Vinopolis

[jdtofbna]

I'm making my annual pilgrimage to London and Cornwall in September and was wondering if any of you eGulleteers have been to or have an opinion on Vinopolis. I can't decide from looking at their website if it's really worth a visit or just a hype-y tourist place. Thanks!

Jana

[Jon Tseng]

I'm making my annual pilgrimage to London and Cornwall in September and was wondering if any of you eGulleteers have been to or have an opinion on Vinopolis.  I can't decide from looking at their website if it's really worth a visit or just a hype-y tourist place.      Thanks!

Jana

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Received opinion is touristy I think. Pleasantly close to Borough Mkt, though...

[Clerkenwellian]

I'm making my annual pilgrimage to London and Cornwall in September and was wondering if any of you eGulleteers have been to or have an opinion on Vinopolis.  I can't decide from looking at their website if it's really worth a visit or just a hype-y tourist place.      Thanks!

Jana

←

The restaurant is in a beautiful space but the food is very ordinary indeed. Good winelist, though.

[Marco_Polo]

Vinopolis is a fun tourist attraction centred on wine, no more, no less. It's really an interactive museum or exhibition. You can attend a basic introduction to tasting at the start of the visit. Each country or region's exhibits are sponsored individually by Comité Interprofessional, Consorzio, region or country, and so each is quite different in theme and approach. Virtually the entire wine world is represented, more or less. Along the way, there are tasting areas where you can sample a number of wines, depending, I think from recollection, on how many tickets you buy with your entry fee. My favourite area was the Italian section where you sit on a real Vespa and watch a movie on the Vespa windscreen that takes you on a hairpin journey through the wine country of Tuscany, Piedmont etc. Really fun - well, I enjoyed it anyway. I ate something simple in the restaurant - maybe a cassoulet type dish? - but accompanied with a really good bottle of wine. I can't remember much more. Stumbled out quite happily some hours later and would thoroughly recommend a visit - if you like wine, that is (it would be pretty boring if you didn't). Yes, Borough Market just around the corner. Also the Globe Theatre.

Marc

[jdtofbna]

Thanks so much for those replies, especially to Marc for the details. Since I used to live in London and have done and seen just about every other touristy thing, I may check this out---sounds like good boozy fun, and a good excuse to swing by Borough mkt.

[SBonner]

I would give it a miss. I've been there twice over the last two years and I'd rather spend my money tasting wine flights in the Wine Wharf around the corner.

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

Vancouver

[jdtofbna]

Thanks, Stephen, that sounds like an even better idea since we won't have to commit to so much time and can get right down to the business of wine tasting

Do many restaurants or bars in London do wine flights or is this unique to Wine Wharf?

Jana

[SBonner]

Thanks, Stephen, that sounds like an even better idea since we won't have to commit to so much time and can get right down to the business of wine tasting

Do many restaurants or bars in London do wine flights or is this unique to Wine Wharf?

Jana

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When I worked in the U.K. most restaurants did not offer flights like their counterparts in North America. Some wine bars do and many restaurants offer wine in taster sizes...so you can experiment. The Wine Wharf is a fun place to hang out; they have good prices on their wines and some interesting flights. It is the same owner as St.John's who now also owns a Brewpub "Brew Wharf" in the same neighbourhood...so if you get "wined out

"you can always get a beer to re-hydrate

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

Edited July 14, 2006 by SBonner (log)