Mayfair restaurant selling under £20 wines

Mayfair tapas restaurant El Pirata has added four wines to its list priced at under £20 to dispel the myth that all wines in the affluent London district are expensive.

As reported by the Evening Standard, the restaurant on Down Street, which has been serving tapas to regulars since 1994, has listed four Spanish wines priced at £19.95 per bottle.

Among the affordable drops are the apple-scented Bodegas Fariña Colegiata Blanco Malvasia 2016, the summer fruited Coral Rosé from Navarra and La Tremenda Tinto, a Monastrell from Alicante boasting black cherry aromas.

The average starting price of a bottle of wine at restaurants on nearby Maddox Street is £37 and jumps up to £44 on fashionable Berkley Street.

“Good wine doesn’t need to cost the earth and we hope our customers will enjoy these bottles at great prices,” El Pirata’s general manager José Rodrigues told the Evening Standard.

El Pirata counts Brian May of Queen among its fans. Its wine list runs to 140 bins. Its top drop is Vega Sicilia Unico, which will set you back £695 a bottle.

Among its larger dishes are squid with black rice; octopus with olive oil and paprika; kidneys in Sherry; and a white bean stew with chorizo and pancetta.

Mayfair is not only one of the most expensive postcodes in London but the world. It remains the most expensive property on the Monopoly board at £400.

The area became well known for its annual ‘May Fair’ that took place from 1687 to 1764 in what is now Shepherd Market. Mayfair is referred to as the manor of Eia in the Doomsday Book.