Xavier Rousset MS launches ‘Pinot & Chardo’ wine club

Restaurateur and Master Sommelier Xavier Rousset has launched a free wine club called ‘Pinot & Chardo’, offering its members exclusive offers and access to winemaker dinners.

Xavier Rousset

Named after Rousset’s favourite grape varieties, Pinot & Chardo members will be given exclusive weekly offers on fine wine and wines by-the-glass when dining at Rousset’s Blandford Comptoir in Marylebone and Mayfair’s Comptoir Café & Wine.

Members will also be kept updated with wine news via the monthly newsletter, which also include tasting notes and other wine tips.

Pinot & Chardo members will also be able to offer member the opportunity to book wine experiences with Rousset, such as team building events, bespoke tastings, personal guided tours of selected wine regions, as well as wine sourcing and cellar management services.

“People would ask me all the time to start something like this,” said Rousset, who in 2002 became the youngest Master Sommelier in the world, on his motivation to start the club. “I’m happy to finally share my accumulative knowledge of wine and engage with equally passionate wine lovers.”

Prior to opening Blandford Comptoir in Marylebone last year, Rousset worked in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, including Le Laurent in Paris and Villa Belrose in St Tropez, before becoming chief sommelier at Hotel du Vin.

He was later appointed head sommelier at Raymond Blanc’s Michelin-starred restaurant Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, but left in 2007 to set up Texture restaurant with business partner Agnar Sverrisson. The venture went on to win a Michelin Star within only three years, and the team also founded the ’28-50’ wine bars in 2010.

Rousset announced he was leaving the Michelin-starred Texture 28°-50º restaurant group in May 2015 and in 2016 opened French restaurant Cabotte on Gresham Street in the city of London as part of a joint-venture with master sommelier Gearoid Devaney, who is a director of Burgundy importer Flint Wines, as well as Blandford Comptoir.

Recently, Rousset has gained recognition for his wine lists at Blandford Comptoir and Cabotte from the drinks business’ wine list rating system Wine List Confidential – the first platform to rank London’s restaurants on the strength of their wine list alone.

Wine List Confidential provides a comprehensive guide to the best restaurants in the capital for wine lovers, with restaurants graded on a 100-point scale based on five criteria: size, value, service, range and originality. 

Rousset’s Blandford Comptoir, in Marylebone, which offers a “Mediterranean menu with an Italian slant” alongside a continually evolving wine list numbering 250 wines and 40 Champagnes, was ranked the fourth best restaurant in London for wine, while Rousset’s most recent venture Cabotte – a haven for Burgundy lovers – was ranked 51.

For a full guide to London’s best wine lists visit Wine List Confidential.