightly gritty but earnest in its imitation. A tartiflette of Jerusalem artichoke and chocolate is an unexpected but welcome refreshment, while a crisped Parmesan and artichoke wafer with egg yolk offers the most textural pleasure. The bread trolley, handled with white-gloved precision, presents classic unsalted Tuscan slices, doused in olive oil formed from a trinity of olive varieties, alongside olive bread with a remarkable olive butter - aromatised with roasted chicken and apple, its meat repurposed for staff meals, and dusted with fermented black lemon. Later, a powerful bay butter makes an appearance, its potency in need of some restraint. A stingray-shaped bread, however, naughtily evokes a spicy, posh ‘Wotsit’ in flavour – a culinary in-joke? Next, deer tartare, heightened by anchovy sauce, is theatrically finished at the table with fermented summer blackberries and served on a dish which mimics an inverted lunar landscape. It finds cheerful companionship in Franz Haas’ 2022 Pinot Noir. Then, tuna belly, treated as if it were pork belly, is paired with candied pepper, beef fat, and confit bergamot, presented on a rose-gold plate - excess in its finest form. Caponnetto’s Japanese stage is represented by a Tuscan-inflected chawanmushi, steeped in fish stock and ornamented with mussels, caviar, and champagne. Sommelier Rizzi notes its liminality - neither wholly savoury, nor sweet - and prescribes a measured pour of Dr. Pauly-Bergweiler’s 2004 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese, its origins in the marine Devonian blue slate of the Mosel lending it an incense-scented equilibrium. The “staff pasta” follows: cappelletti, suggestive in form and filled with wood pigeon, chestnut, and crushed hazelnuts - the best pairing of the evening, with 2019 Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino, dispensed via Coravin. Then, tripe, vacuum-packed and slow-cooked in Parmesan water, a dish which required some head-scratching to pair, ultimately finding its match in a 2009 Extra Brut Champagne from Bouché Père & Fils. Rizzi recalls that such dishes continue to bewilder locals who, unmoored from the safe harbours of Chianti Classico and T-bones, ultimately find delight in surprise. The centrepiece is aged pigeon, rested in truffle miso for over 15 days, cleansed at intervals of two. It arrives with a glass of right bank Beauséjour 2008, poured into a Riedel Superleggero. First, the raw baby fillet, then the breast, finished in an oven of Calabrian charcoal, imbued with rosemary, bay, cinnamon, and black pepper. A smoked broth is served in a dainty teacup, accompanied by savoury liver brûlée, while radicchio, tangled like Medusa’s hair, glistens in chestnut honey. Finally, as Marina O’Loughlin noted, “breakfast” masquerades as dessert, where koji informs rice pudding, caramelised zabaglione, and bitter coffee ice cream, paired with an espresso martini which swaps vodka with shochu and white rum. Hats off, too, to the cassata, its silken texture owed to veal tendons - a whisper of the unexpected. And in a final flourish of hospitality, the team captures guests on a Polaroid, freezing - a souvenir of indulgence, texturally frozen in time.

Last sip

Locale Firenze is what happens when history meets hedonism, where the Medici might have raised a toast to molecular mixology had they known what a centrifuge was. It’s a place which embraces both the ancient and avant-garde - where medieval stonework and Renaissance grandeur rub shoulders with cocktail lab wizardry and menus which demand a sense of adventure. Whether you’re sipping an olive distillate martini under a chandelier that has seen centuries of scandal or marvelling at the alchemy of a truffle-miso aged pigeon, the experience, much like the best stories – is rich, bold, and impossible to forget.

Best for

  • Acclaimed international cocktails and Europe-led wine list
  • Labyrinth of private rooms
  • Generous, true hospitality
Locale Firenze - Via delle Seggiole, 12r, 50122 Firenze, Italy; +39 055 906 7188; info@localefirenze.it; localefirenze.it]]> Wine list of the week: Il Palagio at Four Seasons Firenze https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-il-palagio-at-four-seasons-firenze/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-il-palagio-at-four-seasons-firenze/#respond Mon, 03 Mar 2025 09:15:08 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=671793 Douglas Blyde visits the Four Seasons in Florence for a taste of executive chef Paolo Lavezzini's cooking at the "gastronomic daydream" that is Il Palagio.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/03/wine-list-of-the-week-il-palagio-at-four-seasons-firenze/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits the Four Seasons in Florence for a taste of executive chef Paolo Lavezzini's cooking at the "gastronomic daydream" that is Il Palagio. Florence is a living theatre of art and excess, where every corner has been painted, sung about, or chiselled into eternity. But even in this gilded setting, the Four Seasons stands apart: a Renaissance palazzo enfolded by the city’s largest private park. “It seems made to host the Anglo-Florentine elite that [Henry] James evoked in novels like The Portrait of a Lady,” wrote Lee Marshall in Condé Nast Traveller. At its heart is Il Palagio, the hotel’s sanctum, where executive chef Paolo Lavezzini presides over a menu which reveres Italian tradition while reinterpreting its rules. “Italian by heart and Brazilian by soul,” as Michelin, which bestowed a star, describes him, Lavezzini spent years refining his craft in São Paulo before bringing that sensibility to Florence. “A great interpreter of Italian cuisine, and above all seasonal,” Firenze Made In Tuscany proclaimed. In The Times, Matthew Bell was taken by his artistry, describing how he “turns slices of tomatoes into air-dried sculptures and fuses flavours like peach, sage, and almond.” Then there’s the wine, handled with poise by head sommelier, Walter Meccia. A man whose credentials are as polished as his stemware, Meccia was named on Forbes’ 40 Under 40 in the wine industry – a recognition which TripAdvisor’s Kyle F saw fit to note: “A big shout out to the sommelier, who truly deserved his awards.”

Design

There are restorations, and then there are resurrections. The Four Seasons Florence, housed within the Palazzo della Gherardesca, is the latter – a triumph of preservation, vision, and exquisite indulgence. Built between 1473 and 1480 for Bartolomeo Scala - Lorenzo de’ Medici’s scholar-diplomat – the Palazzo was among the first urban villas to reject the city’s clamour for the serenity of country estates. Alberti’s theories of suburban grandeur were brought to life here: a home which was both a fortress and a retreat. Renaissance artisans graced its halls with frescoes, bas-reliefs, and trompe-l’œil trickery – each inch a declaration of taste, wealth, and power. History has made a habit of repurposing such places. The estate became a convent, then a cardinal’s residence, then a repository for dynastic ambition under the formidable Della Gherardesca family. By 1901, it was officially deemed a national treasure, though like all grand old things, it needed new patrons to stop the rot. Enter Four Seasons, which in 2001 embarked on an ambitious ongoing restoration, overseen by Pierre-Yves Rochon. Few restorations manage to capture the essence of a place while refining it. This is a Florentine masterpiece in motion, where history does not sit still, but unfurls with each passing guest.

Drinks

Not only a fanatic of wine, but chocolate, too, Walter Meccia, assisted by Cosimo Massaro and Francesco Moradei, presides over a vast cellar blending classic prestige with modern flair. By the Spiegelau Definition glass, options span from Tarlant Brut Nature champagne from the Marne (€30) to Adega do Vulcão’s cement-fermented Azorean Ameixambar 2021 (€22), Frescobaldi Gorgona 2023 (€45) - an island wine made in collaboration with inmates - and the 2018 debut of “Dalla Valle & Ornellaia DVO” (€170), a once-secret Bordeaux blend from California. Meccia curates an extensive champagne selection, weaving in Plénitudes of Dom Pérignon alongside rare vintages from Selosse, which he recently visited, Egly-Ouriet, and Billecart-Salmon. The list peaks with Krug Clos du Mesnil 2008 (€5,000) - one of 22 wines from the year the hotel opened - and 2013 La Côte Aux Enfants Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru (€2,200). Lovers of metodo classico will find a well-chosen Italian contingent, including Nicola Gatta Arcano 180 Lune Nature Riserva (€270) from the easternmost pocket of Franciacorta. Still wines range from the idiosyncratic Tenuta Dettori 2006 Chimbanta Monica (€60) which one Cellar Tracker reviewer summed as “odd-but-wow” – to Romanée-Conti 2019 Monopole (€29,000). Given we are in Tuscany, Il Palagio leans heavily into the Super Tuscans, with deep verticals of Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto, Solaia, and Tignanello. The 2021 Sassicaia (€900), 2018 Ornellaia (€800), and 2020 Masseto (€2,700) sit alongside back vintages such as 1988 Sassicaia (€1,900) and a three-litre 2015 Masseto (€14,000). Brunello di Montalcino is another stronghold, with Biondi-Santi Riservas from 2016 (€1,300) and 2010 (€2,200), plus Poggio di Sotto and Salvioni. Further north, Barolo is equally well-stocked, featuring Giacomo Conterno, Roagna, Cappellano, and Giuseppe Mascarello. Highlights include 2019 Pira Vecchie Viti Barolo (€980) and 2015 Giacomo Conterno Arione (€650). Beyond Italy, Bordeaux’s presence is felt with Château Léoville Las Cases 1990 (€1,500), while Burgundy whites include Domaine Leflaive Chevalier-Montrachet 2018 (€4,600) and Jean Chartron Bâtard-Montrachet 2022 (€1,650). For those veering off-piste, Jura is represented by Pierre Overnoy 2003 Vieux Savagnin Ouillé (€900). Meanwhile, at the property’s new sea-focused restaurant, Onde (“waves”), in the newly revealed Palazzo Del Nero, guests can try a selection of orange wines, including Paraschos Kai 2021 (€95), a structured Friulano, and pure-seeming whites such as Hofstatter Barthenau 2021 Pinot Bianco from Alto Adige (€100). There’s also unusually opulent rosé in the form of Gerard Bertrand’s Clos du Temple 2021 (€400). All best enjoyed alongside oysters, Tyrrhenian red tuna, and seared octopus. If there is a criticism, it is the absence of truly old vintages - the 1985 Biondi-Santi Tenuta Greppo Brunello di Montalcino (€1,200) being the cellar’s elder statesman. However, plans are afoot for a new showpiece facility.

Dishes

Fresh from sampling the clay-raised Gran Selezione from Fontodi at the city’s Chianti Classico Collection festival, Meccia opened with incisive, non-dosage Tarlant, setting the stage for an opening act built around February’s vegetable of the month - beetroot. It appeared first in an improbably crisp, whisper-thin disc, then in a sculptural procession atop marble plinths, an apparent nod to the quarries which built this city. The best interpretation? A beetroot-infused cannoli with a shell so fine it shattered like spun sugar. The most unusual? A quivering beetroot aspic, a curious positioning for an earthy vegetable, foreshadowing the evening’s more esoteric diversions. The amuse-bouche prolonged the beetroot theme, blending it into a silky cream with young kimchi - the latter’s fermented bite closing on an unexpected bitterness. Then came the bread course, a spectacle in itself: 40-inch-long grissini, one slick with olive oil and salt, the other, of course, beetroot-hued. Alongside naturally leavened bread made with Verna, an ancient Tuscan wheat with minimal gluten, the butters impressed – one perfumed with sage, another redolent of star anise, cloves, and cinnamon; only a purple beetroot butter was missing. Then, venison tartare – impeccable, but given an unexpected maritime lilt with the addition of seaweed, brightened by winter lemon, laced with Bourbon vanilla, and topped with dark chocolate flakes, curiously close in appearance to confectionery. A dish both provocative and perplexing. Meccia, resisting the temptation of red, attempted to bisect its contradictions with the 8% Fritz Haag Juffer 2022 Riesling Kabinett – though in the end, Tarlant’s blade proved sharper. When in doubt, apply Champagne. Smoked spaghetti alla chitarra followed, featuring double-marinated mullet flesh – evoking, and arguably exceeding, an opulent dose of bottarga. Fermented plums and amaranth rounded out its sharp-edged salinity, though our borrowed Stefano Ricci tie (from the neatly arranged stash in the frescoed hotel suite) began to feel like an increasingly poor decision. The dish, though pungent at first, grew friendlier with each forkful, aided by Meccia’s choice of Appius 2019 from Südtirol – a Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon, and Pinot Bianco blend, all preserved lemon brightness and aristocratic oak, sailing through the mullet’s intensity like a grand Riva. For the shared main, Meccia poured a well-aired Super Tuscan, fitting for a restaurant in the grape’s homeland – the freshly released Tignanello 2021. This met whole pigeon, brined to perfection, carved tableside by Lavezzini. The stuffing – a luxurious amalgam of black bread, dates, and cured beef belly – transformed each bite into something rich, met by Tuscan red beans in an earthy counterpoint. Here, Lavezzini’s command of meat was evident. Pre-dessert swung back to beetroot - this time offset by lemongrass foam and berry sorbet with kvass, served slightly warm and, unexpectedly, most successful. Then, the finale, by pastry chef, Mariano Dileo, a crisp millefeuille of caramelised puff pastry layered with fennel and anise-scented coffee cream. Paired with Rossella Bencini Tesi’s 2014 Vin Santo, it was a perfect coda – all bitter-sweet, aromatic depth, and crumbling, burnished edges.

Last sip

Il Palagio operates with the assurance of a place which knows exactly what it is: a bastion of Florentine grandeur, wrapped in the soft glow of a world which has little interest in passing trends. But beneath the gilt and grace, the kitchen is quietly subverting expectations. This is Italian fine dining – measured, meticulous, but laced with a streak of irreverence. Familiar flavours are bent, stretched, and sometimes broken, only to be reassembled with precision. By the time the last shard of caramelised millefeuille dissolves and the Vin Santo makes its farewell, the outside world has shrunk, something to be dealt with later, after one more glass in this gastronomic daydream.

Best for

  • Champagne and Tuscany
  • Sumptuous, historic setting
  • Abstract flavour combinations
Il Palagio at Four Seasons Firenze - Borgo Pinti, 99, 50121 Firenze, Italy; +39 055 262 6450; ilpalagioristorante.it]]> Wine list of the week: Hélène Darroze at The Connaught https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-helene-darroze-at-the-connaught/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-helene-darroze-at-the-connaught/#respond Mon, 24 Feb 2025 09:16:55 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=670655 Douglas Blyde discovers "space, time, and faultless execution" on a visit to Hélène Darroze at The Connaught and a 3,000-strong wine collection which reads like "a billionaire’s shopping list".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-helene-darroze-at-the-connaught/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde discovers "space, time, and faultless execution" on a visit to Hélène Darroze at The Connaught and a 3,000-strong wine collection which reads like "a billionaire’s shopping list". There are dining rooms, and then there is this – a stage for power, privilege, and those who still pay for newspapers. “I am certain it is the dining room in Princess Daisy,” mused Tanya Gold in The Spectator, picturing Russian princes, Robert Maxwell, and Margaret Thatcher surveying the scene. Under Hélène Darroze for 17 years, it hasn’t merely kept up with London’s shifting tides – it’s “in turbo-charge,” according to The Good Food Guide. For Condé Nast Traveler, Lydia Bell put it simply: “Anything and everything is possible.” Michelin insists the signature Baba, doused in Armagnac from Hélène’s brother Marc, is “a must.” TripAdvisor’s Michel Instar, unafraid to take down sacred cows like Restaurant Gordon Ramsay and Manteca, went further: “Re-mortgaged my house for the Chef’s Table…it was just sublime.”

Design

Darroze sees everything. From Ema Pradere’s hand-thrown consommé bowls to Hermès’ Bleu D’Ailleurs tea and coffee service, every detail is deliberate, every artisan chosen with precision. Pierre Yovanovitch has stripped away the gloom, replacing heavy oak with light, texture, and flow. Banquettes curve in pink, tan, and velvet, coaxing diners in. A hand-blown glass chandelier - blue lacquered wrought iron adding bite - hovers over oak tables with red ceramic-lacquered bases, while Damien Hirst’s commissioned works stand sentinel. Below, the show kitchen unveils a pink marble Chef’s Table on a terrazzo plinth, ringed by ten plush armchairs beneath a Rochegaussen cobalt fresco. Matteo Gonet lamps glow over pale oak panelling, setting the stage for a looser, livelier affair where menus bend, chefs engage, and dishes arrive with personal panache.

Drinks

A word on prices. The old adage goes: double them, halve the customers, work less. At The Connaught, the numbers induce vertigo for mere mortals, but for those with the means, what they buy isn’t just dinner – it’s space, time and faultless execution. No frantic turnover, no tables wedged together – just proper service, immaculate sourcing, and room to breathe. Should civilisation collapse, a wise soul would take refuge in The Connaught’s cellars, corkscrew in hand. Overseeing this vinous fortress is Daniel Manetti, a Tuscan-born bartender turned Corporate Director of Wine at Maybourne Hotel Group, living by the motto "keep pushing and never give up". His team, led by head sommelier Lucas Renaud-Paligot, includes Benjamin Yip, a former lawyer who wisely defected to wine, having cut his teeth at 1890 by Gordon Ramsay. Together, they preside over 3,000 labels, with thousands more in bond, forming collections which read like a billionaire’s shopping list: Leflaive, Coche-Dury, Rousseau, Romanée-Conti, d’Yquem, Cheval Blanc, Egon Müller, Vega Sicilia, Quinta do Noval. The Champagne selection is an embarrassment of riches, from Krug and Billecart-Salmon to grower fizz listed by village, plus quality grower English fizz, Hundred Hills, bottled in magnum and beyond. By the glass, choices veer from the head-scratching – Rumor [sic] Rosé 2022 (£24/125ml) – to the jaw-dropping: Pétrus 2007 (£950, via Coravin) and Dom Pérignon P2 2004 (£165). A sake offering (from £20/100ml) and Italian cider from Aosta (£15) hint at the team’s catholic tastes. By the bottle, entry-level sits at a fair £60 for Kyperounda Winery’s Xynisteri Petritis 2018, though things swiftly escalate. Château d’Yquem 1921 (£50,000) outprices Romanée-Conti La Romanée 1985 (£45,000), while cork-stoppered antiques range from D’Oliveiras Malvasia Madeira 1895 (£4,500) to Cheval Blanc 1939 (£19,500), Krug in magnum 1952 (£9,500), and Unico 1953 (£6,500). Other big bottles include Krug Collection 1979 magnum (£18,500) and a double magnum of Harlan 2001 at the same price. Corkage? A neat £250 per bottle. And then there’s the bars. Currently ranked 13th place, The Connaught Bar has held its place in The World’s 50 Best Bars since 2010, just two years after opening. At the helm since day one, Ago Perrone sees its greatest achievement as knowing what not to change. The famous martini trolley still makes its rounds, service remains a masterclass, and cocktails are delivered with impeccable style - think the “Eclipse,” evoking a silky Negroni, pepped by a base wine personally persuaded from Oxfordshire. Across the hall, The Coburg Bar, in no way a lesser sibling, boasts an enviable whisky selection overseen by Mehdi Ichedadene, including a rotating plinth in the window which has played host to the oldest Macallan releases to date. The Connaught isn’t just its bars or restaurants, though - it’s an institution, a shrine to good taste, and, for those lucky enough to afford it, a place where luxury is more than a concept - it’s a given, stitched into the monogrammed napkins.

Dishes

Born into a dynasty of chefs in Les Landes, Hélène Darroze first flirted with restaurant management before Alain Ducasse dragged her, willingly, into the kitchen. After honing her craft at her family’s Relais & Châteaux restaurant, she struck out solo in Paris, earning acclaim and, eventually, two Michelin stars at Marsan. London came calling in 2008 with The Connaught, where she bagged a Michelin star in six months, a second in 2011, and the ultimate third in 2021. Her cooking is instinctive, emotional, and unapologetically ingredient-led - a love letter to Les Landes, the Pays Basque, and Britain’s finest producers. Along the way, she inspired Pixar’s Ratatouille character Colette, judged Top Chef, and became one of the world’s most decorated female chefs. Now, with restaurants from Mayfair to Marrakech, Darroze proves that while some chefs chase trends, the best make their own rules. Renaud-Paligot set the tempo at the start of this lunch menu with Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs, poured into Zalto glasses so fine they might shatter under a stern glance - a prelude to a broth of mushroom and pine, dark and loamy as the undergrowth after a downpour, ladled into a vessel begging to be cupped. Then, a tartare of juniper-cured venison, the kind of canapé which might slip through customs in a diplomatic pouch. Beside it, verdigris-effect plates for a sourdough-rye hybrid, flanked by butter sultry with piment d’Espelette. For the blue lobster starter – scented with tandoori spice and set against carrot, brown butter, and citrus mousseline – the chosen pairings occupied each other’s personalities, with acidity as the fulcrum. The 2021 Vieux Télégraphe Blanc, a “new wave” white Châteauneuf-du-Pape fermented in stainless steel rather than oak, offered purity and mineral tension, its clarity framing the dish with precision. In contrast, the 2018 Szepsy Furmint from Hungary, likened by Renaud-Paligot to a Saint-Aubin, layered oak with electric energy, serving as a diplomatic alternative for those still wary of sweetness. Each wine played off the other – the former defined by its freshness, the latter by its depth - creating a dynamic balance. With the scallop-sized ris de veau, licked by a chicken jus so rich it should have held a title deed, and uplifted by dehydrated tuna heart with a bottarga-like depth, came the pairing of the day: Barbera d’Alba Donna Elena 2011 from Cascina delle Rose. Poured from magnum, still fresh, its acidity a ribbon tying the dish together. Next, Brittany pigeon, its breast a plump jewel, its confit leg bound in butcher’s string so diners could wield it like a drumstick without scandalising the linen. Blood orange, delicia pumpkin, and mole – dark, thrillingly bitter, and deeply spiced – conjured a dish which should be available via room service via its own button, albeit only with magnums of Barbera, dispensed by suave sentinels of Darroze’s domain. It met La Marguerite Cahors 2014, a nod to Darroze’s roots, still flexing its muscles, before an unexpected encore: Monsanto Il Poggio Chianti Classico Riserva 1998, a time capsule of Tuscan vitality, the label pleasingly retro, the wine anything but faded. The signature baba, anointed at the table with Darroze’s family cask-strength Armagnac from 2005 – “tobacco," purred Renaud-Paligot – sank gloriously under its own weight, cushioned by chantilly and kissed by Buddha’s hand. Sometimes dubbed “d’Yquem junior”, the thick, saffron-scented Château de Fargues 2008 flanked it with aristocratic ease. Honourable mention: Yorkshire rhubarb, brightened with pink pepper, Tahitian vanilla, and champagne, served alongside a raspberry kombucha. “If rhubarb can grow in the dark, so can I,” mused Benjamin Yip, contemplating the long shadows of winter...

Final sip

As the last drop of Armagnac sinks into the baba like an old duke into his mistress’s four-poster, and the bill lands with the force of a small inheritance dispute, it’s clear: The Connaught doesn’t serve lunch, it performs it. It is a restaurant for those who consider money a vulgar distraction, and for the rest of us, a place to marvel at what life looks like when it has been hand-fed by an army of perfectionists.

Best for

  • Five wine pairing options, including a deep dive into Champagne
  • Poised front of house led by Mirko Benzo
  • Chef’s Table with Rochegaussen frescoed ceiling
  • Cellar dining, with dishes paired to wine
Value: 89, Size: 99, Range: 98, Originality: 97, Experience: 100; Total: 96.6 Hélène Darroze at The Connaught - Carlos Place, London, W1K 2AL; 020 7499 7070; helenedarroze@the-connaught.co.uk; the-connaught.co.uk]]> Wine list of the week: Da Terra https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-da-terra/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-da-terra/#respond Mon, 17 Feb 2025 10:18:33 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=669981 Douglas Blyde visits Da Terra in Bethnal Green and digs into how head sommelier Maria Boumpa "curates wine with the precision of an architect".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-da-terra/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits Da Terra in Bethnal Green and digs into how head sommelier Maria Boumpa "curates wine with the precision of an architect". Da Terra opened in January 2019 and wasted no time in earning a Michelin star within eight months and a second by 2021. By 2023, it had climbed to third on the National Restaurant Awards’ Top 100 UK list. Good Food Guide awarded it the coveted “Exceptional” status, highlighting chef-patron Rafael Cagali’s unmistakable presence: “We see his personality in the bold abstract art on the walls, the kitsch Ninja Turtle figures at the pass…and, of course, we see it in his cuisine.” Harden’s praised the “superbly inventive” dishes, while TripAdvisor’s Lloyd Stevens summed up its ambition: “Rafael, Charlie [Lee] and the team have continually been pushing forward in the pursuit of absolute perfection.”

Design

One tube stop from Liverpool Street, the flagship restaurant of Town Hall, realised by Singaporean hotelier, Loh Lik Peng, has a well-travelled history. Once Nuno Mendes’ Viajante, then The Typing Room under Lee Westcott, its interiors have been reimagined under Cagali and Lee, with a refined entrance scented by a Brazilian Bossa candle, a borderless open kitchen, and newly textured dining room walls. The bar, now more inviting with its central counter dismantled, houses aged Cachaças and a playlist including Gilsons’ “Vento Alecrim,” while “All Right Now” (Free) plays in the restaurant. Below, Na Mesa offers private dining for ten at a single wooden wedge, hidden in one of the hotel’s suites. For a more relaxed, sharing-plate experience, Restaurant Elis awaits on the first floor.

Drinks

Head sommelier, Maria Boumpa oversees a list both daring and precise, seamlessly blending discovery with erudition. By-the-glass options range from Tio Pepe, Fino En Rama 2022 (£12/100ml) to Château d’Yquem 2014 (£120/125ml), with intriguing stops like skin-contact NV La Macération Du Soula No22 (£17) and 2022 Suertes del Marqués Edición 1 Listán Blanco from Tenerife (£34), one of nine Keeling Andrew & Co. producers here. The distributor was described by another operator as “good at making their agencies seem exclusive and trendy.” Other highlights include the iconic 2008 Solaia (£100) and 2013 Rare Champagne (£45). Indeed, Boumpa’s love for Champagne is evident, with over 20 producers featured, disgorgement dates thoughtfully noted. The list spans Mouzon Leroux, L’Atavique, Extra Brut (£105) to 2004 Dom Pérignon P2 (£945). A quartet of English names supplements these, including Hundred Hills’ 2019 Hillside No. 3 (£115), subject to three “tries”, and Hoffmann & Rathbone Blanc de Blancs 2012 (£135), aged 60 months on lees, its name fit for a detective agency. Other wines range from the brisk 2020 Txomin Etxaniz, Getariako Txakolina (£49) to rarefied 2019 Prieuré Roch Le Clos Goillotte (£3,115). Collections include Domaine Zind Humbrecht and Didier Dagueneau, alongside a budding series from Hokkaido hilltop, Domaine Takahiko Soga, Nana-Tsu-Mori - generously priced below retail. Boumpa’s Greek roots appear in 18 carefully chosen wines, including mature 2014 Assyrtiko Economou (£115). Mark Andrew MW calls its maker, Giannis Economou, “an enigmatic vigneron producing some of Greece’s most profound wines.” The sweet selection holds treasures from a half of Château d’Arlay Vin de Paille 1998 (£195) to Fukuju Yuzu sake (£15) by the glass - though caution is advised when pronouncing it. Boumpa works alongside long-serving general manager, Charlie Lee, who, like Cagali, is a Westminster Kingsway College graduate who also worked with him at Fat Duck, and wine-savvy assistant manager, Elliot Ashton Konig, formerly of The Fordwich Arms.

Dishes

Born in São Paulo, with Italian heritage evident in his cooking, Rafael Cagali honed his craft at Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda, in Quique Dacosta’s modern Spanish temple, Martín Berasategui’s precision labs, and Heston Blumenthal’s mad-scientist playground. He helped open Simon Rogan’s Fera at Claridge’s (RIP) and Aulis before staking his claim here in Bethnal Green. A serenade of canapés begins in the bar. Fever-bright, a Carabinero prawn is reduced to its richest parts – head and shell worked into butter, gleaming atop what a culinary lecturer called a cassava “hash brown”, lifted by tomato emulsion. A cep mushroom, shaved paper-thin, hides Parmesan, truffle, and Madeira jelly aged so long it practically has wisdom. It arrives as a bonsai-like tableau, proving food can be sculpture. To drink, the rich, perpetual Mouzon Leroux, L’Atavique. In the dining room, Moqueca, the Brazilian seafood stew, is a standout, arriving with an essay and map – though under Cagali’s care, it needs no justification. Presented in a copper pot rather than the humble clay vessel of home, it has had an expensive education. Manteiguinha beans and peppers add depth to the extra-fatty Brazilian coconut broth spooned over preserved Cornish turbot. Toasted cassava flour brings nuttiness, while innocently tiny Cumari chillies threaten to detonate on the palate. The wine, 2022 Suertes del Marqués Edición 1, carries a vanilla-licked quality which only emerges when matched with the dish’s tropical warmth. A Spanish-reared Black Angus sirloin, aged 30 days, is another hit, bathed in deep, glossy beef stock, paired with Hen of the Woods mushroom and barrel-aged Aquarello rice studded with lobster - something beyond surf and turf. Boumpa pours from a magnum of John Duval Wines Eligo 2017, a joyous Syrah from a former Penfolds winemaker. “An intense wine for an intense dish,” she notes, correctly. The pastry team excels. Bread is an event – a domed wholemeal sourdough, pre-cut from below to make tearing inevitable. It comes with roasted, whipped bone marrow, bold, house-cured coppa, and pink peppercorn butter. The Tuscan olive oil is emulsified into spreadability, an unexpected luxury. The pairing, Rathfinny Mini Cuvée 2021, a Sussex sparkling wine in a 50cl bottle, offers fruit over acidity, adding exuberant richness. For the cheese course, Brazil’s “Romeo & Juliette” appears as a puck of blended British goat’s cheeses, capped with guava and fennel pollen, paired with a double magnum of 1987 Bual from Cossart-Gordon - deep caramel, rancio, and incessantly complex. It is, without doubt, the meal’s most congruous pairing. Dessert begins with a Cachaça Baba, pistachio, and N25 Reserve caviar, the latter seasoned to Da Terra’s exacting standards. It opens a journey through cachaça: first, Weber Haus Liqueur Cachaça Amburana, an organic iteration with hazelnut warmth; later, in the bar, Weber Haus Premium 21-Year-Old Diamant Cachaça, aged six years in French oak and 15 in Brazilian balsam wood, lingering for hours. There was a stumble. The Hamachi underwhelms, the fish struggling to hold interest. The accompaniments - salted daikon, burnt chive, nashi pear, and yuzu - fight valiantly to bring excitement, but even Boumpa’s choice of PURE from Volcanic Slope Vineyards, bright, rich, and nervy, cannot quite rescue it. Not every part of the Essex quail, deconstructed into small, mostly exquisite gestures, works either. The breast, skewered, glistens. The leg, folded into fine tortellini, striped like Genoese banding, floats in delicate carcass consommé. But the liver parfait, slathered onto brioche, is unnervingly powerful, perched on a transparent bowl of real feathers – a nod to the bird’s recent demise. It won’t be for everyone, even with its truffle crown. The pairing, Idda Rosso 2019, Sicilian and volcanic, with Barolo’s depth and Etna’s lift, is however eloquent.

