News & views | Why London's wine bars are booming

News & views

Why London's wine bars are booming

Last night I finally caught up with The Remedy, one of the latest of London’s new wave of wine bars. On a Tuesday night - admittedly a week before Christmas - it was absolutely rammed, so much so we were grateful we’d reserved a table

You’d think it would be impossible to make a living out of a tiny bar in a less than fashionable part of ‘Fitzrovia’ (the area north of Oxford Street) but as Sager & Wilde has proved in Hackney a modest address is no barrier to success.

So why are these new wine bars working? Three main reasons I think

* They attract a younger crowd from the old wine bar habitués (well maybe not old but definitely the wrong side of middle aged). They’re not there for a cheap night out but to explore the world of wine. That creates an entirely different atmosphere - more like a craft beer bar than the traditional wine bar. In fact I’d suggest there’s a significant cross-over in the clientele.

* They don’t have to run a full-sized restaurant kitchen yet provide enough food to discourage their customers moving on somewhere else after a glass or two. We shared a pigs head terrine and 'gravadlax' (oddly served with a pear and parmesan salad*) then a plate of fabulously fresh scallops and crisp parma ham and a generous trencher of chicken livers on toast (a bargain at £6.50 - I really recommend that).

* The wines are not cheap. I don't say that as a criticism simply an explanation of why the new breed of wine bars is viable. True you can buy a bottle around the £25 mark but you’d be missing out on half the fun which is to plunder the ever-changing list of wines by the glass. Two to three glasses at £7-8 each can easily amount to £20 a head on wine plus service, double that if you get tempted by something out of the ordinary. We managed to clock up a bill for £43 each without accounting for extra 'tasters' from co-proprietor David Clawson. Without those I reckon it would have been more like £55 though my companion admitted that was half what he’d spent the other evening at Sager & Wilde. More like what you'd spend in a restaurant.

The list at Remedy is seductively presented with wines divided into sections that describe the effect they have on the palate and psyche - Quench, Cleanse and Nourish for whites, Quench, Whet and Entice (aromatic, profound, floral) for the reds. Unconventional but who could fail to be won over?

My favourite wines of the evening were a 2012 Cascinaronchi Quarticello - a fragrant gently sparkling Malvasia, Alexandre Bain’s gorgeous 2011 ‘Spring’ Pouilly Fumé and Vidonia 2011, from Suertas del Marques, a fantastic richly-textured white from Tenerife made from Listan Blanco (another name for palomino fino, apparently). Now that’s the sort of obscure discovery you’d be hard pushed to make any other way.

The great thing about these new wine bars is that they create a virtuous circle. They stimulate an interest in wine that is only satisfied by a repeat visit to the same or a similar destination. Bring ‘em on I say.

The Remedy is at 124 Cleveland Street, London W1T 6PG. Tel: 020 3489 3800

* My only criticism is that some of the dishes are over-elaborated. They could do with reining their chef in a shade.

PS I've just spotted an article in USA Today which says that exactly the same thing is happening in New York, due to the large number of younger wine consumers.

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