Certain Restaurants' Wine Lists

[cabrales]

MartyL -- As always, thank-you (and thanks to other members) for responses in this thread.

[Beachfan]

Hard to go against the Beaucastel, especially if it's the Vielle Vigne (I'm not sure if they make another).

If your interested in Alsatian wines, the Mann 1998 Tokay Pinot Gris is lovely (although a hair expensive at $50).

[AdamLawrence]

Lunching at the Tate Gallery restaurant on Saturday. Menu looks relatively unremarkable, but the wine list is... extensive. Any thoughts as to especially good deals? Sadly I can't see us putting away a bottle of port, but the Grahams '63 at £120 is significantly below retail price.

Tate Britain wine list

cheers

Adam

[Charles Smith]

It's difficult for me to suggest bargains, b/c I'm not sure what you want to spend,

but a lot of the '88's look interesting to me:

Cos, Pichon Baron, la Mission-

also the '88 Tignanello.

the best high end bargain on the list is the '86 Unico.

in the lower ranges, the '94 Leoville Poyferre is drinking well now, if you like Beaujoulais the 2000 vintage was excellent so the brouilly might be a good chocie-

the '96 Boillot Volnay is a nice choice as well

[MartyL]

The 85 Dujac is pricey but an unusual thing to see on a restaurant list. The other thing that had me drooling was the 1949 Huet Demi-Sec. Not a bad price for that and it is probably pretty darned profound. Some people who are very familiar with older vintages think the 49 is even better than the 45. I'd go there and have that on its own or maybe with cheese.

There are some fascinating stories about Gaston Huet's experiences during WWII in the book "Wine and War." Reading through some excerpts from that book would make the experience even more meaningful.

[AdamLawrence]

Charles and Marty - thanks for your advice. In relation to price points, it's a safe bet I shan't buy the '66 Petrus at £595 (the wife would kill me), probably most of the rest of the list is within the bounds of possibility. That said, I don't have much of a palate for Bordeaux - I tend to prefer Burgundy and Rhone wines, so the Boillot Volnay had caught my eye too. I had also picked up on the Vega - we'll have to see on the day.

Thanks for the heads-up on the Huet. I read 'Wine and War' - didn't like it much, mainly due to the writing style, but the stuff on Gaston Huet was fascinating.

cheers

Adam