Last sip

Boumpa, whose philosophy forbids grape repetition, curates wine with the precision of an architect – structured, intuitive, and woven seamlessly into the meal’s design. Each pairing is a cornerstone, reinforcing the experience rather than merely supporting it. There is a case for Boumpa, like Cagali, to sign the menus. As the Brazilian proverb goes, “De grão em grão, a galinha enche o papo.” – Little by little, the hen fills its belly. At Da Terra, every detail accumulates, crafting a dining experience which resonates long after the meal ends.

Best for

  • Array of Cachaça
  • Home-cured meats
  • Calibrated open-kitchen
Value: 93, Size: 95, Range: 95, Originality: 96, Experience: 98; Total: 95.4 Da Terra - 8 Patriot Square, London, E2 9NF; 020 7062 2052; daterra.co.uk]]> Wine list of the week: The Pig in the Cotswolds https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-the-pig-in-the-cotswolds/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-the-pig-in-the-cotswolds/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2025 08:30:45 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=668897 Douglas Blyde visits the newest outpost of The Pig hotel chain, kicking things off with a "lively, juicy fizz from the South Downs" and building up to Jean-Luc Mouillard’s Sweet Straw Wine.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/02/wine-list-of-the-week-the-pig-in-the-cotswolds/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits the newest outpost of The Pig hotel chain, kicking things off with a "lively, juicy fizz from the South Downs" and building up to Jean-Luc Mouillard’s Sweet Straw Wine. Judy and Robin Hutson reshaped the landscape of British hospitality, crafting a new paradigm which seamlessly melds the weathered charm of country estates with the polish of urban sophistication, all while adhering to the rigorous sustainability standards of B-Corp. They’ve distilled the essence of those draughty, storied manor houses – where the echoes of fretting aristocrats linger in corridors - and transformed it into something fresh, welcoming, and vibrantly lived-in. As Susan d’Arcy noted in The Times: “They sold the Hotel du Vin chain for £66 million in 2004 and in 2009 set up Lime Wood, now one of our best country house hotels.” By 2011, their first Pig hotel had emerged - a bold experiment which rapidly grew into a national treasure. Scratch the surface of its so-called shabby chic, and you’ll find a heartfelt warmth emanating from every corner - and calibration. The Pigs are an antidote to the lifeless, cookie-cutter chains which dominate the hospitality industry - a triumph of authenticity over artifice. With ten thriving locations and a legion of devoted fans willing to drop everything to snag a room, the Hutsons have passed the baton to CEO Tom Ross. The future holds yet more promise: The Pig on the Farm in Stratford-upon-Avon is on the horizon. No longer merely a collection of hotels, The Pig is a legacy – a sanctuary for every traveller, an institution for all occasions. It is almost unthinkable to imagine British hospitality without it.

Design

The Village Pub, part of The Pig’s Cotswolds retreat, exudes understated flair. Housed in the former Greyhound Inn, an 18th-century pub, it’s everything a village pub should be – “crackling log fires, low, beamed ceilings, and aged benches shoehorned into cosy nooks,” as Mr & Mrs Smith observed, plus a dash of taxidermy. Thoughtful glazing and soundproofing ensure the upstairs rooms are as comforting as the downstairs pint. A minute’s stroll away is the main hotel, Barnsley House – a former rectory wrapped in elegant grounds designed by horticultural legend, Rosemary Verey. These gardens form the lush frame for the Verey Suite, described by The Telegraph as having “its own courtyard and private dining room,” a detail which whispers exclusivity without undue ostentation.

Drinks

The wine lists at The Village Pub and The Pig in the Cotswolds are curated by Luke Harbor, a Devon-born Master of Wine student, and Ed Osborne, the local beverage director. The Village Pub’s concise list punches above its weight. It offers a humble Prosecco but also intriguing options such as Jean-Claude Boisset’s 2020 Chambolle-Musigny (£20.50 per 175ml via Coravin) and the locally-grown 2021 Pinot Noir Précoce from Woodchester Valley (£56 per bottle). The list is brimming with surprises, like Fog Monster 2018, a Napa Syrah with “Northern Rhône character,” said Osborne, made by the Mullineux family (£105) and unexpectedly wonderful with piped Gentleman’s Relish on toast. At the flagship hotel, the wine list is expansive, offering over 250 bottles traversing terroirs near and far. Highlights include Devon Minnow Bacchus (£66), a collaboration between Robin Hutson and chef and food writer, Mark Hix, and the Pig Reserve (£69), made by Dermot Sugrue, who tends The Pig’s own vineyard, featuring some of England’s oldest Gamay vines. Domaine Hugo Brut Nature 2020 (£95) from Wiltshire adds interest, while Pol Roger’s Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 2015 (£350) provides decadence in a glass. The “Classics” section features François Merlin’s 2014 Côte-Rôtie (£98) and Vega Sicilia’s 2018 Alión (£175), while “Curiosities” tempt with Niepoort’s 2021 Baga Natcool (£59 per litre) and, from “The Vault,” Trimbach Riesling Clos Ste Hune 2001 (£395). For larger groups, there’s the 2022 Polish Hill “Reisling” [sic] in magnum (£195). Sweet wines round out the selection, including Rutherglen’s reliable NV Black Muscat (£10 per unspecified measure). Once crammed onto two A3 pages, the list now stretches out in the form of a proper book – at last.

Dishes

The kitchen at The Pig, led by head chef Will Parkes, thrives on hyper-locality. Eighty percent of ingredients are sourced within a 25-mile radius, including vegetables and fruits cultivated in the property’s raised beds. Two bustling chicken coops deliver eggs, while a patch of land lies ready for a possible modest vineyard. Lunch began with pigs in blankets – simple in concept, but executed to perfection. Smoky sausages encased in crisp bacon alongside a tart cranberry dip. These were devoured alongside Lobster Shed Pink, a lively, juicy fizz from the South Downs originally devised for The Pig’s Cornwall outpost – “where we sell lots of lobster from our wood oven,” noted Osborne – the wine brought a bright, celebratory start. The next course featured melting slices of cured Mangalitsa pork loin, accompanied by sourdough and rapeseed oil bottled playfully in a repurposed Fever-Tree glass with a recycled cork. With this, Osborne poured Gavin Carver’s Paradox White Pinot Noir 2021, from Minster Lovell-based micro-winery, Freedom of the Press. Sourced from Crouch Valley grapes, the wine offered a harmonious interplay of lees and fruit, described by Osborne as “rhubarb and custard – but not sickly.” Its beautifully designed label, Osborne observed, stood as an antidote to the “bad packaging England has long suffered”. The journey continued with a Coravin pour of Celler Aixalà Alcait Les Clivelles Blanc 2023, a white Priorat made in tiny quantities - just 400 bottles - by a husband-and-wife team. Osborne described it as “scrubby and herbaceous, yet crystalline,” likening its energy to serious Swartland wines. From South Africa’s Paardeberg in the Swartland came Eben Sadie’s Palladius 2021, “an occasional treat” due to its limited allocation. Though youthful, its “lovely austerity” hinted at stone fruits and lanolin. Paired with lightly charred southwest coast scallops and warm tartar sauce, the wine teased out an almost pineapple note. Next came a particularly perfumed young Fleurie from Domaine Grégoire Hoppenot, poured by Osborne at a slightly lowered temperature to reveal violet aromas. Despite its floral elegance, the structure offered what Osborne described as “meat on the bones.” He spoke of visiting Hoppenot’s poppy-punctuated bush vines after a trip to “bucket list producers” in the Côte d’Or, finding sanctuary in the rugged beauty of Beaujolais. “More tangible,” he said, “more nuanced in its wild aspects.” This, he declared, was the perfect wine for a Tuesday-night gathering with friends. For the boldest wine of the day, Osborne presented Teixar 2019 from Vinyes Domènech Montsant, made from Garnacha Peluda vines up to a century old. At 15.5% alcohol, it carried the potential for excess but instead exhibited chiselled precision. “It doesn’t feel like overworked Amarone” Osborne said, admiring its integration. Dessert arrived in the form of strawberry and basil, and raspberry with mint ice creams both vibrant and refreshing. Osborne paired these with late harvest 2016 Tokaji by Oremus, explaining that it was “not so much about botrytis, but acid and varietal fruit”, and Jean-Luc Mouillard’s Sweet Straw Wine, a complex creation with oxidative notes, he said, of “tobacco and button mushrooms” layered over the sweetness of stewed stone fruits – a remarkable, long-lived conclusion to lunch.

Last word

The Pig’s Cotswolds debut is less about the notably spacious accommodation, and more a state of mind. It’s where every sip of wine, every forkful of food, and every creak of the floorboards feels like a means to highlight life’s finer, simpler pleasures. A short drive from the source of the Thames and a trout farm where you can catch and cook your own, it’s a place which reminds you to slow down, savour, sip, and talk.

Best for

  • Landscaped gardens, spa, and tennis court
  • Specialist approach to English wines
  • Local sourcing across all areas, from ingredients to ales, wines and spirits
Value: 95, Size: 93.5, Range: 94, Originality: 97, Experience: 96.5; Total: 95.2 THE PIG in the Cotswolds - Barnsley, Cirencester, GL7 5EE; 0345 225 9494; thepighotel.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Imperial Treasure https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-imperial-treasure/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-imperial-treasure/#respond Mon, 27 Jan 2025 10:30:34 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=666479 Ahead of Lunar New Year, Douglas Blyde visits Imperial Treasure in St James's, finding Peking duck with a texture "closer to pâté than poultry" and a "plush yet predictable" bottle of Burgundy.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-imperial-treasure/feed/ 0 Ahead of Lunar New Year, Douglas Blyde visits Imperial Treasure in St James's, finding Peking duck with a texture "closer to pâté than poultry" and a "plush yet predictable" bottle of Burgundy. Imperial Treasure is less a restaurant than an empire, rolling out of Singapore in 2004, dripping with Michelin stars and entitlement. By the time it landed in London’s St James’s in 2019, it promised Peking duck – lacquered, glistening, steeped in ceremony – for the capital’s gilded gourmands. But promises, like crispy duck skin, can shatter under pressure. Jay Rayner’s now-legendary critique skewered the spectacle: “There is so much more to go,” he lamented as the chef laid down his blade mid-carve and fled. “The legs have barely been touched. There’s a ballast of glistening skin and meat around the arse end, and more around its back.” A grim farewell to half a bird which devoured an entire paycheck. Then there’s the live seafood – Gillardeau oysters and Norwegian king crab – priced, as the Good Food Guide quipped, so “severely” they demand a second mortgage. And while Michelin cooed over the palatial former bank setting, not all diners were dazzled. One TripAdvisor reviewer suffered a waiter as relentless as soy glaze, begging for praise: “‘Don’t forget your homework tonight. You remember my name, right?’” Refinement, it seems, comes at a cost to one’s patience.

Design

Studio Liaigre, the creative force behind London’s Hakkasan and Yauatcha, as well as ultra-luxe yachts and fortress-like private homes with 24/7 security, transformed this Grade II-listed Victorian giant on Waterloo Place. With ceilings stretching 20 feet and unyielding orange marble walls which preservation rules forbade altering, the designers embraced the challenges. The result is a moody, opulent warren where dark woods and glowing screens conjure a cinematic collision of In the Mood for Love and a high-stakes Mayfair power lunch. Entryways feature intricate rope details, perhaps inspired by the woven silk of the Syuro tree at the Imperial Palace. A mezzanine houses private dining rooms, perfect for clandestine deal-making or disgracefully lavish Bacchanalian banquets, while the centrepiece is a radiant “Sun” onyx bar. Though the interiors remain remarkably well-preserved, the street-facing windows, cloaked in grime, hint at a less meticulous attention to outward appearances.

Drinks

Formerly of the Shangri-La collection, where he founded the Shangri-La Abu Dhabi Wine Club Group and enjoyed early evening jogs, Thushaj Thulaseedharan now oversees wines and spirits with what he calls “beverage menu engineering.” By the glass, the journey begins patriotically with the Union Jack in the form of Coates & Seely Brut Reserve (£18/125ml); Château Minuty Rosé (£18) flutters in next - a pretty shade, but perfectly forgettable. Coravin offerings, meanwhile, deliver the mineral precision of 2020 Grand Cru Riesling from Alsace’s Domaine Muré - Clos Saint Landelin, Vorbourg (£26), or the still-juicy 2016 Othello from Dominus (£32). Bubbles by the bottle might make lesser wallets gasp. Cristal graces the list twice, with the 2002 Brut (£1,188) and 2008 Rosé (£1,598) arriving like gilded twins. Then there’s 1990 Krug Collection, priced not at £1,990 but £1,988 - an insistent nod to the importance of numerology in Chinese culture, and the infinity of the number “8,” which appears 190 times on Thulaseedharan’s menu as a reminder that fortune favours the thirsty. Curiously, though, “9”, phonetically akin to the Mandarin word for wine (jiu), might carry even greater resonance in this setting. Despite a lofty starting price of £88, the cheapest red is excellent and subject to a modest mark-up: Mas la Mola Vi d’Altura Negre 2021. At the summit lies Pétrus 2015 at £7,788, a top vintage crowned with a perfect score (Wine Enthusiast). It has been seen at more vertigo-inducing prices elsewhere, though the Chinese interpretation of its cost translates to “half-hearted,” an amusing irony given its premium placement. A phalanx of empties stored at the wine dispense suggests it’s more than a museum piece. Other Bordeaux heavyweights include Cheval Blanc 1990 (£3,488), a relic of the recession year which still thrives, though Thulaseedharan might note “3” symbolises separation in Chinese culture - not ideal for banquets - and “4” ominously echoes death. For something less superstitious, there’s the more modestly priced Berliquet 2012 (£188), a pre-Chanel gem. Abutting Berliquet in the Cellar Treasure Collection, Château Canon 2011 (£388) offers a neighbourly nod to Bordeaux’s greats. Burgundy’s Henri Rebourseau Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru 2016 appears at £888 - triple fortune in liquid form. The holy trinity of Ornellaia, Sassicaia, and Tignanello share space with Sine Qua Non Distenta, Opus One, and the curious oddity of an off-year Essex Pinot Noir, proving that hope springs eternal for fledgling producers. Baijiu enthusiasts may spot a mistranslation of “white wine” to its Kanji equivalent, though for the authentic experience, Kweichow Moutai is listed with an ominous “seasonal price”. The higher the tune, the fewer who can join in. Sweet wines close the show, including 1990 Château d’Yquem (£978) and 2013 Tokaji Aszú, Disznókő (£138 per 50cl). Noting the origins of sake may be traced to mainland China, its enthusiasts will find Dassai 23 Centrifuge (£458), a polished masterpiece proving rice refinement can transcend grapes. For the rarest of the rare, Croizet Cognac dating to 1894, the year of the first Sino-Japanese war, is, at £633 per double, liquid history with a price to match.

Dishes

Wee Boon Goh, once the virtuoso of Hakkasan Hanway Place, now helms the kitchen at Imperial Treasure London. This being our third visit, expectations soared - yet so did perplexities. In eager anticipation of the theatrics and richness of a pre-ordered Peking duck, we asked for restraint from the fryer and for a chance encounter with sea cucumber, an ingredient which dazzled on a prior outing. The latter, requested by the youngest member of our group – a girl who confidently voiced her preference, only to be twice mistaken for a boy – was met, like the former, with refusal by management. The meal opened with a baijiu-based concoction: Moutai Prince, orgeat, orange, and mint combined in what can only be described as a “Baijiu Beach”. Pleasing, yes – but not the sort of sophistication Mayfair demands. Dispensed, incongruously, on Japanese bone china, a flurry of dim sum followed at speed. Snow mountain pork buns, cloyingly sweet and paired with syrupy chilli dip, led the charge. Fried wagyu puffs – their rich cores conjuring the allure of a Uyghur spice market - received their wine pairing as the last bite was being taken: Thulaseedharan’s “recent discovery,” a jasmine-scented mountain Malagousia, Kanakaris 10³, whose flavour disconcertingly mirrored alcoholic mineral water. The promise of an Albariño for comparison alongside what was the cheapest white on the list, went unfulfilled. Cheung fun, featuring the curious downgrade of shredded prawns to filler status, was bulked out with deep-fried flour, robbing the dish of its signature pop and silken elegance. What should have glided effortlessly instead slumped, gummy and graceless. The much-anticipated Peking duck, carved tableside, arrived cooked to well-done monotony, its texture closer to pâté than poultry. The expected five-spice marinade was absent, though the accompanying pancakes, supple and expertly crafted, were a minor redemption. As Thulaseedharan regaled us with anecdotes about Keralan customs officials recoiling at the heady aromatics of his luggage, the duck’s encore appeared: the interesting bits, chopped, battered, deep-fried, and lavishly salted. What should have been a gnawable delight was reincarnated as a sub-par high street takeaway, entombed in unnecessary excess, making it painful to digest over the ensuing days. Château de Chamirey Mercurey 2020, plush yet predictable, drew notes of steeped Chinese medicine when paired with the duck, proving a reasonably competent, if uninspired companion. “Pinot sleeps with anything,” as Jan Konetzki once put it. By the time a precocious San Polo Brunello di Montalcino 2018 was eventually poured for guests who had run dry on more than one occasion, Coravin-delivered into impressively engineered Sophienwald glassware - the meal’s momentum had fizzled. Despite a request for vegetables, we were offered, bizarrely, yet more oily fare in the form of ho fun beef noodles. Meanwhile, left in the hands of the management, not a single Singaporean dish - an odd omission given the restaurant’s origins - graced the table, nor did the chef’s imagination extend even to a humble bowl of rice. Dessert was cubed Osmanthus jelly with wolfberries, a dish Imperial Treasure has trotted out for years, with no prescribed wine pairing. Instead, the cocktail “Bliss” landed - a Konik’s Tail vodka concoction infused with crisped rice, goji honey, and tamarind oil. More a pudding than potable, its tropical vibes felt as out of place in this setting as a mirror ball at a wake.

Final sip

Thulaseedharan, a likeable raconteur with an arsenal of well-worn anecdotes, comes across more as a genial caretaker than a curator of a head-turning wine programme. While pursuing his WSET Diploma, he seems content in the cocoon of coursework, perhaps overlooking London’s vibrant wine scene bustling just beyond his doorstep. Tastings, masterclasses, and the camaraderie of the sommelier community remain untapped reservoirs of inspiration. As the Chinese saying warns: “The frog in the well knows nothing of the ocean” – and this particular frog seems quite at home in his pond. Should he venture beyond the syllabus, he might uncover the alchemy needed to transform Imperial Treasure into a true oenophile’s pilgrimage, elevating the experience from the merely perfunctory to the profoundly memorable. But for now, this is an experience which waddles below its anticipated heights.

Best for

  • Lehmann and Sophienwald glassware
  • Sultry setting
  • Private room
Value: 88, Size: 90, Range: 90, Originality: 88, Experience: 88; Total: 88.8 Imperial Treasure - 9 Waterloo Pl, London SW1Y 4BE; 020 3011 1328; imperialtreasure.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Fantômas https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-fantomas/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-fantomas/#respond Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:09:09 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=665405 Douglas Blyde visits new Chelsea opening Fantômas, finding "a mix of charm, mischief, and a touch of menace" in some of the drinks, and the restaurant itself.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-fantomas/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits new Chelsea opening Fantômas, finding "a mix of charm, mischief, and a touch of menace" in some of the drinks, and the restaurant itself. Named after Fantômas, the shape-shifting anti-hero of early twentieth-century French crime fiction, this Chelsea restaurant channels its namesake’s blend of intrigue and audacity. The Guardian, ever poised with a backhanded compliment, dubbed it “delicious but borderline chaotic”, while Restaurant Magazine slyly observed that chef, Chris Denney has a “(not so) secret weapon” in his collaborators, George Bukhov-Weinstein and Ilya Demichev – the powerhouse duo behind London stalwarts, Goodman, Beast, Wild Tavern, and Lita. Hot Dinners, with understatement, quipped: “They always seem to work with interesting chefs.” And then there’s Lexie Hung, a prolific Google reviewer who cut through the fray with one, unfortunately unforgettable phrase: “Simply some heartfelt food burps.” Fantômas, true to its name, is a little dangerous, a little thrilling, and entirely unforgettable.

Design

Once the territory of Byron Burgers, then 28-50 Chelsea, the corner at 300 King’s Road – complete with jaunty turret and ever-watchful weathervane – has been reborn, radiating confidence amidst the flicker of candlelight. Smack opposite the Cadogan Arms, it feels both anchored and blazing, its transformation a nod to Chelsea’s shifting tastes. Centre stage is claimed by a rise-and-fall Josper grill, visible from the open kitchen - a contraption as much about drama as utility. Its crackling embers and occasional fiery flares are a tantalising prelude to the main event: a menu kissed by flame and steeped in the primal poetry of smoke. This is cooking performed in full view of an audience which demands spectacle with supper. The dining room, meanwhile, hums with a bold soundtrack. For those who like their indulgence with a side of privacy, the back dining room – a snug enclave for up to 18 souls - offers the added luxury of an adjoining courtyard. However, access is subject to an absurd tangle of hourly restrictions, likely dictated by the same locals who want to dine here while insisting on micromanaging everyone else’s enjoyment.

Drinks

The wine list for lovers of ABC, from Austria to Bordeaux, Britain, British Columbia, California, and even China, is overseen by Crispen Sugden, his motto, “Get On With It”, and further authored by sommelier, Gergo Feher (formerly of Ekstedt at the Yard) who believes “success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts”. They are assisted by head of wine, Davide Portovenero, who is based at Wild Tavern (previously of Bulgari, London, and Rockpool, Sydney). Together, they have created a list of cutting edge wines interwoven with the odd museum-grade rarity. Wines by the glass open with fizzes from Argentina , Italy, England, and France, with NV Berlucchi, 61 Saten Brut, Franciacorta at £21/125ml. The most economical still pour is the smoke-friendly, Hein Koegelenberg’s Leopard’s Leap Special Edition Pinotage (£10), with the most rarefied being 2013 Vega Sicilia, Unico via Coravin at £150, while a sweet option is Tokaj 2013, Lenkey Pinceszet, Harslevelu (£21). Budget constraints clearly has a part to play in the some listings of sparkling by the bottle, as seen with the poverty-spec Simpsons Estate Chalkland Cuvée Brut at £110; Champagne, as a region, is not so constricted by price however. Topping the line-up is Guillaume Selosse Largiller and 1990 Krug, both at a grand. Still options range from £40 for the 2022 Here and There, Swartland, Grenache Blanc, to £12,000 for a six litre leviathan of 1989 Mouton, via 1995 Penfolds Grange at £1,000, and 2001 Opus One for £100 more. Selections offering relative value include the now rarely seen 2014 Bruna Grimaldi Barolo (£136), as well as another Nebbiolo, albeit from Australia, in the form of 2018 Pizzini, King Valley (£85), to 2014 Domaine de Souch Jurançon Sec, formed from Petit Manseng/Gros Manseng at £99, and the four and a half litre opus of 2004 Torbreck, The Pict Mourvedre (£900). Cocktails mirror their namesake, Fantômas, in their unpredictability and flair. The Capri Cooler might initially seem virtuous – tomato water and peach “wine” giving it a facade of near wholesomeness – but like the master of disguise himself, it hides layers of intrigue, and a punch of tequila. Then there’s the Tsipouro Sour, a concoction which feels entirely random, almost chaotic, yet devilishly clever. With lime sherbet, mint, and aquavit, it captures the spirit of Fantômas – a mix of charm, mischief, and a touch of menace.

Dishes

Billed as a “neighbourhood restaurant with contemporary cooking”, Chris Denney, formerly of 108 Garage, delivered a menu which felt as global as a private jet terminal. Enter Feher, the sommelier with the poise of a Wimbledon champion ready to serve – though his game was less about restraint and more about unleashing, with exuberant generosity, the artillery of his vinous arsenal. This included tastes of flor-aged Sauvignon Blanc, an Australian Riesling crafted by a Mosel maestro, and an amphora-aged Syrah with the depth of black olive tapenade, courtesy of a Kiwi cinematographer. A vinous United Nations, if ever there was one. The wines which truly sang adhered to a singular regional focus, however. The match opened with Henri Giraud Esprit Nature Brut – an organic champagne of softer, fluffier persuasion, its perpetual reserve conveying depth. It partnered with heritage hog belly – scallop-like in texture – alongside pumpkin so seasonal we almost sensed the rustle of fallen leaves underfoot. Mid-meal, Feher returned bearing Giraud’s Coteaux Champenois Rouge Grand Cru 2019, an exquisite, rose-petal-scented Pinot Noir he declared “the Giorgio Armani of wines”. Presented in a tactile Zalto Balance glass, the wine faced off with brazenly fried veal sweetbreads - actually tender within their crisp cocoon, emboldened by bulgogi, and sharpened by the acidic flinch of sour cabbage. Later, its Chardonnay sibling from the same vintage appeared, accurately paired with red mullet with caponata, and a langoustine sauce so complete it could have walked in from The Ritz’s kitchens. Juicy Iberico pork chop followed, on the bone, heightened by lime-laced quince and black radish sauce. To finish, IWA sake, iteration five, bravely served at room temperature – a nod to the collaboration between Richard Geoffroy, its creator, and Denney’s culinary ingenuity. This brown bread-scented, umami-laden compilation met its unlikely match in an espresso savarin with Chantilly cream and kaffir lime.

Last sip

Under Denney’s helm, even the smallest gesture – the placement of a mustard leaf, the pouring of a steaming broth loaded with the latent power of a nuclear warhead – crackles with a frenetic, thrilling energy. Fantômas joins the roster of culinary darlings, including Wild Tavern, which celebrated its fifth anniversary as we dined, and its cheeky neighbour, Wild Corner, where, despite its petite proportions, no fewer than 400 wines flow by the glass. Meanwhile, the irrepressible, Bukhov-Weinstein and Demichev, exhibiting a zest for serial restaurateuring matched only by their ability to churn out hits, had just days before launched Sardinian-inspired Pinna in Mayfair, and Greek-inflected Krokodilos, Kensington. Their ambition appears as boundless as Denney’s audacious disregard for any theoretical cap on flavour.

Best for

  • New world wines
  • Private room/courtyard
  • Food from the fire
Value: 93, Size: 93.5, Range: 97, Originality: 97, Experience: 95; Total: 95.1 Fantômas - 300 Kings Rd, London SW3 5UH; 020 8191 2781; fantomas.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Albatross Death Cult https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-albatross-death-cult/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-albatross-death-cult/#respond Wed, 15 Jan 2025 08:20:02 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=664691 Douglas Blyde visits Birmingham's Albatross Death Cult, delving into how the unusually-named restaurant and its wine list are "both a map and a riddle".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-albatross-death-cult/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits Birmingham's Albatross Death Cult, delving into how the unusually-named restaurant and its wine list are "both a map and a riddle". “Billed as an ‘experimental’ venture from Alex Claridge and the team behind The Wilderness, the neutral-toned space follows current fashion: no distinction between the fully open kitchen and dining room,” remarked Good Food Guide. The observation hints at a restrained, Scandi-inspired elegance, where décor whispers serenity while the name screams lunacy. Albatross Death Cult – a moniker daring you to take it seriously – hasn’t gone unnoticed. Grace Dent crowned it “No. 1 in the Most Absurd Restaurant Name of 2024”, suggesting it sounded less like a fine seafood purveyor and more like “a patchouli oil-scented support band for My Bloody Valentine or a sinister doomsday sect.” The name hangs in the air, much like its titular bird – oversized, improbable, faintly ridiculous. But the reality is less apocalyptic, more poetic. Michelin’s inspectors, charmed by its “pared-back selection of top-notch seafood,” noted its inspiration: Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, where the albatross is both blessing and burden. It’s a literary flourish adding gravitas to a name courting ridicule. Then there’s Karen from TripAdvisor, refreshingly unburdened by metaphor: “Loved how the restaurant was hidden off the street… lending it an air of mystery.” For Karen, mystery beats patchouli oil, especially when paired with perfect oysters.

Design

“The planning for Albatross took over a year,” says Alex Claridge, “but everything you experience here came together in intense, feverish days. Think slow, act fast.” The result is a visceral collision of raw industrialism and gastronomic precision. Housed in a Grade II-listed warehouse in Birmingham’s historic Jewellery Quarter, it overlooks a frozen pool pierced by the forlorn head of a submerged traffic cone. Luxury here is stripped to its barest essence, a meditation on stark necessity. The space is brutally honest. Exposed beams and naked surfaces define a room isolating chefs, forcing service staff on longer, winding routes, and wearing its utilitarian heart unapologetically. At its centre lies a gleaming monolith of stainless steel: part stage, part altar, where Claridge’s twelve-dish omakase is performed with mesmerising, unnerving theatricality. Seating just fourteen, it demands intimacy. “You’re forced to get to know one another,” Claridge says with a glint of mischief and challenge. Paying homage to the building’s silverworking past, the counter gleams with hard-edged brilliance, offset by warm brick walls softening the room’s austerity. A projector casts shadowy visuals - more intention than execution, as the technology falters in its avant-garde ambition. Albatross isn’t meant to be comfortable. Great dining, Claridge insists, is not about pampered pleasure - it’s about provocation, a theatre of unease leaving you changed. It is a narrative woven from space, flavour, and collision. The soundtrack is curated chaos: The Style Is Death (Forever Grey) and Pyromania (Vandal Moon) play loudly – the antithesis of soft jazz clichés. It’s a playlist designed to rattle, underscoring that Albatross is not just a meal but an ordeal: luxury stripped, rebuilt, and weaponised into something unforgettable.

