New on Wine List Confidential: CUT at 45 Park Lane

Housed within the 45 Park Lane hotel, Cut at 45 Park Lane offers a scintillating list of wines from the US, with a hedonist’s playground of offerings from The Golden State.

The restaurateur grandfather of Head Sommelier, Matteo Ramazzina apparently taught him how to open a bottle of wine before riding a bike. Of his starry career, Ramazzina says: ‘working with wine is pretty much all I’ve ever done. I started working in France and Switzerland, then moved to London in 2004 where I had the honour of working with the likes of Morton’s Club, Maze by Gordon Ramsay, and The Ritz. I joined Dorchester Collection’s very own 45 Park Lane two years ago.’

CUT at 45 Park Lane, replete with Damian Hirst butterfly art and rock and prog rock soundtrack, ‘boasts one of the most extensive, refined and extensive North American fine wine selections in UK,’ says Ramazzina, proudly. ‘We managed to secure a good allocation before the devastating Californian bushfires last year. So we are still able to offer some legendary wines at great value,’ he adds.

One of Ramazzina’s commitments is to maintain an easily approachable, yet top end wines by-the-glass programme, ‘with several fine wines served on constant rotation.’ These may include Massican’s ‘Annia’, a Tocai-Friulano blend from Napa, and, from the Barossa, Henschke’s Keyneton Estate Euphonium Shiraz.

In order to earn a place on Ramazzina’s list, a wine has to be approachable, ‘and ultimately a crowd pleaser – for as much as sommeliers are keen to feature the wackiest wines out there, they should be customer friendly first, and unique after.’

Of particular interest is Cut’s ‘60 bottles under £60’ selection, including Angels & Cowboys’ Merlot Blend from Sonoma County. Large formats meanwhile, may include a magnum of Lanson Special Réserve 1982, billed as the only such bottle ‘left on the planet’, as well as a jeroboam of Super Rhône, Chêne Bleue ‘Eloise’. Other Old World wines may include the selection of Mouton dating back to 1971 and various Vega Sicila. Also note the instances of Italo-American collaboration, Luce della Vite, and Franco-American, Opus One.

Of the palate of engaging and depthful of biography, Austrian celebrity chef, international restaurateur and occasional actor, Wolfgang Puck, Ramazzina says, ‘he has one of the most flexible palates I’ve ever encountered, and a penchant for great wines, regardless of region, grape or price he could be seen enjoying a bottle of mature, super Brunello then a moment later, open a magnum of bold, luscious Syrah, Sine Qua Non.’ Indeed, Ramazzina includes, in his list, a fine chapter on the latter, crafted by ‘the eccentric’, Manfred Krankle.

Dishes, realised by chef, David McIntyre, may include starter of big eye tuna tartare with perky wasabi aioli and Togarshi crisps, followed by prime, rested USDA Creekstone 14oz rib eye, South Devon Angus 6oz fillet, or, from arguably the widest selection of wagyu beef in London, Japanese pure wagyu New York 6oz sirloin.

Another positive feature of the restaurant is the roving drinks trolley – and indeed the pristine bar above the restaurant, where a blotter dry, lip stingingly cool vodka martini is assured…

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

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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