Bubbles Bubbles are kept in the kitchen We fetch & open these for you
Prosecco di Conegliano
£15.50
The fashionable Italian bubbly from north east Italy. This is made by the Malvolti family who began the entire prosecco thing in 1860 and still make very very good frizzante today. Quar ter bo ttle enough f or 2 small glasses
Rotari Brut
£5.50
£18.50
Methode champenoise using machinery rather than turning the bottles by hand. The cool hills of northern Italy have an ideal climate for growing chardonnay and pinot noir for champagne style wines. This is as good as quality french champagne but at half the price. Bronze Medal, Decanter World Wine Awards 2014
Rose´ di Salici Rose Prosecco. A beautiful bottle containing beautiful wine.
£18.50
White Wines Sauvion - Muscadet
£13.75
Muscadet de Sevre-et-Main Sur Lie Carte d’Or Poor quality cheap Muscadet drunk on camping holidays in Brittany in 80s. Oh dear! I have avoided it ever since. Astonished when I tasted this. Excellent and not just with seafood. A hint of honey, it goes well with pork and chicken. Vermentino- Ammiraglia
£15.00
My wife and I first tasted Vermentino in Sardinia whilst celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary. After a boat trip along the north east coast we sat on the harbour wall eating lunch and drinking this bottled sunshine. St Clair Sauvignon Blanc
£15.50
St Clair is probably the best winery in New Zealand. Their wines, including this stunning Sauvignon Blanc, keep winning Gold medals. This has been the best selling wine at 745 since the night that it opened. Kanu Chenin Blanc KCB
£15.75
Chenin Blanc is the grape from the Loire Valley that produces Vouvrey and other demi-sec wines. It is grown a lot in South Africa and often fermented out to produce a dry wine rather than semisweet. Kanu’s KCB is a lightly oaked dry white wine which drinks well with strongly flavoured foods.
Wine aid
White Wines Eugenio Collavini - Pinot Grigio
£15.75
Supermarkets are full of cheap wine of indifferent quality produced on an industrial scale from this trendy grape variety. In the hills near the Slovenian border in north east Italy, the Collavini family, growing on some very special soils, produce a surprisingly superior Pinot Grigio. Domaine Crotereau Quincy
£16.25
Quincy is not so far from Sancerre, but being less well known commands a lower price for its wines. Pierre Ragon produces a really high quality Sancerre style wine at a fraction of the price of his illustrious neighbours. Mellasat Chardonnay
£16.50
Top quality South African white produced by a Norfolk farmer who has a wine estate in Paarl near Capetown Gisborne Bell Ringer
£16.75
New Zealand’s ability to take European grape varieties and work wonders with them seems to know no bounds.This is Albarino, a Spanish variety. Slightly off dry, a hint of citrus and excellent quality.
Wine aid
White Wines Broglia - Gavi di Gavi La Meirana
£16.75
Possibly Italy’s finest indiginous white grape, the Cortese produces wines of freshness and vitality. In an exceptional vintage La Meirana achieves the highest ranking, “Tre Bicchiere” in Italy’s food and drink bible, Gambero Rosso. I tasted this again in February whilst chatting with Roberto Broglia and confirmed my opinion that Gavi di Gavi is my favourite italian white wine. Leone d’Almerita
£17.75
In the cooler hills of Sicily the Almerita winery take Catarrato, an indiginous grape variety, blend it with international classic Sauvignion Blanc, throw in a few handfuls of other grapes and some modern wine making techniques to produce this stunning white wine. Grillo d’Almerita
£18.25
Grillo (it means grasshopper/cricket) is principally used as the feedstock for making Marsala, Sicily’s sherry style wine and for making very cheap white wine. I only tried this because it was so expensive and I found out why. It’s utterly delicious! Once again Almerita have taken an indiginous grape and made something rather special with it. Wild Ferment Assyrtiko
£18.00
A world class white from Greece? Aromas of herbs on Greek hillsides in summer. Gold Medal winner Decanter World Wine Awards.