Drinks

Formerly of Vinoteca Birmingham (RIP), Dishoom, and Upstairs by Tom Shepherd, drinks director, Camilla Bonnannini arrives at Albatross trailing a comet’s tail of credentials. A Roman by birth, a wannabe perfumier by aspiration, and a mixologist by trial and error, Bonnannini has shape-shifted into a certified sake sommelier and sparkling wine savant. Most recently, she clinched victory at the Gosset Matchmakers competition with a pairing so audacious it bordered on genius: smoked eel caramelised in butter alongside Gosset Grand Blanc de Blancs. Her wine list, nautically inspired and inked on such available surfaces as kitchen shelves, begins with a literary nod: “Instead of the Cross, the Albatross about my neck was hung.” It’s an appropriate opening gambit for a collection promising “wild, unruly & unexplored depths.” And true to form, this is no Champagne-drenched indulgence; Bonnannini gives the bubbles their moment with Blanc de Noirs and Rosé from Huguenot-Tassin, but devotes the real estate to England’s fizzing revolution in Davenport Limney 2018 (£15 per glass), while bottle-seekers can unearth the ancestral Montonega pét-nat, Can Sumoi 2022 from Spain (£65). The still wines are equally democratic. Glasses start at £8 with Loire Sauvignon from Cédric Allion - Touraine Les Grandes Vignes 2022 – under the indeed breezy title, “Sea Breeze”, peaking at a mere £11 for Markovitis Winery Alkemì Xinomavro 2022. Reds are an exercise in restraint, with only eight on the list, including Xabi Sanz’s Sea of Dreams 2020 (£9), a name so fitting given the working title of the restaurant was “Waves”. Bottles are where intrigue deepens. There are two orange offerings: Koshu Gris de Gris 2021 from Château Mercian in Japan’s Yamanashi (£75) and Rob Corbett’s Fifth Season 2023, a Devonian amalgam of Bacchus, Reichensteiner, and Pinot Noir (£68). Meanwhile, adorned with a playful word-search label, the Symington family’s Pequeno Dilema 2021 (£78) dares diners to puzzle over its enigmatic charm. And because Bonnannini cannot resist a nod to her mixologist past, the cocktail list is where her creativity froths over. A Kombu Old Fashioned, and the Sea Truffle Negroni are invitations to drink adventurously - cocktails which taste as if they’ve been dredged from some submerged apothecary of the imagination. Bonnannini’s list, like Albatross itself, is both a map and a riddle, leaving diners just slightly adrift, searching for the next port of call.

Dishes

In the lexicon of culinary extremes, Alex Claridge’s Albatross defies taxonomy. As he puts it, the project exists “without pre-conception, expectation, or regard for convention". True to his word, the kitchen is an explosive paradox: a frenzied barrage of ideas executed with precision. Heading up this culinary insurgency is Piotr Szpak, a Wilderness veteran tempered by a sortie at Aktar Islam’s Opheem, alongside Oliver Grieve, formerly of the triple Michelin-starred L’Enclume. Together, they lead an assault on dining orthodoxy. We embarked on the “five-strong flight”, a liquid pas de deux with dishes which veered between the revelatory and the near-impossible. The opening salvo of snacks set the tone. A Porthilly oyster, stripped of its divisive texture through spherification, was as much a marvel of technique as it was a taste of the sea. This was followed by potato cannelloni, almost too fragile to handle, filled with smoky pike roe and wasabi pesto which tingled with clean, green clarity. A bluefin tuna nigiri - an ingenious trompe-l’œil made from a rice doughnut rolled in tuna oil – delivered a knockout punch of umami under glistening, three-year-aged soy. Not all hit their mark. A three-day-cured mackerel with bronze fennel carried a hint of overconfidence, its flavour tipping over into pungency. The accompanying Limney fizz, however, proved its worth, lifting even the mackerel’s clammier moments. The meal’s highlight - a single Argentinian scarlet prawn - arrived in a broth of its own head juices, miso, and pickled butternut squash. It was poetry in umami, paired with Shozo Moonlight Minama Nigorizake, a hazy sake which transcended its kitsch label. Alas, the barely filtered sensory immersion of the sake was dulled by the cups it was served in, which brought to mind Lilliputian chamber pots, muting the bouquet. Less harmonious was a fruity Konishi Shuzo Hiyabashi Gold sake with Devonshire cock crab, apple, sorrel, and oxalis - a pairing too lush, too sweet. Culinary power roared, too, with mussels in a tempestuous, heavily smoked stock imbued by nine black peppers and “Iberico nduja”. This sauce demanded a fierce, gutsy wine - perhaps even an Amarone - but instead met Sebastien David’s carbonically-macerated L’Hurluberlu. The result? The meek, summery wine vanished under the mussels’ brooding intensity. A reshuffle of courses might have eased the strain. Dessert eschewed the conventional prelude of palate-cleanser, leaping straight into “Sushi Rice Cream”. This was a beguiling balancing act, pairing sushi rice ice cream with candied fronds of nori. Genroku Redux, a barely polished sake with Ovaltine notes, fought valiantly, but it was the botrytised Greywacke Pinot Gris from Marlborough which edged ahead, harmonising, albeit imperfectly, with the final petit fours – a Szechuan/rose riff on a dib-dab.

Last word

Confined to a kitchen equipped with little more than a dehydrator, water bath, a small fryer “out the back,” and a blowtorch, Albatross achieves feats of improbable alchemy. Yet, for all its culinary daring, the wine and sake pairings too often pulled their punches, lacking the audacity which defines the plates. If Albatross is to embody its titular bird – lofty, rebellious, unbound – it must summon a fearless sense of provocation in every pour, every glass. For now, it ascends with ambition, though the wings need sharper edges to truly cut through the sky.

Best for

  • Seafood
  • Sake
  • Soundtrack
Value: 95, Size: 80, Range: 90, Originality: 91, Experience: 95; Total: 90.2 Albatross Death Cult - Newhall Square, Birmingham. B3 1RU; joinus@albatrossdeathcult.co.uk; albatrossdeathcult.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Osip 2.0 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-osip-2-0/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-osip-2-0/#respond Mon, 06 Jan 2025 09:46:26 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=663183 Douglas Blyde visits the revamped version of farm-to-table Somerset restaurant Osip, finding "sheer brilliance" with some of the food, though not every wine pairing hits the mark.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2025/01/wine-list-confidential-osip-2-0/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits the revamped version of farm-to-table Somerset restaurant Osip, finding "sheer brilliance" with some of the food, though not every wine pairing hits the mark. After four years, Osip has emerged from its snug 22-cover chrysalis at Number One Bruton into a grander incarnation. Its new home, described by Giles Coren as “a heavily renovated old 18th-century inn on the edge of a pine forest,” is noted by the Good Food Guide as rising “like a giant ghost building” – either poetic or alarming. On arrival, it has the feel of being the sort of in-the-know discovery which diners ought to get excited by, akin to The Fat Duck. Chef Merlin Labron-Johnson presides over this gastronomic phantasmagoria with monk-like intensity, his devotion to farm-to-table dining bordering on evangelical. Fully 85% of Osip’s produce comes from his biodynamic, organic smallholdings. Not everyone leaves clutching pearls of epiphany, however. Via TripAdvisor, Dominic P from Farringdon, marooned in a “back area detached from the rest of the restaurant,” lamented cold ventilation and the indignity of used tableware parading past his soufflé. Even divinely inspired carrots can’t always soothe the sting of poor table placement.

Design

With a £166,000 crowdfunding windfall, Osip has transformed the Bull Inn – once noted for its “spotless toilets” and “very dog-friendly” ambience – into a gastronomic Shangri-La. Behind Bill Amberg-grade leather curtains lies a bar flanked by whitewashed beams, two dining rooms, and a minimalist kitchen overlooking pastoral scenes of grazing cows and, for tea enthusiasts, a barn devoted to fine leaves. While four guest bedrooms are imminent, the nearby Kingsettle Camping Retreat offers a rustic alternative – perfect for those who wish to sleep under the stars. Baptising Osip in peat-free compost, Labron-Johnson is a farmer first, chef second, and perhaps philosopher third. Menus follow seasonal whims, shaped by weather and Labron-Johnson’s existential dialogues with the soil, with local growers and foragers supplying everything from surplus fruit to unsolicited opinions. Osip is also a temple to art. Its debut exhibition features Christopher Le Brun’s ethereal Land of Summer paintings, while Max Bainbridge’s walnut kitchen exudes tactile splendour. Lighting by Andrew Pierce Scott and Natalia Triantafylli illuminates plates without over-scrutinising diners as they attempt to pronounce “Claus Preisinger Kalkundkiesel Rot Blaufränkisch”. The dining room feels like a roll call of food-world royalty. During our visit, Xanthe Clay, Marcin Miller, and Luke Wasserman graced the tables, while Marina O’Loughlin dined the night before. Osip isn’t just attracting diners - it’s cultivating disciples.

Drinks

Venetian Andrea Marcon, a photographer and cider aficionado, curates Osip’s drinks with quiet refinement. By the glow of a cosy stove – hotplate primed for mulled cocktails – standouts include a rich preserved tomato martini, enhanced by blackcurrant leaf oil, and a fig leaf Negroni. The wine list leans towards biodynamic producers, reflecting an intimate vineyard connection. As writer Henry Jeffreys quipped, biodynamics stem from “a series of lectures by Austrian crank Rudolf Steiner [who] has more in common with L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology than Jethro Tull (the agriculturist, not the band)”. This eccentricity nonetheless underpins a devoted winemaking ethos. Sparkling options include the £18 per unspecified measure Pelegrim from Westwell, a Kentish producer which, oddly, markets “wine bore” badges. For something rarer, Domaine Hugo’s zero-dosage sparkler from Wiltshire (£134 per bottle) intrigues with its Pinot Gris. Among prestige pours, Krug 172 (£450) stands as the sole grand marque, accompanied by striking alternatives like Ulysse Collin’s Les Maillons 2019 (£340) and Domaine Sérol’s playful Turbullent Gamay (£65). Still wines range from the accessible Mas de Valériole Rosé (£9 per glass) to the elegant Domaine Chevrot 2021 Hautes-Côtes de Beaune (£18). Bottles begin at £45 for Fattoria San Lorenzo’s Verdicchio di Gino 2023, and climb to £680 for Château Palmer 2009. Noteworthy finds in the £80-90 range include the wildfire (2022) vintage Lefkós Vidiano and Thrapsathiri from Crete by Iliana Malihin (£74), De Fermo’s 2020 Concrete Rosso Montepulciano (£76), and Ktima Ligas’ 2021 Lamda Assyrtiko (£78), the latter inspired by Masanobu Fukuoka’s minimalist agricultural philosophy. The list skews youthful, with its oldest vintage being Bruno Clair’s 1998 Savigny-Lès-Beaune La Dominode (£240), noted for its intriguing “ferric tang”. After dinner, Osip’s coffee, sourced from Round Hill roastery and championed by one Eddie Twitchett, celebrates freshness. Twitchett reminds diners that “coffee is a fruit,” though Osip’s atrociously crafted cups, which even a parent might be embarrassed about if slapped together by their offspring, raise an eyebrow. Finally, for the daring, there’s always the allure of La Vieille Prune, equal parts tempting and formidable. Andrea Marcon’s efforts are supported by the likeable James Dillon, former beverage team leader at The Newt.

Dishes

In the company of Richard Brendon – esteemed for conjuring the universal Jancis Robinson wine glass and rejuvenating the potteries of Stoke-on-Trent –  lunch unfolded under the deft hand of Devon-born, Labron-Johnson, on-site during our visit. Once sous chef at Kobe Desramaults’ In de Wulf in rural Belgium, Labron-Johnson cemented his name co-founding London’s Portland alongside Will Lander (son of Robinson) and Dan Morgenthau. Today, in addition to Osip, he champions farm-to-table dining at The Old Pharmacy in Somerset’s busy Bruton, three miles west. Lunch began with a fermented carrot and smoked Montgomery Red gougère, paired delightfully with Keeved cider from Pilton, a village better famed as Glastonbury Festival’s heartland. A roasted root vegetable “tea” followed, arrestingly savoury. Then came an open beetroot taco crowned with shavings of venison heart – an amuse-bouche which eclipsed expectation. The first course proper: Tokyo turnips, smoked almonds, and finely frilled pear slices – a dish of poised elegance which the 2023 Note di Bianco Terre Siciliano’s razor-like acidity unceremoniously amputated. This hazy Grillo, its label emblazoned with a grasshopper, clashed, rather than harmonised. Next, a warming “soup” of hand-dived Orkney scallop cubes, Jerusalem artichoke, and roasted chicken juices. Météore Clos Larrouyat Jurançon Sec 2020, hail-battered yet verdant, leaned too green, overshadowing the soup’s richer subtleties. Then came the revelation: charcoal-roasted monkfish paired with bitter leaves, wild garlic capers, and a cider reduction verging on dulce de leche. Poured by Dillon, Sybille Kunz’s Mosel-Riesling Spätlese Trocken 2015 delivered the harmony its predecessors failed to find. Its honeyed heft and aromatic depth met the monkfish’s boldness in perfect synchronicity. “Beach ring and garden hose,” quipped Dillon. Kefir butter and treacle-rich bread set the stage for Labron-Johnson’s intricate riff on “Peking duck - a joyous, pickled elderberry-tinged plate with seaweed butter, and elderflower. Domaine de Bellivière’s Rouge-Gorge Coteaux du Loir [sic] 2021, a Pinot d’Aunis aged in notably capacious barrels, brought its hallmark white pepper and earthy vigour – “oomph” said Dillon – as well as a bricky Barolo-like hue. A fallow deer pie, quail-lined and accompanied by a velvety Grand Veneur sauce, followed. Just-smoked quince lent depth. Domaine Chevrot’s Côte de Beaune Pinot Noir 2021 provided a counterpoint. Remarking on the vineyard’s evolution - “they ripped out Gamay” - Dillon praised its judicious use of various ages of oak, which lent structure to the pairing. “Burgundy is easy to learn, nearly impossible to master”. A larger bowled glass may well have teased even more flavour. The pre-dessert – a butternut squash sorbet with Somerset Pomona and roasted seed oil – was sheer brilliance, outshining the main dessert of winter root ice cream, bergamot sabayon, and pine nut cap, which, despite intriguing textures, lacked finale-worthy heft. A trio of locals dismissed our critique, chiding us for timid dissection over bold cross-sectioning. Bablut’s Coteaux de l’Aubance Unique 2020 – a Chenin Blanc blend rife with botrytised richness – might have saved the day, had it not been meted out in miserly portions by a glass ill-suited to its splendour.

Last word

While dishes were undeniably masterful, wine pairings – favouring early-picked, high-acid, less ripe styles – outpaced the food’s nuanced rhythm. The exclusive use of the singular Gabriel-Glas, though elegantly minimalistic, subtly deters guests from indulging in upgrades or exploring more opulent choices, too. With residential guests on the horizon, Osip presents an opportunity to elevate the wine programme to match the extraordinary depth of Labron-Johnson’s culinary vision.

Best for

  • Biodynamic bottles
  • Farm-to-table ethos
  • Precise, joyful plates by a culinary wizard
Value: 94, Size: 94, Range: 93, Originality: 94.5, Experience: 97.5; Total: 94.6 Osip – 25 Kingsettle Hill, Hardway, Bruton BA10 0LN; 01749 987277; osiprestaurant.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Dovetale https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-dovetale/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-dovetale/#respond Mon, 23 Dec 2024 08:40:03 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=662369 Douglas Blyde heads to 1 Hotel Mayfair, indulging in an "often cheese-enriched experience" paired with wines as chosen by "radiant force in the sommelier world" Tara Ozols.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-dovetale/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde heads to 1 Hotel Mayfair, indulging in an "often cheese-enriched experience" paired with wines as chosen by "radiant force in the sommelier world" Tara Ozols. “In a stylish, warm-toned space on the ground floor of 1 Hotel Mayfair, Tom Sellers and his executive chef, Tom Anglesea set about updating the European classics,” wrote Good Food Guide. “This being Mayfair,” it continued, “the menu is priced for people who have no need to look at prices.” Meanwhile, City AM painted Sellers as a culinary maverick with “fire in his belly” and a “bad boy reputation.” The Standard, however, only had eyes for “the knickerbocker glory trolley whipping up sundaes tableside,” because who needs drama when there’s dessert on wheels? And in a twist only the internet could deliver, Local Guide, 'D K', cut through the Mayfair gloss on TripAdvisor, grumbling: “No one asked why we weren’t happy with the service.”

Design

Rising from the corner of Piccadilly and Berkeley Square, cocooned within Dover Yard’s verdant embrace, Dovetale exudes a sophisticated warmth which mirrors the eco-conscious philosophy of its host, 1 Hotel Mayfair. Natural materials weave throughout the bustling space, where muted woody tones and fine terrazzo floors create a chic, yet grounding atmosphere. Banquettes as comfortable as the seats of a classic Jaguar invite long lunchers to linger evermore, while over a thousand immaculately arranged plants create an air of wildness carefully calibrated not to misbehave. The lighting, soft and amber-hued, occasionally misfires, literally knocking the faces of servers mid-stride. But for diners, it performs magic, rendering them effortlessly Instagram-ready. Tables near the fire, or the glass-fronted wine cellar and seafood station are particularly prized where diners may watch their indulgence materialise. The soundtrack is as considered as the menu, including Camille Yarbrough’s Take Yo’ Praise, and The Cure’s Lullaby.

Drinks

Opening with the pledge, “Each bottle represents our unwavering dedication to environmental stewardship and unparalleled quality,” the wine list at Dovetale is under the mastery of Tara Ozols, a radiant force in the sommelier world, and ambassador for Veuve Clicquot’s pinnacle, La Grande Dame. Raised in the modest surrounds of Manchester, Connecticut, Ozols’ initiation into wine was delightfully unpretentious - sneaking sips on her stepmother’s back deck rather than sipping in the salons of grand châteaux. Nearly a decade ago, she crossed the Atlantic from New York, refining her palate under the mentorship of Michael Deschamps, whose mantra, “taste, taste, taste,” she has embraced with almost evangelical fervour. Her journey, from scrubbing dishes in her parents’ Florida pub to earning the distinction of being the inaugural recipient of the Michelin Sommelier Award, reflects a career fuelled by grit, passion, and an insatiable curiosity. Known for her Cubitts eyewear, a fondness for Stevie Nicks, and whisky-laced repartee, Ozols brings both gravitas and charm to every pour. Served in US-designed Glasvin stems by former hedge fund investor, David Kong – introduced to London by Ozols herself – or Mark Thomas glasses whose form bears a resemblance to Kryton’s head from Red Dwarf, the wine list spans a dazzling array. By the glass, highlights include the Grüner-led 2021 Kamptal Kollektiv White Blend from Austria (£12/175ml), a Coravin pour of the poised 2014 Shafer Hillside Napa Cabernet (£110/125ml), and the Loire’s quirkily named “Tacsum” (Muscat spelt backwards, £20/175ml). For celebratory fizz, the house sparkling is Billecart-Salmon Le Réserve (£23/125ml), while those looking for smaller indulgences will find solace in half bottles, such as the timeless López de Heredia 2009 (£80). Champagnes by the bottle span from the saline precision of Laherte Frères Ultradition, Chavot NV (£98) to the ethereal, rare 1997 Salon Le Mesnil (£2,600). Noteworthy, too, is Timothee Stroebel’s Heraclite Chardonnay from Villers-Allerand, a boutique offering from a mere 3.5-hectare estate (£220 for the 2017). Closer to home, English sparkling wine is championed with pride, including the sustainably-certified Hundred Hills Blanc de Blancs 2018 from Oxfordshire (£146). For those who like their bubbles with adventure, the Slovakian pét-nat, Pivnica Čajkov Vulcanica #6 NV, described by its maker as brimming with “volcanic character,” offers a unique, budget-friendly option (£57). In the still wine realm, offerings range from the Orange Viile Timisului by Romanian powerhouse Cramele Recas (£37) to the peerless Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche 2014 (£14,000). Between these poles lies the mature and honeyed Beaucastel Blanc 2011 (£214), the distinctively packaged 2020 Meursault by François Mikulski (£300), and Pierre Overnoy’s venerable 1998 Vieux Savagnin Ouille (£800/500ml). Collections from esteemed producers include Mount Eden Cabernet Sauvignon to 2013 (£285), Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay to the same year (£400), and older vintages such as Mas de Daumas Gassac from 1985 (£470), Tignanello from 1998 (£700), Château Palmer from 1988 (£850), Latour from 1992 (£1,500), and back to the contemporary, the more fruitful Henschke Hill of Grace Shiraz 2017 (£1,200). Sweet wines conclude, led by Château d’Yquem offerings which extend to 1982 (£1,600). Ozols is supported by the charming, cool, Nasif Kanyike, formerly of Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. Guests should also explore Dover Yard Bar’s “Seed to Sips” menu, including a Kentish Orchard Mai Tai, overseen by bar director Giulio Guarini.

Dishes

Formerly of Boxwood Café, The Red Lion in Pewsey, and Laughing Heart in the UK, as well as New York’s Per Se and Sydney’s Rockpool and Spice Temple, head chef Tom Anglesea boasts a CV as impressive as it is far-flung. Present during our visit, his handshake was reassuringly firm - the grip of a man equally adept at emulsifying butter sauces and navigating the delicate politics of the pass. From the open kitchen, he presided with quiet authority beneath a sign urging his brigade to “Focus” - a succinct mantra he shares with Tom Sellers of sister restaurant, Story. Crafted by Tara Ozols’ kindred spirit, Carmelo Peña Santana, Listán Negro Ikewen 2022 featured pomace-smeared labels, heralding a wine as high in altitude as it is low in vanity. Its purity was poured alongside a trio of dishes designed to charm and impress: glossy duck buns so plump and lacquered they might have rolled out of a pastry chef’s dream; an off-menu chicken and mushroom consommé so soulful you could drown your sorrows in it; and tuna tartare precariously balanced on sticky fried rice chips, dusted with seaweed as if a mermaid had sneezed nearby. Then came bread - its fluffy core, squeezed to a bonbon shape, further improved by the promise of salted Glastonbury butter. The English wagyu Carpaccio followed, an homage to the original Harry’s Bar, its slices, thin as whispers, adorned with popping mustard seeds, accompanied with crunchy, layered, Old Winchester and beef-fat chips. The dish found its perfect foil in Christophe Pacalet’s Beaujolais Nouveau, poured in honour of the day - a juicy, fragrant red which spoke of sunshine and youth. Then came the sort of posh fondue you might imagine at a chalet for oligarchs: soft potato gnocchi buried under molten aged Parmesan custard, studded with black truffle. It was paired with the Soutbosch Chenin Blanc, a textured, chamomile-scented wine from a coastal vineyard which no longer exists, lending a ghostly air of lost grandeur to proceedings. The main course was roast Cornish halibut on the bone, with Vin Jaune butter and an insistent touch of vanilla, accompanied by sea purslane. The halibut was imperious, the vanilla divisive, and the pairing - Mayacamas Chardonnay 2017 via Coravin, described by Ozols as “honey-kissed”. Sides included creamed potatoes which whispered of Robuchon’s sainted legacy and pommes allumettes, served in a tin engineered to stay piping hot, ready to be decadently dipped into their mash companion. The grand finale was the mighty £100 soufflé which straddled dessert and cheese course. Enriched with white truffle, Pedro Ximénez caramel brown butter, and lavish Tunworth cheese ice cream added at table by head maître d’, Matthew O’Connor, it was paired with both Jean-François Ganevat’s Vin Jaune and Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015. The Vin Jaune brought a saline counterpoint, while the Champagne – apricot-scented and unashamedly celebratory – made its case for a joyful ending.

Last word

This is a restaurant which knows exactly how good it is and wears its confidence like a well-tailored suit. Like its towering soufflé, the often cheese-enriched experience rises to the occasion with effortless grace. At its heart is Tara Ozols, the grande dame of the wine list, who, concussion notwithstanding on our visit, performed her role with dazzling pizzazz, her poise unshaken. It’s as much her show as it is Tom Anglesea’s. Together, they craft a dining experience which is indulgent, assured, and unforgettable.

Best for

  • USA wines
  • Regional Barolo
  • Making a green ethos beautiful
Value: 94, Size: 97, Range: 96.5, Originality: 97, Experience: 98; Total: 96.5 Dovetale - 3 Berkeley St, London, W1J 8DL; 020 3137 4983; 1hotels.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Number One at The Balmoral https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-number-one-at-the-balmoral/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-number-one-at-the-balmoral/#respond Mon, 16 Dec 2024 09:54:16 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=661541 Douglas Blyde heads north of the border once again, assessing whether Number One at Edinburgh's The Balmoral really offers the "perfection" that its name promises.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-number-one-at-the-balmoral/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde heads north of the border once again, assessing whether Number One at Edinburgh's The Balmoral really offers the "perfection" that its name promises. Beneath the baronial bravado of this Rocco Forte flagship, an underground lair pulses with red-lacquered walls, sinuous banquettes, and tables set with clinical precision. The Telegraph called it “a template for updated old-school glamour,” though it’s more chic than sentimental - a sanctuary for those who crave dinner to feel like a full-on spectacle. And this it delivers, relentlessly, being “a celebration whether there's an occasion or not.” But disaster struck in 2022 when Michelin, which had awarded Number One a star since 2003, failed to renew it. The blow was swift, cutting through the gloss like white spirit – a prize now dangling just out of reach. With the stakes higher than ever, every plate, every pour, every gesture feels like a high-wire act – a thrilling push to reclaim what was lost. Perfection is the aim, but the path is precarious. One wrong move, and the wait for redemption grows longer. Above, The Balmoral’s 58-metre clock tower, set three minutes fast to afford train passengers beside a final kiss, looms over Number One, each tick echoing through the dining room, as if the hands of time are counting down to the moment when Michelin will once again bestow its coveted star.

Drinks

The drinks programme, led by Callum McCann (formerly of UNALOME by Graeme Cheevers), is a study in precision and daring – a balancing act between refinement and indulgence, with the constant risk of excess. McCann’s relationship with wine began in rebellion, dismissing Fino sherry until a sage supplier changed his view with the mantra: “You just haven’t tried one you like.” Now at the helm of one of Edinburgh’s most-lauded lists, he curates treasures from Mouton-Rothschild to Dobogó Tokaji Eszencia, pairing them with head chef, Mathew Sherry’s plates. Together, they find a symphony in sweetbreads and rhubarb. McCann is a man of contrasts – a champion of Cabernet Franc, a banisher of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and a new parent learning to balance ambition with chaos, while longing to share Arabic tea with his great-grandfather, Samuel H. Brodie, a comrade of Lawrence of Arabia. By the glass, the list entices, but also challenges. Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve NV (£19) is an elegant opener, but it’s the elusive Champagne Charlie NV (£95) which courts extravagance. Whites range from the floral Gewürztraminer of Domaine Kirrenbourg (£16) to the silken Puligny-Montrachet of Jean Chartron (£38), each glass promising something revelatory – or risky. Reds venture further, from the smoky depth of Greece’s Xinomavro by Alpha Estate (£17) to the bold austerity of Biondi-Santi’s Brunello di Montalcino Riserva 2011 (£130). The question remains: can a single glass capture the depth of a region, a vintage, and a winemaker? Charles Heidsieck’s presence dominates the Champagne section, a relationship which borders on obsession. The Brut Réserve NV (£96) is reliable, the Blanc des Millénaires 2006 (£315) luminous, and the Champagne Charlie NV (£550) achingly exceptional. But the daring lies in its extremes: there is also the aged Hors-Série Piper Heidsieck 1971 (£675) and the mythical La Collection Crayères 1989 (£2,500 for a Jeroboam), choices fraught with the gamble of expectation. These bottles don’t merely promise pleasure; they demand it, their price tags a hushed dare. Half bottles and magnums are where indulgence teeters on excess. A half bottle of Trimbach Riesling Frédéric Émile 2013 (£90) invites careful contemplation, while a magnum of Château Montelena Chardonnay 2009 (£500) calls for celebration - but what if the audience is unworthy? With larger formats, their volumes mirror the weight of expectation. It’s the kind of decision which separates dinner from memory. As the list deepens, Burgundy and Bordeaux up the ante. A Chablis Grand Cru, Les Bougros, Samuel Billaud 2022 (£380) is prism-like, but will its elegance hold against the complexities of a dish? Château Margaux 2003 (£1,500) and Château Mouton Rothschild 2008 (£1,400) are investments in opulence, but their grandeur risks overshadowing the meal itself. The finale is no less audacious. A Tokaji 6 Puttonyos 2017 (£155 for 50cl) glimmers with honeyed temptation, while Château d’Yquem 1990 (£750) provokes you to find fault in its golden embrace. Even the fortifieds, from Ferreira’s Thirty-Year-Old Tawny (£250) to Dow’s Silver Jubilee Vintage 1977 (£275), whisper decadence which could elevate or overwhelm. This is a list of exquisite danger, where every choice is a gamble, and every bottle a potential triumph – or test.

