New on Wine List Confidential: Restaurant Gordon Ramsay

One of the most important aspects of a wine list is to be able to offer bottles at varying stages of their maturity to suit all palates, says sommelier, James Lloyd, ‘but our list does lean towards the more mature.’

The glamorous petite dining salon saw a kitchen refurbishment in January, resulting in the movement of a few bottles from cool cabinets in this space off site. However, wines of the highest quality remain, which “have to make sense for the money,” and “be ready to drink,” according to laser-sharp head sommelier, James Lloyd who has authored an entertaining list featuring charts, maps, flavour wheels and textual factoids, such as ‘back in the day, Montrachet was the wine Grace Kelly brought to wheelchair-bound Jimmy Stewart’s apartment in Rear Window along with a meal from the 21 Club. We would willingly break one of our legs for that kind of delivery service…”

Lloyd details his modus operandi: “my barometer at all times must be the guests wants and needs, and what works with the food of chef, Matt Abé,” adding, “I love wines with maturity which tend to work better with our food meaning the guest has a more balanced, more enjoyable experience.’ It also helps if Lloyd and his team finds fervour in flavour of what is to be listed. ‘I must enjoy it. Sounds simple, but sometimes I feel sometimes are led by fads or fashions and must trust their palates more.”

Lloyd is fortunate to have curated a large list, but that is not, he notes, licence to overload a section “just for the sake of it”.

Lloyd began his wine career in 1999, not in the environs of 17th century Chelsea but South Croydon. His first, ‘serious’ role as he puts it was at Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor restaurant in 2001, followed by Royal Hospital Road a year later as commis sommelier where he remained for four years, “making my way to assistant head sommelier”. He subsequently traversed the Atlantic to The London, New York, “as part of Gordon’s [Ramsay] opening team.” A sunny sabbatical saw him take an internship at Cantina Ceretto, Piedmont to work the harvest, subsequently taking on the mantel of sommelier at a wine bar on the shores of Lake Garda.

“On my return to London, I was head sommelier for Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley. Then I decided to look at the other side of the trade, working at Bibendum as prestige accounts salesperson learning facets I would not otherwise have known. On returning to the floor, I worked at Alain Ducasse, Playboy Club, Selfridges with Pierre Koffmann, finally returning to Gordon at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in 2016 as head sommelier.”

One of the most important aspects of a wine list is to be able to offer bottles at varying stages of their maturity to suit all palates, says Lloyd, “but our list does lean towards the more mature. Many lists will have the big names but choose vintages which are far too young to really work with food and are generally put there because the restaurant knows they will sell them and get good revenue.” Such complex wines deserve time to find semblance of balance, ‘of fruit, tannins, acid and integration of oak and gain the elegance,’ observes Lloyd. ‘Wine lives and breathes in a bottle. When young like a child, it is boisterous, full-on and immature.’ However, an aged wine, “like a mature adult, is better balanced, more focused and elegant.’ Crucially, Lloyd underlines, having great food and service can be let down by a wine which overwhelms. ‘If that is the case then you have let the guest down.”

Lloyd and Abé spend between a remarkable four to six weeks ensuring wines and dishes dovetail on the tasting menu. “To explain what sounds an exceptionally long time for this process, Matt and I work tirelessly together. He begins by creating a dish, cooking the individual components which we taste together, giving feedback and suggestions, be it looking at seasoning, herbs, what other ingredients could work to complete the dish. This will go on for weeks until it is, in our eyes at least, perfected. During this process I will be thinking of wines. Being able to break each dish into individual elements really helps my clarity of thought. Once the dish is complete we will taste and I will bring three or four wines to try, making sure the correct glass is used to accentuate the characteristics I want to highlight.”

The type of glass might also change, “as we will find one brings out more acidity, which might be required – or more fruit”. Throughout, Lloyd always involves his team, “who must believe in the pairing.”

Wines by the glass may include Bollinger Grande Année, Gavin Quinney’s Chateau Bauduc Bordeaux Blanc, the Super Trentino San Leonardo, and Chateau d’Yquem,

There are 14 bottles below £50 and considerably more than 100 over £1,000, including flights of Domaine de la Romanée Conti and first growth Bordeaux dating to 1900 (at £10,000), and, at reverse polarity, even some interesting serves from the ‘Temperance Bar’ mocktails selection. Despite the numerous potentially vertigo-inducing price tags, value may be found on this list of liquid history…

To see the WLC position and scores for this review click here

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

the drinks business published the inaugural 2017 Wine List Confidential: One to Sixty-One guide last year. We are currently working on a new 2018 edition and are busy re-reviewing top-scoring restaurants and adding new entries to the database. Check back later in the year for final scoring and position of restaurants.