Wine aid
Special Occasion Whites Cooper’s Creek - Pinot Gris £20.50 Pinot Gris is normally associated with fine wines from Alsace. Now, in New Zealand’s amazing climate, the grape can produce equally wonderful fine wines of quality and finesse. I was stunned by this wine when I tasted it in March this year. Pouilly Fume Les Chailloux
£25.00
Pouilly like Quincy is near Sancerre, but on the other side of the Loire river with Silex soils rather limestone. Here the Sauvignon Blanc grape produces a very different wine. No gooseberry or elderflower flavours here. Just pure class. Chablis Premier Cru
£25.00
The Chardonnay grape in Chablis is at its northernmost limit when grown for still wine. Jean-Marc Brocard’s vineyard and all of the Premier Cru sites face south to garner as much sunshine as possible.The soils lie over the same limestone formation as Sancerre. Further south, in Burgundy, with lots more warmth and sunshine, chardonnay produces rich creamy whites. Here it produces the classic bone dry minerality that it is uniquely Chablis. Saintsbury Carneros Chardonnay
£25.00
From one of California’s top producers comes this high end chardonnay. The merest hint of oak, multilayered, with a long stunning finish. 92 Points “Wine Enthusiast”
Wine aid
Half bottlesWhite Eugenio Collavini - Pinot Grigio
£8.75
Supermarkets are full of cheap pinot grigio produced on an industrial scale. In the hills near the Slovenian border in north east Italy, the Collavini family, growing on some very special soils produce a surprisingly superior Pinot Grigio. Domaine Jean Goulley
£10.25
Philippe Goulley was an organic pioneer and his commitment and skill have paid off as this classic dry white illustrates. Bone dry classic Chablis Pouilly Fume Les Chailloux
£12.50
Pouilly like Quincy is near Sancerre, but on the other side of the Loire river with Silex soils rather limestone. Here the Sauvignon Blanc grape producs a very different wine. No gooseberry or elderflower flavours here. Just pure class. Domaine Gerard Millet
£11.00
Sancerre with a tiny hint of citrus rather than the classic gooseberry and elderflower flavours that you might expect. Saintsbury Carneros Chardonnay
£12.25
From one of California’s top producers comes this high end chardonnay. The merest hint of oak, multilayered, with a long stunning finish. 92 Points “Wine Enthusiast”
Wine aid
Rose Wines reside in the white wine chiller
Berton’s Rose
£13.00
This Shiraz based rose is a very deep pink. Pretty in the glass and very drinkable. But beware, at 14% you can get through a lot of alcohol in a surprisingly short time.
Wine aid
Red Wines Prunus Dao Vinho Tinto
£13.50
Prunus is a recent venture started by two people with a passion to prove that Portugal can produce decent wine as well as its world famous ports. A blend of 50% Touriga Nacional 20% Jean, 15% Tinto Roriz and 15% Alfocheiro Preto. Lightly oaked, and fruity. My current favourite red glug. Ondarre Rioja
£14.50
The Riserva from one of Spain’s top producers. Good honest lovely oakey Rioja. Lots of gold medals. Kanu Rockwood 2011
£15.00
This is a South African blend of five classic french red grape varieties which I tasted out of curiosity. (world famous Chateau Neuf du Pape is also blended from lots of varieties). Whether Kanu will ever be able to repeat this trick again I don’t know, but I’ve bought a lot of it just in case they don’t. Ignacio Marin Garnacha
£15.50
The french grape Grenache is often used in blended wines. Here grenache from ancient spanish vines performs solo to great effect. Gold Medals galore.
Wine aid
Red Wines Chateau La Fleur Grande Lande
£16.75
Montagne St Emilion wines have much of the charm of St Emilion proper, but at a sensible price. 80% Merlot with 15% Cabernet Franc and 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. A smooth affordable claret. n.b. it throws a heavy sediment, so pour carefully. Azienda Il Grillesino Morellino di Scansano
£16.00
Morellino is a clone of Sangiovese, the principal grape used in Chianti. Scansano is a region near the Tuscan coast with acidic rather the alkaline soils. Putting the two together produces Morellino di Scansano a smooth wonderfully drinkable variation on the Chianti theme. Domaine Beaurenard Rasteau
£17.75
Rasteau is technically a Cotes du Rhone Village. But it is near to Chateauneuf du Pape, is produced by Domaine Beaurenard who have a vineyard in and make Chateauneuf du Pape, and is every bit as good as many fine examples of Chateauneuf du Pape.The only difference is the price.
Wine aid
Red Wines Bodega Norton Privada £18.25 Malbec is a french grape which seems to have found its true home in Argentina. Privada is 40% Malbec plus 30% each of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged in new oak for 30 months, the result is the only red wine which has been on our list since the night we opened. Robert Parker gave it 90 points.
