New on Wine List Confidential: Clarette

Formerly a Scottish pub, with leaded windows and velvet banquettes, the cosy, characterful Clarette is co-owned by Alexandra Petit Mentzelopoulos, youngest daughter of the Château Margaux dynasty, hence the fairly priced page of renditions sourced direct from those hallowed cellars.

Swedish Head Sommelier, Caroline Fridolfsson and her team aim for a relaxed style of service at Clarette, ‘with a great mixture of entry-levels wines, more serious “unicorn wines” [such as Lethbridge Pinot Meunier] and everything in-between.’ As ‘dynamic as possible’ and ‘emphasising the Old World, and in particular, France’, the charismatic, accessibly-priced list which offers plenty of interest around the £50 mark, reaches to 130 bins with circa 20 wines by the glass, half of which are tapped by Coravin, including Margaux. ‘I ask my sommeliers which wines they want to see on the list, which helps motivate them,’ says Fridolfsson.

Before Clarette, Fridolfsson worked as an air stewardess from Dubai, subsequently seeing restaurant experience at Mexique, Chicago, before becoming sommelier at Oblix in The Shard, later joining the opening team at 67 Pall Mall, ultimately leading the events programme. ‘My studies are through the Court of Master Sommeliers, and I am very passionate about wine even in my spare time which I usually spend with other people in the trade at London’s chic wine bars, such as Sager + Wilde and Noble Rot, seeking new discoveries.’

Neat, clean, textured and flavour-forward dishes by Head Chef, Aaron Ashmore, may include Comté and truffle beignets, bream ceviche with puffed rice, hand cut beef tartare, tartiflette of pancetta, onion and Reblochon, and a killer chocolate and banana éclair with caramel ice cream perhaps partnered with Malmsey Madeira…

To see the WLC position and scores for this review click here

Wine List Confidential, brought to you by the drinks business, is the first platform to rank London’s restaurants on the strength of their wine list alone, providing a comprehensive guide to the best restaurants in the capital for wine lovers.

Restaurants are graded on a 100-point scale based on five criteria: size, value, service, range and originality. For a full guide to London’s best wine lists visit winelistconfidential.com

the drinks business published the inaugural 2017 Wine List Confidential: One to Sixty-One guide last year. We are currently working on a new 2018 edition and are busy re-reviewing top-scoring restaurants and adding new entries to the database. Check back later in the year for final scoring and position of restaurants.