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db turns spotlight on restaurant wine lists
Greatest hits restaurant league tables emerge with a fanfare every other week, but as with restaurant reviews, few seem to give much recognition to the wine list.
the drinks business is looking to tap into the wine trade’s collective encyclopaedic knowledge of the most exciting, intelligently compiled or best-value lists in Britain which deserve recognition.
Whose wine list do you love to get lost in until the waiters despair of ever taking your food order? Which sommelier can be relied upon to introduce you to something new that doesn’t require you taking out a second mortgage? Who’s making a real effort with their by-the-glass offer?
While the sheer concentration and variety of good restaurants in London means the capital tends to hog the limelight, not all wine lovers live inside the M25.
We want to hear about those places around the country, be they gastro-pubs or neighbourhood restaurants, which have lavished care and passion on their wine list.
Some of the most exciting lists don’t try to cover every base. Who deserves recognition for nudging customers away from Pinot Grigio by devoting specialist attention to a wine region close to their heart?
Where do you go for your Sherry fix or to enjoy some really interesting Champagnes? Which list does more to excite with a single page offer than many restaurants can achieve with a 500-bin tome?
Send your recommendations and comments to gabby@thedrinksbusiness.com and we’ll use these to help compile a detailed survey later this summer, which will form the basis of our next on-trade report. It’s time to acknowledge the people who deserve recognition for making the UK one of the world’s most exciting places to drink out.
Gabriel Savage, 15.06.2010
The Harrow Restaurant near Hungerford is passionate about its wine list and prides itself on finding the right wine at the right price for the right customer. I have been amazed at the trouble they take. Front of house boss Sue is very knowledgeable but the chef knows even more!
The Harrow has a real passion that you can see in their amazing depth of things like Aussie Riesling, New Zealand Wines and some of the more eclectic end of traditional AC’s. Always exciting by the glass recommendations with great pairings with Roger’s exquisite food. It is virtually impossible to dine at the Harrow without having a new and exciting wine/ food combination.
We are one of The Harrow’s suppliers, of Welsh gourmet sea salt, and I am impressed at the lengths Roger will go to in his pairing of ingredients and wines.
The Harrow offers good value tasting menus based around superb wines.
Tasting menu’s where each course is matched with a different wine always hit the spot at The Harrow at Little Bedwyn. Good value ‘by the glass’ options generally lead me onto a path of discovery, which can be just the push necessary when the choice is such that my decision making gets fuzzy. I always start with a glass of fizz and have yet to be disappointed by the delicious offerings that regularly change. Summer brings a relaxing garden terrace area – a perfect place to enjoy fabulous, tasty food with a glass or three.
OK, we get it, you guys like The Harrow. Are there any other restaurants out there who might warrant a mention?!?
The Harrow at Little Bedwyn has made a justified name for itself as a restaurant of consistent quality and value. When the restaurant opened I recall the wine list offering the much-hyped Cloudy Bay SB at wine shop prices. The idea of creating a list that has something for all tastes and doesn’t bleed the customer’s wallet continues 10 years or more later. A favourite of ours is the Terre Rouge Roussanne – at £28 it’s barely a tenner marked up from the wholesale price, just one example of many and a great reason to return for more.