Bespoke bottles: London restaurants serving own-branded wine

Nicky Clarke visits the London restaurants which are bringing you their own bottles
Fine wining: Enoteca Rabezzana's own-label wine
Nicky Clarke24 August 2015

London restaurants aren’t content with cooking, they are starting to whip up their own wine too. A raft of restaurants in the capital are now offering their own-branded bottles, from hearty reds and bright whites to dusky pinks and sprightly sparklings.

The Charles Lamb

One of the first to offer their own wine, albeit rather quietly, was The Charles Lamb pub in Islington in 2009, citing ‘the strong Euro and a rise in the duty on wine’ for the creation of its own label, with red, white and rosé varietals (all £16.50) made in a cool collab with Domaine Saint Hilaire in the Languedoc. While other pubs eschewed elegant European wines for more budget bins from the Americas or Australia, The Charles Lamb decided to go bespoke, buying their own blend in bulk and bringing prices back to what they were before the duty was imposed.

Find it: 16 Elia Street, N1 8DE; thecharleslambpub.com

Recession special: Own-label wine at The Charles Lamb

The Cubitt House

The Cubitt House group of pubs wasn’t far behind and launched its own-label house red, white and rosé in 2011. Selected from listening to customer feedback and studying the most popular poisons on the existing list, the result is a Sauvignon Blanc from Loire Valley, a Grenache Rosé from Provence and a Rioja Crianza from its namesake region in Spain. Stefan Turnbull, director, says: “They are great quality whilst still being affordable and by sourcing our own wines it means our staff have an opportunity to visit the vineyards and experience first-hand the world of the producers themselves.”

Find it: sites across Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Pimlico and Marylebone; cubitthouse.co.uk

Brasserie Blanc

Last summer famed French chef Raymond Blanc branched out at his Brasserie Blanc group with the creation of award-winning Mousseux Premium Blanc de Blancs sparkling with wine supplier Matthew Clark, followed last month by a pink version called Mousseux Rosé. Already beating prosecco hands-down in terms of sales, the wine pays homepage to the chef’s French roots by combining grapes including gamay noir, grenache and cinsault, making for a fresh, fruity pink to sink.

Find it: various locations; brasserieblanc.com

Roast

Restaurateur Iqbal Wahhab has three bespoke wines on his list at Borough Market’s Roast including two from Chapel Down in Kent. He says: “I’m quite ignorant about wine but I do know a lot about my customers and thought they might like to see a wine created to go with our most popular dish of slow-roast pork belly. A Bacchus Reserve was the result, made with grapes sourced from around the home counties. Customers love its light, crisp taste and elderflower character so much that it is our most popular white.”

Find it: The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, SE1 1TL; roast-restaurant.com

Latest London food trends

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The Shed and Rabbit

It’s a family affair over in West London at both The Shed in Notting Hill and Rabbit in Chelsea. Believing ‘what grows together goes together’, bearded brothers Richard and Oliver Gladwin accompany their seasonal, Sussex produce with wines from their own family’s boutique vineyard, also in Sussex. Originally planted with bacchus, they produce chardonnay and pinot noir for their sparkling Nutty.

Find it: various locations; theshed-restaurant.com / rabbit-chelsea.com

Enoteca Rabezzana

This family-run Clerkenwell restaurant has no fewer than ten own-brand wines on its strictly Italian list.The Rabezzana family has produced wines in the Montferrat area of Italy since 1911 and the business has been run by four generations. The restaurant’s wine consultant says: “An absolute gem is the Barbaresco DOCG – produced entirely from nebbiolo grapes and bursting with raspberries, red berries, geraniums and violets – that usually starts at £60 a bottle at other restaurants but is £45 here.”

Find it: 62-63 Long Lane, EC1A 9EJ; rabezzana.co.uk

Now, can someone pass the corkscrew?

Follow Nicky Clarke on Twitter @fri_child
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