New on Wine List Confidential: Bar Boulud

Bar Boulud – Wine List Confidential Score: 89.8

Bar Boulud is a wonderful place to drink good wine, particularly if you’re a Francophile. As with its sister restaurant in New York, the cellar at Bar Boulud London is replete with the best drops from proprietor Daniel Boulud’s favourite wine making regions, the Rhône Valley and Burgundy (he’s from a little village close to Lyon) – regions ordered under the headings ‘Les Déscouvertes’, ‘Les Classiques’ and ‘Les Légendes’.

A team of top sommeliers, led by head somm David Vareille, is on the floor and all have a genuine enthusiasm for quirky wines, as well as those from the New World, so while the French classics dominate, there are progressive elements on the list too.

Helpfully, there are short ‘Les Cousins’ sections which present Rhône and Burgundy-style wines (white and red) from other regions of the world. These are definitely worth a look – Crystallum Clay Shales Chardonnay from South Africa tops the white Burgundy-style list, while there’s an extensive selection of Burgundy-style Pinots, including the delicious and very polished Thörle Saulheimer Spätburgunder from Rheinhessen.

It’s also a pretty dynamic list – it’s ‘Seasonal Selection’, which is emphasised by the restaurant’s monthly masterclasses, focuses on a different winemaking region every three months, serving an enviable selection of wines from the selected region by the bottle and carafe.

Bar Boulud has been an enthusiastic adopter of Coravin, so you’ll see a good selection of icons available by the glass – Garrus Rosé (£36 for 125ml), Baron Thenard Montrachet 2008 (£95 for 125ml) and Angélus 2008 (neatly, £125 per 125ml), for example. The BTG list otherwise extends to a generous 30 or so wines.

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