London has a new club. Sandwiched between two royal parks at the foot of St James’s street 67 Pall Mall is the world’s first private members club dedicated to the appreciation of fine wine.
Inside members can enjoy a wine list, presided over by Ronan Sayburn, former sommelier to Gordon Ramsay, that will eventually stretch to 3,000 bins and 500 wines by the glass. If that isn’t enough to be getting on with, one can bring in their own wines, for a modest fee, and even store their wines on the premises. But there’s really no need as mark ups, (by restaurant standards) will be modest, between 20% and 40%.
Last Monday I went to check it out. Perched on the edge of the street opposite St James’s Palace, in the heart of what is known in British circles affectionately as Clubland, the private members club sits in the former West End Branch of Hambro’s Bank, a Grade II-listed building designed by Edwin Lutyens.
The inside is centered around a spacious high ceilinged room with large West facing windows, there is an elegant bar, two private dining rooms, a tasting room which offers ‘natural diffuse daylight’ and an impressive looking cellar complete with a Chatwood vault for the rarest bottles. Upstairs is all leather and oak, as one would expect in St James’s but the best part is a mezzanine level which contains one of the most thoughtful and eclectic wine libraries I have had the good fortune to visit. I love wine books and while others supped their Champagne and cooed over the wine list I spent a good 45 minutes thumbing through old books and reacquainting myself with trusty favorites.
You know a collection is good when they have books which are out of print and hard to find. A first edition of ‘Arlott on Wine’ a collection of essays written by the former English cricket commentator and poet John Arlott caught my eye. I have never seen this in a shop or library before and thought I was one of the only people to own a copy, which I bought from a trestle table outside the Oval during a West Indies series in the 1990s.
Fine wine lends itself to the written word like no other medium. Video, radio and even photography cannot impart the intellectual nuances and often fascinating back stories that a good wine book can. I always look forward to that moment, sometime over the Christmas period, when you can slump down in your favorite armchair, pour yourself a glass of whatever takes your fancy and pick up one of your most cherished books and immerse yourself for an hour.
Wine books also make great Christmas gifts so this year I thought I would round up not only the best drinks books that have been published in 2015 but also some of my trusty favorites with a wine to pair with each one.
Oz Clarke has once again come up with an enthusiastic and engaging read: The History of Wine in 100 Bottles: From Bacchus to Bordeaux and Beyond charts the history of wine from the earliest amphorae in Georgia through to the rise of Chinese wine. I recommend dipping into this with something from Australia such as Eileen Hardy’s 2012 Chardonnay.
For those wanting a little fiction, Paul Torday’s The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce is a gripping, at times amusing but essentially dark tale of one man’s vinuous inheritance. Read this with a fine red Burgundy. My choice would be Domaine Jean Grivot, whose Bourgogne Rouge 2012 is drinking superbly at the moment.
For lovers of French wines Wines of France: A Guide to 500 Leading Vineyards by Benjamin Lewin is a wonderful book to really drill down into the detail of some of the great vineyards of France. Pair with a crisp white Burgundy like Domaine du Bicheron’s Mâcon-Péronne 2014.
Novices should look to Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack’s Wine Folly: A Visual Guide to the World of Wine which is one of the best beginner’s guide to wines I have ever encountered. With clear, simple explanations, excellent use of graphics and some amazing facts the authors have taken the ‘How to’ wine book to a new level. Flick through it with something easy to drink and packed with fruits such as Ravenswood’s Old Vine Zinfandel 2013 from California.
In a similar vein The World Atlas of Wine by Hugh Johnson & Jancis Robinson, now in its seventh edition, is not only beautifully illustrated but beautifully written in Hugh Johnson’s unmistakable tone. Go off the beaten track and try something new such as the Bordeaux style 2008 Chateau Changyu Moser which is actually made in Ningxia, China.
Roger Scruton’s I Drink Therefore I am: A Philosopher’s Guide to Wine is for the thoughtful, open minded oenophile. This improving book touches on how the appreciation of fine wine is not only good for the soul but can lead to a civilized, generous life. I would pair this with a dry, aged sherry, like Bodegas Hidalgo Seco Napoleon Amontillado that one can savour with Scruton’s elegant prose.
Waugh On Wine published in 1986 will have you chuckling away at Auberon Waugh’s original, pithy and often outrageous view of the wine world. I would read this while sipping a well priced claret such as St Estephe’s Château Petit Bocq 2010
Finally, if you’re curious about the present gin craze I can recommend Ian Buxton’s 101 Gins to Try Before You Die which is an entertaining romp through some of the world’s most unlikely gins. Pour yourself a large Sipsmith London dry, topped up with Fever Tree tonic and a slice of lemon, sit down with this book as you wait for the family to arrive.
For Stockists and Prices of wines go to www.winesearcher.com
