New on Wine List Confidential: Cinnamon Bazaar

Cinnamon Bazaar – Wine List Confidential Score: 84.6

It can’t be easy to create a wine list for an Indian restaurant, particularly one so eclectic in its food offering. So many spices, so much chilli – that counts out a lot of reds (tannin and heat are natural enemies) and any wine whose charms are of a subtle or delicate sort. If you’re going for a red, soft and fruity would be my advice, or maybe a chilled Beaujolais.

This looks like a wine list that’s heavily weighted towards one supplier, namely Liberty Wines, but there is definitely a smattering of interesting bottles here – how about an Areni Noir from Zorah in Armenia? Or the ‘Chakalaka’ red blend from the aforementioned Spice Route (picked as much for the winery name as anything else but a good wine nonetheless).

Whites might be your best bet for refreshment however – Domaine Laroche Chablis is a welcome sight (its ‘St Martin’ 2015 is on by the glass), as is Fred Loimer’s ‘Langenlois’ Grüner Veltliner. As with the Armenian flavour, you’ll find hints of the exotic among the whites too – a dry Slovenian Malvazija, for example.

Of course, you don’t have to drink wine – there’s  a good selection of lagers, Pilsners and hipster pale ales, and not forgetting the pretty little menu of bespoke Cinnamon Bazaar cocktails, a collaboration between Vivek Singh and in-demand mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan).

To view the full Cinnamon Bazaar Wine List Confidential entry, including individual category scores and wine recommendations, click here.

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