Dishes

Under the hand of chef de cuisine, Mathew Sherry, a man whose talents were honed at Northcote in Lancashire, and Castle Terrace in Edinburgh, the food here is an exercise in unflashy brilliance. His plates are thoughtful, deliberate, and measured. In the dining room, Emma Hemy steers with the composed authority of a captain keeping her ship on course, ensuring nothing is left to chance, but everything feels, somehow, inevitable. We began in the glass wine vault, broad glasses of positively reductive Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie in hand, paired with 30g of N25 Oscietra caviar, perched atop Sherry’s well-seasoned, homemade crumpets. This Champagne, revived by Cyril Brun as a tribute to its late-1970s origins, is born of 80% reserve wines spanning 25 years - a far more convincing creation than Hugh Grant’s hammy turn as its namesake in the 1989 film, where he “played the archetypal hero,” rescuing “pretty girls” and hitting “people in the face” - “all the things I wanted to be... a very nice role, really.” Continuing in the lightly Charles Heidsieck-branded private dining room, we were served homemade linseed sourdough with perfectly spherical, unsalted butter from Tain, by the team at Highland Fine Cheese. Next came the greengage-scented Pieropan La Rocca Soave 2022, from Soave’s only limestone outcrop in a basalt landscape, accompanied by Ullapool crab with smoked almond custard, then lobster caught by a father-and-son team on the River Forth - with ginger and soy, its bisque profound. The finest dish of the meal, however, was Gleneagles estate partridge, with black Wiltshire truffle and white bread sauce, an ephemeral bird which was the foil for the fully mature 2006 Pommard 1er Cru Les Pezerolles (Domaine Potinet Ampeau). Having decanted it with frothy conviction, McCann noted the wine which had been bestowed on him, had enough “freshness” to work harmoniously with the “leek vinaigrette,” though, in truth, his assessment was more wishful thinking than reality. Greater brightness followed in David Moret’s Saint-Romain 2020 Chardonnay with Lerwick halibut, a dish which should have been pristine - yet the halibut, slightly overcooked, was an undeniable flaw. Its delicate texture, once perfect, had been compromised, a jarring misstep in an otherwise brilliant compilation of flavours. Despite the intrusion, the halibut still carried toothsome appeal, enhanced by its coating of more luxurious, popping, Oscietra caviar, which momentarily restored harmony. Yet, in an arena of fine dining, this slight aberration is seismic – a fleeting lapse in perfection which disrupts the otherwise carefully crafted narrative. A nod to Grange Hill’s iconic “flying sausage” came in the form of roe deer from Hopetoun Estate, twenty miles away, served alongside ruddy loin, and a celeriac fondant which evoked a posh doughnut. This matched the 2020 Cepparello, a Sangiovese of such pedigree and stature, showcasing black cherry and graphite, a fitting tribute to Paolo De Marchi’s 45 years of craftsmanship at Isole e Olena, now in the hands of EPI Group, alongside Biondi-Santi. A brief respite with honey from the hotel’s rooftop apiary, tended by sous chef, John, ensued, woven with clean yoghurt and dazzling honeycomb. We finished with a soufflé of local pumpkin, gingerbread, and pumpkin seed praline, accompanied by 2023 Mullineux Straw Wine, evoking the liquified ideal of Alphonso mango.

Last word

Pairings today were chosen at our hosts’ behest, though McCann navigated selections with finesse. Left to his own devices, you might find English Blanc de Noirs with crab, a wild ferment, still Xarel-lo, oak-aged, from septuagenarian vines paired with partridge, and luscious Vin de Constance with that delightful autumnal soufflé. Perfection isn’t just the goal here; it’s the heartbeat of the experience. Whether they realise it or not, every diner becomes part of this performance. It’s all about one thing: getting back to being Number One. As the Scottish proverb goes: “Time and tide for nae man bide." And here, every moment is spent in the relentless march toward vindication...

Best for

  • Champagne Charlie and N25 caviar experience
  • Glass Wine Room
  • Half bottles and magnums
Value: 93, Size: 95, Range: 96, Originality: 96, Experience: 97; Total: 95.4 Number One - The Balmoral, 1 Princes St, Edinburgh, EH2 2EQ; 0131 557 6727; roccofortehotels.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Amélie https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-amelie/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-amelie/#respond Mon, 09 Dec 2024 10:00:14 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=660355 Douglas Blyde indulges in Champagne, caviar, Cognac and a cigar at Amélie, and assesses whether this Belgravia restaurant has anything going on beneath the "temple-like façade".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-amelie/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde indulges in Champagne, caviar, Cognac and a cigar at Amélie, and assesses whether this Belgravia restaurant has anything going on beneath the "temple-like façade". Amélie is, as The Standard observed, a “members' club without members” – a hideaway where the Riviera’s glamour collides with London’s tireless appetite for indulgence. Conceived in the locked-down doldrums of late 2020 as a Nordic-Japanese curio, Pantechnicon, it has since shed its early guise, emerging anew as a polished day-to-night haven for the capital’s most discerning bon vivants. Hot Dinners warned us to “brace for a transformation,” and Amélie delivered with a menu laden in caviar and a wine list which bows deeply to France. One starry-eyed Google reviewer, seemingly in a post-prandial daze, proclaimed the caviar waffles and beef ragù “to die for” – and at Amélie, death by decadence doesn’t seem such a bad way to go.

Design

The temple-like façade of 19 Motcomb Street – with its ten, regimented clotted-cream pillars accented in cyan at night – once guarded a Victorian warehouse, a kind of aristocratic attic where the upper crust stashed treasures from the Grand Tour. That was before an overambitious fire fancied its own tour, leaving behind only a bemused façade. Today, Sunset Hospitality Group (the minds behind The Aubrey) has resurrected the ruins into something altogether more enchanting. Enter Amélie, a Provençal retreat where the centrepiece oval table 51 mirrors the swooping cornice above, perfectly placed to command the room’s best vantage. Chef Steve Raveneau presides in the kitchen with finesse, occasionally appearing in the dining room in a chef's jacket tailored with double cuffs, while GM, Rudolph Galand is front of house. Ascend the spiral stairs to SACHI, a Japanese sanctuary of whisper-light precision. Here, culinary director, Kyung-Soo Moon and head chef, Joonsu Park orchestrate an omakase experience best taken in the semi-private booth for eight, while a Sgroppino is reimagined with Japanese flair. Mihaly Herczeg’s handmade ceramics lend an earthy elegance, grounding the high-wire artistry of the cuisine. As night descends, so can you to LUUM, where glamour meets grooves in a lounge bar by Stefano Chilà, whose CV reads like a socialite’s address book, featuring Chiltern Firehouse and Annabel’s Club. Here, rare spirits – dedicated bottlings of agave, mezcal, whisky, and extinct rums - flow freely, their alchemy heightened by an in-house lab dabbling in curiosities like distilled lobster essence. DJs spin a carousel, while Mexican chef, Coko Becker, who also consults to Tayēr + Elementary, ensures revellers don’t dance on empty stomachs.

Drinks

With a squadron of five sommeliers and two sake specialists under his command, Erik Simonics orchestrates Amélie’s “constantly evolving” Carte des Vins while steering the wine and beverage direction for Sunset Hospitality on a global stage. A Slovakian polymath – Master of Havana cigars, triathlete, and consummate oenophile – Simonics began his ascent in the vinous world as one of 17 sommeliers under Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s. From there, he honed his craft at The Orrery before making waves at The Savoy, and later, at the Four Seasons at Ten Trinity Square, where he played a pivotal role in launching La Dame de Pic, serendipitously pouring for every Michelin inspector who graced its tables. Simonics’ journey then led him to the rarefied world of The Birley Clubs, where he not only opened Matteo’s at Annabel’s, known for its complete selection of Sassicaia, but rose to the coveted position of group head sommelier. The by-the-glass selection at Amélie begins with a celebratory pop: Rare 2013 Champagne, yours for £49 per 125ml, plucked from a dedicated Champagne vault which feels more sanctuary than storage. The still wines rest in a bespoke mezzanine cellar, precision-crafted in Türkiye to cradle a 1,300-bottle trove. Starting at an approachable £10 for the Perrin family’s dependable Côtes du Rhône Blanc, the list climbs to £52 for the millennium-vintage Mas La Plana, Colección Privada from Penedès. In between is the 2022 Bourgogne Pinot Noir Prestige by Henri de Villamont (£18) and Graham’s 20-Year-Old Tawny from a show-stopping Rehoboam, poured by the glass at £19 for a decadent 100ml sip. By the bottle, sparkling enthusiasts can journey from Oxfordshire’s Doe Eyed Queen 2018 rosé (£95), an ode to sustainable English viticulture, to Cristal 1988 at a princely £1,900. Showstoppers like magnums of Henriot Cuvée 38 Réserve Perpétuelle (£1,100) and jeroboams of Dom Pérignon 2012 (£3,900) cater to those whose money knows taste. Still wines open at £45 with the modest Grange des Rocs Picpoul de Pinet, though the intrigue sharpens in the £60s, where 2021 Riesling Trocken from Weingut Selbach-Oster (£65) and 2018 Château Lestage-Simon Haut-Médoc (£69) begin to charm. Serious collectors can revel in treasures like a six-vintage vertical of Clos de la Roche Grand Cru Cuvée Vieilles Vignes from Domaine Ponsot (averaging £1,000 per bottle) or nine vintages of Château Pontet-Canet, including the double magnum of 1982 signed by Alfred Tesseron himself. Francophiles can continue to find solace in 2012 Mas de Daumas Gassac (£250) or a competitively priced 1990 Lafite (£1,550). Beyond France, Italy contributes Quintarelli’s cultish Alzero Cabernet 2005 (£990), while Spain’s Vega Sicilia offers their multi-vintage Unico Reserva Especial, a tapestry of ‘08, ‘10, and ‘11, at an equally iconic £990.

Dishes

Under the watchful eye of the ever-present head chef, Steve Raveneau (formerly of Annabel’s and The Arts Club), the evening unfolded like silk – a gastronomic playlist to charm any Riviera socialite. The curtain rose with a substantial amuse-bouche of crab, brioche, and caviar, accompanied by a show-stopping Champagne Rare 2006, poured from one of only six jeroboams in the country. Bubbling with brioche, orchard fruits, and hazelnut, and finishing with a subtle ocean-kissed minerality, it seemed to whisper “you’ve arrived". The second act introduced a grilled scallop with a citrus emulsion, unusually arranged like stepping stones, and so delicate it nearly floated off the oval plate. Its duet partner? Like a Burgundy with botox, 2013 Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay flaunted creamy oak, tamed by bright acidity, then citrus blossom. Then, the main event: A5 Japanese wagyu sirloin with truffle jus, marbled so indulgently it deserved a “handle with care” sticker. Enter Château Pontet-Canet 2000 (ex-château) – dark berries, tobacco, and just a hint of old leather within its resolutely classical form. The sweet finale arrived in the form of a Paris-Brest – unapologetically rich with praline cream and a nutty depth. Stepping in as the evening’s vinous maverick, Tokajská Výberová Esencia, Ostrožovič 1999, not from Hungary, but, as per Simonics, Slovakia, brought almost Pedro Ximenez tones to the table. Its lively acidity keeping the praline in line, avoiding the dreaded sugar overload which makes diners wonder if they should call it a night - or a dentist. But just when the credits seemed to roll, contents of a magnum of Louis XIII were extracted with a sort of reverse inseminator, each glass reaching back a century. Then came an invitation to the SACHI cigar lounge, where the amber draught could meet its match in Davidoff’s Year of the Snake 2024 Limited Edition cigar. An ode to the Chinese zodiac. The evening ended in a swirl of Cognac, smoke, and the murmured resolve of “we must do this again".

Last word

Rather than a Dubai-stamped mall of hospitality concepts printed on UK soil, 19 Motcomb Street has been thoughtfully crafted with the gravitas of serious, local talent. “Prices are not expensive for the sake of it,” assures Erik Simonics, and he’s right. Flanked by five-star hotels, and rubbing shoulders with a royal palace, you might expect the usual deterrent tariffs aimed at the timid wallet. Instead, the pricing here feels, at times, almost conspiratorial – an invitation to indulge rather than deter it, a rare generosity in a city where opulence is increasingly weaponised.

Best for

  • Pastis, Armagnac and Cognac
  • Caviar
  • The talents of Erik Simonics and Stefano Chilà
Value: 94, Size: 93, Range: 93, Originality: 93, Experience: 97; Total: 94 Amélie - Ground Floor & First Floor, 19 Motcomb St, London SW1X 8LB; 020 7034 5406; Amélie-restaurants.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Il Ristorante Alain Ducasse https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-il-ristorante-alain-ducasse/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-il-ristorante-alain-ducasse/#respond Mon, 02 Dec 2024 10:57:07 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=658861 Douglas Blyde completes his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Alain Ducasse's Naples restaurant, finding one dish in particular to be "more likely to start conversations than sate cravings".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/12/wine-list-confidential-il-ristorante-alain-ducasse/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde completes his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Alain Ducasse's Naples restaurant, finding one dish in particular to be "more likely to start conversations than sate cravings". “Located in a gritty dockside corner of a notoriously punchy city, Romeo Napoli has been defying expectations since it opened in 2014,” proclaimed Elite Traveler. “Ten years later, the hotel is continuing to prove itself as one of Naples’ best; this time with the announcement of an all-new signature restaurant by the tour de force that is Alain Ducasse – his first-ever in Italy.” The latter succeeded Il Comandante this summer, which took the nickname of the founder of the Lauro Fleet, whose HQ was once in the same premises. And what a location – as Mr and Mrs Smith pointed out. Spanning the ninth floor, it’s got front-row seats to “Naples’ hectic docks,” where the clientele arrive “Gucci-clad” for the occasion.

Design

This glossy dining room is a visual feast crafted by Japanese architectural icon, Kenzo Tange. Classic nautical oils set a timeless backdrop, while bold works by contemporary Neapolitan artist, Francesco Clemente demand attention - they’re here to make a statement, not to whisper. Philippe Starck and Antonio Citterio-designed fittings complete the scene. Beneath a moody black ceiling, black chairs meet white tables, lit both from above and below. One floor above, the Krug-branded La Terraza beckons guests to sip cuvées beside, or even in, one of two infinity pools, with loungers angled towards Vesuvius and cruise liners, gliding to glamorous escapes in Ischia, Procida, Capri, and Sorrento. Downstairs in the lobby, a scripted “Romeo” fountain leads to a walk-in humidor, a well-stocked cellar, and a games room. Billiards? Check. Old-school jukebox and vintage phonograph? Double check. While they may not play, they hum with nostalgia, bringing an air of old-world charm to this ultra-modern space.

Drinks

The wine programme is under the very polished eye of Alain Ducasse’s distinguished chef sommelier exécutif, Bernard Neveu – formerly of the famed Epicure at Le Bristol – and his partner in wine, head sommelier, Fabio Goglia, who climbed the grape-stained ladder from Hotel Le Agavi, Positano and the legendary Ristorante Dal Pescatore Santini. Goglia greets guests armed with a thick list - no intros, no descriptions, just endless possibilities. It’s all part of the charm; Fabio wants you to ask about the list. Options by the glass range from €15 for Maremma Rosé from Tenuta Fertuna, which makes wines for Angela Hartnett and The Pig, to €200 for Château d’Yquem 1996, which one critic, perhaps unknowingly autobiographically, called “fat in style”. In between, €25 transports you to Château Clarke (2016), which, with cypress and olive trees, evokes the Med more than the Médoc. Doyard’s compelling Oeil de Perdrix champagne is €50, while Domaine Castagnier 2021 Charmes-Chambertin is made by a former trumpeter (€140). Bottles open at €40 for Vecchio Moro Lambrusco, Rinaldi, of which presenter, David Kermode cheekily wrote, “lock up your linens because this crowd-pleasing Lambrusco is an extraordinary deep purple”, should you be brave enough to order the humble wine in a restaurant from a holder of 21 Michelin stars. At the other end of the spectrum is Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 2015 (€19,500), remarkably close to retail. The most modest traditional method fizz is Ca’ del Bosco Cuvée Prestige (€100) - don’t come looking for Prosecco - followed by Billecart Salmon Brut Reserve (€170). Other options include Taittinger Comtes de Champagne 1999 at a fair €500, with the most lavish option being Cristal Vinothèque Rosé 1995 at a genuinely not outlandish €2,900 versus market price. Still Italian collections include flights of L’Apparita, Castello di Ama to 1987, being the second vintage of “the first purebred Merlot produced in Tuscany” (€940), Costa Russi Barbaresco to 1981 (€1,750), Gaja Darmaji to 1983 (€950) Masseto to 1996 (€2,300), and Ornellaia to 1992 (€1,050). From France, there are more thoroughbreds: Ausone to 1998 (€2,800), Lafite to 1983 (€5,500), Le Pin to 1997 (€2,900), Lynch Bages to 1986 at an equitable €400, and d’Yquem to 1985 (€980). There are relatively slim pickings from outside L’Hexagone and Italy, though you will encounter a line-up of Vega Sicilia Unico to 2011 (€1,200). And from outside Europe, there appeared a solitary listing, being 2020 Santa Rita Hills Estate Pinot Noir - The Hilt - from the USA (€260). To aid digestion, diners can savour Darroze Armagnac stretching to 1947 - the same year Italy signed the Treaty of Paris, a deal perhaps harder to swallow than the Armagnac itself.

Dishes

Bringing the culinary philosophy of French-born, Monégasque icon, Alain Ducasse – who presides over culinary kingdoms like Le Louis XV in Paris, and Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester in London – is head chef, Alessandro Lucassino, whose gleaming galley faces a ship’s wheel. Having mastered his craft at the likes of Le Jules Verne, and Hôtel Plaza Athénée, Lucassino now marries French technique with the bounty of Campania. Alongside apple-scented house kombucha served in tactile thimbles poured by a team straight from a Ralph Lauren catalogue, snacks included an engaging seed flatbread, clasped in a volcanic rock, bringing Mount Vesuvius to the table. Other highlights included cuttlefish, spun like lardo around a long fork, while a particularly neat, curled anchovy with lime segments, and long-lived clementine tartlet indicated Lucassino’s fondness for citrus - a theme which continued throughout the meal. The amuse bouche was a particularly neat, five-minute cooked “iodate” spaghettini, served cool, with glossy caviar from Shanghai. Goglia selected Krug Rosé 25éme édition, based on 2013, with this, and the bread selection including nori-enriched toast, which could, we suspect, make a tremendous pressed panino, with Ducasse’s Sicilian olive oil, fleur de sel from Guerande, a blend of Sarawak, Szeuchuan, and Long Pepper, and a paddle of buffalo milk butter with black olives. With blue crab finished with Negroni granita, Goglia applied one of 2,100 bottles of Marianna Venuti’s Fiano di Avellino Riserva, being his favourite local white grape, for its ability to cope with the ice’s bitterness, and a comforting little pot of silky white beans from Controne. It proved a fearless match, and continued to work with the second part of the bread course, being black olive focaccia, and more rustic Neapolitan loaf. For a foie gras raviolo in chicken consommé, Goglia took a detour from the expected Madeira, instead serving a top-tier Piedirosso from Tenuta Camaldoli - Campi Flegrei Cru. Given the warm year (2017), this surprisingly gentle wine brought orange zest and a touch of salinity to the dish, with just enough tannin to keep things edgy. It turned out to be the meal’s standout pairing. The dish itself is thoughtfully crafted to be held in both hands, inviting guests to cradle it with care before savouring each sip down to the last. Next, an egg tagliolini featuring “yesterday’s bread” was luxuriously coated in butter, powdered ricotta, butter, and a lavish shaving of white truffle. For this intense dish, Goglia “upped the stakes”, selecting the fresh, village Gevrey-Chambertin (Domaine Castagnier) for its bright energy. Goglia confided he took ten attempts to perfect the pairing for tender rockfish served with Naples’ traditional Christmas green, “scarola” both whole and woven with cooked peanuts and olives. The perfect collaborator? Barbaresco 2021 from the single vineyard Cavanna by Luigi Giordano. Goglia, it seems, prefers his Nebbiolo fresh and sprightly, but when it comes to Claret, only maturity will do. This preference shone in the next pour: a 40-year-old Angelus (1984), decanted eight hours in advance and served in a mouth-blown Riedel. This graced the cheese course, including a particularly delicious salted ricotta which held its own; however, the wine practically begged for a more crafted accompaniment. Looking at the menu retrospectively, Lucassino’s saddle of lamb with pumpkin from the embers, with a red tuna garum, would have been the obvious choice. For the final, sweeter acts, Goglia prescribed a find he stumbled upon in Montalcino – Famiglia Borsi’s Liquore Amarancia, served with a splash of tonic over a hefty ice cube. Light on sugar but big on flavour, this citrusy delight played nicely with the buffalo milk ice cream, sponge cake, tangy milk crisp, and almond cream. It was less successful, however, with the lemon pudding, which proved an acquired taste: a curious combination of Sorrento lemon, pesto, lemonade sorbet, and sea lettuce. A bold creation, certainly, though perhaps more likely to start conversations than sate cravings.

Last word

In a city whose rugged exterior conceals a velvet heart, Il Ristorante Alain Ducasse is more than a restaurant - it’s a statement. Here, local flavours receive the royal French touch, affirming that Naples isn’t just a pizza powerhouse; it’s poised to stand among Europe’s culinary capitals. And this is only the beginning. Ducasse’s Italian journey has already expanded to Romeo Roma, with Romeo Massa Lubrense slated for next year. Meanwhile, a new outpost at Baccarat Paris signals a refined empire continually on the rise, bringing a touch of French elegance wherever it lands.

Best for

  • Panoramic, lively port views
  • Champagne
  • Citrus-pepped, upscale cooking
Il Ristorante Alain Ducasse- Hotel ROMEO Napoli, Via Cristoforo Colombo, 45, 80133 Naples NA, Italy; +39 081 604 1580; theromeocollection.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Terrazza Bosquet https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-terrazza-bosquet/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-terrazza-bosquet/#respond Mon, 25 Nov 2024 09:26:24 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=657855 Douglas Blyde continues his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Terrazza Bosquet at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, taking in the dishes of executive chef Antonino Montefusco and drinks of head sommelier Natale Sicignano.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-terrazza-bosquet/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde continues his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Terrazza Bosquet at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, taking in the dishes of executive chef Antonino Montefusco and drinks of head sommelier Natale Sicignano. Set within the cliff-perched Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria – which Michelin hailed as “one of the most iconic hotels on the Sorrentine peninsula” – Terrazza Bosquet delivers a dining experience as panoramic as it is posh, with tables set on a terrace whenever “the weather allows.” The Telegraph couldn’t resist waxing lyrical about the grande dame’s “timeless glamour,” which lured a roster of legends: Wagner, Luciano Pavarotti, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, and Sophia Loren. After dinner, if you’re fortunate enough to retire to a suite, you’ll find yourself enveloped in a décor described by Condé Nast Traveler as ranging between Pompeian antiquity and Victorian splendour, with trompe l’oeil walls, polished parquet floors, and verandas with views of Mount Vesuvius. And, for those seeking warm Italian hospitality, take note, TripAdvisor’s Anil V celebrated his anniversary with a cake so generously portioned here that he demanded it to be shared with the rest of the dining room. One wonders if the cake had originally been sized for one of the hotel’s former guests – Pavarotti himself.

Design

Set 200 metres from Piazza Tasso and its unrelenting traffic, Terraza Bosquet provides a serene retreat, complete with a dedicated wine-tasting room with a picture window framing the sea. Designed to focus attention on the pleasures of the table, the space is notably minimalist - a striking contrast to the ornate surroundings elsewhere in the property. Tended by six gardeners, the surprisingly extensive grounds are adorned with a wealth of Roman artefacts and ruins. Peter Fiorentino, the current scion, affectionately describes the foundations of one such villa, near the pool, as “a small Pompeii”. The soundtrack appropriately includes On The Sand by Groove Thing.

Drinks

Head sommelier Natale Sicignano, a veteran of fifteen years – nine of them leading the wine programme – presides over a neat, Roman-well-adorned cellar. Options by the glass range from Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri winner Rocca del Principe Fiano di Avellino Tognano Riserva 2021 (€20) to Ornellaia 2019 (€70) via Clos du Murger Meursault 2017 from Albert Grivault, of which Jasper Morris MW said, “this could be one of the great domaines of Meursault” (€50), and Jacquesson’s Cuvée No. 745, based on the same year (€35). From a list spanning two tomes, by the bottle, there is more Jacquesson Extra Brut from the Dizy-based house reaching to the 2010-based No. 738 (€400 per magnum). Other champagnes include Cristal, with 2008 at €1,400 per magnum, and Dom Pérignon P2 1998 (€1,200). Examples of Italian effervescence include Ca’ del Bosco Annamaria Clementi 2013 (€210), and Ferrari’s centenary bottling, Riserva Bruno Lunelli 2006 (€1,300). Pigato from 2013, with its Tin Man evoking label (Bruna, Riviera Ligure di Ponente U Baccan) is the cheapest bin, which, at €45, could be intriguing to order just to see how it is ageing, while at around twice mark-up, the most exclusive bin is Domaine Liger-Belair’s La Romanée Grand Cru 2020 at €15,000, priced, presumably, to deter diners from uncorking it too young. Of the abundant collections gracing the list, there are ten vintages to 2013 from the dolomitic-limestone caves of Marisa Cuomo, Costa d’Amalfi Fiorduva, eleven of textured Villa Bucci Verdicchio dei Castelli de Jesi Riserva to 2007, six examples to 2003 of Gravner Ribolla Gialla, seven vintages to 1999 of Ca’ del Bosco Curtefranca Chardonnay, ten of Mastroberardino Taurasi Riserva Radici to 1997, and fifteen of Montevetrano to 2005 (€220), dubbed “the Sassicaia of the South” by Robert Parker. At the top end, expressions of Sassicaia stretch to 1999 (€1,200), while Massetto unfurls to 2013 (€2,000). Redigaffi 2014 is obtainable at a decent €260, meanwhile. From France, there are verticals to 2001 of Coulée de Serrant, incarnations of Silex, Dagueneu to 2013 – five years after the founder’s fateful plane crash (€360), while from an alcove of Petrus, the 2015 will set you back more than a new Fiat Panda (€11,000). From outside Italy and France, the 2014 Wachau Loibner Torken Smaragad from Austria’s Weingut Knoll 2014 is a bargain at €80, while from Slovenia, Majan Simcic’s Brda Ribolla Cru 2016 is super-kindly priced at €50, with the 1989 dry Rivaner from Markus Molitor no doubt offering bravura at €160. Offering outstanding value is Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva 2009, Lopez de Heredia at €70. From the new world, a seemingly forgotten bottle of Famille Bourgeois Marlborough Clos Henri 2013 Pinot Noir would be interesting to try on account of its slumber (€70), while Opus One 2013 is close to twice mark-up at €1,100, And don’t overlook the Limoncello Spritz, crafted by Colin Field, former Ritz Paris bartender, at La Pergola bar, using lemons from the hotel’s own grove – a cocktail for those who enjoy their zesty aperitifs with a dash of history.

Dishes

Though we received the least extravagant “Greatest Hits” menu, executive chef Antonino Montefusco nonetheless managed to dazzle, especially with canapés. Served over two delightful rounds, accompanied by the noble Palazzo Lana Riserva 2011 Éxtreme Blanc de Noirs Franciacorta, these included an extraordinary wafer which captured the essence of a local red shrimp as if it had been pressed in a flower press, and a reverent homage to Swiss chard, including gnocchi swathed in an almond perfumed sauce. The bread selection also wowed: brittle, plankton-studded sticks, generously filled, airy croissants with cold cuts, and, served in a jewel box, a herbal loaf inspired by an ancient Pompeiian recipe, thankfully far more appetising than the fossilised, blackened version displayed at the actual ruins. Federico Graziani’s incisive Mareneve 2019, a blend of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Grecanico, Chenin Blanc, and Carricante harvested 1,200 metres above Sicily, sparkled with acidity, proving a functional match for what proved to be the dish of the day: “Incipit,” a Carpaccio of red shrimp. Here, an illusion of apple – secretly filled with burrata – rested beside a preposterously fragrant raspberry. Then came “Tribute to Pollock,” a playful, smoke-kissed creation of pasta bites, smoked potatoes, chives, and intense caviar. It looked more like a minestrone than a Pollock frenzy but delivered intense flavours. Its pairing, Erminia 2004 Fiano d’Avellino, had waited 18 years in tank – though its label leaned toward the surrealist end of the spectrum, reminiscent of Dali. In Federico De Majo glassware, chosen to enhance aromatics, the Piccolo Daliamaris 2022 from Friuli delivered a Friulano and Ribolla Gialla blend from vines up to 80 years old, matured in lightly toasted barrels from the favourite cooper of Jean-Louis Chave. This wine was paired with gurnard “acqua pazza” dressed in a coat of vegetable scales. We were encouraged to alternate bites with raw garlic bruschetta. Though wild given its strong flesh, and undeniably fresh, the gurnard didn’t quite spark the excitement of previous moments. As if to recapture our attention, Chef Montefusco himself presented the “Sorrento lemon Fantastique” tableside - hulled lemons filled with silken, melting yoghurt nestled in a cloud of dry ice (an emerging theme for posh places along the Amalfi coast), alongside a dainty lemon-on-the-vine crafted from white chocolate.

Last word

In an intriguing twist, Sicignano – a subtle, almost spectral presence throughout the meal – left the final dish senza pairing. Nor did a single red wine make an appearance, despite his professed, ardent love for Barolo and Barbaresco. Whether this was an intentional cliffhanger, we were left in suspense, with a lingering thirst for the reds that never were…

Best for

  • Canapés, bread service, and petit fours
  • Classic and new-wave Italian wines
  • Historic, clifftop haven-like setting
Terrazza Bosquet - Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria, Piazza Tasso, 34 - Sorrento, Italy; terrazzabosquet@exvitt.it; T. 39 081 877 7836; excelsiorvittoria.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Ristorante Dei Cappuccini https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-ristorante-dei-cappuccini/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-ristorante-dei-cappuccini/#respond Mon, 18 Nov 2024 09:48:01 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=656923 Douglas Blyde begins his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Ristorante Dei Cappuccini, tasting the "effortlessly digestible dishes" of The Fat Duck alumnus Claudio Lanuto.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-ristorante-dei-cappuccini/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde begins his journey along Italy's Amalfi Coast with a visit to Ristorante Dei Cappuccini, tasting the "effortlessly digestible dishes" of The Fat Duck alumnus Claudio Lanuto. As Michelin noted: “The monks and the nuns had it pretty good. Sure, there’s the chastity and poverty to get used to, but if the Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel is any indication, it very well might have been worth taking holy orders just for the views.” Condé Nast Traveler was also smitten, praising chef, Claudio Lanuto’s “playfully reimagined Mediterranean dishes.” TripAdvisor’s Adam W. from Surbiton took his vows a bit more literally, meanwhile, finding the lofty spot, replete with its bookable “love table”, as good for romance as it was for repentance: “If you’re thinking of proposing here, absolutely recommend it. Perfection.”

