London restaurants are not doing enough to improve their diners' wine experience, new research has revealed.
According to the study conducted by Wine Intellegence, the capital's restaurants are not providing their guests with enough information or guidance when they peruse the wine list.
'Only one third of restaurants offer tasting notes or any sort of guidance,' said the report.
Although in recent years wine lists in London restaurants have grown, and become more adventurous, they continue to neglect wine as part of the dining experience.
'Diners found that restaurants are more interested and enthusiastic about their food offering and as such fail to promote and maximise their customer's wine experience,' the report added.
Decanter's acting editor, Guy Woodward, agrees.
'Wine is woefully underserved by restaurant critics,' he said in this month's issue of Decanter magazine. 'Yet wine lovers are routinely taken advantage of via exorbitant mark-ups, while wine novices are confronted with intimidating wine lists which rarely contain any guidance in terms of style or pairings. Yet restaurateurs gladly take a third of their profits from such laziness.'
The report, commissioned by on-trade wine show Wine+, taking place this week, also concluded that diners who knew their wines were more likely to have a better restaurant experience than those who didn't.
'Wine is an important part of the restaurant experience and this research shows how important it is for staff to understand their lists and ensure sensible pricing structures,' said Gordon Ramsay's head sommelier, Ronan Sayburn.
To read the rest of Guy Woodward's column, see the February issue of Decanter magazine.
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Like many many things that matter in Britain in the past 10 years, standards in this area have dropped even lower than they once were! The growth and expansion of the number and type of eating establishments, and an outward glitzy of appearance cannot mask the fact that standards have not risen and have in fact, in my view, fallen.
It is more to do with the rampant non-professionalism that one finds in almost all dining establishments in the UK, including the so-called starred restaurants. This includes slovenly and, in many cases inexcusable arrogance, in the service experienced.
The main issue it seems to me is simply the lack of professional standards with regard to the whole approach to food and wine in Britain's restaurants. The majority of serving and front of house staff clearly have a minimum idea of what they are serving (both food and wine) and seem wholly disinterested in the subjects of their functions when asked!
Lack of training and the use of casual labour could be one major reason, but I fear it is deeper than that. The seeming popularity of 'celebrity' chefs and foodie TV programs mask the reality that most people in Britain have little idea of and appreciation of good quality cuisine, food and drink with respect to their everyday lives. I put forward as evidence the existence of the enormous range of fast-food outlets, takeaways and 'Starbucks'-type cafes, The latter cafes serve the most horrendous renderings of a drink called coffee to an unsuspecting and apparently undemanding public. And this is despite the fact that we are travelling more and should demand higher standards. But, the facts are there, that these establishments make huge sales and profits and are multiplying at a rate which defies belief (and good taste)!
It is also a matter of the depth of quality which is of most concern. It is wonderful to have 3* restaurants in our midst but the sad fact is that there is no even distribution downwards from those lofty heights where the majority of the public have their restaurant experience.
As I travel around the world, I witness standards of restaurant cuisine and food knowledge which we should strive for. Once again, I have to admit that the New World and the Far East while trying to emulate us in the recognised capitals of high cuisine, are actually doing a far better job. If I were to choose a city to which London could look to and strive to match its standards from every viewpoint, it would be Tokyo. The standards, depth of quality of cooking and knowledge of the staff in restaurants of both the food and wine they serve puts to shame other major cities. Even New York and Paris, like London, pats itself on the back on such matters but I am afraid it is also a case of serious self-delusion!
D. Michael Sausman, Bath, UK
Went to London last spring with my wife for a short vacation and ate at a number of restaurants reviewed or receiving awards from Decanter. I don't expect notes which frankly I don't find anywhere, but what I found offensive was the outrageous pricing, even taking into account the fall of the $. Based on my experience which includes 20+extended vacations in Europe, it is the worst restaurant wine pricing in Western Europe. Maybe, it's because of the absence of locally grown wines so that every bottle, good or bad, grand cru or village, has the cachet of "imported". Maybe climate change in time will correct this. Robert M. Broder, Philadelphia, USA
London restaurants do not want wine lovers as customers!
We would like to go to restaurants for a special experience combining wining & dining! In London, we often decide against going out because either the food will be ruined by low quality wine or we will get ruined because the prices charged are 3 to 4 times the value of the wine!... As a result, we prefer to make an effort at home and open a great bottle of wine that could not be afforded! My suggestion to restaurants: we had found and used to go to a Thai restaurant in Warrington Crescent that charged us £10 as “cork duty” and allowed us to bring our wine…Unfortunately, a celebrity chef has just bought the place!...and I doubt he will authorise this any longer…
Antoine Songeur
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Like many many things that matter in Britain in the past 10 years, standards in this area have dropped even lower than they once were! The growth and expansion of the number and type of eating establishments, and an outward glitzy of appearance cannot mask the fact that standards have not risen and have in fact, in my view, fallen.
