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Walls: Best Rhône wine lists in the UK
Among the UK's vibrant restaurant scene lie some great spots to drink top Rhône wines. Matt Walls rounds up a selection of his favourite establishments with the best Rhône wine lists.
There are dozens of UK restaurants with excellent lists showcasing the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. Finding one with a good Rhône offering isn’t so easy, but if you’re craving for Cornas or longing for Lirac, here are some options with excellent selections. I’ve grouped them into three levels: gold, silver and bronze.
I considered a number of criteria: quality of producers, value for money, range, vintages on offer, and availability of mature bottles and rarities. I was only judging the Rhône offering; restaurants in the bronze section might be placed in gold if their entire list were under scrutiny.
This isn’t an exhaustive directory, but hopefully it will help guide fellow Rhône lovers to wines that interest them.
This friendly neighbourhood drinks shop and épicerie in north London sells exclusively French wines which you can buy to take away, or pay a little extra to drink in their bar/restaurant (£10 corkage for wines that retail under £50; £20 corkage for wines over £50). It means you can choose from over 700 wines and drink many of them at much lower prices than nearby restaurants. And its Rhône selection is outrageously good.
Look out for the following top bottles:
Château des Tours, Vacqueyras 2012 – £96
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Domaine Bonnefond, Les Rochains, Côte-Rôtie 2013 – £59
Domaine Clape, St-Péray 2019 – £70
Domaine du Coulet, Les Billes Noires, Cornas 2014 – £105
Domaine Gramenon, La Mémé Ceps Centenaires, Côtes du Rhône 2019 – £72
Domaine Gonon, St-Joseph 2020 – £95
Domaine Saint Gayan, Origine, Gigondas 2005 – £75
With endless choice and unbeatable prices, surely Authentique is the best place to drink Rhône wines outside France.
One of two restaurants in this list that are owned by restaurateur and Master Sommelier Xavier Rousset, Blandford Comptoir has considerably more Rhône on its list than anything else.
The restaurant’s strong fish and seafood offering affords it scope to have an extensive list of whites from all over the region. Steaks are a welcome option to go with Rhône reds: there is a peerless selection from the northern Rhône (particularly Côte-Rôtie) and an extensive collection of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
This might not be the best value wine list in the Gold tier, but there are nonetheless some good buys, for example:
Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2001 – £210
Clos des Papes, Blanc, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015 – £140
Domaine de Crève Coeur, Blanc, Séguret 2022 – £58
Domaine des Tours, Clairette, Vaucluse 2016 – £70
Domaine Jean-Paul Jamet, Équivoque, Côtes du Rhône 2018 – £130
La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels in Seven Dials, Covent Garden.
(Image credit: Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels)
This petite but elegant London outpost of the Parisian bar of the same name has countless mouthwatering Rhône options. It concentrates on the most sought-after names in both the southern and northern Rhône, and offers them at attractive prices relative to other London restaurants.
Highlights include:
Domaine Henri Bonneau, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009 – £230
Domaine Jean-Paul Jamet, Côte-Rôtie 2016 – £189
Domaine Yves Gangloff, La Barbarine, Côte-Rôtie 2019 – £210
Franck Balthazar, Sans Soufre Ajouté, Cornas 2017 – £119
Noble Rot, which opened its third bar/restaurant in Mayfair earlier this year, will need little introduction to UK wine lovers (and, thanks to its magazine, overseas wine lovers too). It regularly wins awards for its wine lists, and when it comes to the Rhône selection, it deserves particular praise.
The wine lists at the three sites overlap but aren’t identical; prices are usually the same, if not very similar. All have exceptional Rhône selections. The Lambs Conduit site is particularly strong on mature top-end southern Rhône. For more accessible southern Rhône, the Mayfair site has a larger range, and some very good whites. The Soho site is probably the least strong in Rhône, but it’s still one of the best in the UK.
All three have a larger selection from the northern Rhône than the southern Rhône, and are jam-packed with famous names, great small domaines, mature vintages and curiosities.
Wines that caught my eye were:
Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2007 – £151
Domaine Alain Voge, Les Vieilles Fontaines, Cornas 2006 – £157
Domaine Bernard Faurie, Hermitage 1999 – £257
Domaine Vincent Paris, La Geynale, Cornas 2007 – £112
This is the second restaurant by Xavier Rousset, this time co-owned by another Master Sommelier, Gearoid Devaney. Cabotte is rightly famed for its immense collection of top Burgundy, but its Rhône collection, while not as wide, is still very impressive. There may only be six whites, but they’re cleverly chosen. There is a very good range of northern Rhône reds however, and a slightly smaller but equally shrewd selection of southern Rhônes, including a number of mature bottles.
Climat opened at the end of 2022 in central Manchester and is the sister restaurant of Covino in Chester. It marries French cuisine with over 400 wines, and although its principal strength is Burgundy, it’s also strong on the Rhône. Prices at the very top are steep, but otherwise fair, and Rhône lovers will find several options to consider, both from the south and north of the region.
There’s a stimulating list of Rhône wines to explore at this small but smart wine-centric outpost of Paris stalwart Le Taillevent. A short walk from Oxford Circus, it’s perhaps no surprise that some of the big names look expensive; but some of the older vintages and offbeat estates offer good value for the more intrepid Rhône lover.
Like Cabotte, The Vineyard at Stockcross is known for excellence in a different region – this time California. But among its North American riches lie several very tempting bottles of mature Rhône, including well-priced Hermitage from Domaine JL Chave (both red and white), Château de Beaucastel and Domaine Henri Bonneau.
There’s only a small selection of Rhône wines at this poky but charming Soho institution. But it includes several mature wines from top estates at prices not far off retail – rare for London.
It may not be in central London, but it’s worth making the journey; a visit to Chez Bruce always leaves you feeling pampered. The wine list has no specific focus, but is highly competent in all major regions, including the Rhône. Includes some enticing mature bottles at fair prices.
A titanic list, so it’s no surprise there’s a good range of Rhône wines here. You’ll need to choose with care, as some wines appear very expensive (especially at the top end), and others are likely to be past their best. But there are some appealing options to choose from at this visually stunning London restaurant.
A very good wine list with some attractive northern Rhônes reds and Châteauneufs. Prices are commendably fair for a restaurant with two Michelin stars.
All specific wine recommendations were taken from wine lists published at the beginning of September 2023 and prices are liable to change; if you’re visiting a restaurant with a particular bottle in mind, always call ahead to ensure it’s still available. Thanks to fellow wine lovers Gareth Birchley, Andy Hayler, Derek Robertson, Dave Stenton, Simon Stuart and Robbie Ward for their suggestions.
Decanter's Rhône coresspondent, and DWWA Regional Chair for the Rhône.
Matt Walls is an award-winning freelance wine writer and consultant, contributing regular articles to various print and online titles including Decanter, where he is a contributing editor. He has particular interest in the Rhône Valley; he is chair of the Rhône panel at the Decanter World Wine Awards and is the owner of travel and events company www.rhoneroots.com.
