Wine Wharf

[SBonner]

I was looking for some comments on the Wine Wharf Wine Bar near the Borough Market and Vintropolis. What are the the most popular or new wine bars worth visting when in London. Thank you.

[magnolia]

I am a big fan of Wine Wharf for several reasons. They serve food all day (at least they used to, so check if you plan to go at an odd time. It's not a scene of any kind, it's very low key and you can sit and relax for as long as you like. The food is very decent wine bar type food, and good value as well. Little hors d'oeuvre type dishes as well as sandwiches and the like, maybe something more substantial and lunch or dinner. They have a large (for London) selection of wines by the glass, but of course their bottles are more interesting - and the prices are not insane. Most of all, I find the staff there really know their stuff - in fact I'm willing to say they're more knowledgable about wine,on average, than at any other gastro pub or wine bar in London. They'll leave you to do your own thing, if that's what you want - but keen to recommend and discuss the wine if you want to engage them in conversation.

[Gareth]

What are the the most popular or new wine bars worth visting when in London.

Very good question.

The Central London wine bar scene appears dominated by Balls Bros and Davey’s which are Ok-ish but hardly riots of imagination when it comes to the list. The Cork and Bottle remains a favourite in Leicester Sq. and I really enjoyed the Bar attached to Club Gascon for doing something really interesting within a region. One of these days RSJ might do something similar for the Loire, I hope.

But in general, your post prompted the thought that whilst interest in wine has progressed leaps and bounds, interesting wine bars have not. My impression is that there’s far more variety and fun to be had on the cocktail scene than with wine bars, or I am just looking in the wrong places ?

B.T.W. I thought Vinopolis was dire. What appeared to be a superficially comprehensive list was in fact compiled by selecting a very limited number of producers and then buying wines of every grape made by them. This equates to:

a) corporate profiteering;

b) laziness; or

c) bad wine.

Perm any two from three. Anyway after a couple of early visits I didn’t go back…

If you don’t mind getting your suit dry-cleaned afterwards, you could always try Gordon’s in Villiers St. From Vinopolis to Necropolis in one easy move…

[endless autumn]

Gordons is legendary.

The food is the scariest I have ever seen; the wine is usually at an inappropriate temperature and the place is full of aging commuters having a quick bevy with a naughty secretary before getting on the train home to their depressing, stale lives.

It's enormous fun and delightfully seedy.

[magnolia]

B.T.W. I thought Vinopolis was dire. What appeared to be a superficially comprehensive list was in fact compiled by selecting a very limited number of producers and then buying wines of every grape made by them. This equates to:

a) corporate profiteering;

b) laziness; or

c) bad wine.

Vinopolis itself is pretty dire, but it's not due to laziness. Basically, it's an aboslutely wonderful space with rich history, and it was able to tap the resources of some of the top people in the wine industry. But it has suffered from the 'if you build it, they will come' philosophy of destination marketing - without knowing exactly what 'it' was supposed to be: a "museum"? an events venue?

When it became clear that it wasn't attracting the kind of visitor numbers anticipated, the management had to cut back drastically on expenses and grand plans. They've had to turn to corporate profiteering, i.e. sponsorship for various exhibits, and soliciting freebies or discounted wines to serve to visitors for the wine tastings - which as you have noted, has resulted in serving very mediocre and standard wines in the very venue where people expect to be thrilled, and rightly so. It has all the right ingredients but I have always feared for its future.

The Wine Wharf, however, is very good and worth a visit.

This reminds me of another wine bar worth visiting - if only for atmosphere, though, the wine is nothing special - the George Inn, just across the road from Borough, in fact.

[Truffle]

Magnolia, could you post the street/borough where Wine Warf is?

Thanks

Truffle

[magnolia]

Vinopolis is at 1 Bank End, SE1 in Southwark. Closest tube/train is London Bridge. It's right near Southwark Cathedral, the Clink and Borough Market.

Phone # is: 0870 2414040

Maybe this link will work...

http://uk2.multimap.com//clients/browse.cg...dq&siteArea=edq

[Romaney O'Malley]

I second the George Inn - it's a fabulous place just oozing atmosphere and charm. Have whiled away many an evening there and not known where the time went. oops.

[CheGuevara]

Gordons is legendary.

The food is the scariest I have ever seen; the wine is usually at an inappropriate temperature and the place is full of aging commuters having a quick bevy with a naughty secretary before getting on the train home to their depressing, stale lives.

It's enormous fun and delightfully seedy.

don't be misled! the food is fantastic at gorodon's. two hunks of cheese, some semi crisp baguette, and off you go.

-che

[magnolia]

actually while we're on the topic, The Bleeding Heart (recent thread on this board) has at least two 'spaces' that could be considered a wine bar, one is actuallyl a bar, the other is a cafe. Heck, they have a decent restaurant too. Main thing is that the food's good, the service & atmosphere are pleasant, and the wine list is much better than average.

[chrisnorth]

I really enjoyed the Bar attached to Club Gascon for doing something really interesting within a region.

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Cellar Gascon is definitely worth a visit for fans of wines of the Southwest of France. There is some good food to be had but in our recent experience it can be uneven.

The winelist is really quite reasonable priced compared to other restaurants in London, with only about a 100% markup over retail (whereas many good restaurants go for 150-200% in my experience ... shocking!).

[Shira]

reasonably impressed by the selection. prices ok. surprised by how empty it was on a lovely spring night. terrible muzak though.