best value wine list london
Top 10 London wine lists by price 5th September, 2016 by Darren Smith Like a self-assessment tax return or an Iris Murdoch novel, a restaurant wine list can be a distressing, agonising document. Unless you’re operating with a company expense account – in which case, hooray, party time – finding value is usually the keenest priority. But it’s far from easy, particularly in a city like London, where price inflation is at times maniacal and restaurants face a constant uphill struggle to stay in the black. Wine has always been one of the best means for restaurants to make a big profit. It is almost always the most profitable part of the business. The average margin most restaurants look to gain from a bottle of wine is around 70%, and slightly more for wine by the glass. Another way of looking at it is the they will generally charge three times more than the retail price for a bottle, then add VAT. These are the general rules, beyond which everything’s up for grabs – mark-ups of 400% or more on the retail price of a bottle are not uncommon.
Many restaurants are unscrupulous in this regard. However, those restaurants that care about wine will tend to calibrate their prices to encourage guests to dabble, to take a punt – for example by setting prices closer to the cost price the further you go ‘up’ the list. For anyone who enjoys wine, finding restaurants like these is a great thing. Fortunately for such ones, Wine List Confidential can lead the way. The free-to-use Wine List Confidential website (and, imminently, app) is a unique, transparent and straightforward way to connect wine lovers with restaurants. Using a numeric rating system, it allows wine lovers to quickly compare the wine offer in restaurants whatever the food and format. Using a simple 100-point scale, Wine List Confidential scores restaurants on all aspects of their wine offering – from service to range, size, originality of the selection and price. These scores are then used to calculate an overall Wine List Confidential Score for every restaurant reviewed.
So, for the wine bargain hunters, in the pages that follow, we present the top 10 London restaurants on WLC based on price… Subscribe to our newsletters Ornellaia collection makes $112,500 in NYC Week in Photos: Hong Kong The week in pictures Penfolds Grange leads Barossa Wine Chapters Auction ‘Rosé all day’ wine brand launched Dry whites will save sweet Sauternes Farmacy launches cannabis cocktails Power can be as dangerous as gin warns Pope Single Malt exports surpass £1billion for first time Bottega Gold wins US Duty Free listing Michael Schuster launches new website TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference attracts record exhibitors Roumier leads the way at Sotheby's sale London Cru doubles production of English wine England’s most expensive sparkling wines Waitrose ups beer range by nearly 30% Tesco Champagne is cheaper than mouthwash Prosecco ‘has paved the way’ for Franciacorta
Craft beer: Clouds on the horizon Southern Rhône excels in 2016 Trump’s wines trounced 7-0 European Brands Sales Manager, Field Sales Managers and Executives London, Brighton, E Sussex/Kent, Cornwall & Devon, GB Sales Manager - Scotland Sales Manager - North-West England Sales Manager - London Key Account Manager - Grocery Key Accounts Manager - Impulse North Devon & Somerset, UK Sales Manager - North East England Within 15-20 mile radius of York, UK London and Greater London, GB Park Royal, London, UK Head of Sales - Hush Heath Estate The Global Merlot Masters 2017 Deadline : 2nd May 2017 Deadline : 3rd May 2017 The Global Organic Masters 2017 The Global Sparkling Masters 2017 Deadline : 12th May 2017 Global Chardonnay Masters 2016 Now in its fourth year, the competition will identify the best Chardonnay from all around the world in every price range. Now in its fifth year, the competition will recognise and reward the finest Riojas on the world stage.
Now in its third year, The Fortified Masters will reward the best fortified wines on offer. The Global Malbec Masters 2016 the drinks business is proud to announce the inaugural Global Malbec Masters 2016.Several months ago I visited an Italian restaurant where the food was terrific, including a creamy risotto with foraged herbs, then a wild boar ragout rich with porcini. Unfortunately, the wines were shocking: a Verdicchio from Le Marche should have been better than tart and lemony, and a Puglian Primitivo was a soupy, alcoholic concoction of zero typicity. Like many restaurants, the wine list was deliberately obfuscated: full of exclusively ‘on-trade’ labels (wines only available in bars and restaurants) that ensure customers can’t compare prices with the high street. A reasonable knowledge of wine grapes, regions and styles gives at least some chance of choosing wisely; otherwise it’s a complete lottery. My tactic of taking a punt on something that has decent credentials on paper and is modestly priced normally turns up a decent wine – but you can still be unlucky.
Below are a few ‘honourable exceptions’ – restaurants where you can find great choice and value… Now 18 branches, and a list that’s more carefully chosen than at many chains. Local buying decisions are allowed, sommeliers even buying wine at auction. Some less-obvious Italian choices, and you can buy from the shop to drink with your meal. The prices are a little steep, but it has a serious and unrivalled selection of Argentinian wines. Focused on whites to suit the mainly fishy cuisine; Under the same ownership. Exceptional lists with lots by the glass, and some prices cheaper than retail. Only ever buying 10 cases of wine for its ever-changing list – and great food-matching too. A great example of a fixed cash margin replacing percentage gross profit further up the list. Masterchef: The Professionals winner Jamie Scott’s bistro; a fab list from a local merchant.Subscribe to Decanter here. Trying to save money...? Who better to ask where to wine and dine in London than our experts...