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Wine List Confidential: Sager + Wilde

10 November 2017 By Niall Penlington

Sager + Wilde’s Hackney Road wine venue is one of the most innovative and fun in London, and has helped to shift the landscape towards a different style of wine bar since it opened in 2013.

A big love for California and Burgundy is evident throughout, with many wines that you simply won’t be able to find in many other places. With virtuous small plates including roasted brussel sprouts, hazelnuts and soft cheese on toast, alongside muhammara with pomegranate molasses, or toasties such as hot jalapeno and Cheddar, the food offer shows curiosity and is generally wine-friendly.

Although taking one’s wine is possible (corkage is a very reasonable £25), it would be somewhat like hanging one’s A-Level
art project in the Louvre, given the careful curation of this list, laid out, entirely in capital

letters, by region, hemisphere and colour (including ‘ORANGE’).

CURRENT POSITION ON WINE LIST CONFIDENTIAL: 23

CURRENT WINE LIST CONFIDENTIAL OVERALL SCORE: 91.8

Expert wine picks

• Trousseau, Pet Nat, ‘Combe’, 2014, California – USA – Sparkling – £66

• Steen, 2015, Chenin Blanc, Swartland – South Africa – White – £48

• Jamie Kutch, 2015 Chardonnay, Sonoma – USA – White – £83

• Rot Murle, Pierre Frick, 2013, Pinot Noir, Alsace – France – Red – £64

• Chateau Filhot, 1983, Sauternes – France – Sweet – £132

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