67 Pall Mall: unfinished but almost full

67 Pall Mall, a London private member’s club for wine lovers, may still be a building site, but it is already close to capacity.

Grant Ashton, founder of the club, which is named after its St James’s address, told db earlier this month that he had already accepted applications from over 1,000 people, and would be capping numbers at 1,200 members.

“We are pretty close to closing the list,” he said, adding, “I’m stopping at 1,200 members because I don’t want us to be too busy.”

Then, at the end of the last week he issued an email announcing that he would be “closing of the Founders’ Offer, as our membership list is fast approaching the pre-opening target”.

Presently, the club, which occupies a 11,000 sq ft site just a few hundred metres from Buckingham Palace, is still a shell, although Ashton said that he planned to open the club in September.

Occupying a grade II listed former bank designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the club is set across three floors and has been set up “to attract an eclectic mix of members with the common thread being their love of wine,” according to Ashton.

Unless you live overseas, 50 miles or more from London, or you are under 27, then the annual membership is £1000 per person, per year, while there is also a £1,000 joining fee, which applicable to all.

However, it should be noted that potential members also have to be recommended by current members before they are allowed to join the club.

So what do the members get?

67 Pall Mall: the building

Some of the advantages of the club are outlined below:

• A wine list with over 5,000 references and 500 wines by the glass (via Coravin) all listed on iPads, including a “sommelier selection” of 10 whites and 10 reds by 67 Pall Mall head of wines Ronan Sayburn MS.
• A £20 corkage on all wines brought into the club
• A small cash mark up on all the club’s wines
• Zalto glasses for all wines (67 Pall Mall has ordered 9,000 glasses, forcing the Zalto factory to close for six weeks just to process the club’s order)
• 12-seater private dining room and tasting areas with state of the art lighting designed to mimic natural daylight. Both are free to hire for members
• A restaurant
• Access to a walk-in wine library with 1,300 wines
• Below-ground cellarage for up to 32,000 bottles
• Three-case storage allowance for every member
• Advice from a team of 8 sommeliers
• Valet bicycle parking for up to 20 bicycles

Current membership terms:

• Joining fee (applicable to all applications): £1000
• Annual membership: £1000 per person, per year
• Country membership (main residence 50+ miles from the club): £500 per person per year
• Overseas membership (permanently resident overseas): £250 per person per year.
• Under 27 membership: £500 per person per year