Wine List Of The Year
Noble Rot Soho
The Noble Rot crew have taken home the Wine List of the Year on numerous occasions, but this is the first time for their more recently opened Soho restaurant. As ever Mark Andrew and Dan Keeling’s list is all killer, no filler and is arranged in an innovative and sensible way, with the pair chopping and changing between grapes, regions and wine styles as suits them.
The list is by no means a carbon copy of that offered at the original (and much loved) Noble Rot restaurant in Bloomsbury. The vast majority of the wines are different, reflecting the fact that the pair have not adopted a cookie-cutter approach for their second restaurant. On the former site of The Gay Hussar, Noble Rot Soho has a more intimate feel than Bloomsbury and a menu cooked by ex-Sardine chef Alex Jackson that references the Greek Street building’s previous occupant.
The list is extensive without being overwhelming, offering a huge selection by the glass thanks to a policy of having more bottles open than most restaurants would – such is Noble Rot’s popularity the volume is there – plus Coravin for the most expensive stuff. The wider cellar is sensibly priced with notably low mark ups throughout (especially at the top-end) and is unashamedly reflective of Andrew and Keeling’s own tastes, so good luck finding a New Zealand ‘Savvy B’.