Bar Boulud at the Mandarin Oriental has one of the most engaging wine lists, and experienced sommeliers, within any London hotel. With hotel restaurant wine lists so often a source of painful mark-ups and joyless selections, it's a pleasure to see Bar Boulud embrace the universe of Lyon born Daniel Boulud, and focus on the wines of Burgundy and the Rhône in particular.
A scintillating list of magnums is a highlight of the list, put together by sommelier David Vareille and is frequently changing with a puppet master's precision. Wines are offered periodically by the glass from big formats, magnums or larger, with the excellent Roda Reserva Rioja 2006 currently being poured by Jeroboam.
Hot Dinners were invited to an evening hosted by David to experience a fascinating tasting. The deal was that we would try the same wine, same vintage, tasted from two different sized bottlings served alongside meaty terrines. Would there be a significant difference in the liquid inside the bottle? You bet.
BOLLINGER NV
- HALF BOTTLE - Far more evolved than the magnum, veering towards caramel and toasty characters, fairly oxidised.
- MAGNUM - Bright as a button, clean and fresh, pretty sturdy and structured thanks to higher Pinot Noir content, this is what you would expect from a bottle of Bollinger on any given day.
PERNAND-VERGELESSES 1er Cru "Les Caradeaux" 2008, Domaine Chanson
- REGULAR BOTTLE - White Burgundy in the zone, and having fun - this is why you drink white Burgundy. Captivating aromas of toasted nuts, with haunting touches of cumin, lime, and even mandarin peel. Dazzlingly complex and captivating. A joy.
- MAGNUM - Still not shed its oaky cloak, oak more apparent than fruit and slightly gawky. Pop this puppy in 3-4 years and watch it unveil its beauty.
CHABLIS 2008, Domaine Christian Moreau
- REGULAR BOTTLE - Fairly fleshy and a lot broader shouldered than many village Chablis, this acts like it has spent time in older oak barrels, but David assures us it is 100% unoaked.
- MAGNUM -Bags of ripe fruit, this is even fatter than the regular bottle, yet still with decent minerality and acidity. Hardcore Chablis fiends may find this a bit flabby, lacking the laser beam clarity of the finest Chablis.
RODA RESERVA 2006
- REGULAR BOTTLE - Plenty of brooding, brambly fruit, licked with well judged use of American oak. Rioja that will "wow" the crowds, modern, plush, great concentration and a whole lot of fun. Classy stuff.
- JEROBOAM - Seductive and silky, this wine is in a very happy place. Leaps out of the glass from the off, pulling you into its depths. Silk and lace. A bomb of dark fruits, blackberry, damson, plum, slicked with vanilla. Supple to the point of distraction, no jagged edges, balance is already supreme with a texture like satin.
The conclusion for the most part, supported the oft-posited theory - wines in larger formats evolve slower, take longer to reach their peak, and can live for longer than smaller formats. The Roda Rioja was the exception, whereas the Jeroboam was the bottle ready to drink and more balanced - the exception that proved the rule.
So what did we learn? If you can afford to buy your wine in magnums or larger, do it. If you can't (like us), sticking with regular or half bottles is fine - just hoover them up quicker and don't wait for the "perfect" moment to open that wine. On the other hand, if you're in the mood, and you need some wine right now, the "perfect" moment has probably arrived.
Wine Dinners at Bar Boulud London will be a regular monthly event. The ones to book now are:
15th January 2012 - The upside-down wine dinner
This will feature sweet wine for the starter, white wine for the main course, red wine for the desert. Sommelier David Vareille will demonstrate how Bar Boulud can pair food and wine on this very unusual wine dinner. £115 + service charge
16th February 2012 - Virginia Wines
Virginia wines wine dinner with Boxwood Winery as host. £115 + service charge