Design

Though it renounced its monastic ways nearly 160 years ago – briefly operating as a nautical academy before embracing its role as a hotel during the heyday of the European Grand Tour – this historic site has preserved its ecclesiastical vernacular. Carved into the hillside 80 metres above the Gulf of Salerno, with sacred roots dating back to 1212, it retains part of the original Arab-Norman cloister alongside the Chapel of San Francesco, adorned with Baroque masterpieces. Guests can either embrace the simplicity of the original monks’ quarters or indulge in the extravagant Suite dell’Ermita, which surveys its own lemon grove, or the Capuchin Suite, complete with no fewer than three balconies to satisfy the most discerning sun-worshipper. An outdoor gym encourages guests to repent their indulgences with a scenic sweat, while the chapel’s original confessional awaits those needing a deeper release.

Drinks

Formerly of the Michelin-starred Il Flauto di Pan, Ravello, Diego Mansi, the AIS-accredited head sommelier, frames his extensive wine list with a flourish worthy of Brillat-Savarin: “Without wine, the feast is but a shadow, lacking the warmth and light of the sun.” Born in Salerno in 1984, Mansi embodies the essence of southern Italian hospitality, curating a selection undulating between luxury and regional flair. His favourite wine? Montevetrano Colli di Salerno - a homage to his roots. By the glass, Mansi’s list begins with the rare Pepella grape in the local Sammarco Costa d’Amalfi Terre Saracene (€15), characterised by its unpredictable berry sizes, ranging to I Favati Taurasi Terzotratto Etichetta Bianca Riserva 2013 Aglianico (€47). Between, there’s the higher altitude Metodo Classico Alta Costa Brut by San Francesco (€19), foregrounding Biancatenera’s floral character. Bottles, which Mansi dubs “my babies”, are priced from €60 for Ponterotto Falanghina Perzechè, with the crescendo delivered by the “monolithic, foursquare” Petrus 2002 according to Parker subject to a mark-up of around two and a half times retail (€8,790). Alongside Carizze Prosecco from Bortolomiol, and the customary line-up of big-hitter champagnes, Franciacorta fans may choose from seven producers, including Bellavista’s flagship, Vittorio Moretti Extra Brut 2016 at €289. Still options include Emidio Pepe Trebbiano d’Abruzzo 2018 (€197), a restaurant vintage (2011) of Lynch-Bages (€379), Coche-Dury’s Bourgogne Aligoté 2021 at a punchy, though not atypical €579, and Gaja’s Sori’ Tildin 2017 Barbaresco at €1,450, with a jeroboam of the standard fit version from 2018 at €2,940. Collections include Sassicaia to 2007, as well as Tignanello, and Ornellaia, including the lesser-spotted Toscana Bianco 2019 at €619. Sweet options include Château d’Yquem’s reasonably priced 2000 (€719), one of seldom few older vintages, hinting that sun-kissed patrons find themselves irresistibly drawn to the seductive charm of fresher, younger offerings at Convento.

Dishes

Claudio Lanuto, who refined his craft at Il Pagliaccio, I Quattro Passi, and The Fat Duck, presides over the kitchen with a quiet brilliance, having begun his culinary journey at age 14 in Livorno. As twilight settled, a tasting of Aglianico unfolded on the panoramic terrace - the wild cherry and liquorice notes of Joaquin Aglianico I Viaggiatori 2017, decanted by candlelight, followed by Montevetrano 2019, which collages the ancient, volcanic soil loving, grape alongside the ever fashionable Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Dinner commenced with the high-altitude Alta Costa Brut, served alongside 18-inch-long pretzel-like grissini said to honour monks’ quills, and also deftly baked, scroll-like fried crispbread. Lanuto’s delicate broccoli croquette amuse led into a Pollock-worthy presentation of lard-wrapped squid, softly filled with potato mousse and vibrant pak choi. Then arrived Lanuto’s signature cannelloni, said to have been first crafted on-site 100 years ago, its creation marked by the toll of a bell for the townsfolk of Amalfi below. The pasta cylinder of minced beef and concentrated tomato was paired with 2020 Irpinia Bellaria, a more humble Aglianico than those shown before, though with sufficient fresh fruit character to tame the acidity of the dish. Fortunately, the Taurasi Riserva Terzotratto Etichetta Bianca 2009 I Favatti, served via Coravin in a generous Lehmann glass, set the evening back on course. The rich, though rested, clearly premium Aglianico, was applied to a splendidly rare, beef fillet accompanied by a celebration of peppers, including in the shape of an unlikely, though effective, sausage, as slim shreds, in various purées, and within a canister topped with seeds which on first sight were a ringer for caviar. Meanwhile, the other main of rolled sole was scented with sea urchins, so prevalent on this coast that they literally wash up on the volcanic sand, lightly bergamot and almond scented layered crisped potatoes, and bitter baby courgettes. A slight scent of char, not unwelcome, characterised the fish. A green salad, as devout in its simplicity as a monk’s meal, was dressed tableside by the ever-graceful waiter, Enrico, proving to be one of the most delightful highlights of the meal. Finally, the Falanghina-led Passion Colli di Salerno Passito, evocative of goji berry tea in flavour, was applied to a “lemon bomb” celebrating the lemon groves of the property, its detonations arising from a generous core of popping candy. Served with fluffy lemon cake inspired by Lanutos’s grandmother’s recipe, the ensuing “limoncello experience” involved a pottery chalice of whole lemons and a bottle of the supple liqueur, enlivened by a cloud of dry ice.

Last word

Ever the enthusiast, Mansi approached each pour with reverence, meticulously selecting the ideal service temperature and glassware, favouring a showcase of his beloved Aglianico over rigid pairings. Despite its elevated price, this luxurious haven manages to keep a serene, unhurried atmosphere, with tucked-away rocking chairs and hammocks inviting guests to unwind. In the kitchen, Lanuto crafts effortlessly digestible dishes which highlight his deft touch with vegetables. His dedication to produce is apparent not only in his cooking, but also in the terraced edible gardens visible to guests.

Best for

  • Wine tasting in the original cloister
  • Amalfi coast wines
  • Vegetable cookery
Ristorante Dei Cappuccini - Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel, Via Annunziatella, 46, 84011 Amalfi, Italy; +39 089 873 6711; fb.conventodiamalfi@anantara-hotels.com; deicappuccini-restaurant.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Cornus https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cornus/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cornus/#respond Mon, 11 Nov 2024 09:31:06 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=655803 Douglas Blyde visits Cornus in Belgravia and examine how the wines by-the-glass range in price from £8.50 to £65, and discover why members of the wine trade "flock here in droves".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cornus/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits Cornus in Belgravia and examine how the wines by-the-glass range in price from £8.50 to £65, and discover why members of the wine trade "flock here in droves". Cornus balances the charm of its team with an air of seriousness, as Grace Dent of The Guardian discovered. “The staff are lovely, smiley and very amiable,” she notes, while the menu, adorned with an illustration of the blazing stems of the resilient dogwood shrub, is “seriously grounded in the principles of French cooking.” David Ellis of The Standard captures its exclusive vibe, describing it as “a place for those who were already in, whose jewellery in the sunlight gave the room its own strobe-lighting.” Sommelier, Melania Battiston earned high praise from Andy Hayler for being “particularly impressive,” while one nostalgic TripAdvisor reviewer likened Cornus to “The Square of old,” their “favourite ever London restaurant.”

Design

The Square, once a temple of fine dining, met an ignoble end in February 2020, shuttered by bailiffs mid-lunch service. Within its storied walls, O’Connor honed his craft alongside his life partner Monika, whom he met at a country house hotel. The kitchen also served as a proving ground for Gary Foulkes, now head chef at Cornus. During our visit, the venerable Phil Howard himself was dining. If you have a spare £56, you can relive the Howard era with his eponymous dish: “Langoustine (3 pieces), truffle purée, parmesan gnocchi, potato and truffle emulsion”- a starter both opulent and steeped in nostalgia. Accessed via a lonely passageway lit with cool lights and a stainless-steel lift, Cornus is perched atop a warehouse built in 1830 for Shingleton’s Ice Company, which has also served as coachworks, power station, and mechanics. This marks the second act for O’Connor and his long-time collaborator Joe Mercer Nairne, the duo behind Medlar, which made waves near the ominously named World's End in Chelsea. Mercer Nairne, an Oxford graduate in archaeology and anthropology, traded his trowel for a toque, honing his culinary skills in the kitchens of The Savoy Grill, Chez Bruce, and Rockpool in Sydney. Designed by Day Studio (Trullo, Sidechick), the restaurant embraces a minimalist aesthetic with art curated by Tanya Baxter, including works by Tracey Emin. A sleek bar, framed by marble-fringed alcoves, leads towards a triangulated roofline extending to two terraces - the second with planning permission for a retractable roof. Special attention to acoustics unfortunately meant we experienced Michael Bolton’s “How Can We Be Lovers” with striking clarity. Exposed climate control systems and visible rigging, still bearing the fingerprints of the fitters, feel out of place, lending an atmosphere reminiscent of a pop-up eatery. Beyond the concertina doors to the facilities, you’ll find gold sinks and toilets with a curiously compelling whirlpool effect.

Drinks

Born in Mede, Lombardy, Melania Battiston lives by the mantra, “you can’t control anything except your state of mind.” Initially studying tourism, a twist of fate led her to London, where she briefly considered business and marketing before joining 28°-50° Maddox Street. There, she met her mentor, Clement Robert MS, and, following her mother’s advice to “trust her instincts,” dove fully into the world of wine. Within months, she had risen to head sommelier and assistant buyer for the group. Battiston’s career flourished at Medlar, where she won UK Young Sommelier of the Year and the Gérard Basset Tasting Trophy. A stint at Massimo Bottura’s Osteria Francescana exposed her to the vibrant synergy between kitchen and front-of-house, which she described as “fiery and enthusiastic.” At Cornus, wines by the glass range from just £8.50/125ml for aged Bergerac, Fleur de Thénac Rouge 2016, to £65 for Henriot’s third Hemera. In between, there’s trusty, sustainable 2021 Muscadet Sur Lie, Cuvée Lucien by Bernard Maillard (£11), and dainty Moscato d’Asti, Nivole by favourite producer of the late Michael Broadbent, Michele Chiarlo (£11/100ml). From magnum, 2018 Bannockburn Pinot Noir from Felton Road comes in at £20. Organised by region, then country, bottles begin at £38 for, Côte du Rhône Les Vignes du Prince, which isn’t, in truth, fit for a prince, reaching to £2,500 for Armand Rousseau 2000 Clos de Bèze at retail price (£2,500). The notable Burgundy section also includes 2018 St. Romain from the consistent Alain Gras at less than twice mark-up (£97), 2005 Bienvenues-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru, Etienne Sauzet at a very fair £360, and the magnum of 2012 Clos des Lambrays at £1,200. Another big bottle is the apparent “500cl” of Roagna Gallina Barbaresco 2016 (£1,400). Other bins of note include the 2021 Xisto Cru Douro Branco (£70), a 2016 Grüner Veltliner, Ried Steinertal, from FX Pichler (£130), and 2009 Rauzan-Ségla featuring a label by the much missed Karl Lagerfeld (£170). 1998 Pol Roger, Sir Winston Churchill is yours for a kind £245, 2011 Almaviva is £260, and the 2003 Cornas (not Cornus) by Thierry Allemand is a bargain at £350. Sweeter selections include the vivacious 1990 Vouvray Moelleux Clos Du Bourg from Domaine Huet at a magnetic £115. A lover of symbolism, Battiston’s favourite tattoo of a light bulb represents “enlightenment, ideas, and brightness.” Her team includes the garlanded Lukasz Gorski, with bar maestro Mario Aranquez behind cocktails such as the Clarified Coffee Negroni.

Dishes

Though absent on our visit, the kitchen is led by Gary Foulkes, whose impressive CV includes The Square, The Vineyard at Stockcross, Aubergine (RIP), and Angler, where he remains consultant chef. Pastry is in the capable hands of Kelly Cullen, formerly of Cornerstone. Alongside astonishingly accomplished, brittle, gushing, and rhyming, Gruyere gougères, Battiston prefaced the opening fizz with the words, “I’ll never give you a pét-nat, unless you ask,” as she poured biochemist, Michael Cruse’s blushing Rosé LC18 NV from the Sonoma Coast. This fizz, whose label features a giant firing lasers from its hands, had an equally intriguing composition, including Valdiguié - otherwise known by its aliases, Gros Auxerrois and Napa Gamay. Kudos was again due to Cullen for homemade focaccia with triple cream Normandy butter. A standout savoury dish arrived in the form of roasted Newlyn cod, which, I discovered, had been brined and dehydrated for eight hours to amplify its flavour - though not every diner may appreciate such behind-the-scenes insights. The translucent cod was masterfully accompanied by tender squid, a “Quality Chop” grade chip, and the richness of Alsace bacon. Battiston paired it with the unfortunately unmistakably youthful, Hirsch Vineyards 2021 West Ridge Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast, its label adorned with a serpent-woven triangle. We continued with Pinot Noir for Surrey hills fallow deer, in the form of the “big gun” that was Henri Gouges’ well-chilled, mineral, livestock-scented Nuits-Saint-Georges Les Pruliers 2010 from magnum reaped from half-century-old vines. The venison was handled with care by the kitchen. However, the accompanying braised red cabbage, albeit presented with finesse, overwhelmed both dish and wine, evoking memories of the sort of pre-packaged fare people pierce before popping into the microwave. The meal’s most memorable match came in a glass bowl, showcasing Cullen’s caramelised apple, and toasted brioche ice cream - undoubtedly putting the venue’s past as an ice cream factory to shame, topped with a rich toffee apple sauce, it encapsulated autumn. The blind pour of a vibrant 1971 Château Coutet, with sesame paste notes, brought pure bliss to the table.

Last word

Cornus boasts a well-drilled team, led by O’Connor - the mind behind the Drive For Service podcast – and Battiston, though her well-intentioned description of one wine as “feminine” felt behind the times. The popular corkage policy from Medlar has made its way over, so it’s no surprise to see the wine trade flock here in droves; during our visit, we spotted teams from Maisons Marques et Domaines and Corney & Barrow. The catch? With all that BYO, fewer bottles fly off the list, perhaps explaining why starters have crept to £56. That Phil Howard homage may raise an eyebrow, but the flavours, at least according to big eaters who tried it, are ostensibly on point.

Best for

  • Tasting menu
  • Semi-private room and terrace
  • Wine and tea pairings
Value: 94, Size: 93, Range: 92, Originality: 92, Experience: 96; Total: 93.4 Cornus - 27c Eccleston Pl, London SW1W 9NF; 020 3468 8751; info@cornusrestaurant.co.uk; cornusrestaurant.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Cail Bruich https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cail-bruich/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cail-bruich/#respond Mon, 04 Nov 2024 09:29:04 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=654629 On a visit to Glasgow, Douglas Blyde embarks on a "world tour of wine" under the guidance of head sommelier Oliver Hart-Wilson, encountering an "over-performing" Marlborough Chardonnay and discovering why "anything goes with British food".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/11/wine-list-confidential-cail-bruich/feed/ 0 On a visit to Glasgow, Douglas Blyde embarks on a "world tour of wine" under the guidance of head sommelier Oliver Hart-Wilson, encountering an "over-performing" Marlborough Chardonnay and discovering why "anything goes with British food". “Lorna McKee’s food was genuinely exciting in a city that often plays it burger-and-pizza safe,” wrote Marina O’Loughlin in The Times. “Her background is suitably stellar,” she added. “12 years working with the late, hugely lauded - and Michelined - Andrew Fairlie, of Gleneagles.” Indeed, Michelin, who awarded the venue a rare star in Glasgow, highlighted a mastery of sauces, “be it a creamy truffle and brown butter emulsion or a rich bisque enhanced by XO and chilli”, while the AA crowned Cail Bruich Scottish Restaurant of the Year.

Design

Close to the Botanical Gardens, Cail Bruich’s understated primer-grey façade conceals a tribute to Scottish craftsmanship. Hand-hewn oak panels meet rugged brick, while the pièce de resistance - a chef’s table made from 1940s Macallan staves – pays homage to whisky heritage. The open kitchen, framed by a partition of glowing dark spirits shielding discreet wine fridges, is lined in vertical tiles. Symmetrical Riedel stemware stations gleam in the otherwise art-free dining room, where the focus is purely on the craft unfolding before you.

Drinks

Formerly of Sketch and Brown’s Hotel, Mayfair, where he oversaw the entire wine programme, head sommelier, Oliver Hart-Wilson now calls the Loch Lomond distillery his neighbour. At Cail Bruich, he curates a list celebrating “ambassadors for their region” - winemakers who, like Hart-Wilson, have a true “love of their craft.” Entry-level wines by the glass are led by Famille Perrin, including a breezy Luberon Rosé at £9 per 125ml, though their more exclusive parcellaire wines are oddly absent. For celebratory moments, there’s Krug Grande Cuvée 172ème Édition (£65) – a nod to the restaurant’s status as a Krug Ambassade. Chef McKee even once paired Grande Cuvée 169ème with a tribute to the humble onion. Krug posters line the corridor, with empties standing sentinel above the entrance, saluting diners’ effervescent indulgences. In between these extremes, you’ll encounter choices such as the Ried Rosengartl Wiener Gemischter Satz 2022 by Fritz Wieninger, a torchbearer for the “New Vienna” movement (£20), or the plush Restless River Main Road & Dignity Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 from Hemel-en-Aarde (£34). For a blind tasting dare, Golden Valley Ice Wine 2021 from China’s Chateau Changyu (£26 per 75ml) is a wine Hart-Wilson discovered during his Brown’s days. Meanwhile, Penfolds’ eleventh-ever release of Great Grandfather “Rare Tawny” is treated like a spirit, with just 50ml setting you back £40. Bottles start at £38 for the Colombard-led Côtes de Gascogne, Duffour Père & Fils, a paysan pour which Tom Gilbey claims is “a dead ringer for a zippy Sauvignon Blanc.” At the opposite spectrum, Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs 2002 could be yours for a cool £3,400. However, with an optimistic mark-up of £2,100, you might want to reconsider – three and a half bottles of Krug 2008 could be yours for the same cost as the profit (including service). Other notable bins include the 2015 Armenia ArmAs Karmrahyut (£55), and showing Hart-Wilson’s “penchant” for Canada, the lithe Benjamin Bridge Rosé from former lawyers-turned-winemakers in Nova Scotia (£65). Also on offer is Grace Winery’s limpid Hishiyama Private Reserve koshu from Yamanashi (£75), and the 2016 Irancy Les Mazelots from Domaine Goisot (£100), inspired by a taste of Dauvissat’s own. Other highlights are Haut-Bailly II 2020 (£150), the rare Franco-American Cahors, Crocus 2011 (£225), and the “somewhat rugged”, said Parker, Château Palmer 1988 (£800). If wine isn’t quite enough, the cocktail menu tempts with a caviar Martini, and black truffle Amaretto Sour.

Dishes

Meaning “eat well” in Gaelic, Cail Bruich delivers on its promise with enviable flair. In 2021, just five months after taking the helm, Lorna McKee, present on our visit, secured Glasgow’s first Michelin star since Gordon Ramsay’s Amaryllis shuttered in 2004. Formerly sous chef at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, and crowned “Champion of Champions” on Great British Menu in 2019, McKee doesn’t cater to vegan, dairy-free, or “FODMAP”-friendly palates – you’d have as much luck finding a haggis salad at a juice bar. Dinner opened with a gougère gushing with Old Winchester, followed by an artistic presentation of Isle of Mull crab, spiced squash mousse, and a nuanced brown butter dashi. The dish, textured with sunflower seeds and puffed rice, was paired by Hart-Wilson with the over-performing Blank Canvas Reed Vineyard Chardonnay 2022. “To tie umami, nuttiness, and citrus together,” he said. He also reminisced about falling in love with the producer’s barrel-raised Grüner Veltliner. “Anything goes with British food,” Hart-Wilson declared, introducing Kanaan Riesling 2022 from Ningxia - “a love letter to Germany” by the winery’s memorable founder, Crazy Fang, who spent a decade there. The Riesling accompanied West Coast lobster, delicately poached in butter beneath a rich bisque blanket. With heritage carrots diced as if lifted from a Ginsters pasty, and XO, the beauty of the lobster was, alas, obscured. The Riesling, though fragrant, also seemed overshadowed – a leftover sip of the Chardonnay proved a superior match. “Let’s ignore the fact the wine comes from China, and the XO from Hong Kong,” noted Hart-Wilson. Then came northerly Scrabster turbot, translucent and exquisite, with lightly pickled celeriac, mushroom of the moment, hen of the woods, and Italian truffle. Airy bread kissed with chives lent a touch akin to executive garlic bread to the affair. Hart-Wilson matched this with the complex 2020 Marmajuelo from Bodegas Vinatigo, Tenerife, describing it as “a passion project by Juan [Jesús] who rescued the variety.” Though the wine’s brackish, porcini, and posh Wine Gum scents were captivating, it struggled against McKee’s volume eleven saucing. The star savoury turn came with salt-matured Devon duck, behaving as if wild with its deep, gamey flavour. Served as tender pink breast slices paired with a savoury, meatloaf-style sausage, the dish was complemented by supple onion shells and a perfectly balanced foie gras sauce. Hart-Wilson’s choice: Crystallum’s 2023 Single Vineyard Mabalel Pinot Noir. With the vineyard sitting on “Crocodile’s Lair” – once an actual lair of a people-eating beast, said Hart-Wilson - the wine’s story was anything but conventional. The pairing, though, felt too safe a bet. Finally, the meal’s pinnacle point: a lemon curd honeycomb with fig leaf, bergamot, and salted milk ice cream, dressed at table with Perthshire heather honey. The Morandé late harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2023 from Colchagua was the perfect partner. “A jewel of Latin America,” Hart-Wilson enthused, with “every conceivable citrus fruit under the sun,” its dazzling tropical notes “which put lesser Sauternes to shame” tangoed joyfully with the dessert, closing the meal on a high. If savoury pairings had been shuffled, perhaps some matches might have sung louder, though McKee’s mastery of flavour, and Hart-Wilson’s impassioned world tour of wine, kept us captivated.

Last word

We booked Cail Bruich as a corrective to the horror stories swirling about our hotel restaurant – a design pile-up with tales of its “cold and burnt” burger lounging in “soggy” bread. Emerging from the refined, flavour-driven narrative of Cail Bruich, where, led by Simon McAtamney, the front-of-house team operates with cohesion and guests dress the part, we couldn’t help but chuckle as we strolled past the raucous Òran Mór bar next-door, then a phone booth being impressively scaled by a vocal young woman, Glasgow’s vibrant contrasts on full display. When in “The Dear Green Place”, make time for Cail Bruich – not just for the food, but the conversation. Hart-Wilson’s enthusiasm for wine’s stories rather than technicalities is reason enough. Afterwards, explore the group: Bar Brett, where the mushroom XO linguini of Colin Anderson (formerly of Gordon Ramsay’s Royal Hospital Road) might meet cultish orange wines from Australia, or Shucks in Hyndland, where George Petaloudis wows with crab crumpets and whole fish with an oyster martini.

Best for

  • Cohesive Team
  • Global wines
  • Sauces
Value: 93, Size: 93, Range: 96, Originality: 96, Experience: 96.5; Total: 94.9 Cail Bruich - 725 Great Western Road, Glasgow, G12 8QX; 0141 334 6265; info@cailbruich.co.uk; cailbruich.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Dinings SW3 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-dinings-sw3/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-dinings-sw3/#respond Mon, 28 Oct 2024 08:22:54 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=653921 Douglas Blyde pays a visit to Dinings SW3, finding a "structured" 2018 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot to complement one dish which evokes "a McDonald’s cheeseburger for a VVIP".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-dinings-sw3/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde pays a visit to Dinings SW3, leaving his drinks choices in the hands of the aptly-named sommelier Chris Frayling Cork, including a "structured" 2018 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot to complement one dish which evokes "a McDonald’s cheeseburger for a VVIP". Replete with a “lovely” courtyard “complete with a mature tree”, Dinings SW3, is “tucked at one end of an exclusive mews,” noted Good Food Guide. Within, The Week’s Arion McNicoll encountered “an unexpectedly convivial modern Japanese restaurant” in which Square Meal rated “luxury food, turned up to 11.” Such a formula has seen the brand go “properly international these days,” said Harden’s, leading to a pop-up in Sicily and planned operations in Saudi Arabia.

Design

Once the great hall of a Victorian schoolhouse, the dining room now features a striking sushi bar built from Calacatta Oro marble and stainless steel, with a portrait of actor, Michael Caine casually presiding over the scene. Overhead, the semi-private Kurabu lounge hummed with energy during our visit, hosting London Cocktail Week’s top drinks trade talent. At the far end, the coveted prime seat - an inviting curved banquette is theatrically framed against a grand fireplace promisingly adorned with a Latin and Teutonic tribute to Bacchus. Notably supportive, the chairs are perfect for a leisurely, lunch.

Drinks

Liquid assets are in the capable hands of Chris Frayling Cork, a Norfolk-born doctor who traded the twilight shifts of the COVID era in the NHS for something with a bit more fizz. His epiphany came at The Gin Trap Inn in Ringstead, where he discovered that life held better bottles than Barefoot. Now purveying “a different kind of anaesthetic,” Cork arrived at Dinings SW3 under the mentorship of Jiachen Lu (now at CORD), a former lawyer, learning from her over six months before stepping into the role of head sommelier in February. Since then, he’s refined the wine list “in a more classic style” under the tutelage of James Lloyd, formerly of Gordon Ramsay at Royal Hospital Road. Choices by the Riedel glass start at £10 for a 125ml pour of Albariño from the restored vineyards of the 1163-founded Quinta de Couselo, rising to £105 for a 75ml portion of 2004 Château d’Yquem from a seven-strong sweet selection. Somewhere in between, Mac Forbes RS 20 Riesling from the cooler, oddly named Strathbogie Ranges is £16, while if you happen to be craving carbonically macerated Zweigelt, MAMA from Ebersbrunn, Niederösterreich will set you back just £1 more. By the bottle, England’s parcellaire sparkling producers are notably absent in favour of the likes of a Moravian Blanc de Blancs (Vinarství Gala) from 2020 (£90), while Champagnes include Pascal Agrapart “Terroirs” Avize Grand Cru Extra Brut, subject to a reasonable markup, given the postcode, of about two and a half times (£230), while the indulgent Salon 1997 sits at a cool £2,565. Still wines start at £60 with Domaine de Triennes Provence rosé, a collaboration between Burgundy’s Domaine Dujac and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, filed under “Rosé & Low-Intervention.” This section also features the fascinating orange Johanniter and Souvignier Gris from Dziki Taboon in Lower Silesia. Another delightful curio to consider is the German Syrah, “Däublin, Jaspis” from Weingut Ziereisen, Baden 2019 (£160). At the upper end, Petrus 2009 is relatively gently priced at £6,500, compared to £5,250 at a leading Mayfair merchant. The approximately 60-strong sake list, including 25 by the smart, conical glass, spans from Konishi Gold (Konishi Shuzo, Hyogo) at £75 a bottle, to one of just 888 bottles of Noguchi Naohiko 01 2018, Ishikawa (£2,700), raised by none other than the “God of Sake Brewing” himself. For a mere £1,000, you can sample the aptly named Sado Gold Mine Aged 2018 from Obata Shuzo in Niigata.

Dishes

Chef, Masaki Sugisaki's culinary journey began early, rooted in his upbringing in Japan, where his family ran a traditional kaiseki. As a child, he would rise pre-dawn to join his parents on visits to the fish market - a ritual which shaped his care in sourcing ingredients. Sugisaki’s path eventually led him to Nobu Berkeley Street, before playing a key role in the opening of the original Dinings, Harcourt. In 2017, he turned his full attention to Dinings SW3, where, with precision and charm, he led the restaurant to such acclaim that its discerning clientele now seek him out to cater their private events. Lunch began with the sharply defined grower Champagne, Philippe Gonet Blanc de Blancs. Cork himself has visited Gonet while marvelling at the sprawling vineyards of Le Mesnil-sur-Oger. This acid-forward tipple, more citrus and verve than bread and yeast, played a perfect duet with the opening snacks: crispy rice balls presented in a masu cup, spread with hand-picked Dingwall crab, and diced beetroot clasped in salted “tar tar” potato chips. Next came a tableside production – Sugisaki’s salad of sake-steamed chicken and cucumber, served with his signature chilli oil, a concoction so addictive it’s available to buy in jars. A tantalising mix of pistachio, miso, and bonito flakes. To accompany, Cork uncorked the Dinings SW3 “78 Gin” from Konotomo Shuzo in Hyogo, one of three sakes exclusively crafted for the restaurant. “When I started, I knew nothing about sake; trial by fire,” he confessed. Then, Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume from Domaine Gilles et Nathalie Fèvre, grown on a terroir of fossilised oysters. Paired with this clean, mineral crush were three creel-caught langoustines from Dingwall, plump, and dressed with confit garlic and preserved lemon vinaigrette. Extracting the claw meat felt like a small victory - a task well worth the effort. Cue the much-anticipated house udon noodles, a dish so revered that customers demand them on booking. Foot-trodden, these stretched strands were perfectly al dente, bathed in chicken stock and tahini, and garnished with julienne leeks. Comfort food, Sugisaki-style. Not to be outdone were the wagyu baos – juicy patties cushioned in soft, cloud-like buns with fatty mayonnaise, the whole thing evoking a McDonald’s cheeseburger for a VVIP. Alongside came sliced A5 wagyu slices, presented with ponzu, mooli, and finely sliced spring onions – best treated as a DIY wrap situation. Inspired, Cork poured a structured 2018 Chambolle-Musigny from Domaine Coquard Loison Fleurot, into Riedel’s New World Pinot glass, enthusing over the glass’s chimney-like rim which “catches the wine’s nuances.” In rolled the Wester Ross salmon loin, and seasoned with pinpoint precision, Maguro maki with tuna from Tarragona – akami, chu toro, and o-toro – wrapped in pleasantly aromatic seaweed. Cork presented a trio of sakes as a delightful boozy pick ’n’ mix, including Ultra 8 from Tatenokawa Shuzo, a sake polished down to an impossibly pure 8%. “Takes three months to make,” he said – and possibly less than three seconds to finish. Finally, dessert – a reimagined Mont Blanc with caramelised hazelnuts, featuring piped purple sweet potato, whisky, and a Matcha ganache. Sweet, savoury, and just a little rebellious, it was paired with a Miso Espresso Martini prescribed by head of the bar, Wiktoria Sudak, who, in an authoritative blazer, delivered the drink with gravitas. A blend of Orientalist Imperial Rum, brown butter, and miso - yielding a bump of energy, the perfect close.

