New on Wine List Confidential: Red Lion and Sun

Heath Ball’s handsome Highgate gastropub offers a good window into the world of wine with crisp cooking, including vegan dishes, and regular winemaker events, as well as an engaging musical playlist.

The Red Lion and Sun in Highgate

“I’m looking for wines from family or privately owned producers,” says the ebullient and direct Heath Ball, who goes by the nickname, ‘Pub Hobbit’ on social media. “Preferably minimal intervention, without making a song and dance about it,” he adds. “Drinkable wines which excite the customer without needlessly challenging them…”

Harking from New Zealand, Ball grew up in the hospitality industry, his grandfather having opened the country’s first hamburger restaurant in 1939, “which was the first place to sell Coca Cola in New Zealand”.

He left the Land of the Long White Cloud in 1993, working in bars and restaurants across Australia, the USA and Europe. In London, he worked for Hugh ‘Sooty’ Corbett, the mind behind chains, Slug & Lettuce and Harvey Floorbangers.

Ball’s first business in the UK was the Drunken Monkey in Shoreditch when it was, he notes, considered frontier territory rather than the relentlessly hip hangout of today. Ball opened Highgate’s The Red Lion and Sun in 2007, followed by The Wenlock Arms six years on, which he saved from the wrecking ball, restoring it to become one of the capital’s best-loved real ale pubs.

Core wines at The Red Lion and Sun may include Ridgeview’s Fitzrovia Brut Rosé, Josef Chromy’s Delikāt Riesling from Tasmania, which at just 7.5% alcohol but 60g per litre of sugar is, advises Ball, “the perfect side kick for spicy dishes like the jerk chicken”.

From Ball’s homeland, expect soulful Pinot Noirs from Paul Pujol’s Prophet’s Rock. Adult rosés, meanwhile, could include Chile’s Garage Wine Co. Old Vine Pale. This selection is supplemented by an off-list cellar full of bin ends and rested bottles, made available to guests at Ball’s discretion, some of which are trailed on Instagram.

Other dishes may include Jersey rock oysters with Cabernet Sauvignon dressing, coconut, turmeric, ginger, chilli and lime leaf broth with roast carrots, swede, parsnips and wild rice, and, perhaps in homage to his grandfather, a cheeseburger with hand-cut chips. Ball will also order in impeccable langoustines on request.

An enomatic on show upon the bar counter may include a reasonably priced tasting flight of the vital wines of David Sampedro’s Bodegas Bhilar. “Everything is done by hand,” says Ball, f the former rugby player’s marginally located holdings. “The vineyards are incredibly old and very low-yielding and David uses horses to plow his land – a practice unheard of in modern Rioja…”

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

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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.