Crozes Hermitage - Les Launes £18.00 100% Syrah from the Northern Rhone from respected producer Delas Frere. Scored 91 points with Wine Advocate and The Wine Spectator
M £19.50 A stunnng red produced by a Norfolk farmer on his wine estate in Paarl near Capetown.This is made from Pinotage, the hybrid grape created in South Africa, with french grapes Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. All fermented seperately then blended and aged for ten years. this new addition to our list sits on top of the white wine chiller
Wine aid
Special Occasion Reds Moulin d’Angludet Margaux
£25.50
The second wine of a well known Margaux estate. The grapes are from younger vines but grown on the same amazing soil, and made with the same care and attention, by the same winemaking team. A really decent Cabernet Sauvignon dominant left bank Claret Saintsbury Carneros Pinot Noir
£26.50
Saintsbury are one of the top producer’s in California. This carefully constructed blend from a dozen of their vineyards in Carneros and Napa Valley is a vibrant and elegant example of a Californian Pinot Noir Eugenio Collavini Merlot dal Pic
£28.25
Near Italy’s border with Slovenia, the Collavini family make an exceptional Merlot. Hand selected grapes are dried for a few weeks before vinification. No heat, just zero humidity. It has two years in oak barrels and a further two in bottle before release.
Wine aid
Very Special Occasion Reds Marchese Antinori Tenuta Tignanello 2011 £32.50 Tignanello was the first wine from Tuscany to be made by blending Sangiovese, the principal grape in Chianti, with foreign varieties. In this case Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The first of the Super Tuscans! You would pay well over £100 for a bottle in a restaurant. However this is another blend from the same stable with just Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. I tried both from the 2011 vintage at a tasting in February and thought that this was almost as good as its big brother and at the price an absolute bargain for people who appreciate fine wine.
Wine aid
Half bottles Red Chateau Montaiguillon
£10.25
Sensibly priced Montagne St Emilion. Merlot dominant, smooth drinkable right bank claret. Ca’ Rugate £7.75 Valpolicella. Bright red in the glass and tasting of morello cherries. Chateau de la Perriere
£8.00
The sand over granite soils of Beaujolais are the home of Gamay. Brouilly, one of the top appellations, is the home of the Brac family who have run their family estate since 1631. Medium weight vibrant red wine. San Jacopo di Vicchiomaggio
£8.50
Chianti Classico made by English borne John Matta, named Italy’s winemaker of the year no less than four times. Villa Antinori Rosso
£9.75
Antinori have been in the wine business since the twelth century. Their Solia red wine costs c. £180 a bottle wholesale! This more modest offering is great with red meats. St Joseph Les Challeys
£8.75
This is Syrah on its home patch the Rhone Valley. A blend from several vineyards owned by Delas Frere. Robert Parker gave this 89 points.
Wine aid
Sweet Wines Sweet wines and port are kept in the kitchen. We will bring these to you
Finca Antigua (half bottle)
£13.50
Exquisite pudding wine to drink with more restrained puddings. This was on the wine list at El Bulli, many times voted the best restaurant in the world. (Before it closed) £3.50
Available by the small glass (65ml)
Quady Elysium Black Muscat (half bottle)
£11.50
A red pudding wine made from a red skinned clone of the Muscat grape. Drink with the sweetest and stickiest of puddings. £3.00
Available by the small glass (65ml) Quady Starboard Batch 88
£17.25
Andy Quady used to be a firework maker but now runs his own winery which unusually just produces sweet wines. After his success with pudding wines, he decided to try his hand at something else. Growing traditional port grape varieties like Touriga Nacional he now produces a stunning fortified wine. For all intents and purposes this is an outstanding LBV (Late Bottled Vintage) Port. But rules being rules he cannot call it port, hence the title Starboard. Available by the small glass (65ml)
£3.00
Brandy, Whiskey etc. Maxim Trijol Premier Cru VSOP Grand Champagne Brandy Per Measure (25ml)
£4.50
Baron Signonac 10 year old Armagnac Per Measure (25ml)
£4.50
Glenlivet 12 year old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky Per Measure (25ml)
£4.50
Ardbeg Uigdail The very best of the Islay smokey peaty whiskies Per Measure (25ml)
£6.50
Triple Sec orange liqueur Per Measure (25ml)
£1.75
Amaretto Per Measure (25ml)
£1.75
other drinks Greene King IPA (3.6% 500ml)
£3.00
Calvors Lager (3.8% 330ml)
£2.00
Aspall Cider
£2.75
Pellegrino Carbonated Water
£2.00
J2O - various flavours
£1.50
Ginger Beer
£1.50
Coca Cola / Diet Coke
£1.00
