London restaurants selling prized wines for a song

A number of top London restaurants have been following the lead of sommeliers in the US and selling some of their prized fine wines to go at bargain prices.

Michael Sager is selling some of his prized wines to keen his restaurants running
Lafite 1986 is on Lander’s Crown Jewels list

As reported by The Telegraph, Will Lander, who co-owns and runs The Quality Chophouse, Portland, Clipstone and Emilia, has created a ‘Crown Jewels’ collection of fine wines to go at his Quality Wines shop in Farringdon.

The six-bottle parcels cost £3,700, and include the likes of 1990 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Perrières, Meursault Premier Cru; 1978 Gaja Costa Russi Langhe-Barbaresco; and 1986 Château Lafite.

“We thought, why don’t we put one insane case online and see if it sells. If someone does buy it, we’ll put another similarly high-end case together,” Lander told the paper.

Meanwhile, Michael Sager of Sager + Wilde and Fare is selling off some of his prized stock to help his restaurants stay afloat during the coronavirus crisis.

His next cellar sale is today, Friday 15 May, and the wines will be sold on a first come, first served basis, with delivery promised in two to three days.

“We have 700 wines, almost half of which I would say are impossible to find in the UK. We’re selling Domaine Armand Rousseau, Chambertin-Clos de Bèze Grand Cru 1990 for £2,400, which is almost £1,000 cheaper than anyone else in the UK,” Sager told The Telegraph.

“There’s always more wine out there. If the choice for me is having a fancy wine cellar but working for someone else after eight years of running my own business, or selling all of my wine and re-opening my restaurants with a smaller wine list, then I’m definitely choosing the second option. No wine is worth as much as my freedom,” he added.

Those interested to know what wines Michael is selling and when his next batch will go on sale can email: michael@sagerandwilde.com