News

Wine List Confidential: Brooklands by Claude Bosi

24 July 2024 By Douglas Blyde

Douglas Blyde pays a visit to Booklands by Claude Bosi at The Peninsula hotel to taste his way through head sommelier Gioele Musco’s “masterwork of a list”, which includes the likes of La Tâche, Chapel Down Bacchus, and plenty of Penfolds.

Named after the world’s first purpose-built motor racing circuit where the British and French aircraft industries met to discuss the formation of the transformative supersonic jet, Brooklands “is a tribute to Concorde, with a silver, white, stark and airy design redolent of the plane’s interior” wrote William Sitwell in The Telegraph, adding, “there’s even a model Concorde pinned to the ceiling.” Meanwhile, Maxime Lacovella of Four magazine noted the selection of “fantastic deserts draws the 3.5-hour journey to an end, ironically the time the Concorde would take to fly from Heathrow to NYC.”

Design

With, in Chinese culture, five fortunate “8s” in its telephone number, and three more found in the bottle pricing for 2009 Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello (£888), The Peninsula is the first British hotel from the almost 160-year-old Hong Kong headquartered company. Designed by David Archer and Julie Ann Humphryes (Chiltern Firehouse, KOKO) details include an inner courtyard with a twosome of 120-year-old Japanese maples which is where the hotel’s jaw-dropping automotive fleet is parked, including Rolls-Royce Phantom IIs, a hybrid Bentley Bentaygas, an electrified 1960 vintage Austin taxi, and a restored 1935 Rolls-Royce Phantom Sedanca de Ville. Brooklands itself is accessed via an engine oil scented museum in miniature, showcasing a Napier-Railton racing car from the 1930s, beside hot air balloon themed lifts which convey guests, to the sound and sight of burning propane, to the seventh floor.

Drinks

Formerly of Sketch Lecture Room and Library where he was mentored by the illustrious Frederic Bruges, and then Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal, Gioele Musco oversees a team of five sommeliers serving Brooklands restaurant, terrace, and bar. The latter , which warrants its own review, was described as “far glitzier” than the chic restaurant by Josh Barrie in Evening Standard – “It is not a million miles away from Austin Powers.” There you will find Armagnac from 1946, Chartreuse to 1966, and whisky flights which include a 44-year-old Glenfarclas – perhaps best enjoyed, for those with means, with a £42 “mini beef burger” bar snack. There is also a cigar lounge and tabac.

Back to wine, Musco has pulled a masterwork of a list out of his cappello, “90%” of which is not found at The Peninsula’s other outlets. It includes esoteric English icon, Breaky Bottom by the Zalto, in the form of Cuvée Michelle Moreau from 2014 (£35/125ml), ranging to Dom Pérignon 2009 rosé (£135). By the bottle, there is a focus on grower “and artisan” champagnes including 1996 Andre Beaufort Grand Cru Ambonnay (£450), and, also from Ambonnay but bereft of bubbles is Egly-Ouriet’s fabled 2020 Coteaux Champenois, Cuvée des Grands Cotes (£595).

Still options by the stem open with 2020 Dry Furmint by Disznókö from Mad in Hungary (£12.50), continuing to the septuagenarian (1954), oak-free, Blanc Sec Sauternes from the singular of vision, Château Gilette at £350, via Pago de Miraflores’ “Deliciosa” Manzanilla (£11/100ml), a 1989 Tannat from Château Montus (£40), 2016 RWT Bin 798 Shiraz by Penfolds (£69), and 1995 Vergine Riserva Marsala care of Curatolo Arini (£22/100ml).

Still wines by the bottle start with Chapel Down’s 2022 Bacchus White (£49) which, though kindly priced seems, like flooring a Ford Fiesta 60PS 1.25 at Monza, absurdly underpowered to take up a parking space at this two Michelin starred establishment.

