Vinoteca Farringdon

Vinoteca Farringdon

Vinoteca Restaurant in Farringdon has been my go to spot for a fair few months now. I've spent so many hours here over the past 3-4 months and tweeted my experiences so often that it's kinda bonkers that this is the first mention on the Wine90 blog.

Vinoteca is one of those wine bars that, due to the sheer variety of wines on offer, makes it a perfect stop for your lunch hour or for a mid afternoon wine by the glass option or even for a pre-dinner sherry. Yet, it's taken me a full year back in my hometown of London, to get my glad rags on and eat here.

It's confession time. I don't often write restaurant reviews. I find myself crippled with the same affliction which hit my dining partner that evening, I'm going to call it the palate collywobbles. Whilst she became obviously nervous at the pre-dinner wine flights fearing I would subject her every comment to full on scrutiny, I, by the same token, can start to doubt my own palate and description thereof, when it comes to food.

This may shock some readers, but I've been eating food since I was a toddler, that I should question my ability to taste food, I reassured my friend, is exactly as ridiculous as her fear that she might taste the wines incorrectly. As long as you have four of your five senses working for you on any given day, you can taste wine. Even I draw the line at listening to the wine, but if you do hear a whistle or a slight popping to your wine, then you're probably a little under the weather and should consult your GP.

So the scene is set, Vinoteca, wine flights, full meal, wine tasting virgin as dining companion, OK we're good so far? Great.

For any self confessed wine novice Vinoteca makes your life pretty easy. Food and wine matching can be a fun game to play but if you get it wrong, and you're stumping up plenty 'o pounds for your food, it can also be a perilous game. Fear not. At Vinoteca they have paired all the meals on the menu with a carefully thought out by the glass suggestion. However, I like to play fast and wild and Vinoteca's 280 strong by the bottle selection was too tempting so I opted for the very fairly priced 01 Borgogno Barolo Riserva. Not at all predictable behaviour on my part.

As this is no Tarantino movie, let's review the wines and the food in chronological order.

Pre Dinner Wine Selection

You can view all of Vinoteca's wines by the glass here. I chose;

Schloss Vollrads Erstes Gewachs Riesling 2004
A vibrant golden colour in the glass. Fast and fruity on the nose with acres of melon, honeysuckle and peach on the initial sniff with a lasting honey aroma towards the end. On the palate the wine is rich, juicy and more tropical than expected. Starts out quite fat with the acid rushing forth just before a fair finish that continues in that tropical theme. Rhinegau texture but colour and palate?! Not typical perhaps but enjoyable. 87 Points

Monte Bernardi Chianti Classico 2005
A deep ruby red to the rim. Simple profile to the nose with straight and expected cherry and vanilla though also a little dusty with hints of chocolate and coffee or to be fanciful, a cherry Bakewell tart with cappuccino sprinkles. Same focused approach to the palate, definite Chianti though not complex, high acid, firm tannins, mid bodied with a balanced finish. 88 Points

La Guita Manzanilla
A light golden green colour but getting a touch of those "past it's primes" you can get when your Sherry is just that month too long in the tooth. Still retained great salt and nut flavours on the palate. On the nose detectable cantaloupe, hints of grass and lemon. Focus has diminished a touch perhaps due to being a month too old or a.n.other fault? As such can't rate the wine fairly.

THE FOOD

I like to think of myself as fairly unpretentious at least in the world of wine. In the food world however I know well enough what I want and that is..

A generous portion
Fresh ingredients
Tastes and textures that compliment one another
Lastly, I hate, with a passion detest, food that is overly dry or ... too moist.

I have to hand it to Vinoteca, there are so many restaurants trying to double as wine bars, and, wine bars trying to double as restaurants that fall so far short it's red cheeked embarrassing, but not here. The food outshone the wine. The food outshone the Barolo. The Italian Wine Blogger says the Food@Vinoteca outshone a Barolo. That's huge news.

To Begin: Selection of Spanish cured meats, almonds & olives - £7.25
Full size plate covered in typical Spanish meats which paired up really well with the sherry. These were not overly fatty cuts that you can find in many London restaurants, well presented.

Main Course: Gressingham duck breast, chanterelles & trompettes, farro, cimi di rape - £16
Succulent duck breast with the most mop-up-able jus I've had for a long while and once again generous portions and well presented.

There was no room for dessert. I don't think I've ever said or written those words before. Weird.

Borgogno Barolo Riserva 2001
A classic ruby red fading tawny to the rim. A sweet violet nose with touches of marzipan, tar and wild strawberries even. Still a little young, the palate is still a touch tannic and bitter but loosening up over time. A good freshness here though and a balance of force and elegance that showed toward the latter as the evening wore on. Didn't blow me away but still a solid 90 points for my palate.

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Where is your current go to restaurant or wine bar? Any city.

