Christmas Claret Dinner, Wednesday 18th December 2024
Dinners
Join us for one of our fine dining evenings. A perfect way to find out more about a specific wine region or style, or to simply relax over a more leisurely affair absorbing the knowledge of your expert host over several courses of the finest food and wine.
Food will be prepared in-house by our fantastic team, with Head Chef Stewart Turner at the helm; while our range of wine specialists will guide you through the glass in your hand.
When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
Book
Description
Join us in our Napoleon Cellar, secluded from the festive bustle, for a traditional Christmas Claret dinner, complete with excellent wines, delicious food and wonderful company. We’ll serve two white wines – a dry and a sweet – at either end of the meal followed by a fleet of fine Clarets from across the Left and Right Banks. As ever, Stewart Turner, our Executive Chef, will put together a festive 4-course menu to complement the wine selection. We hope you can join us for this special tradition in our Napoleon Cellar.
Wines to be tasted:
Berry Bros. & Rudd Champagne by Mailly, Grand Cru, Brut
2023 Château Langlet Blanc, Graves
2012 Château Langoa Barton, 3ème Cru Classé, St Julien
2012 Château Brane-Cantenac, 2ème Cru Classé, Margaux
2005 Château Pontet-Canet, 5ème Cru Classé, Pauillac
2000 Château Troplong Mondot, 1er Grand Cru Classé, St Emilion
2018 Château Coutet, Barsac
Dress code: smart casual
Event details
Delivery and quality guarantee