Wine

Our Head Sommelier, Guillaume Kaczmar... has visited Ancre HillEstate vineyard located in Monmouth, Wales. Ancre Hill Estates is a family run business comprising husband and wife team, Richard and Joy and son David. Richard explains that Davei s the real driving force behind the business. Armed with a BSc in Viticulture & Oenology gained at Plumpton College (part of Brighton University) i...

Throughout the autumn Head Sommelier Guillaume and his team will be pouring a glass of one of the wonderful wines below with our Italian Wine Lunch offer. LUIGI BAUDANA LANGHE BIANCO DRAGON, 2013Langhe, Piemonte This small estate has just over 4 hectares of vineyard, all in the commune of Serralunga d'Alba. Their tiny cellar is situated in the village of Baudana, while their vineyards are ...

Being from Bordeaux I am passionate about its wines and I am always trying to source interesting and rare wines that are rarely found in restaurants. The idea that lies behind this last shipment coming from Bordeaux is to offer our guests at L'Ortolan some of the best wines found in Bordeaux at a very competitive price. Great wines express their typicity: not just the typicity of their vineyard...

As the summer draws to a close, some of our team headed to the beautiful and historic city of Reims in Northern France. Famed not only for its towering gothic cathedral, but its setting in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, renowned for its sparkling white wine (Champagne). Here our team spent a day tasting at the Charles Heidsieck winery led by head sommelier Guillaume Kaczmar, following his...

Coravin We are really proud to introduce our guests and wine lovers to a brand new device for wine pouring, 'Coravin' , that we believe is about to revolutionise fine wine service. Basically, the Coravin allows us to access very fine wines of rare vintages and complexity by performing the neat trick of extracting wine from a bottle without actually opening it. So, there is no effect on the qua...

We are very excited to introduce Charles Heidsieck as our new house Champagne. Chosen for its individuality, exclusivity and downright deliciousness we look forward to sharing this wonderful Champagne with our guests here at L'Ortolan. Charles Heidsieck was founded in 1851 by the legendary Champagne Charlie himself. Charles was a dashing figure in Champagne, known as stylish gentleman and d...

Head Sommelier Guillaume Kaczmar has only recently joined us but already has a solid idea of how the wines and wine service will be going forward. Following on from his predecessors and the interest L'Ortolan has always had in unconventional but authentic wines, Guillaume intends to carry on in the same tradition. ' We try very hard to source most of our wines and produce from honest people who...

Laurent Perrier is undoubtedly one of the most famous Champagne houses in the world, guaranteeing quality, style and luxury with every bottle. Founded in 1812, Laurent Perrier has been creating unique and elegant Champagne for nearly two hundred years and continues to be recognised for its creative approach to winemaking. During the 1950's Laurent Perrier introduced the use of stainless steel ta...

Exceptional cuisine, exquisite wines and first class service all combine to make the dining experience at L'Ortolan truly memorable. To complement the food, Sommelier Craig Steven offers recommendations from our extensive wine list, including flights of wines to accompany each course on the menu. We are constantly tasting and tuning our wine offering with the ever changing menu and love to intro...

We take a look into the history behind the prestigious French Champagne House and how the Pommery Brut Champagne became so popular. Champagne Pommery is a French Champagne house founded in Reims by Alexander Pommery and Narcisse Greno in 1858. After Alexander's death in 1960, MadamePommery dedicated the business to Champagne production and began producing a sparkling white champagne instead...

A phrase often heard from guests when asked if they would like any assistance in selecting a wine is "I'd like to have anything but Chardonnay". This is so commonly heard in restaurants these days that there is now an unofficial industry term describing these guests as ABC drinkers. For a Sommelier this can be particularly amusing as this is often backed up with the question "Do you have a nice Ch...

The Real Wine Month is a national promotion of organic, biodynamic and natural wines made by artisan growers and winemakers. L'Ortolan is one of over 200 restaurants taking part in the celebration, so we're taking the opportunity to showcase our diverse and renowned natural wine list. A trend in recent years is to actually turn the clock back and look at how wines used be made before modern inn...

In September we will be looking to The America's, North and South for our monthly wine tasting dinner. Sommelier Stephen Nisbet gives us an introduction to these wine producing regions. It is generally well known that both continents have regions capable of producing wine, but we find again the sheer extent of range in style is largely unknown. It is believed here have been grapes for winemakin...

Real Wine Month is celebrated nationally during May highlighting organic, biodynamic and natural wines made by artisan growers and winemakers. And we will be taking the opportunity to showcase our diverse and renowned natural wine list. Reading Restaurant Natural Wine Month Throughout May our Sommelier, Craig, will serve guests a variety of natural wines by the glass, introducing them to t...