There is plentiful interest around the £60 mark, including Domaine Dupasquier’s 2019 Jacquere (£65), and, at five pounds cheaper, Casamatta Bianco 2021 by Bibi Graetz. Musco seems to embrace odd numbered vintages, in fact, as demonstrated by the 1973 Chablis 1er Cru Fourchaume, Bouchard Pere and Fils (£330), 1975 Château Leoville Poyferré (£355), 1994 Merryvale Profile from Napa (£500), and 1997 Sassicaia (£1,215). Given the £1bn plus cost to realise the property, which alas didn’t sort out the perilous for pedestrians turning from Grosvenor Place to Grosvenor Crescent, the top end pricing seems almost reasonable compared to retail, with 2006 La Tâche Grand Cru, Domaine de La Romanée-Conti (£12,000). Another notable bottle is the 1989 Penfolds Grange, which brings us to today’s lunch.

Dishes

Given the complications of securing a media-focused meal at a Claude Bosi establishment, we got in today under the radar care of wine producer, Penfolds, whose above Grange is stocked here at just under three times mark-up (£1,150). Alas, not by Concorde, chief winemaker to the stars (celebrities, politicos, and Michelin starred restaurants), Peter Gago, and fellow Penfolds winemaker, Shauna Bast, had flown in to guide writers through its 2024 Collection (released globally in August). Gago later segued to The Stafford Hotel’s cellars to honour a dinner held for winning bidders of a Golden Vines lot.

Post a tasting including tender, peach and jasmine scented Bin 51 Eden Valley Riesling 2024, black olive and pencil scented 2022 Bin 407 Cabernet, refined, blueberry and clotted cream evoking 2022 Bin 128 Coonawarra Shiraz, inky, liquorice scented 2021 Bin 704 Cabernet, fulsome, accessible, crunchy, brambleberry-like Bin 600 Cabernet Shiraz 2021 from both Napa and Paso Robles, juicy, uniquely svelte 2022 Magill Estate Shiraz, and the structured, correct, though presently impenetrable 2020 Grange, lunch began with an aperitif on the commanding terrace. While overlooking the Australian War Memorial, a comparison of Penfolds’ collaboration with Thienot saw the evolving Blancs de Blancs versus blackberry leaf Blanc de Noirs served with an astonishingly vividly flavoured sardine and romesco canapé.

Realised by head chef, Francesco Dibenedetto, lunch continued in the private room. Cossetting, with double aspect views, this remarkable space felt like the cabin of a particularly upmarket zeppelin. Showing the organiser’s attention to detail, even the scentless roses on the wing-like table matched the bright red branding of Penfolds. Coincidentally, Gago mentioned a Penfolds rose is actually being cultivated.

After sumptuously cheesy Shropshire butter, perhaps discovered by Bosi when he ran his restaurant Hibiscus in Shrewsbury, the famous celeriac “nosotto” arrived. Here, rice is replaced with pine nuts and fine celeriac nibs and embellished with crab claw and coconut, and marigold oil. This very rich dish, saved by a high acid line, met a duet of Chardonnays, being the nectarine and nougat-scented Bin 311 from 2023, and, proving the better match, the seriously classy, sleek, mouthwatering, 2022 Yattarna – colloquially known as “the white Grange” hinted Gago. Continuing the Chardonnay theme, Musco mentioned he sometimes serves 2004 Charles Heidsieck Blanc Des Millénaires with this dish.

Approached, as at The Clove Club, by a bespoke Roland Lannier knife, Lake District lamb cutlets were subtly spiced to evoke an almost curry-like sensation. This met the linear, mineral Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz from 2012, and muscular 2002 Grange, as well as the new Bin 180. Reaped from 2021, this monolithic Coonawarra Cabernet Shiraz specifically honours Penfolds 180th anniversary, with 180 magnums and eight jeroboams included amidst the release.

Finally, where Musco might normally serve a Ratafia de Champagne, a dish simply described as the best of the British apples with wild meadowsweet sorbet, including pink lady compote, Granny Smith, and meadowsweet sorbet, instead met the wine of the day: the Shiraz-led Penfolds 50 Series 08 Tawny. Limited to just 370 hand blown bottles, the contents of this extremely drinkable, mahogany hued potion date to around 1915.

Last word

Like the diverse components that came together to create today’s lunch – from the ownership of the venue to the larder and the nationalities in the kitchen – the most acclaimed wines of Penfolds are often unabashed blends of territories. Based on the standout expressions from this historic producer and the luxurious dishes crafted by team Bosi, there’s a compelling case for more of these exceptional bins to feature on Brooklands’ prestigious wine list.