Gordon Ramsay lists English sparkling wines at Bordeaux restaurant

Gordon Ramsay’s new restaurant, Le Pressoir d’Argent, will feature a selection of English sparkling wines, including Gusbourne Estate, Coates & Seely, Camel Valley and Ridgeview.

Le Pressoir d’Argent, at Bordeaux’s Grand Hotel, will officially open its doors to the public on Friday September 25.

For the initial opening period, Ramsay will be present in Bordeaux on alternate weeks with Clare Smyth, chef patron at his Michelin three-star Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London. Full time executive chef is Gilad Peled, previously from Les Sources des Alpes in Switzerland.

‘The challenge in Bordeaux is ensuring the food is at the same quality level as the wine,’ Ramsay told decanter.com. ‘This restaurant needs to draw on the exceptional local knowledge and produce… and then draw on our experience to get creative with it.’

‘We are working with several local winemakers, but it’s hard to single out a particular growth or wine; this is an oasis of magical growers that can’t be matched anywhere in the world. My objective is to have the wine to become our epicentre’.

The wine list has been developed by the team in Bordeaux, led by sommelier and buying director Frederic Rouglan, with input from Ramsay and his wine buying team in London.

‘The wine list will be mainly from Bordeaux, but we have gone outside the region also. And we had to include English sparkling wine,’ Ramsay said, who has just bought a property in Cornwall in the Camel Valley. ‘We haven’t had a riot yet’.

Le Pressoir d’Argent is Ramsay’s second restaurant in France following the Trianon Palace in Versailles and both hotels are owned by Michel Ohayon.

Ramsay is the third big name chef to open in the city over the past few months, following Joël Robuchon and Philippe Etchebest. Alain Ducasse is reportedly in talks to finalise a location.