sitemap | home | products | bacchanalians | wine notes | wine odyssey | previous reviews | travelogue | our events  

food ideas | useful links | contact us | about us | Bacchus & Comus | small print | privacy statement

Site problem? Tell us. © BTL Publishing Ltd. and Croque-en-Bouche web design.

The Tate Britain Restaurant - London

 

30-odd years ago, you might have been surprised, as you slipped into the restaurant at the Tate Gallery to take a break from all those Turner’s you have been viewing, to find the place absolutely heaving with members of the wine trade guzzling down several bottles of smart Clarets at extraordinarily cheap prices to accompany the pretty ordinaire food on offer. Sadly, all that wine has gone and whilst it is still the policy of the Tate to cellar their wines for many years, prices have inevitably crept up, but then so has the quality of the food! Nevertheless, you will be hard pressed to find better drinking value in the centre of London, the only drawback being that the restaurant is only open for lunch, which poses a terrible dilemma for those who actually have to return to work in the afternoon!

The wine list kicks off with a couple of pages of “Sommelier’s Recommendations” - generally of less expensive wines and mostly available by the glass. It’s then followed by a list of some 70 wines available in half or 50cl. bottles, of which some three-quarters rate 3, 4 or 5 star ranking. It’s the ideal place to abandon the notion of drinking a bottle of wine with your meal and replacing it with three halves! For us, maybe a half bottle of Christian Moreau’s Chablis Grand Cru “Les Clos” 2006 at £26, followed by a half bottle of Dirk Niepoort’s Batuta 2001 at £35 and then a half of Kracher’s Welschriesling Trockenbeerenauslese No. 7 2004 at £45 seems expensive but I don’t think you ill find a better selection of quality half bottles anywhere in the UK.

The Champagnes are dominated by Billecart-Salmon and the chance to try the rare Cuvée Elisabeth Salmon rosé shouldn’t be missed, even if it is at £87. In Alsace, 5 out of the 9 selections are Rieslings, with the 4 star “Heimbourg” 2006 from Zind-Humbfrecht at £39 looking to be the best value. Loire whites kick off with Claude Branger’s 2.5 star Muscadet sur Lie “Les Gras Moutons” 2007, which looks a snip at only £19 and the 3 star Pouilly-Fumé “Les Cris” 2007 from Alain Cailbourdin at £25 is also good value. French Regional whites include the 5 star Mas de Daumas Gassac 2008 at £48 - a good price but may be a bit on the young side. Loire reds have Philippe Alliet’s Chinon “Côteaux de Noiré” 2003 at £29 - excellent value for a 4 star wine in a good Loire red vintage to boot. Red wines from regional France produce some excellent price/quality wines such as the 3 star Saint-Chinian “Elise” 2001 from Ch. La Dournie at £22, the 4 star Cahors “Les Laquets” 1999 from Cosse Maisonneuve at £29 and the 5 star Domaine de Trévallon at £47. The longish list of Clarets (perhaps not as long as it used to be) features a number of goodies but you have to look hard to find anything of particular merit standing out at good value. There are some, of course, and a half bottle of the 5 star PLUS Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou 1998 at £40 is only marginally above retail price. The 3.5 star Ch. Fontenil Fronsac 1995 at £20 also looks good value, as does the 5 star Ch. Troplong-Mondot 1994 at £60, which should be at its apogée. In White Burgundies you have exceptional value from Jean-Philippe Fichet’s 3.5 star Meursault 2006 at only £29 - chapeau to wine buyer Hamish Anderson for sourcing this excellent small producer without a superstar tag.

At the other end of the spectrum Marc Colin’s Montrachet Grand Cru 2006 at £220 is selling for about retail price - if you can find it anywhere. The red Burgundy selection doesn’t seem to have any bargains from the great names, although there are plenty of big names there. Best to plump for Vincent Durdeuil-Janthal’s Rully 1er Cru “Maizières” 2005, a 3 star wine at £29. The White Rhône selections are not prolific, but Clusel-Roch’s 2005 Condrieu “Vercherry” stands out at £45. But there are some great bargains to be had in the red Rhône section with Clape’s Cornas 1997, 5 star quality at only £40 and Guigal’s Côte-Rôtie “La Turque” 1992 at £159, which is about the same as you could expect to buy it from an online broker. Southern Rhônes generally give value for money here, with the 3.5 star Côtes du Rhône “Vieilles Vignes” 2001 from the up and coming Domaine les Aphillantes at £27 and the 5 star Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2000 from Beaucastel at £48. White Italian wines are sensibly confined to the North-East of Italy where you will find outstanding value for money in the “Brazan” 2005 from Ferdinando Zanusso in the Colli Gorizano - a blend of Tocai Fruiliano and Malvasia Istriana - 4 stars and only £27. There’s much more choice in Italian reds - from the North-East, there is the 5 star Amarone 2003 from Allegrini at £57 and a well-priced Barolo Brunate 2001 from Ceretto at £62, not much above retail. From Tuscany, Il Molino di Grace Chianti Classico 2005 is only a 2 star wine but is only £25 on the list, but for those who want to go really upmarket the 1999 Ornellaia is around the retail price of £95. Australian whites “are not all Chardonnay” as Hamish states in his introduction to the section and here you will find outstanding value in Grosset’s 4 star “Springvale” Watervale Riesling 2008 at only £28. Top Chardonnay, though, is the Giaconda 2000 at £75. Australian reds are interesting with not a dud among them and here the 4.5 star Rockford “Basket Press” Shiraz 2002 at £37 should give you a fairly inexpensive headache at 15.5% abv! The entry level Darry’s Original (Shiraz/Grenache) 2005 from D’Arenberg, is also good value at £19.

Three Grüner Veltliners are listed in the Austrian white section and all have a good rapport qualité/prix, but for a little more money you might consider the 4 star Riesling Smaragd “Steinreigl” 2004 from Weingut Prager at £45. New Zealand weighs in with Gravitas Sauvignon Blanc 2007 at £28 and another 3 star wine under £30, is the Albariño 2008 from Pazo de Señoráns in Spain for £28 as well. There is a good quartet of Argentinian reds with the 5 star Achaval Ferrer “Finca Altamira” Malbec 2000 at £59 as ell as the sumptuous “Q” Temprenillo 2004 from Zuccardi at £27. There is a serious selection of New Zealand Pinot Noirs, but the 3.5 star Bridge Pa Syrah 2005 may be better value at £29. The Portuguese red section has two good value wines - the 3 star Touriga Naçional 2005 from Qunita dos Roques at £28 and the 4 star Redoma 2002 from Dirk Niepoort at £40. The 3.5 star Raats Cabernet Franc from South Africa at £28 is also worth drinking.

A good selection of red wines from Spain is headed by the 5 star Alion 1999 at £42, whilst top wine Vega Sicilia “Unico” 1991 at £165, is probably selling at below retail. None of the USA reds listed are particularly cheap, but head and shoulders for value is the Ridge Geyserville blend 2001 - 5 star value at £42. Even better value is the magnum at £76. There is a good selection of sweet wines ranging from the impressive Côteau du Layon 2007 from Ch. de la Roulerie at £15 for a half bottle (4 stars and a great vintage) to a bottle of Yquem 1986 (great vintage, too) at £315.

 

 

Best Value Red: Cornas 1997 - Clape at £40

Best Value White: “Brazan” 2005 - Zanusso at £27

Rich Man’s Bargain: Côte-Rôtie “La Turque” 1992 - Guigal at £159

 

The Tate Gallery Restaurant - Millbank, London SW1P 4RG

Tel: 020 7887 8825