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Wine List Confidential: Hakkasan Mayfair
Group buyer Christine Parkinson’s deep, detailed wine list is introduced with quirky titles such as ‘Curious Vines: Distinctive Wines’, and for Champagne, ‘Late Disgorged’.
Overall, Parkinson is motivated by the ability of the wine to dovetail with the Chinese cuisine that earned this venue a Michelin star, which it has held for more than a decade. In Parkinson’s words: “Every week, Hakkasan’s wine team conducts a dedicated tasting session, trying out new wines with at least four dishes from the menu: if a wine does not work with one dish – even if it is great with the others – it does not make the list.”
Although not a venue automatically known for the lowness of its prices (more than 20 bottles cost more than £400), value is to be found, for example, in wines from Alsace andGermany, even the US and Australia, including the reasonably priced sparkler Jansz from Tasmania.
Meanwhile, 1999 Cristal flagship fizz from Louis Roederer comes in at £3,888, making good use of the luckiest number in Chinese culture, which signifies prosperity.
CURRENT POSITION ON WINE LIST CONFIDENTIAL: 38
CURRENT WINE LIST CONFIDENTIAL OVERALL SCORE: 91.4
Expert wine picks
• 2006, Dom Pérignon, Champagne – France – Sparkling – £180
• Arneis, Seghesio, 2015, Russian River Valley, California – USA – White – £68
• Sepp Moser, ‘Minimal’, 2013, Grüner Veltliner, Kremstal – Austria – Orange – £102
• Kusuda, 2015, Riesling, Martinborough – New Zealand – White – £87
• Mas La Mola, 2012, Priorat – Spain – Red – £91
• Samuel Tinon, Tokaji Szamorodni, Tokaj – Hungary – Sweet – £80
Wine List Confidential, brought to you by the drinks business, is the first platform to rank London’s restaurants on the strength of their wine list alone, providing a comprehensive guide to the best restaurants in the capital for wine lovers.
Restaurants are graded on a 100-point scale based on five criteria: size, value, service, range and originality. For a full guide to London’s best wine lists visit winelistconfidential.com