Last word

It all began with a young Masaki Sugisaki, bleary-eyed at dawn in a Japanese fish market. Now, tucked away in a refined Chelsea mews, Dinings SW3 – like its “lovely mature tree” – has taken root, growing on its devoted guests with every engrossing bite and every expertly poured glass. A place where each dish tells a story, and each sip reveals another layer, it’s a dining experience which lingers long after you’ve left.

Best for

  • Considerate sourcing
  • Champagnes, and sakes by the glass
  • Destination bar and Kurabu lounge
Value: 94, Size: 95, Range: 96, Originality: 94.5, Experience: 97; Total: 95.3 Dinings SW3 - Walton House, Lennox Gardens Mews, Walton St, London, SW3 2JH; 020 3597 9706; diningssw3.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Gouqi https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-gouqi/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-gouqi/#respond Mon, 21 Oct 2024 09:29:38 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=653117 Douglas Blyde heads to Chinese restaurant Gouqi, located just off Trafalgar Square. Head sommelier Pedro Santos walks him through the wine list, answering crucial questions, such as: "What to pair with eel?"

The post Wine List Confidential: Gouqi appeared first on The Drinks Business.

]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-gouqi/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde heads to Chinese restaurant Gouqi, located just off Trafalgar Square. Head sommelier Pedro Santos walks him through the wine list, answering crucial questions, such as: "What to pair with eel?" “Gouqi has been so carefully designed, that it’s a work of art in itself,” praised Square Meal, while the Good Food Guide found its “blissfully calm” mood to be the perfect canvas for savouring chef Tong Chee Hwee’s signature dish – the “impressively glossy, lacquered Beijing duck.” Combined with “superb” service, wrote Andy Hayler, Gouqi delivers “cooking of a level that most Chinese restaurants in London can only dream of.”

Design

Pronounced “goji” after an island in the East China Sea famed for its fishing villages and abundant with berry shrubs, the restaurant unfurls off Trafalgar Square, beginning with the Berri Bar over which a long, colourful, illuminated dragon coils. The finest vantages in the main dining room, where dishes are served on Jingdezhen porcelain, are the three semiprivate, velvet-adorned booths with marble-topped tables, which, like the Peking duck with Oscietra caviar, must be pre-booked well in advance. Here, Laza Bossa’s sultry rendition of Sittin’ On the Dock of the Bay lingers on loop.

Drinks

Pedro Santos, clad in a grape cluster tie, rose from a waiter role at Cau in Cambridge (RIP) where, aged 25, he developed a love for wine while studying business at Anglia Ruskin University, to head sommelier of Westminster’s Gouqi via the original Scott’s, where he spent nearly five years, followed by stints at Annabel’s Club, and The Twenty Two. Come November, he’s off to Piedmont with truffles on his mind, and Mexico in January. Options by the 125ml glass, which change monthly, range from Ashbourne’s 2023 Walker Bay Sandstone (£10) escalating to Henriot 2012 champagne at £42, via Wiston’s Blanc de Blancs from Sussex (£20) being one of eleven English wines, including 2018 Signature Rosé from Hundred Hills; La Dame de Gaffelière 2014 from Saint-Émilion costs £25. Bottles begin at £50 for Pellegrino’s 2021 Gibelé from Sicily £50, topping out at £5,500 for Domaine Cécile Tremblay’s 2009 Échezeaux du Dessus Grand Cru. Between, you will find 2019 Borja Pérez Artífice Listán Blanco from Islas Canarias at £65, a price point filled with interest, as also demonstrated by 2022s such as Confluentia Muscadet sur le from Château du Coing, and Goriska Brda’s Gašper Malvasija. Noting Santos is given freedom when it comes to listings, other bins of note include 2021 Solaris from Poland (Winnica Turnau), and 2021 Medieval de Ourém, Lés-a-Lés (£95), one of 30 options drawn from Santos’ homeland, Portugal. At the higher echelon is 1991 Riesling Spätlese, Wiltinger Braune Kupp, Egon Müller (£400), Annamaria Clementi Rosé 2013 by Ca’ Del Bosco (£500), 2003 Château Latour (£2,575), 2005 Harlan Estate (£2,950), and Barolo Riserva, Monfortino, Giacomo Conterno 1996 at £3,200. Having increased the bins from 90 to a mighty 550 since April 2023, Santos delights in keeping previous lists to chart the progress. A tidy line-up of ten sakes includes Keigetsu Nigori, Junmai Daiginjo (£115), and the showstopping Masuizumi Junmai Daiginjo Special, finished in Burgundy barrels (£400) - a bridge for well-heeled wine lovers to dip their toes into synergious sake. Meanwhile, beneath the watchful dragon of Berri Bar, whiskey reigns supreme. The Rose Dragon scorches with a mix of whiskey, amaro, peach wine, five spice, and dragon fruit, while the Bixi - a riff on the Penicillin - stirs up peated whisky, lapsang-souchong tea, and bitters. Backing up Santos is Mhairi Fairbairn, who oversees the English wine selection.

Dishes

Gouqi marks the solo debut of Tong Chee Hwee, the former Executive Head Chef who steered Hakkasan to seven Michelin stars over eighteen years. Known for its refined Cantonese cuisine, Hakkasan’s alumni include Gouqi’s restaurant director, Alan Tang, who was sadly not on hand this lunchtime either. At Gouqi, the lucky number eight is more than just a superstition - it’s practically a motif, appearing 140 times on the wine list, thrice in the phone number, and in the form of the eight dim sum which opened the meal. Paired with François Carillon’s 2021 Cap au Sud, from the Côte de Beaune winemaker, Santos likened the Languedoc Chardonnay to the wine equivalent of “a love child.” It worked particularly well with black truffle stuffed har gau and an unusual cumin-spiced lamb dumpling, though the best morsel in show was the pork and prawn siu mai with abalone. “What to pair with eel?” mused Santos as slick, neatened cheung fun with unexpected crisp cores arrived. The answer came care of Gedeelte Deel 6, a 2022 “veil” fermented, oak-matured Sauvignon Blanc which brought lasting, complimentary jalapeño notes. Best taken as a generous gulp, it hit a major note alongside the tidy, textural take on the dish. “I don’t want to over-hype one of my favourite pairings,” Santos teased as he poured the deeply hued 2022 Alkemi rosé from Markovitis Winery (formerly Chateau Pegasus), cleverly priced £8 cheaper by the glass than standard issue Côtes de Provence to lure guests in. Paired with a chilled goose parfait disguised as a cherry, bringing to mind Heston’s meat fruit, and an aromatic duck parcel, the “rosé” even held its own against the formidable, glossy, black truffle balsamic dip. For the main course: alas, not chef Tong’s famed whole duck which three other tables dove into, but a perfectly pink Angus tenderloin in black pepper sauce. This arrived with fluffy, golden egg-fried rice with XO sauce, which a fresher splash of oil could have improved. An ortolan-sized pak choi was, thankfully, a more wholesome contrast. The 2013 Riesling Spätlese from Dorsheimer Goldloch, Schlossgut Diel in the Nahe, grown in the sort of volcanic soils which Santos much admires, showed pronounced evolution and, scoring no prizes for originality given its varietal, easily tamed the dish’s rich flavours. It was also interesting to sample the 2016 Tara Syrah from the Huasco Valley in northern Chile, on the edge of the Atacama Desert, a wine Santos previously selected for Scott’s when he worked under the mentorship of then group head sommelier for Caprice Holdings, Arnaud Pasdeloup. The meal culminated with the signature “Hidden Treasure”, concealing strawberries beyond an apple and fennel sorbet by head pastry chef, Amy Stoyel. Here, Santos paired the luscious Fukuju Yuzu Sake. Hyogo, Kinki, a high-end cocktail staple which more than held its own as a dessert pairing.

Last word

Santos proved a delightful, very attentive host, with pairings generally so thoughtful, we were left wondering: how much better could it get - for both him and Gouqi’s bottom line - if more diners sought his expert guidance? Gouqi may be a “work of art,” as the critics say, but what good is a masterpiece if the audience doesn’t know to ask the curator for the tour? Unless the venue is marketed to a more wine-savvy clientele, the fear is that this excellent sommelier will be tempted to pour his talents elsewhere. Of course, even a work of art needs a touch-up now and then: a little TLC for the scuffed stairway, refreshed floristry at the bar, and a quick pre-opening check of the “facilities” wouldn’t go amiss. Plus, tweaking the music to avoid that nagging loop could sharpen the overall experience, ensuring that every element of Gouqi shines as brightly as both its lit-up dragon, and indeed, impressive cellar.

Best for

  • Semiprivate banquettes, and private dining rooms
  • Berri bar
  • Duck and Malbec
Value: 92.5, Size: 95, Range: 95, Originality: 95, Experience: 95; Total: 94.5 Gouqi - 25-34 Cockspur St, St. James's, London, SW1Y 5BN; 020 3771 8886; gouqi-restaurants.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Jikoni https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-jikoni/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-jikoni/#respond Tue, 15 Oct 2024 08:00:34 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=652451 Douglas Blyde visits the "far from identikit" Jikoni in Marylebone, examining some of its 65 bin-strong wine selection under the guidance of its curator, Jade Harman.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-jikoni/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits the "far from identikit" Jikoni in Marylebone, examining some of its 65 bin-strong wine selection under the guidance of its curator, Jade Harman. Opened in 2016 by chef, restaurateur, and writer, Ravinder Bhogal, Jikoni, meaning “kitchen” in Swahili, is a celebration of her Indian and African roots, with a menu which the Good Food Guide praised for its ability to “roam far and wide.” Behind its inviting peach-hued façade, Square Meal described the experience as akin to being hosted by an “insanely talented friend.” As one TripAdvisor visitor, Raj Sehgal, succinctly remarked after travelling from King’s Lynn to eat here, the results are “bloody marvellous!”

Design

In a far from identikit space merged from a former pop-up restaurant and a nail bar, Bhogal, who is also a stylist, and her husband, Nadeem, designed Jikoni’s two storeys themselves, from the open plan sous-sol kitchen where herbs and spices are neatly stacked beside a twelve-seat chef’s table, to the bar counter above, heaving with wines, siphons, and zebra ornaments. Adorned in textiles collected from the couples’ travels in Jaipur, Kashmir, East and West Africa and Uzbekistan, two dining rooms feature a basketweave wood floor which transitions to Lina Stores green terrazzo tiles, lit by a kitsch pink lamp. The soundtrack includes Goldspot’s “Ina Mina Dika”. There is also a cosy heated terrace.

Drinks

Meticulously curated by Jade Harman, the wine list draws from producers who, as declared by the mission statement, “aims to express beautiful, captivating flavours and characters” – many hailing from family-run, organic, and sustainable vineyards. Harman, who has helmed Jikoni’s drinks programme for over five years, previously worked as a senior bartender with Adam Handling of Frog fame, and honed her fermentation skills under Rich Woods and Matt Whiley at Hackney’s Scout (RIP). Beyond a magnified hashtag-like label, wines by the glass range from the unfiltered Cuvée des Galets, Estezargue Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre 2021 £8/125ml) to Lebanese powerhouse, Château Musar 2017 (£26), via the Norfolk-born, Cambridge-processed, South Pickenham Estate Muller Thurgau meets Seyval Blanc 2016 (£14.50/125ml). The latter, alongside London’s own Forty Hall Brut, and the Kent and Sussex-harvested Horsmonden Dry Bacchus from Davenport, forms a characterful English trio. Jikoni’s bottle list stretches to 65 bins, starting at £33 for the crisp Bodega Mureda Castilla Dragora Blanco Verdejo and Sauvignon Blanc 2022 from La Mancha, peaking at £146 for Clos des Chênes Volnay Premier Cru 2020, though the producer’s name is absent. For something a little more playful, there’s the crown-capped Tikka The Cosmic Cat 2021, a Grenache-Shiraz from Jauma, McLaren Flat (£95) – a bottle as exuberant as its name suggests. With meticulously pre-batched elements, cocktails at Jikoni are nothing short of revelatory, with the Seasonal Margarita celebrating the upfront flavours of British strawberries, lime, and tequila, followed by notes of Chihuahuan desert Sotol, rose water, pepper, and a grassy fraction of Ming River baijiu. The latter, along with high ester Agricole rhum, is one of around twenty bottles Harman deploys as seasoning for her minimally presented drinks. “My goal is for them to come across as deceptively simple,” she says. For a finishing touch, single-origin teas, sourced by Bhogal’s brother-in-law, Jameel Lalani, include a single garden estate sown on a Hawaiian volcano.

Dishes

The “Farm Fresh Set Lunch” at Jikoni is a wholly vegetarian affair, crafted in partnership with Waltham Farm, Jikoni’s biodynamic grower and a driving force behind its carbon-neutral milestone in 2021. Meat and fish rejoin the menu at dinner and brunch. Today, we sampled the best of both menus. We started with a non-alcoholic Fig Shrub Fizz, featuring the first white figs plucked from Waltham Farm. Presenting a challenge given their vegetal “chlorophyll” flavour, Harman preserved these in raw Latvian heather honey and organic Provençal cider vinegar, resulting in an ethereally balanced aftertaste. Presented on hand-painted Turkish plates, the staple prawn toast Scotch egg featured a prodigious amount of flesh, a token quail’s egg, and a rich, gingerbread-spiced banana ketchup. With this, Harman enacted a “Bingo!” match. Pépin, a non-vintage, tangerine-scented, orange collage of Alsatian varieties overseen by Domaine de L’Achillée’s Pierre Dietrich calmed the ketchup while enticing the sweet, marine notes of the crustacean, proving the best match of the meal. With a glazed soy keema bun with seemingly purely visual rings of pink pickled onions, Harman chose another flourishing orange. Subject to wild fermentation, Mac2, a 2022 Côtes Catalanes Muscat, spent months in a transformative, macerative state. So impressed was she by the grapey, grippy, oak-accented results, that Harman began working with its importer, Emile Wines, a “female-founded wine importer and retailer” which, according to their website, sells “to the best of London’s dining scene, from Café Cecilia to Sketch; it might be polite for them to add Jikoni to that list. The main course featured an ample pressed Cornish lamb shoulder, seasoned with ras el hanout, served with friggitelli peppers, aubergine purée, and pomegranate seeds. Served cool to dial-up its hibiscus notes, Heya (“She” in Arabic) Wines’ Kanz (“Treasure”), carbonic Grenache-Syrah 2023 was born out of the friendship between Michelle Chami and Claudine Lteif, who wanted to shine a light on female winemakers in a world which still undervalues their work. Finally, Harman resisted an urge to serve a 2019 Sauternes in favour of a big bowled Riedel of another of her creations, encapsulating the last of a celebration of a 20kg haul of Roussillon apricots, fermented on their stalks, combined with Portuguese Muscat, and blackcurrant buds. The tense, complex results worked particularly well with a sticky toffee pudding-like banana cake with umami-rich miso butterscotch and Ovaltine kulfi. Also of note, though not part of the match, was an almost furry ice cream made with condensed cream and pistachios, which Harman herself sourced.

Last word

Guided by her astute palate, the modest Harman, who sidesteps the spotlight, is entirely self-taught in the world of wine. Free from the constraints and dogma of formal training, her selections are refreshingly instinctual. It’s this intuitive approach, paired with Bhogal’s masterful “no borders” cuisine – a concept which could serve as a culinary blueprint for a more harmonious world - that raises Jikoni beyond the ordinary. And with the team now filling 150 coveted seats at Frieze art fair for a third year running, it seems inevitable that this charming Marylebone haven is poised for even greater things. Watch this space.

Best for

  • Organic, Biodynamic, and Independent producers
  • Cohesive “no borders” kitchen
  • Charming interiors
Value: 93, Size: 91, Range: 91, Originality: 94, Experience: 96; Total: 93 JIKONI - 19-21 Blandford Street, Marylebone, London, W1U 3DJ; 020 7034 1988; contact@jikonilondon.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Petersham Nurseries Restaurant https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-petersham-nurseries-restaurant/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-petersham-nurseries-restaurant/#respond Tue, 08 Oct 2024 07:00:04 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=651407 Douglas Blyde visits Petersham Nurseries Restaurant in Richmond, discovering the eatery's connection to a Chianti Classico icon, and finding a rare white wine that hits close to home.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/10/wine-list-confidential-petersham-nurseries-restaurant/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits Petersham Nurseries Restaurant in Richmond, discovering the eatery's connection to a Chianti Classico icon, and finding a rare white wine that hits close to home. “Set at the back of an old greenhouse within a plant nursery, with dirt floors” - which your reviewer once witnessed a thoroughbred dog use as its personal convenience - “and mismatched, wobbly tables and chairs,” this bucolic retreat “starts at a disadvantage,” according to the Good Food Guide, noting the “decent half-hour walk” from Richmond station. Yet, it is precisely this rustic charm that Michelin, in awarding a Green Star, found to enchant its diners. “As you sit in the greenhouse, sand beneath your feet, surrounded by fresh flowers that perfume the air even in winter, it feels as though all is right with the world,” they mused. Sonya Barber, writing for Condé Nast Traveler, added that “well-heeled West London families, plant lovers, and ladies in floral prints to match the surroundings” seem to effortlessly merge with the whimsical setting, as if plucked from the garden themselves.

Design

The restaurant finds itself in an idyllic greenhouse, fragrant with jasmine and draped in flourishing grapevines, cradled within the grounds of the Queen Anne-era Petersham House, which has been the Boglione family’s sanctuary since 1997. Over the years, the family has poured their passion for antiques, plants, and sustainability into the restoration of the nursery, which opened 20 years ago, offering a carefully curated selection of homewares, eclectic curiosities, and botanical treasures - not to mention a quaint tea room. Their vision since expanded to Covent Garden, where The Petersham restaurant and its aperitivo sibling, La Goccia, blend the Richmond greenhouses’ lush serenity in a courtyard with bold, contemporary art. The staff are often seen in K-Way, Cappa, or Superga, subtly echoing the family’s broader interests.

Drinks

Beginning with a map of Italy’s boot, the regional wine list - stored in a refrigerated chalet draped in thriving grapevines - is overseen by motorcycle-riding head sommelier, Raffaele Giovanetti. Hailing from Emilia-Romagna, the land of Lambrusco, Giovanetti’s journey began at Henry’s Café Bar Piccadilly (RIP), famed for its 1,851-calorie Signature Gammon Steak. Thankfully, he later moved to the elite-sporting grounds of Lensbury Resort in Teddington, with stints at Michael Sager’s Fare near Old Street’s “Silicon Roundabout,” the eclectic Brunswick House (which narrowly escaped demolition), Frantoio in Chelsea, Chez Bruce, and the Henrietta Hotel. Initially joining Petersham Nurseries alongside friend and top podcaster, Mattia Scarpazza, Giovanetti stepped up to the head sommelier role in May 2023. While wines from estates overseen by political economics graduate, Giovanni Mazzei, scion of the family which invented the Chianti recipe in 1435, feature across the 15-page list, they don’t monopolise it – unlike at Cantinetta Antinori. Mazzei is married to Lara Boglione, MD of Petersham Nurseries, who traces her roots to eleventh-century coopers in Carmignano. Sparkling options by the glass span England, France, and Italy, including the family’s own Villa Marcello Prosecco (£10/125ml), though opting for a bottle of their Col Fondo “Mady,” aged an extra year, offers a more interesting choice. Still wines range from the lively 2023 Grillo (£9) from Zisola in Sicily – where Mick Jagger and his four-legged friends spent lockdown – to the rich Verdicchio Misco Riserva Tavignano 2019 (£17), via Stefan Pratsch’s Austrian Riesling 2022 (£13.50). Andrea Marino, co-founder of Switzerland’s Enoteca 1620 and former senior fine wine buyer at Cult Wines, now CEO of Petersham Cellars and a Master of Wine student, shares Giovanetti’s fervour for extra brut sparkling wines. Their shared enthusiasm is evident in the selection, which includes Tickerage Pinot Meunier Brut Nature 2014 from East Sussex (£155), Ettore Germano’s Alta Langa Extra Brut 2019 (£130), and Champagne highlights like Boreal Clandestin Les Semblables Blanc de Noir Brut Nature 2020 (£199) and Billecart Extra Brut 2009 in magnum (£350). The Champagne influence extends into the still wine section, with Sébastien Mouzon’s Coteaux Champenois Verzy Grand Cru 7 Cépages 2020 (£230) making an appearance. The most budget-friendly bottle is Chateau de Campuget’s 2023 Grenache-Viognier (£30), one of eleven wines under £50. At the other end of the spectrum is Gaja Sori Tildin 2010 at £600. Other notable selections include Radikon’s 50cl Oslavje 2009 (£80) from the skin-contact category, Joseph Swan’s 2018 Grenache Blanc from Russian River Valley (£110), and Giovanni Mazzei’s own Chianti Classico Gran Selezione IPSUS 2016, whose deer motif feels influenced by Richmond park’s antlered residents (£395). All wines - and many more - are available for purchase through the family’s wine merchant, Petersham Cellar, while spent corks are donated to the “Recorked” project, which resells them to support charities.

Dishes

Clad in a jacket made from recycled bottles, head chef Andrea Parente brings experience from Joël Robuchon and San Carlo group. Aside from the likes of Parmesan, white truffles, olive oil, and vanilla pods, most ingredients are sourced from the UK, including the family’s organic farm in Devon. They cultivate fruit, vegetables, and livestock there, run a brewery and butchery, and two eco-friendly cottages dating to the seventeenth-century which you can stay in. From a menu proudly bearing the Slow Food logo, dishes gradually adorned our eight-sided table, overseen by long-time restaurant manager, Paula Passos Carr. Starters included a crisp fritti of borage leaf, courgette flower, and sage, beautifully paired with the imperceptibly pink 2021 rosé by former professional pianist, Giuseppe Russo, made from Nerello Mascalese grown on Etna’s northern slopes. Next, Giovanetti poured Thomas Pico’s 2020 Chablis Vent d’Ange from Domaine Pattes Loup, harvested late and partially aged in cement eggs, lending richness and savouriness to a dish of Puglian burrata, English yellow peach, Petersham honey, and a garden-grown pistachio and nasturtium pesto. John Dory crudo, dressed in cucumber, green chilli, Amalfi lemon, and dill, was lifted by the Clandestine Les Semblables Boréal Brut Nature 2020, a Blanc de Noirs hailing from Kimmeridgian soils. “One of my favourite producers,” Giovanetti remarked, adding that when he started at Petersham Nurseries in early 2022, Ayala was the only champagne on the list. For the grilled whole sole, served alongside perfectly bitter chicory, Giovanetti introduced Bianchetta Genovese – more commonly known as Albarola – expertly crafted by Villa Cambiosa north of Genoa. “We’re the only restaurant in the country with this wine,” Giovanetti said proudly, its provenance serendipitously aligning with your reviewer’s mother’s homeland. With Hay Farm chicken dressed with nduja-spiced mascarpone and hazelnuts, he poured the purple, tobacco-leaf-scented Sfursat Fruttaio Ca Rizzieri, Rainoldi 2019, an intense wine made from dried grapes. And for the organic rib eye, also from the farm, served with a punchy chimichurri, Giovanetti finally brought out a wine from Mazzei - Castello Fonterutoli Gran Selezione Chianti Classico 2015, from a three-litre bottle, which Monica Larner of Wine Advocate praised for its “sharpness and detail.” For dessert, an artfully piped Amalfi lemon meringue tart matched the bright, citrusy notes of Malvasia di Casorzo Il Giardino di Flora 2022 by Castello di Gabiano, echoing the sharp, high tones of the pudding itself, a fitting end to a charming meal.

Last word

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden,” wrote Frances Hodgson Burnett in The Secret Garden – a sentiment which sums the spirit of Petersham Nurseries, where ingredients are nurtured with care, while, as Giovanetti shared, wines are crafted with a deep, long-term respect for the environment. For years, the restaurant has navigated planning hurdles over evening services. Now, in part thanks to a petition signed by 11,500 loyal supporters, the doors can finally stay open for nighttime dining – allowing a natural continuation for this oasis of splendour, tranquillity, and in every sense, good taste.

Best for

  • Mazzei family wines
  • Ingredients grown at the venue’s farm
  • Enchanting location
Value: 93, Size: 93, Range: 93, Originality: 93, Experience: 97; Total: 93.8 Petersham Nurseries Restaurant - Church Lane, Off Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW10 7AB; 020 8940 5230; res.richmond@petershamnurseries.com; petershamnurseries.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Sael https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-sael/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-sael/#respond Mon, 30 Sep 2024 09:06:31 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=650157 Douglas Blyde sets sail for Sael, Irha and Jason Atherton's new restaurant. While there, he discovers how group wine director Roxane Dupuy's "love for larger-than-life bottles" shines through in the list.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-sael/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde sets sail for Sael, Irha and Jason Atherton's new restaurant. While there, he discovers how group wine director Roxane Dupuy's "love for larger-than-life bottles" shines through in the list. Created by self-made chef-restaurateur, Jason Atherton and his wife, Irha, Sael is named after the Old English word for “season”. Square Meal describes “an affordable British brasserie” which is, says Harden’s, “less ‘haute’ than at Pollen Street (though from its relocated chef, Dale Bainbridge).” From the wood-fired grill, the menu has already impressed critics, with Richard Vines calling it “slightly off-beat”.

Design

Gone are the days of Aquavit’s “Green Glass Carpet,” a relic from a restaurant which barely whispered its existence before vanishing. In its place, depictions of four seasons by British artist, Kay Harwood now grace the walls, with autumn’s pheasant making a cameo on the back of the menus. The chandeliers by Martin Brudnizki remain, casting a familiar glow, but the now birch-lined room has been transformed by Rosendale (Little Social, The Ninth, Cabotte), with the dual-textured banquettes being the best seats in the house. With transparent meat lockers, the gleaming bar, and open kitchen are focal points. There’s only one curious addition: a bulky, freestanding bank of wine fridges, harbouring vinous treasures, though breaking the flow. Sael is reportedly but one of Atherton’s five new London openings in as many months. Among the more notable transformations is Pollen Street Social, now reimagined as Mary’s, a steakhouse devoted to the art of the “smash burger” (a neon sign ensures you don’t miss that detail). Then there’s The Three Darlings in Chelsea, a bistro inspired by the couple’s daughters. Though the pinnacle will be Row On 5, a two-storey, 28-cover restaurant on Savile Row which pays homage to Atherton’s penthouse-like, two-Michelin-starred Row On 45 in Dubai.

Drinks

Wines at Sael are handled by the ever-capable group wine director, Roxane Dupuy, whose love for larger-than-life bottles earned her a prototype Coravin with jaws so wide it could probably grasp a cask. Dupuy hails from Luxembourg – a nation, as Louis Thomas noted, ranking fifth in the world for per-capita alcohol consumption. She previously wielded 12-litre bottles of d’Yquem at The Twenty Two, having started her journey as an apprentice sommelier at the three-Michelin-starred Le Petit Nice Passédat where sea views are as coveted as wine pairings, before moving to the alpine heights of the two-star Pic at Beau-Rivage Palace, and in London, Sketch’s three-star Lecture Room & Library. Her training includes Institut Paul Bocuse. Appointed brand new, graceful Spiegelau glassware, the sparkling selection by the glass includes homegrown Hoffmann & Rathbone Blanc de Blancs (£30) from the “Cream & Toast” category, while “off-dry Afternoon Tea” headlines delightful oddity, Turkey Flat Vineyard’s sparkling Shiraz, sweetened with “very old Australian vintage port.” You can order wines by the pint at Sael, too, hence 568ml of London Cru’s Bacchus will set you back £50, while Shelter Winery’s Baden Spätburgunder (£38) is so-named for its origins in a bunker on a hitherto forgotten Canadian airfield. Bottles begin with the chintzy of label Wild Garden Cape Coast Chenin Blanc (£37), which is part of a fleet of over 30 wines under £50, including Altano Branco Reserva from B-Corp-certified Symington Family Estates (£40), and Pheasant’s Tears Saperavi (Madlieri) from Georgia (£48), a serendipitous liquid respect to Kay Harwood’s artwork. If one is on good terms with Dupuy, she might even share some of her own treasures, such as her “wine geek highlight of the week”, a “2007 Chinese rice wine.” So often at the stratospheric end of the spectrum, Burgundy reigns supreme. Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Richebourg 2014 (£2,360) is, however, below retail here, while the 2020 Domaine Coche-Dury Bourgogne Chardonnay (£429) hovers just above. Elsewhere, with a remarkably gentle mark-up of just over two times (an unexpected kindness given the postcode), one finds Paul Jaboulet Aîné La Chapelle 1994 at £290, 1995 Solaia for £690, and the increasingly rare 1983 Cuvée Frédéric Émile from Trimbach at £446. Despite Dupuy having visited the Château last year, Haut-Brion is yet to feature. A tight sake list offers the likes of “Sumi” Tokubetsu Junmai from Peckham, and the elusive 1992 Choryo “Yoshinosugi” Taru Jukusei Genshu (£225), aged in cedar. And the setup of Guinness follows similar rules to The Devonshire close by, according to Atherton, who took his team to dine there. Formerly the Stockholm Room, Apples & Pears bar has its own entrance and is toasted by a Scotch cocktail which shares its name. Inside, as per the dining room, only the light fittings remain untouched, while the walls play host to works from the Young British Artists (YBA) movement. The interlocking rooms with boldly patterned carpets, built-in DJ booth, and and a patinated metal ceiling, feel reminiscent of Upstairs at Langhan’s. This is where The London Standard launched its latest incarnation, and a photograph of editor, Dylan Jones, now meets guests as they ascend the stairs.

