Wine List of the Week: Jean-Georges at The Leinster
International wines and playful Irish cuisine define Douglas Blyde’s visit to Jean-Georges in Dublin, situated in The Leinster, a luxury lifestyle hotel built over the site of former beloved nightclub, Howl at the Moon.
Adorned with bold tiles and Damien Hirst canvases, Dublin’s newest boutique hotel, The Leinster, rises on Lower Mount Street at the edge of Merrion Square, where Oscar Wilde reclines in permanent pose across the park. Designed by ODOS Architects for Dean Group, the townhouse has been recast with a rooftop restaurant and twin terraces. Into this strode Jean-Georges Vongerichten, the Alsatian-born chef with a Manhattan pedigree. As Leslie Williams observed in the Irish Examiner, “Dublin has not been kind to blow-in chefs, having seen off Gordon Ramsay, Jean Christophe Novelli and Richard Corrigan.” He added that Vongerichten “came to fame in New York where his Jean-Georges restaurant in Trump Tower holds two Michelin stars,” and today oversees close to 50 restaurants worldwide. Yet the memory many diners carry away is not pedigree but laughter: as one TripAdvisor reviewer put it, the manager ran the room with such polish and playfulness that “my friend spat out her drink.”
Drinks
The wine list is the responsibility of Brazilian-born head sommelier, Deivid Pacheco, whose career has spanned Auckland, Santa Catarina and, most recently, Wilde at The Doyle Collection to the west of The Leinster. His programme here is ambitious and international, designed to reassure big spenders while leaving ample room for discovery. By the glass, it begins at €9.50 for 150ml of Heinz W. Grüner Veltliner from Kamtal – brisk, peppery, lime-edged – and climbs through Casa Ferreirinha’s Quinta da Leda (€29 per 150ml via Coravin), a structured Douro red with graphite and spice, to the top pour of 70ml of Château d’Yquem 2007 (€80), saffron-rich and, like Wilde, unashamedly decadent.
By the bottle, Australia’s Babington Brook Chardonnay 2023 is the cheapest entry at €41: a house white without illusions. Bubbles stretch from Paco & Lola Cava (€65) to Cristal 2015 (€550). Bordeaux, unsurprisingly, is the strongest suit, from the classic Cissac 2019 (€70) to first growth royalty, Château Latour 2005 (€2,300), while Burgundy plays its patrician role with Dujac Vosne-Romanée Les Beaumonts 2017 (€790). California is represented by The Mascot 2018 (€390), the “baby Harlan”, all cassis, cedar and polish. For more curious palates, Armenia appears via Zorah’s Karasi Areni Noir 2021 (€90), pale, lifted, cranberry-bright. China with Kanaan’s Pretty Pony Cabernet Merlot (€120), a Ningxia blend which has won over sceptics with poise and structure. Slovenia contributes Gašper Rebula 2020 (€75), savoury and textural, while Uruguay weighs in with Pisano Tannat 2018 (€66), all grip and black fruit.
Yet, curiously given Pacheco’s roots, Brazil is absent. Earlier that very day, Pacheco had poured Cave Geisse Nature 2022 from Pinto Bandeira at a Coravin paulée, proudly showing his peers the finesse of reductive sparkling from his homeland. “I think showcasing something new and emerging is always exciting, though admittedly it can be hard to source,” he noted, half in explanation, and half in lament.
Downstairs, the Collins Club picks up the baton with cocktails rather than crus. Named in honour of Dublin-born, David Collins – once hailed by Vogue as “London’s Great Interior Designer” – it nods to a man whose interiors reshaped restaurants from Harvey’s to Koffmann’s. Overseen by Luka Breskovac, and set to a 1970s soundtrack, punters can discover a bar-top tasting of works-in-progress. The well-quipped lab is displayed in plain view, allowing for a little molecular theatre, as chocolate and tequila are redistilled. “The Flight Unknown” offers three miniature cocktails designed to amuse. And drawn from a smart binder, perfected drinks might include a potent margarita with birds’ eye chilli, and grapefruit liqueur in lieu of off-the- peg triple sec. One wonders if Ireland’s own poitín might be next to be taken seriously here.
Dishes
The kitchen is led not by an imported lieutenant, but by Dublin-born executive chef, Ben Dineen, whose CV runs through L’Gueuleton and Luna, with moments afloat cooking on superyachts in the Bahamas. The signature opener could be described as eggs-on-egg: butter-brioche clasping slow-warmed yolk and topped with caviar, its saline depth clipped neatly by Pacheco’s choice of Taittinger Rosé.
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Then came a Jancis Robinson/Richard Brendon mouth-blown stem brimming with Dreissigacker “Vintage Heroes” – six Rieslings spanning 2017-2022, bottled together. At once linear and layered, it found successful partners: tuna tartare with ginger, organic salmon “sushi” perched on crisped rice fingers evoking panisse, mint flashing through like a squeeze of lime. Treasures of the sea continued with white crab from Lambay Island’s cold, deep waters, packed into crisp spring rolls, more cigar in stature than canapé, with contrasting tamarind – “very nice, though face for radio,” as our guest noted. Rock Hall Irish squid, charred and paired with chipotle, joined supple octopus arm and kohlrabi, underpinned by flavoursome cashew romesco. Here, Chablis gave way to Slovenia’s Gašper Rebula – textural, savoury, and more convincing.
For mains, pan-roast cod sat in a stew of Atlantic clams and guanciale. Then grass-fed John Stone beef, carefully cooked, with a Parmesan roulade, chilli emulsion and French fries fragrant with herbs. Zorah Karasi 2021 Areni Noir – often cited as one of the world’s oldest cultivated grape varieties, nicknamed the “Armenian Pinot Noir” – added layered juiciness. Desserts kept the playfulness. Warm chocolate fondant – claimed to be invented by both Michel Bras and Jean-Georges – was indulgent, matched with Taylor’s teak-hued 50-Year-Old Tawny.
Poached peach with Champagne sabayon, peach sorbet and almond tuile found its echo in Château d’Yquem 2007, which resounded in waves for minutes at a time. The whole procession moved to a disco-era beat, including Down on the Avenue by Philadelphia’s Fat Larry’s Band – an American soundtrack with a Manhattan nod back to Vongerichten himself.
Last Sip
The Leinster has erased the sticky legend of the Howl at the Moon nightclub which stood here before, swapping late-night dance floor grooves for Grüner Veltliner. Part of Dean Group – whose portfolio also includes The Clarence, The Devlin, The Mayson and Glasson Lakehouse – it carries the family knack for personality with poise. Jean-Georges brings Manhattan heft, Ben Dineen keeps it Dublin and Deivid Pacheco’s cellar brings international terroir to the table. With the Collins Club downstairs adding cocktails as sharp as its soundtrack, this is Dublin learning what Wilde already knew: indulgence is best delivered with style.
Best for:
- Global tour of wines
- Calibrated cocktails
- Rooftop vantage
Value: 93, Size: 91, Range: 96, Originality: 97, Experience: 97; Total: 94.8
Jean-Georges at The Leinster – 7 Mount Street Lower, Dublin 2, (01) 233 6000;
reservations@theleinster.ie; theleinster.ie
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