In the world of wine a dark cloud continues to hover over German wines. Many perceive them as sweet, dull and unfashionable. But for adventurous wine drinker there is much to discover about Germany's wine regions and the rewards are well worth the effort! Renowned Sommelier, Stephen Nisbet has seen his fair share of resistance to the German wine market within the UK, and strives to change people's...

All at L'Ortolan are delighted that our wine list has once again been selected for the final round of the 2011-2012 AA Wine Award. Introduced in 1998, the AA Wine Award recognises an outstanding contribution to promoting wine understanding and appreciation. Nominees are judged on the quality of their wine list and their ability to inspire customers to make wider and more adventurous cho...

For his final blog in his 'Spotting Faults' series, L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet rounds off with his five top tips that reduce the risk of unhealthy Festive-Season wine. Some top tips for healthy wines for entertaining: If someone is bringing 'that special bottle' ask them to bring it the day before - if it is red then it might need to be decanted, if it is white you wouldn't want to sho...

Even after dedicating the last 15 years to exploring flavors and food and drink combinations L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbett was surprised at the accidental pairing he made whilst hosting a dinner party: "Last week, I had some friends round for dinner. I stocked up on ingredients for chocolate brownie cake, planned to make my own chips, and finally purchased some steak and some bottles of McE...

On the 21st April L'Ortolan held an exclusive event in the main restaurant celebrating the wines of renowned producer Frank Cornelissen, from Etna, Sicily. The decision was taken early on to create an Italian style dinner with dishes taking inspiration from L'Ortolan's repertoire, in consultation with Alan Murchison and Frank himself. Unfortunately, the Eyjafjallajokull ash-cloud hovering in UK...

In his Wine Temperatures blog series, L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet has explained the importance of getting the temperature of your wine just right. But here he shares a few hand hints and tips on what to do if time is short. Cold: 45 minutes in the freezer is the equivalent of 2 - 3 hours in the fridge - popping your bottle in the freezer for a short time can help you to reduce the w...

In an earlier blog we noted that white wines are ideal usually just slightly cooler than reds, but still around around 10 - 12 degrees. In his next blog L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet offers some guidance as to how to arrive at the perfect temperature for your bottle: Guidelines as to how to arrive at the correct temperature Remove bottle from heated locations- At this chilly time of ye...

In his blog L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet offers some guidance as to how to arrive at the perfect temperature for your bottle:Guidelines as to how to arrive at the correct temperature Remove bottle from heated locations - At this chilly time of year the best thing to do is to place your bottle upright in an unheated, but insulated area like a porch, a well insulated garage...

L'Ortolan sommelier takes a moment to explain just how temperature affects your enjoyment of wine: "There is a bit of a an unspoken rule that white wine is best served cold, where as red wine is best served warmer. Whilst this is to some extent true, the ideal temperature is remarkably similar for both white and red fine wines. Because of the way we often go about preparing wine for drinking it...

L'Ortolan sommelier Stephen Nisbet takes a moment to explain just how temperature affects your enjoyment of wine: "There is a bit of a an unspoken rule that white wine is best served cold, where as red wine is best served warmer. Whilst this is to some extent true, the ideal temperature is remarkably similar for both white and red fine wines. Because of the way we often go about preparing wine ...

So you've bought screw-capped bottles and know you won't be serving corked wine to your guests. but what about that special bottle you've been saving? Here L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet continues his discussion of basic wine faults, and explains just what it is that can make 'that special bottle' go so horribly wrong. Simply because they way we transport and store wine has improved vast...

Continuing in his Spotting Faults series, today L'Ortolan Sommelier Stephen Nisbet discusses how to spot whether your dinner party wine has become oxidised. As common as corkage, and almost impossible with screw cap or alternative closure, is when the wine is oxidised. Oxidisation occurs when too much air has got into the bottle. Now, the whole point of a cork is to allow some transit betwee...

Unless there has been a terminal failure in the seal, with closures like screw caps there is generally not enough time for the time for the wine to become faulty. Considering the way that wine is transported and stored these days, with a short shelf life and refrigerated to ideal temperatures, unless they have been hideously stored by a wine shop you can be much happier that the wine you are about...

With the festive season slowly creeping upon you may find yourself hosting an increasing number of dinner parties for friends, family and colleagues. So when you've spent days planning your perfect dinner party, calculating the exact timing for the turkey, and the correct number of roast potatoes, the last thing a host needs is for a seemingly innocent bottle of wine to ruin a carefully considered...