Dishes

Under Jason Atherton’s watchful eye, we dined in the company of Richard Vines, who once announced trains at Oxford Station, went on to cover coups, interview Mandela, hail a North Korean police car which he drunkenly mistook for a taxi, then spend seventeen years as Bloomberg’s chief food critic. We began with tempura rock oyster, its briny bite accentuated by Sarson’s “scraps”, evoking the childhood thrill of Salt & Shake crisps. Feeling particularly continental for a so-called British brasserie, we were then presented with Mount Vesuvius tomato and Charentais melon – their textures strikingly similar – wrapped in lardo and pecked with aged sherry vinegar. Alas, the smoked leek sauce of an otherwise large, respectfully cooked Orkney scallop felt overly swampy a base. Dupuy, poured a broad-shouldered Viura from Bodegas Gregorio Martínez Selección Mónica Martínez Blanco 2015 alongside, its late autumn-harvested grapes, and two years in barrel, revealing a fine, stately wine. Next, the much-discussed, bite-sized yet decadent Marmite English custard tart, crowned with nutty Umai caviar from n25. This purveyor is known to send caviar-free Christmas cards in parcel form by recorded delivery to hopeful recipients, including your correspondent. This umami-packed indulgence found its ideal partner in a lively, refined 2009 Aligoté from Domaine Potinet-Ampeau – a bargain at just a tenner, leaving guests feeling they’d scored a victory. Then came what Atherton modestly called “lobster and rice” – plump Cornish lobster, expertly flame-kissed over embers and bathed in coral butter. Dupuy applied a smart, laser-focused Riesling. Kanta 2016 hailed not from the Mosel, but Adelaide Hills, a collaboration with Shaw and Smith. The “100-layer” Hereford snail and ox cheek lasagna, crisp in the right parts, was also served straight from the pan. Dupuy followed with a gently maturing Grenache from Clare Valley’s Kilikanoon - Duke Reserve, leaning north of our prior stop, but from the same year, bringing an enveloping warmth to the standout dish. Dessert was pure nostalgia – bread and butter pudding made from ostensibly leftover morning croissants, topped with whippy ice cream, and a strawberry jam “roly-poly”, finished with Jersey custard, and spun with a whisper of smoked butter. Vines, believing champagne is always the answer, suggested champagne here. Dupuy, ever resourceful, countered with Henri Giraud’s Ratafia Champenois, a soft Marc from the region, and the generous sparkling traditional method Solstice from Danbury Ridge, Essex, subject to “42 months on lees” and with more Chardonnay than in a previous prototype, according to its sage viticulturist, John Atkinson MW, who delivers sermons on Voltaire at his tastings. The finale? A pour from the six-litre bottle of Château Suduiraut 2009, dwarfing the diminutive yet mighty Dupuy, its nectar lingering on the palate for hours.

Last word

With a precision which defies its infancy, Sael’s dishes were bold in flavour and sensibly priced to attract rather than deter. The wine list, easily navigable, rich in character, and offering remarkable value, was a delight to explore. Minor gripes – fluctuating light levels and dim staircases – stood in stark contrast to a venue which otherwise deserves to shine.

Best for

  • Charismatic wine list, e.g. “Sexy & I know it! White & Reds Up To £200”
  • Large formats
  • Distinctive bar
Value: 96, Size: 94, Range: 95, Originality: 96, Experience: 97; Total: 95.6 Sael - 1 St. James' Market, London, SW14 4QQ; 020 7993 3251; reservations@saellondon.com; saellondon.com]]> Wine List Confidential: Holm https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-holm/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-holm/#respond Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:31:50 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=649073 Douglas Blyde sojourns in Somerset to get a taste of Holm. From cider with Gazpacho to Grenache with a "double-decker" sandwich, he assesses whether the pairings are up to standard.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-holm/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde sojourns in Somerset to get a taste of Holm. From cider with Gazpacho to Grenache with a "double-decker" sandwich, he assesses whether the pairings are up to standard. Housed within the honeyed stone walls of South Petherton’s Holm – where a NatWest ATM lingers as a vestige of the building’s past – lies a restaurant with rooms which feels like an Ercol catalogue come to life. With such “effortlessly chic, Scandi-inspired interiors,” it’s no surprise that Emma Henderson mused in The Independent, “I certainly wish my home looked as good as this.” As Condé Nast Traveller noted, the name itself hints at a desire to craft a sanctuary – a vision realised by Harrogate-born, Manchester-educated, and London-honed, Nicholas Balfe. Despite them having campaigned so robustly to “cancel the closure” of the erstwhile NatWest, the ambience seems to cast a spell on its patrons. As one Trip Advisor reviewer, Thomas D, observed, “the food was so good, it sent my wife into labour…”

Design

The design, envisioned by project coordinator, Decca Lang and architects, Gundry and Ducker - whose portfolio includes Forza Wine, Temper Covent Garden, and The Palomar - features a gleaming open kitchen and counter with a Cadillac of a coffee machine at its core, and in the dining room, a terrazzo floor where cashiers once handled deposits. Walls are artfully stripped back to bare plaster, illuminated by gallery-like spotlights. Curtains cloaking the rump of the cashpoint create the intriguing effect of a stage set for a performance. Reached via polished concrete treads, each bedroom bears the name of a British tree - Ash, Elm, Hornbeam, Juniper, Osier, Rowan, and Sessile - evoking the grace of ancient woodlands, inviting guests to rest beneath a metaphorical canopy of nature’s grandeur, although better window coverings would make for deeper slumber. Additionally, a studio provides a tranquil space for yoga – as well as a couple of seemingly free to sip bottles or rum and rye. Outside, a terrace invites guests to gather by the fire. Supported by Highland Park distillery, this area serves as a bridge between Somerset’s gentle inclines and the rugged, remote, windswept vistas of Scotland – a place to feel the heartbeat of Orkney in every warming dram.

Drinks

A Scottish connection continues to the supervisor of the European wine selection, given it is overseen by by “sommelier by function, if not title,” Rachel Elner, who previously worked under the legendary Sumith Alahakoon, head sommelier at Trump Turnberry, Ayrshire. Bottles are racked in a passageway which previously held the bank vault. Options by the glass begin at a modest £5.75 for a 125ml glass of Abadia de Aribayos’s Joven Tempranillo, ascending to Sybille Kuntz’s orange Mosel Riesling at £11.75. A standout from closer to home is Castlewood Vineyards Musbury Brut NV, its bubbles a tribute to the ancient hill fort beneath which the vineyard nuzzles (£12.50). For those seeking something more spirited, the fearless Holm Negroni is crafted with Cynar and Somerset Pomona, best sipped by the fireplace. Yet, the true treasures lie within the Cellar List, where one-off bottles and eccentric labels may be familiar to frequenters of the likes of Levan. Among the sparklers is the Smith & Evans Trilogy from Somerset limestone, combining the inaugural 2010 vintage with two subsequent harvests for £105. The Black Mountain Col Fondo, an organic, likely unique blend of Pinot Meunier, Solaris, and Siegerrebe from Herefordshire, also stands out at £82. Still options include Frédéric Cossard’s 2020 Feel Good Savagnin (£89), Emidio Pepe’s 2015 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (£145), and the 2015 white Beaucastel (£270). Gabrio Bini Serragghia Zibibbo 2021, a rust-coloured rendition from Pantelleria, is offered at £125 - a liquid embodiment of the volcanic island dubbed “La Perla Nera.” Reds include the venerable Vega Sicilia Alión 2013 (£145), while Luciano Sandrone’s Cannubi Boschis Barolo from 2001 may be accessed in both half-bottle (£55) and magnum (£410) formats, each offering a unique expression of the wine’s evolution. And for a sweet finale, Domaine de Souch’s Marie Kattalin 2012 Jurançon (£115/75cl), or Kingsbury Ice Cider, framing over 100 apples per bottle, provide a decadent closing note to the Holm experience (£8.50/75ml).

Dishes

Dishes are by Nicholas Balfe, whose stints at St. John, Moro, and Rochelle Canteen, led him to the helm of the kitchen at Brunswick House. He subsequently sharpened his knives at the seminal Young Turks pop-up at The Ten Bells, before teaming up with Matthew Bushnell and Mark Gurney to launch Salon in Brixton, followed by Levan and Larry’s (RIP) in Peckham. Drawing from the vaults of experience, Balfe today operates Holm independently. To the gentle rhythm of “Not Today Mate” by Yazmin Lacey, we began with a refreshing summer gazpacho of pickled cucumber and shallot, dressed with olive oil and topped with a mint leaf. Served in a chilled mug alongside well-made sourdough, it was, excepting the unexpected pieces of what we believe the Americans call Saran wrap encountered within, a light and wholesome start. Elner admitted that the pairing with the 6.6% Wilding Home Orchard cider 2022 wasn’t conventional - but it worked. With notes of wet walnut and rich barley sugar, the fetchingly bittersweet, naturally fermented, regeneratively farmed expression, is brought to you by the photogenic Sam and Beccy Leach who previously ran Bristol’s Birch restaurant (RIP). Elner considered pairing a subsequent pasta dish with the vivid, greengage-scented 2022 Bacchus, raised in Tuscan amphorae and bottled in a similarly shaped flagon adorned with a pictogram of the events. However, she ultimately chose their Brut Reserve, its light effervescence and hint of white pepper cutting through a rich, buttery sauce. That sauce, enveloping perfectly cooked pasta parcels, featured spring onions, tomato, red pepper, and, at its base, an exceptional fig jam made from Holm’s own tree. Despite the dish’s expertly balanced flavours, the sauce’s richness bordered on excessive, making it both the highlight and the challenge of the tasting menu. With Creedy Carver duck breast and tasty bonbon anchored on a swirl of rainbow chard, Elner went against her preference for Primitivo, instead pouring the malt of finish, L’Abrunet Frisach from Terra Alta. Beyond a label depicting Icarus, whose shirt was as pink as the duck, the co-fermented, concrete-raised Garnacha Fina and Carignan soared through, though it could have benefitted from being a few degrees cooler and served, like all of today’s wines, in smarter glassware. After enduring a parade of subpar restaurant stemware lately, we’ve come to appreciate why a wine merchant friend travels with his own glasses. Onto cheese, and “on the list today for the first time,” Elner matched Domaine de Valcros’ Banyuls with a double-decker sandwich starring Tor, a young, pyramid-shaped goat’s cheese which presumably takes the name of Glastonbury’s famous tower on a hill. This was dressed with a very good plum jam, first encountered with an opening chicken liver parfait.

Last word

For those attuned to feng shui, the cashpoint – awkwardly occupying a spot which should cradle a focal banquette – might seem a glaring issue, as if siphoning the restaurant’s prosperity straight out onto the pavement. Yet, during our visit, any such concerns evaporated as the place buzzed with energy, clearly showing that Holm is anything but in decline. It seems Balfe’s real genius lies not just in the kitchen, but in his ability to recruit a team which can expertly run the dining room - even on a packed night, with a critic in the house who did not keep quiet about the film in the soup - while he dined among the guests, cool as you like. We were particularly impressed by Elner, whose sharp palate and deft navigation through Balfe’s bold, often surprising combinations of humble ingredients added significant interest to the evening, raising it to a level which makes Holm a destination.

Best for

  • Kitchen garden
  • Barbecues with Highland Park
  • Three-course breakfast
Value: 92, Size: 89, Range: 91, Originality: 91, Experience: 91; Total: 90.8 Holm - 28 St James's St, South Petherton TA13 5BW; 01460 712470; holmsomerset.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Nest Farmhouse https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-nest-farmhouse/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-nest-farmhouse/#respond Mon, 16 Sep 2024 08:54:00 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=648145 Douglas Blyde explores the new Norfolk outpost of the team behind one of East London's trendiest restaurants, and examines whether this fledgling concept might become a "coveted culinary destination".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-nest-farmhouse/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde explores the new Norfolk outpost of the team behind one of East London's trendiest restaurants, and examines whether this fledgling concept might become a "coveted culinary destination". Square Meal noted that the trio’s first venture, Nest, “originally debuted in Hackney in 2018” before it quickly migrated to the trendier shores of Shoreditch. The culinary trio – Toby Neill, Johnnie Crowe, and Luke Wasserman – didn’t stop there. They spread their wings to Farringdon, where Restaurant St. Barts now proudly flaunts a green Michelin star alongside Apricity, Petersham Nurseries, and Silo. Their journey continued with a pop-up at Burnham Overy Boathouse in Norfolk in 2022, followed by a return residency the next year. Now, as Square Meal puts it, “they have put down roots” with Nest Farmhouse.

Design

Nest Farmhouse’s press materials boast of its lofty location at the highest point in the lowlands of North Norfolk, evoking memories of the Charlie Wells TV advert for Eagle Bitter, sponsor of the East Anglia Downhill Skiing Championship. Nestled on a sprawling 1,000-acre farmstead northeast of King’s Lynn and near the cinematic Holkham beach, famously featured at the end of Shakespeare In Love, this venue offers a blend of dried flower-adorned rustic charm and refined design. Housed in a former cattle shed, now spruced up in sage by Swedish designer and stylist, Lulu Carter, the open kitchen anchors one end of a rectangular room which feels like Noma’s cousin who’s decided to settle in the countryside. At the opposite end, a pastoral lounge beckons with its fireplace, board games, and cheeky pinup playing cards. Between these, a long bar counter with Wherry on draft dares you to linger. Nest Farmhouse also offers five bedrooms above, from the double-aspect Elder, complete with a veranda offering sweeping views and a mysteriously visible yet inaccessible mezzanine with distant, untouchable lightswitches, to Pine downstairs. It’s the kind of place which might just tempt you - as it has several members of the Nest Farmhouse team - to consider a permanent escape to the countryside. A short stroll across an undulating, Teletubbies-like lawn leads you to a reeded pond, where you can sip on a violet-scented, Sacred vermouth spiced, new barrel-aged Negroni in the company of the resident duck, Donald. Plans are also afoot for an on-site delicatessen and bakery, along with an additional suite of four bedrooms, and walking trails should you feel the need to leave.

Drinks

Drinks at Nest Farmhouse, as with the entire Nest collection, are overseen by Luke Wasserman, who began his career not in hospitality but as a runner on music promos for the likes of Tom Jones and Girls Aloud. After a stint in project management at an advertising agency, he co-founded Nest in Hackney in 2017. Just two miles north, as the crow flies, farmer-turned-vigneron, Robert Perowne crafts the house sparkler from Cobble Hill (£11/125ml), a lithe, plush delight offered to guests upon arrival. This pinkish fizz kicks off a concise but globally ambitious list of 60 bins. Wasserman’s selection may have its quirks, with seemingly arbitrary mark-ups, but it roams the globe, making stops in Australia, Sussex, Austria, Essex, France, Germany, Italy, Lebanon, Monmouthshire, Portugal, and Spain. Bottles start as low as £33 for Mandarossa’s frais du bois and morello-scented Frappato from Sicily, reaching up to £249 for the 2006 Grand Vin from Château Montrose – priced at roughly double retail. The sweet spot lies around the £70 mark, where you’ll find the three-and-a-half-times-marked-up Mount Pleasant Elizabeth Hunter Valley Semillon 2017 (£70), Danbury Ridge Octagon Block Chardonnay 2020 from Essex (£74), and Joh. Jos. Prüm Bernkasteler Riesling Kabinett (£79) at triple its shop price. For those willing to venture beyond £100, there’s Chateau Musar 2017 (£110), 2018 Luddite Shiraz (£118), and a well-aged Bordeaux, Potensac 2008 (£120). A trio of orange wines, including Albillo Lovamor (£68), offers an intriguing diversion and match the hue of expansive sunsets in these parts. The inclusion of a Provence rosé might seem predictable, almost as if Wasserman is hedging his bets. However, he redeems himself by opting for a craft Prosecco over a big brand - a nod to the notion that sometimes the best wines are those which speak for themselves, without the need for a marketing crutch. It would also be a considerate touch to name the purveyors of the Ports and Jurançon listed under the sweet/fortified section, giving credit where it’s due.

Dishes

The currently compact kitchen is under the watchful eye of executive chef, Johnnie Crowe, whom we met during our visit, and Norfolk-born head chef, Grant Cotton. Cotton honed his skills at Gladwin Brothers, The Harwood Arms, and Harlequin – later rebranded as the group’s Fenn (RIP) – before taking the helm of the pre-Nest Farmhouse pop-up. Drinks today were selected by Tara Finney, who, like Wasserman, comes from an artistic background, having transitioned from film and theatre production to operations manager for the Nest collection. Dinner began with outstanding and distinctive stout-enriched soda bread boasting a cake-like crumb, served with house-made butter. This was followed by crab from the accurately named Wells-next-the-Sea, accompanied by barbecued green beans, fleshy nectarines, and elderflower pickle, accented by lovage. The cohesive, vibrant dish, arranged on a Willow pattern plate and approached with an Edwardian white bone fish knife, was complemented by Fattoria di Vaira’s Vincenzo, a polite Adriatic orange Falanghina/Fiano served in what appeared to be a Riedel beer glass, mirroring the shade of the nectarine. Next came a plump lobster tail, bathed in a lightly curried, saffron-scented lobster sauce, accompanied by an excellent, properly crisp fennel bhaji, Saxmundham cucumber relish, and genuinely hot padrón peppers - surprisingly grown in the UK. This dish was perfectly matched with a fully ripened Monmouthshire Pinot Noir from the warm 2020 vintage (Ancre Hill). Like the wine, a side of frilly lettuce leaves, was biodynamically grown, here by Lucy Birnie at the idyllic-looking West Lexham holistic retreat, whom the chefs, we’re told, keep on WhatsApp speed dial. To finish, we indulged in fluffy doughnuts dipped in homemade strawberry jam and a peanut butter custard. Finney’s best vinous match of the evening was the slightly chilled Sicilian Frappato, delivering a burst of freshness while mirroring the jam’s complimentary strawberry perfume.

Last word

We predict that Nest Farmhouse is poised for an exciting evolution, with plans granted for a larger kitchen promising to unlock a more kaleidoscopic menu. However, the venue must first navigate certain tensions which go beyond the juxtaposition of Scandi glass minimalism, country herringbone pelmets, and nighttime grunge soundtrack. If it can resist the temptation to overly pander to local palates, Nest Farmhouse has the potential to embrace a bolder, more audacious spirit, drawing the attention of global gastronomes, much like the renowned Ynyshir, or the now-legendary Fäviken (RIP). As the wine list grows, potentially enriched with a black book of desirable single bottles, there’s a need to simultaneously address a more thoughtful approach to wine storage and display - currently, reds are perched on high shelves in a room which tends to run warm, which could compromise their integrity. Yet, in its first summer, we’ve already glimpsed the birth of something potentially extraordinary – a venue poised to become a coveted culinary destination. Let's see how things hatch.

Best for

  • Farm-to-plate ethos
  • Global-looking, locally sensitive wine list
  • Peaceful location
Value: 93, Size: 85, Range: 92, Originality: 91, Experience: 95; Total: 91.2 Nest Farmhouse - Fakenham Rd, Docking, King’s Lynn PE31 8PX; 07487 553194; nestfarmhouse.co.uk; hello@nestfarmhouse.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: The Unruly Pig https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-the-unruly-pig/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-the-unruly-pig/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2024 07:20:03 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=647481 Douglas Blyde heads out east to visit a famous Suffolk gastropub. Will it prove to be an East Anglian haven for wine lovers, or have they made a pig's ear of the pairings?

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-the-unruly-pig/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde heads out east to visit a famous Suffolk gastropub. Will it prove to be an East Anglian haven for wine lovers, or have they made a pig's ear of the pairings? True to its name, The Unruly Pig greets you with playful irreverence, starting with the bronze pig’s derrière behind the bar, as noted by the Good Food Guide. Meanwhile, Michelin points out that despite the cheeky name, the venue is “far from unruly, thanks to its former lawyer owner.” William Sitwell of The Telegraph hailed it as “a standard-bearer for the new normal,” applauding its “seriously good, unfussy food,” impeccable service, and a keen understanding of what modern hospitality should be. “This place,” he declared, “is why hospitality must be saved.” Restaurant magazine took things even further, bestowing the title of “best gastropub in the UK” upon The Unruly Pig – twice. Even the usually reserved Good Food Guide couldn’t resist acknowledging the “notable” Europe-leaning wine list - a rare outpour from a publication typically as tight-lipped about drinks as a lawyer on the witness stand.

Design

Formerly The British Larder, where Jay Rayner infamously encountered a chocolate fudge cake which audaciously resembled “more of an overcooked fondant” with tasteless cubes of caramelised white-chocolate jelly, the sixteenth-century warren that is now The Unruly Pig, brims with character. Its gnawed-looking beams, which appear to have withstood centuries of revelry, frame spaces like the Wild Boar private dining room. These are adorned with a delightful miscellany of art chosen by owner, Brendan Padfield, who believes “the job of art is to provoke”. Among his collection are pieces from his Suffolk-based gallerist friend, Belinda Gray MBE, the unstoppable founder of the breast cancer research charity, Art for Cure. Upon entering, you’re greeted by whimsical Lego portraits by local artist John Frith, including one of a chef, flanked by shelves of wine. Further in, a playful reimagining of The Last Supper starring The Sopranos, lit by an Anglepoise lamp, catches the eye, alongside a poignant painting of two weary commuters captured from the mezzanine at Liverpool Street Station. Padfield chose this piece as a “constant reminder” of the countless commutes from his previous legal career. But now, having traded legal briefs for beef briskets, he hasn’t looked back, proving that the leap from courtroom to kitchen can be as seamless as a well-aged Bordeaux.

Drinks

Handpicked by Padfield, whose zeal for wine leads him to sample prospective bottles with esteemed suppliers like Lay and Wheeler, and Adnam’s, the wine list spans a dozen countries - from Austria to New Zealand, with intriguing detours through Georgia, Greece, and Romania. The journey begins close to home with Dorset’s Langham estate, introducing the 60-strong by-the-glass selection with their rosé, priced at £15 for a 125ml pour. Still wines range from the unpretentious Colombard by the proud paysans of the Plaimont cooperative in Gascony (£7.50/175ml) to a mysterious (unnamed) 2017 Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico from Veneto (£27). Along the way, you’ll discover gems like Vachnadziani Winery’s Krakhuna from Georgia (£10), and the cult-favourite Domaine Rolly Gassmann Riesling 2021 from Alsace (£15.50), celebrated by Cambridge Wine Merchants as “small masterpieces with excellent definition.” Only three bottles are reserved exclusively for those ready to commit to a full bottle, including Château Batailley 2016 at £118, and Domaine Heresztyn-Mazzini 2017 Gevrey-Chambertin Vieilles Vignes at £125, both offered with a most equitable £40 mark-up. The priciest bottle on the latest list we were sent on request, the David Moret Puligny-Montrachet 2022 (£135), feels almost too modest for the venue’s ambience - raising the question of whether a few more extravagant options might tempt guests to indulge in something rarer and perhaps a touch older. Of course, this would also require upgrading the top-end glassware to match the experience. In addition to a handful of sweet wines, including a Moscato d’Asti from an unnamed producer, guests can indulge in dessert cocktails, such as the “Bakewell Tart” - because who says you can’t have your cake and drink it too? And on draught, the local Aspall cyder offers a crisp, refreshing option. However, the whisky and brandy selection could use a bit of a glow-up.

Dishes

The 10-strong kitchen team is led by the self-billed “Dynamic Duo”, chefs Dave Wall (formerly of Boxwood Café, Claridge’s, and Le Talbooth) and Karl Green (Hintlesham Hall, The Crown, Stoke-by-Nayland, and Midsummer House). They source their ingredients from a who’s who of local suppliers, including Pinneys of Orford and Rick the Fish for seafood, and Rendlesham Forest for game. Even “Our Lin,” who lives down the road, deals in organic vegetables, tomatoes, and soft fruits. And let’s not forget “Buffy,” who contributes quinces from her garden. Armed with Studio William cutlery, dinner began with a “snack” of fried Mersea Island oyster with dill emulsion, a surprisingly successful smoked cucumber, and a generous helping of n25 Heritage caviar - all for the modest price of £5.50. However, the crostino of whipped lardo di Colonnata with pickled walnut gel fell flat, tasting more like posh mayonnaise. These opening bites were paired with Langham’s Culver, a low-dosage sparkler with broad shoulders, nutty, oxidative, oaken notes - just one example of the close bond between The Unruly Pig and this Dorset producer, as evidenced by the coffee table book on the vineyard’s tales for guests to peruse. Puerto Rican-born assistant manager, Bianca Bradley-Kidd (formerly of Coworth Park, and Marriott at Grosvenor Square) aptly described the dish as one that “messes with your mind,” featuring very firm, homemade black ink soppressini pasta cups, cleverly minced cuttlefish, rich shellfish stock, fresh gremolata, and shavings of three-year-old Parmesan. Noting Padfield’s self-confessed addiction to risotto, we followed on with a rabbit risotto, prepared “osso bucco” style according to Bradley-Kidd, with sweetcorn kernels, purée, long-lasting shredded corn leaves, shards of pancetta, chive oil, thyme, and more of that glorious three-year-aged Parmesan, all framed by black garlic gel. The dish was a riot of flavours which even the accompanying Enzo Boglietti Piedmontese Nebbiolo struggled to conquer. Given its richness and generous portion, it was no surprise when Bradley-Kidd cheerfully described the kitchen as “a kitchen of feeders.” A side of cabbage, with its sharp vinegar kick and hint of chilli, provided the perfect counterbalance. We ended on a high note with the dish of the evening: a Madagascan vanilla-scented strawberry semifreddo, accompanied by white chocolate (with delightful Aero-like fragments) and elderflower. The only regret? The accompanying wine wasn’t introduced – a minor slip.

Last word

On this warm summer evening, the savoury dishes often leant a bit too heavily on richness, with seasoning teetering on the brink of thirst-inducing boldness. It seems the tightrope walk of pleasing locals who’ve grumbled about small portions on review sites, while still holding onto the crown of the UK’s Best Gastropub, might have led the culinary team to try harder than a method actor in a pantomime. Allowing the top-quality ingredients to shine, with a lighter touch on the butter, salt, and gels, would elevate The Unruly Pig to an irresistible repeat destination. And while the food suppliers all receive their due mention, it’s curious that not every wine producer has made it onto the wine list. Meeting the ever-charming restaurateur and raconteur Padfield was an absolute pleasure, nevertheless. His stories alone could fill a book. And now that planning permission is in hand, we eagerly await the much-needed on-site bedrooms, which would not only provide more space for guests, but more walls to showcase his entertaining art collection, too.

Best for

  • Large by-the-glass selection
  • £5 corkage Wednesdays (The Unruly Club); 10% off Mondays (hospitality)
  • Residencies, e.g. The Unruly Pig X The Crown by Dominic Chapman
Value: 92, Size: 86, Range: 90, Originality: 91, Experience: 91; Total: 90 The Unruly Pig - Orford Rd, Bromeswell, Woodbridge, IP12 2PU; 01394 460310; info@theunrulypig.co.uk; theunrulypig.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Thames Lido https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-thames-lido/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-thames-lido/#respond Mon, 02 Sep 2024 11:35:46 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=646539 Douglas Blyde takes the plunge at Thames Lido, finding a "mistakenly-named" Champagne cocktail, and a wine pairing akin to "forcing polite strangers to share a table".

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/09/wine-list-confidential-thames-lido/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde takes the plunge at Thames Lido, finding a "mistakenly-named" Champagne cocktail, and a wine pairing akin to "forcing polite strangers to share a table". Dating to 1902, Thames Lido “was designed in a less showy era, as a haven for private women-only swimming,” wrote Sally Goble in The Guardian, adding, “It was a secluded and closed affair: with red brick walls two storeys high, with no windows to allow outsiders to peer in.” Today’s operation is a far cry from its demure origins. The lido’s restaurant has become a destination in its own right, featuring “an open kitchen with a charcoal grill and wood-burning oven, bringing a sense of authenticity to the cooking techniques,” according to Square Meal.

Design

The lido’s renaissance, a meticulous three-year endeavour spearheaded by Marshall and Kendon - architects with a particular flair for reviving such spaces - has transformed this once-forgotten jewel into a sanctuary of chic sophistication. Abandoned to decay since its closure in 1974, it had been dismissed by locals as little more than a “disused swamp,” a haunt for the displaced and the downtrodden. Now, in a triumph of design and vision, the lido shines once more. Sleek lines, expansive plate glass, and a view from the tiered sauna which overlooks the swimming lanes, whisper of Scandinavian influences - no surprise, given the guiding hand of the Swedish-born, Arne Ringner, who also breathed life into its sister site, the Bristol Lido. The pool, once fed by the very Thames itself, which spawned tales of tadpole invasions, is now a pristine 24.68-metre stretch, its waters warmed by a hydroelectric plant you can tour across the river. The original ornate struts, lovingly repainted to match the regal ironwork of Tower Bridge, draw the eye upward, while the walls, with their exposed brickwork, serve as a canvas for the impressionistic works of local artist, Yuliya Martynova. A long bar, cool and commanding, leads to an open kitchen, where flames contrast the ripples of the pool, creating a tableau at once calming and exhilarating. Above, swaying fabric evokes traditional pankhas, their gentle movement a reminder of a time when leisure was an art form.