The Sampler Islington

The Sampler Islington

The Sampler Islington is unlike any wine shop on this fair isle. Not because it carries the most exclusive range (though it does), not because it has the most special offers (that too) and not even because the walls are covered with enomatics (as the walls of Heaven).

The Sampler Islington is my favourite wine shop in the world because it allows, nay encourages, wine geeks like myself to stay for hour upon hour sampling great wines, genning up on Parker and Jancis and, most crucially, making new wine buddies. Forget Corkd and Snooth, if you want IRL wine chums then head up (or down) to The Sampler and make your way through the world of wine from as little as 30p a sample.


So it was, on a snowy, Pre-Xmas hike up to Islington, battling train delays and the snow that myself and The Wine Sleuth spent three solid hours working our way excitedly through 25+ wines from all over the world. The enomatics are handily split up into regions and grape varieties allowing you to taste correctly, going from white to light reds and finally onto the serious "fine wine" selections or, you can stand in the middle, dazzled by the variety and just amble over haphazard from Vouvray to Sangiovese to Pinot as I did until Denise kindly set the rules for the tasting! "Rules help control the fun", cheers Monica!

Eyes Left. This is a standard issue Sampler card. Don't lose it, don't leave it on the table and don't entrust it to your best friend. This is what goes for currency around these parts, no card; no vino. Let the staff know how much paper money you'd like this card to represent, they combobulate their till machines and, as if by magic, you have full access to the enomatics and all the wines within them. Tidy.

There's a range of 800-1000 wines at the Sampler, at any one times 80 of these will be available for sample, the rest available to buy. As samples start from as little as 30p, even if you just have a crisp £10 note you can still sample several great wines and have a great hours worth of fun.

To get an idea of the current range of wines available for sampling click here.

Look how shiny! Tasting samples are available in three different sizes. However the smallest size is certainly good enough for a sample and as variety is the spice of life, I'd recommend sticking to the 25ml and trying as many wines as possible. As the 1000 strong range are on rotation, you can come back the following month and be faced with a whole new set of wines. So, rule #1, stick to the small samples, more for your money innit.

Rule 2: If somethings worth doing it's worth doing right. The fine wines!

It's not often your eyes pass over the 1978 Chateau Cheval Blanc but with the 1998 Chateau Mouton Rothschild by it's side you must be careful to give all the "icons" their props. At any one time there are six "Icons" available, and in December those included these two greats plus JL Chave's Hermitage 1998, Conterno's Barolo Gran Bussia Riserva 1997, Screaming Eagle 1996 and Penfolds Grange 1978.

During my three hour visit I managed to taste my way through 27 different wines the most interesting of which have tasting notes to follow.

You can purchase Sampler gift vouchers and these would be perfect for any London based wine fan for Christmas next year, a Birthday or any other event where the swapping of gifts is customary.

The Sampler is located on 266 Upper Street, Islington and enquiries can be made on 020 7226 9500. However, I wont lie to you, by the end, Christmas or not, we were proper steaming. So, Rule 3 - if you do want to emulate myself and Sleuthy and enjoy yourself at The Sampler you might want to brush up on the art of spitting.

Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1998
Dense ruby red in colour. This wine is a monster from the first whiff on the nose till the finish, power all the way. Quickly developed aromas of tobacco, leather, blackcurrant and bitter chocolate. The palate is ultra drying with massive tannins but also shows good blackberry fruit. Hugely concentrated wine with a truly long satisfying finish. 95 Points

Chateau Guiraud 1er Cru Sauternes 2001
A beautiful mid golden colour, on the nose the wine was all oranges, creme and even smoke. To me it smelt like an orange pudding of sorts. On the palate this wine is beautifully rounded, thick and heavy with a long showstopping finish. Niiiiiiice. 95 Points

JL Chave Hermitage Rouge 1998
Touch lighter than expected but still a dense ruby red despite the 11 years. On the nose acres of spice, smoke, olives and blackberry. The palate shows exceptional balance with a full rounded mouthfeel, still tannic but smooth and pleasant. Super powerful and thick from start to lingering finish. 94 Points

Gilet Vouvray 1976
Deep golden colour. Aromatically gorgeous and expressive with a honeyed nut profile. On the palate the wine reminded me strongly of Lyons golden syrup drizzled over Kelloggs Crunchy Nut Corkflakes. Full bodied with hints of marmalade on the finish. This is desert in a glass but not sickly sweet. 93 Points

Chateau Cheval Blanc 1976
A garnet red tinging brick on the rim. Another blockbuster nose, rich and desert like with notes of glazed cherries, tobacco and marzipan. Wonderfully fresh and lively still today on the attack but the midpalate does hollow out with the flavours coming back with gusto on the finish. 94 Points

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Christmas is always a chance to try many new wines and find a passion for new varities. I had a very Tuscan/Umbrian new year with loads of IGT Umbrian wines on show that I'll report on the next entry. What did you drink over the Xmas/New Year period? Any comments on these wines also appreiciated.