Drinks

The lists at both the Thames and Bristol Lidos are thoughtfully curated by Ringner, with the expertise of Mark Thwaites, the Managing Director of both locations. Fittingly, Thwaites’ background in Sports Science from Liverpool John Moores University aligns with the athletic spirit of the lidos. While the wine offerings are primarily sourced from a single supplier - a point capable of deterring prosperous oenophiles - the list is democratic, boasting 25 bottles under £50, with five below £30. Each Lido features local producers, here being the 2019 Preamble Brut from Hundred Hills (£12.75/125ml), its subtleties alas muffled by corseting flutes. The producer was highlighted during a recent dinner hosted at Thames Lido, during which the team pledged to help with the harvest. The commitment to local flavours extends beyond wine, with a trio of gins from Henley Distillery featuring in cocktails like the “Thyme & Honey,” which buoyantly delivers on its name. The nearby Renegade Brewery also contributes the Lido Lager, a light 3.4% brew perfect for those looking to stay steady in their lanes post-sip. Still wines by the glass range from the 2022 Murcian Macabeo by Molinico Loco (£4.60/125ml) to a more intellectual rosé than most, being Ca dei Frati’s Rosa dei Frati Groppello, Marmezino, Sangiovese and Barbera from south of Lake Garda (£11.20). For those interested in bottles, noteworthy selections include Domaine des Sables Verts Glouglou Saumur-Champigny (£53) and Donnafugata’s 2019 Floramundi Cerasuolo di Vittoria (£70). Three sherries by Valdespino add a touch of Spanish flair, including Inocente Pago de Macarnudo NV (£8.25/100ml), while the PX makes a particularly boozy cameo in a house-churned PX and raisin ice cream. However, the digestif section falters by omitting the producers and vintages for both the Moscato d’Asti and Sauternes. Special mention goes to the coffee roasted by Extract Bristol, which adds a precise conclusion. However, there’s a curious mistake on the menu: the Champagne Cocktail is mistakenly made with Nyetimber, a formative English sparkling wine, rather than actual Champagne. Although the correct “English Sparkling Wine Cocktail” might be a bit of a mouthful, we would love to see who can come up with a name for our homegrown, traditional-method fizz which truly pops.

Dishes

From potentially jumping through flaming hoops to flambéing food, the kitchen is skilfully led by Iain Ganson, a former stuntman aspirant who previously helmed the Bell Inn at Waltham St. Lawrence, identified by CAMRA as having “a regionally important historic pub interior.” Lunch began with sourdough from “Britain’s Best Loaf” winner, Imma The Bakery, Henley. Beyond a crisp crust, its airy centre was perfect material for absorbing vibrant basil oil. This was followed by a dainty trio of scallops, roasted in their shells and bathed in a balanced garlic butter. The dish paired with the Vinho Verde from Azevedo, a property more notable for its squat 16th century tower than its zephyr-like citrus, greengage and almond-scented white, here heightening the sweet herbs of the butter. Meanwhile, grilled whole quail, retaining its juiciness, was served with tangy, seasoned yogurt, burnt lime, and rose harissa. The pairing, a Veneto Merlot from Ca’ di Alte, initially seemed a disparate choice, like forcing polite strangers to share a table. However, as we continued, the flavours harmonised, with the Merlot echoing the warmth of the harissa. The main courses continued the streak of excellence. Whole Megrim sole, was a steal at just £22. Accompanied by arroccina beans - reminiscent of baked beans which have never seen a sun lounger – more of the excellent garlic butter, and a refreshing fennel salad, this dish was a masterclass in simplicity. Being the still wine of the meal by some distance, Matošević Alba Malvazija from Istria, brought perfume, structure, and cheer to the odd of expression, pristine fish. Equally satisfying was bavette steak, served rare, with duck-fat potatoes and a luscious tarragon butter. This was paired with the three-year-old Papa Figos Douro Tinto from Sogrape’s Casa Ferreirinha, which, as per the Azevedo, is another house from the Mateus maker, which catering to all strata of drinkers, also owns the iconic Barca Velha.

Last word

Ganson's kitchen offers two distinct experiences: a selection of small plates for those who prefer to dine on a deal while wrapped in the lido’s signature blue robes, and a more traditional three-course affair for dedicated gastronomes. While both menus offer their own charms, we can’t help but wonder if a unified approach might simply be better. In the end, this cloistered, miracle of a survivor is not merely a place to eat – it’s a profound escape from the everyday. Here, history and modernity dance in perfect step, creating an atmosphere which lingers in the mind long after the final sip has been taken. Yet, with a few thoughtful tweaks which Ganson’s noteworthy talent truly deserves – expanding the wine list, investing in regular wine education for the eager team, diversifying suppliers, and upgrading the glassware – the experience will reach new heights, leaving an indelible mark on those fortunate enough to find themselves within its historic walls.

Best for

  • Collaboration dinners, e.g. Lido X Cliveden House
  • Swim, massage, and meal package
  • BYO Tuesdays
Value: 95, Size: 84, Range: 89, Originality: 91, Experience: 96; Total: 91 Thames Lido - Napier Rd, Reading, RG1 8FR; 01182149388; thameslido.com]]> Wine List Confidential: The Aubrey https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-the-aubrey/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-the-aubrey/#respond Tue, 27 Aug 2024 10:35:54 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=645791 Douglas Blyde dives into the "wet-led omakase experience" at The Aubrey in Knightsbridge and discovers why head of beverages Maxim Kassir is a “big supporter” of sakes which are lighter in alcohol.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-the-aubrey/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde dives into the "wet-led omakase experience" at The Aubrey in Knightsbridge and discovers why head of beverages Maxim Kassir is a “big supporter” of sakes which are lighter in alcohol. At The Aubrey, which “has taken as its theme the Japanese influence on Aubrey Beardsley’s art during his regrettably short life (1872-98) and late 19th-century Japonisme generally,” wrote Fay Maschler in Tatler, the staff are, said James Lawrence in Calibre, “clearly adept at dealing with the entire spectrum of patrons, from easy-going to infuriatingly unreasonable.”

Design

Beyond a bamboo-shaped door handle, a long bar counter, its periphery textured like the magnified grooves edging a coin, leads to a series of dining salons, including a library with a booth favoured by regular, Ariana Grande. Adorned by no fewer than 250 pieces of art, including a portrait of Beardsley, these lavish spaces unfurl like a “labyrinth of velvet, marble and wood”, noted Jenna Campbell in Mix Interiors. Our favourite vantage, away from the DJ decks, is concealed behind a secret door: an appointment-only cocktail bar called The Ukiyo Room which provides a bespoke, wet-led omakase experience.

Drinks

Drinks are overseen by the dapper Moldova-born polyglot, Maxim Kassir, a maths and economics graduate whose early career saw him gain fame as a stage and TV presenter, actor, and international news reporter. Kassir went on to work as a WSET-accredited educator across The Doyle Collection of boutique hotels under the mentorship of Anne McHale MW, whom he credits with “building his foundation and understanding of the wine trade.” He continued as the head of beverage at Pantechnicon (RIP), where he learnt about sake, citing sage, Natsuki Kikaya as his inspiration and teacher. While The Aubrey’s counterpart in Hong Kong has, says Kassir, “a stellar cocktail programme which propelled them from 17th to 10th best bar in Asia’s 50 Best Bars this year”, London focuses more closely on wine and sake, with around 50 options from Junmai to ultra-premium Junmai Daiginjo. The 20 examples by the glass range from the venue’s own label edition, (£21/100ml), to Richard Geoffroy’s IWA 5 - Assemblage 4 at £45, via Daishichi Minowamon Junmai Daiginjo 32 from Fukushima (£32). The most premium choice by the bottle is Niizawa - Zankyo Super 7 Junmai Daiginjo from Miyahi at £1,777, its price perhaps nodding to the Seven Gods of Luck. Kassir is also an ambassador of the kaleidoscopic of category, shochu, having completed a 1,500 mile pilgrimage to meet producers in Japan’s south with former bar director of The Aubrey turned bar and brand beverage consultant, Pietro Rizzo. Organised in a neat corridor beside the bar, Kassir’s 500-bin wine selection focuses on grower Champagnes, while still wines feature classics from Burgundy, Bordeaux, and California. Wines by the Schott Zwiesel Crystal Belfesta glass range from Gallina de Piel Ikigall, made by David Seijas, former head sommelier at El Bulli, poured by magnum (£12/125ml) to Pichon Baron 2012 by Coravin (£82), via Othello 2016 at £35. Producer libraries include Billecart Salmon, whose “Le Clos Saint Hilaire” Blanc de Noirs 2006 is yours for around double retail at £760, Biondi-Santi, including “La Storica” Release 1983 (£2,283), Domaine George Roumier, with Bonnes Mares Grand Cru 2012 at £4,950, and Coche-Dury, with Meursault 1er Cru Genevrieres 2008 at £7,800. Although the Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche Grand Cru 2005 is the most expensive bottle on the list at £12,500, it is not the most extravagant price we have encountered for a wine of this calibre in London. Such hallowed wine brands stand in stark contrast to one of the cheapest bottles on the list, being the tender Dr. H Thanisch Riesling Feinherb 2022 at £50. For interloper guests on a budget who are feeling mischievous and determined to get the most bang for their buck on a budget which allows just one bottle, they could consider the 750ml of Taylor’s Port Fine Ruby for five pounds less (£45). For indecisive guests who prefer to order by grape variety, the Sommelier Selection of “Voyaging Grapes” includes Ray Nadeson’s Lethbridge Pinot Noir from Geelong, priced at £130 for the 2021. Drawn from the beautifully illustrated, “The Yellow Book”, cocktails include “La Mort D’Arthur”, a “take on the Last Word”, starring shochu, Yellow Chartreuse, clarified coconut and pineapple.

Dishes

The kitchen brigade of this so-called “izakaya”, which, meaning an informal joint to grab a drink and a bite, often after work, is rather misleading given the sumptuous setting and calibration, is led by the UK’s only female sushi master, Miho Sato. Born to hotelier parents in Ninohe, northern Japan, in 1997, Sato went on to become one of a handful of women to achieve a Japan National Professional Cooking Sushi Certificate. At teppanyaki restaurant, JFC Daitokai, Cologne, she cooked for the President of Kikkoman during one of her first services. In London, she worked at Matsuri (RIP), Sushi Hana on Hampstead’s Flask Walk, and up the Shard at Oblix, followed by Annabel’s Club. Dinner opened with the lithe, dry, Original Barratt Giant Foam Bananas scented sparkling Masumi Origarami. Kassir is a “big supporter” of sakes which are lighter in alcohol and therefore bereft of “a spirit finish”. Aside from being “dangerously delicious”, such approachable options offer guests of The Aubrey, “60%” of whom are “new to sake” said Kassir, a gateway into the category, which can come across as “a big iceberg.” This pétillant pour dovetailed with an edible viola-decorated Irish oyster, with salmon roe and white ponzu. Although delicious, we did wonder why oysters, arguably so perfect when served naked, are so often elevated with such garnishes, hence we asked a Good Food Guide inspector who responded, “because they have to justify how much the bloody things now cost!” Next, a one-bite “vertical maki” of raw wagyu, kimchi, and caviar was as sapid as it was attractive. With elegantly formed hamachi yellowtail nigiri, imaginatively and effectively seasoned with citrussy, farmed ants, then an impeccable and memorably textured Kagoshima wagyu crust-free brioche sando, Kassir chose the also light (12%) dewy Nagano Masumi Shiro Junmai Ginjo. “Received today”, the “session sake” as one stockist puts it, was elevated in covetable Kimura Ultra Light Cup Edo glasses not normally found on our shores. Bolder in profile, from Ginjo to Junmai, the 13% Tsuchida Aubrey Sake was allowed to expand in a Burgundy glass while the temperature of this vinous choice built. A co-production between Kikaya, Kassir, and the Tsuchida brewery, beyond the stretched label depicting in a manner evocative of yin yang, a Bonsai, from roots to leaves, it bravely featured barely polished, brown rice from an area of Japan famed for its bear sashimi, revealing aromas of kefir, with miso, and even yoghurt appearing on the luxurious palate. Its enzymes dovetailed with the protein of a fetching miso black cod. More challenging on account of its richness was the deluxe of portion fried rice comprising wagyu oxtail and, scooped and blended at the table, bone marrow. The evening culminated with what behaved like the lovechild of amaretto and baijiu – Daruma shochu. Beyond a label showing a brewery worker in apparel evocative of a ladybird’s shell, the liquid is drawn from a solera started in the 1960s, said Kassir. With silage notes, the expression felt jolie laide.

Last word

The Aubrey delivers a fun experience infused with Japanese art and, thanks to Kassir, pleasantly provocative sake, shochu, and grower Champagnes. The thoughtfully designed interiors mark a significant improvement from its predecessor, Bar Boulud, where imposing pillars once described as “the size of Bentleys” by Daniel Boulud are now skillfully integrated. We eagerly anticipate returning for one of the roster of drinks producer events.

Best for

  • Wet-led omakase in The Ukiyo Room
  • Sake, shochu, and grower Champagnes
  • Cocktails from The Yellow Book
Value: 92, Size: 94, Range: 93, Originality: 93, Experience: 95; Total: 93.4 The Aubrey – 66 Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA; 020 7235 2000; theaubreycollection.com Blyde also recently interview Kassir about getting an early taste of wine, sabrage gone wrong, and the importance of exceeding expectations.]]> Wine List Confidential: Volta do Mar https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-volta-do-mar/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-volta-do-mar/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2024 08:32:31 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=644843 Douglas Blyde gets a taste of Portugal in SW3, heading to Volta do Mar to find piri piri chips, pastel de nata, Port, and, somewhat surprisingly, English sparkling.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-volta-do-mar/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde gets a taste of Portugal in SW3, heading to Volta do Mar to find piri piri chips, pastel de nata, Port, and, somewhat surprisingly, English sparkling. Volta do Mar restaurant and wine shop, is brought to you by “Salt Yard group founder Simon Mullins and his Portuguese-born wife, Isabel Almeida da Silva,” said Hardens. Established in 2019 in Covent Garden, the business relocated to Draycott Avenue in 2023, “taking over the old Bottles Chelsea site” reported Hot Dinners, a location “which gives them a new private dining room as well as a small outside terrace.”

Design

Located a few doors from the haven that is Daphne’s, Volta do Mar appropriated what was Bottles Chelsea. Indeed, in the vicinity of the dolls house of scale unisex loos you will encounter the former sign of that business. Beyond a marine of palette frontage, décor, by Mullins, includes a mottled mirrored ceiling replicating the chandelier, and a herringbone patterned brick floor, with works exhibited by Ad Lib gallery in Wimbledon Village being “theoretically for sale”, he says. Our favourite pieces are from Mullins’ private collection, which comprises three not-so-little Iberico piggies. The soundtrack includes Favelado (Ze Keti), and Casuarina’s Canto de Ossanha.

Drinks

Compared to the list of the previous incumbent whose vinous selection ran to 170 options, including hallowed Bordeaux from the 1990s, grand Riojas from the 1980s, venerable Rhônes from the 1970s, and even a couple of Portuguese by the glass, at almost 40 bottles, Volta do Mar’s micro list of unfortified wines, is relatively meek. Encapsulated in wine fridges which face eachother within an arch near the bar counter, and on sparse shelving this work in progress is maintained by Mullins. Having got “fed up” with a career in advertising, he segued to hospitality, beginning as a commis at The Stonemasons Arms, Hammersmith “around the time The Eagle was founded in Farringdon,” Mullins progressed to Brindisa, later co-founding Salt Yard and its sister sites. During that time, he wrote the “Salt Yard, Food and Wine of Spain and Italy” book with alumni, Ben Tish, and Sanja Morris. Mullins remains a shareholder in the Francophile Blanchette. He has also judged Decanter World Wine Awards. Unsurprisingly, given the nature of Volta do Mar’s cuisine, Mullins’ list is all Portuguese, with one unlikely exception: English fizz. As Mullins notes, “we work closely with JE Fells, and will be listing their latest Symington Family Estates/Berry’s joint acquisition - Hambledon - an English sparking of note.” We cannot help but hope it will be offered by the glass, given the only other effervescent option on pour is the slim of profile, cringeworthy of name, Aplauso Bruto at £10/125ml, which features a label evoking a screen grab from Space Invaders. Still options by the nursery slopes Riedel Vinum glass range from Altana 2021 Douro red (£8.50/175ml), a version of which may be familiar to Waitrose shoppers, to the Azores Wine Company 2021 Vulcanico Branco, reaped from volcanic vineyards evocative of the foundations of a long forsaken civilisation (£16). Partaking of multiple drops by the glass, we noted better care might be taken with both service temperatures, and in the case of one wine in particular, preservation against oxidation. By the bottle, highlights include the indefatigable Colares Tinto 2015 (50cl) at a respectable £90, reaped from ungrafted, ocean-proximate vines sown in the Sintra-Cascais National Park, Dirk Niepoort’s cult of status and indeed Burgundian, Coche 2022 close to retail at £130, Chryseia, the Bordeaux-Portugal entente between Bruno Prats and Symington Family Estates, in this case harking from 2008 (£175), and at the very top end, the famous Barca-Velha Cassa Ferreirinha 2011 at below retail (£535) Meanwhile, the selection of vintage Port reaches from Graham’s from the outstanding 1980 to Warre’s 2000. Sadly, none of these are available by the glass, which strikes us as a missed opportunity given we suspect it might be easy to entice guests into culminating their meal with a taste from their birth year rather than having to deep dive into an entire bottle. By contrast, almost ten Madeiras are served by the 75ml portion, including D'Oliveira Malvasia 2000 at a gutsy £32; there are also rums from the island for the strong of constitution, while at £9 for a shot, Aguardente Adega Velha is a brandy aged for twelve years in Limousin oak. Interestingly, double measures of spirits are priced exactly twice that of singles, again, missing a trick to encourage guests to trade up. Trusty Super Bock and Sagres beers are supplemented by Coral from Madeira, best enjoyed on summery afternoons from frozen glasses on the Graham’s branded terrace. This is also the best location for Mullins enhancement of a Spritz. “In a large stemmed goblet garnished with juliennes of fresh ginger, we combine shaken Graham’s Blend Nº5, ginger-infused lemon and elderflower with Aplauso spumate from Bairrada and soda,” he notes.

Dishes

Dishes are realised by Isabel Almeida da Silva. Formerly of The Wolseley, the long gone Mirabelle “in its heyday” said Mullins, The Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols which she helped open, and Joël Antunes in Atlanta, da Silva previously worked front of house at Volta do Mar in Covent Garden, switching roles at this incarnation. The couple met at Salt Yard group’s Opera Tavern. From her semi-open kitchen she celebrates Portugal, with influences from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Goa, Macau, Mozambique, and Japan. Mullins hinted that, “though sacrosanct”, the recipes of da Silva’s grandmother, meticulously recorded during her time catering for the Portuguese ambassador to Goa, may ultimately reach Volta do Mar’s menu. Opening the appetite, lunch began with a quartet of flawlessly cooked quails eggs served with coral coloured paprika pepped Maldon salt, then starters of firm boned Macanese African chicken which thankfully gained seasoning from a satay like sauce, and excellent home smoked, spherical Iberico croquettes. Beyond a skilfully thin crust, these were acceptably devoid of bechamel – to Mullins’ liking - and elevated by a welcome tingle of spice. With these, Mullins poured the easy-going Dócil, a humble, organic, granite-grown, Vinho Verde by Dirk Nieport, a winemaker once described by Wanderlust Wine as a “mischievous instigator”. This being a “Graham’s Official Ambassador” partner site according to the plaque by the entrance, wines from Certified B Corporation, Symington Family Estates, dominate the list, reaped from some 26 quintas spanning 2,462 hectares. These include the rosé from Quinta da Fonte Souto Serra de São Mamede, being the family’s first property outside of the Douro, in the cooler Portalegre subregion of Alto Alentejo. Representing their fourth vintage, the 2022 aped the popular Provence onion skin hue, though delivered an intriguing, white pepper stained palate, pairing with, advertised on the A-board, catch of the day of whole sardines on charred bread. Unexpectedly, the sides of Mozambique green rice spun in coriander and spinach outshone the slightly soft fishes and indeed the albeit silky moqueca of slightly tense unnamed fish and tiger prawns, with the winner of the meal being addictive, greaseless, nearly translucent chips seasoned with house piri piri. Finally, a pastel de nata, reasonably priced at just £3.50, worked best with Blandy’s trusty old labrador, a 15-year-old Malmsey.

Last word

While a tighter focus on wine service temperatures, preservation, and more expressive glassware is needed, which is not much to ask from such a seasoned restaurateur as Simon Mullins, Volta do Mar offers a personal and friendly venue which transports guests to Portugal and beyond for an afternoon. With deft spicing running through dishes, and a hopefully growing wine list, it provides an intriguing dining experience, particularly for those seeking Portugal’s liquid assets at close to retail prices.

Best for

  • Terraces and private room
  • Rarer bottles close to retail price
  • Piri piri-seasoned chips
Value: 93, Size: 85, Range: 85, Originality: 85, Experience: 89; Total: 87.4 Volta do Mar - 100 Draycott Ave, London, SW3 3AD; 0203 051 2352; reservations@voltadomar.co.uk; voltadomar.co.uk]]> Wine List Confidential: Cloisters at Nutfield Priory https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-cloisters-at-nutfield-priory/ https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-cloisters-at-nutfield-priory/#respond Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:58:39 +0000 https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/?p=643943 Douglas Blyde visits Cloisters at Nutfield Priory and finds it to be "not fit for a wine-friendly clientele" – but, despite the disappointment, he does find some silver linings.

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]]> https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2024/08/wine-list-confidential-cloisters-at-nutfield-priory/feed/ 0 Douglas Blyde visits Cloisters at Nutfield Priory and finds it to be "not fit for a wine-friendly clientele" – but, despite the disappointment, he does find some silver linings. “The beautifully gothic Nutfield Priory is lavishly embellished with towers, elaborate carvings, intricate stonework and stained glass,” wrote Square Meal, while the AA awarded Cloisters restaurant two rosettes for its “creative, modern take on country-house cooking.”

Design

Said to be inspired by the Palace of Westminster, this mansion, replete with tower, was built for British cotton magnate and Conservative MP, Joshua Fielden in the 1870s. Ever the life of the party, Fielden enforced a strict regime, forbidding guests from speaking to one another. In 1930, a Liberal Party politician had the bright idea to transform it into a merrier-sounding hotel with a nine-hole golf course, which has since disappeared. Silence triumphantly returned when the army took over the hilltop site as a school for the deaf during World War II. The Swift suite is one of the better vantages for admiring the fields once part of the estate and the happenings at Redhill Aerodrome and then Gatwick. Its sleigh bed, with ill-fitting sheets, is where Hand & Flowers chef, Tom Kerridge slept the night before us – perhaps for the Pub In The Park in Reigate. There is also a spa, famed for Bruno Paillard Champagne-infused pamper days, or if you are feeling virtuous, nutrition awareness sessions which could lead to tree-bathing and meditation. While the spa is not without issues - most notably a remarkably shallow pool, out-of-order showers, and faux foliage - it at least attempts modernity. Past a skip in the car park, the core hotel, on the other hand, clings desperately to a dull palette. Furniture, which appears throughout the hotel collection, rather than being tailored to each property, is frayed, dated, and bulky. The window frames in our room, which also boasted a potentially hazardous air conditioning control, are rotting. The organ in the grand hall, a woefully wasted space, is, like the grandfather clock in the landing, forever broken. The whole pile, from cobwebs on the uppers of mullioned windows, to sticky tables, and hazard tape accented forecourt, is in dire need of a deep clean.

Drinks

Predating the new CEO of Hand Picked Hotels, Ignace Bauwens, who joined from Corinthia, by five months, is head of wine, Louise Gordon. Her mission is to oversee the wine lists across no fewer than 21 properties. These range from beachside resorts in the Channel Islands, with its unique approach to alcohol taxation, to the granite mansion in Edinburgh once owned by the family behind Glenlivet. The Dorset-born Gordon rose from the position of Tesco checkout operative to The Newt, via the wine department at Harvey Nichols, Prism in the City, Clos Maggiore, Covent Garden, and Rib Room at Jumeirah Tower, Lime Wood and Heckfield Place. Combined with the anticipation of changes put in play by Bauwens, and Gordon’s inspiring pedigree, we felt compelled to visit this property, which also played host to a Dom Pérignon event the month prior, led by the illustrious Jacqueline Kobald. Before Gordon’s tenure, Hand Picked Hotels’ master list was tame, primarily stocked by one indebted supplier with fulfilment issues. Typical of idle chains, they lacked local vineyard selections. Though still not England’s finest, wines now include the keenly priced “Prosecco-style” FITZ (£9/125ml) from Sussex. For four pounds more, Premiere Cuvée Bruno Paillard is a worthwhile upgrade, reflecting a long-standing friendship with the Hands family. Bottles of 2013 Blanc de Blancs Liberte are offered at less than double retail (£164), while still wines by the glass reach to £45 per 175ml for Château Canon 2017. There is plenty to like by the bottle, with nearly 50 options at or under £50, including Château Saint Benazit’s 2016 Madiran (£34), the 2021 Glup Naranjo by Longavi, a “terpenic” orange Moscatel from Chile’s Itata Valley which spent half a year on its skins (£37), and Super Tuscan, Chiave di Saletta 2016 (£48). The latter is part of a chapter dedicated to Villa Saletta, an estate acquired by the Hands family in 2000, though with roots to 980AD. The 2018 Cabernet Franc was praised by Decanter: “almost apothecary fruits mingle with root spice and forest-like scents of earth and twig.” With minimal mark-up, a magnum of 2015 may be yours for £285. If not temptingly displayed under fluorescent light in a fridge, Jean Grivot’s Roncières Nuits St-Georges 2009 is seductively priced at £186, while Grand Puy Lacoste 2016 is £140. Sassicaia from the mighty 2016 vintage is also obtainable within reason at £415. Do not book in for super extracted Sauvignon Blancs from Marlborough given Gordon “simply can’t take its acidity after twenty years tasting wine.” Instead, navigate to the library bottle of 2011 Bannockburn Chardonnay from Felton Road in Central Otago (£110). Preferable to iced tea, a rich selection of sweet wines includes HJ Wiemer’s 2016 Noble Select Riesling from Long Island (£54/37.5cl), with Klein Constantia’s ever-drier Vin de Constance at £150/50cl for the 2017. On the subject of South Africa, Gordon has furthered a flourishing relationship with Creation Wines, extending the lines onto the room service offer – a far cry from the sugary bottled cocktails.

Dishes

Dishes at Cloisters, a tight stone corridor marred by fake gerberas, are overseen by painter and decorator turned group executive head chef, Matthew Ashton (formerly of The Savoy). Alas, alarm bells rang hours before our visit when it was brought to our attention that the venue’s long-term head chef, Alec Mackins, left months ago. Adding to the unease, we were informed that Gordon, facing a longer-than-expected drive, chose against meeting us. We pre-selected dishes for her to pair wines with, but the menu looked less exciting than under Mackins’ tenure. Gone was the South Coast scallop with osetra caviar, the pressed smoked eel and chicken with apple textures, the hay-baked partridge, and the monkfish with Japanese mayonnaise. Our dinner, booked weeks ago to mark Gordon’s anniversary with the group, would be left to a rudderless team instead. The wine service, crucial to Julia Hands, who bids guests “a magical wine discovery” at the start of the wine list, would be coordinated by email. Fortunately, aside from bread with greasy herb oil, dinner began well. An attractively presented chicken, leek, and ham terrine with fresh girolles, piccalilli, and tarragon mayonnaise paired pleasantly with the robust, smoky Channing Daughters Scuttlehole Chardonnay 2020 from Long Island. “The minerality is key here,” wrote Gordon, “with the leek and with the tarragon mayonnaise and honey and grain mustard dressing this will have enough structure, but not overpower any flavours.” Evident in the Romney Marsh lamb rump, the unnamed kitchen captain continued to cook quality ingredients with care. This dish featured bright hummus, juicy raisins, mint salsa verde, a rich jus, crunchy carrots, and clean spinach. It was paired with the vibrant Saletta Giulia from Villa Saletta 2018, a harmonious blend of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon enhanced by oak. At £65 per bottle, it offered exceptional precision and generosity. It left us wondering why the Hands family couldn’t channel the same focus into maintaining this hotel. With an excellent Surrey Hills chateaubriand, far better than the dispiriting fare at a certain wine-led members’ club, comprising lush tongues of beef, though let down by dull, floury chips, Gordon instructed her colleagues to decant Checkmate Opening Gambit Merlot an hour before. She channelled Wine Enthusiast’s tasting notes for the 2019 Okanagan Valley expression: “Aromas of dark plum, mineral, liquorice, spice, and mesquite [a sort of BBQ seasoning]. Highly-structured red fruit flavours follow, with acid and tannin behind them. Big enough to hold next to the beef, with a touch of acidity to help the palate not be overpowered.” Sadly, Black Forest gateau was bleak. Resembling Unilever’s Feast Original but far less enjoyable, the tough pudding was diminished by the contrastingly exceptional Howard’s Folly Carcavelos 1995. Gordon’s message noted the wine was “matured in 700-litre oak casks with ullage to enhance oxidation.” Despite being muffled in both a catering-grade port thimble and a flute, the wine’s excellence persevered. It was far superior to the local Love Heart-scented, aggressively carbonated Rondo and Reichensteiner Charmat served with the “Eton tidy.” Though looser in presentation than previous guests had experienced, with unhulled strawberries, the dish was innocent, if incoherent. We endured a sleepless night filled with corridor parties and disco beats shaking the hotel’s foundations. The next morning, while sipping wilted Matthew Algie coffee, we were greeted by a breakfast scene reminiscent of a seaside holiday camp, with groggy guests shuffling in flip-flops.

Last word

Since stepping into her role as head of wine for Hand Picked Hotels in July 2023, Gordon deserves kudos for her progress in upgrading the master wine list. However, our visit to Nutfield Priory revealed an Everest of tasks to tackle - one which makes Sisyphus’ job look like a leisurely stroll. For starters, the venue needs a rehabilitation deeper than the shallow swimming pool. The current visible wine storage – padlocked cupboards and a fluorescent-lit fridge – is not fit for a wine-friendly clientele. And thrifty wine glasses, proudly displayed en route to the restaurant, are, forgive the pun, a “pour” decision. The front-of-house team, though friendly, could use a bit more polish and a lot more hustle in clearing room service trays and tables groaning under the weight of empty dishes. Without serious cash, some TLC, and a dash of creativity, this property risks being mistaken for an unusually attractive airport annexe. Much like the local tank-fizzed wine flaunting a fancy crown on its label, Nutfield Priory pretends to be the pinnacle of British hospitality while serving up only a fraction of its potential.

Best for

  • Wines from the owners’ estate
  • North and South America
  • Champagne-pepped spa days
Value: 92, Size: 92, Range: 91, Originality: 90, Experience: 75; Total: 88 Cloisters at Nutfield Priory Hotel & Spa - Nutfield Rd, Redhill RH1 4EL; 01737 824400; handpickedhotels.co.uk]]>