by Chrissy Iley
I first walked past The Remedy wine bar thinking it looked rather cosy and rather retro, but I’m a cocktail person so it took a while before I was seduced. Apart from a rather drunken discussion with Gerrard Bassett, the world’s number one sommelier where we likened white wines to various composers, I think Chablis was Mozart, I don’t really know much about wine.
I know I like a pink wine called Whispering Angel. I don’t know about top notes, but dry and easy are my requirements. I also know that in the 90s people drank so much Chardonnay just the mention of the word now seems to produce a resonant hangover and a cry of disgust: ‘Not oaked? How naff.’ I also know that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc is heading the same way.
I first went into The Remedy by chance. It was a quick meeting spot. It was cosy, buzzy, but not overwhelming. The proprietors straight off seemed immensely knowledgable, articulate and passionate about their wines. And I soon began to see that this wasn’t just any old wine bar. It’s probably the most carefully thought out wine bar in London, if not in the UK.
On one of my visits there I told them that I liked dry and I didn’t want to taste fruit, or perfume or oak. They came up with a wine from Sicily that they described as salty because of the wind and the sea and the grapes co-mingling. They said the salty wine was an acquired taste but I acquired it very quickly, along with a taste for their grilled tomatoes on toast.
They do have a full food menu but there’s something about tomatoes on toast that go very well will salty wine. Another time I had their lovely cheese board. Other people were enjoying charcuterie or fish. They describe their cuisine as Provence driven – seasonal and focused on great ingredients. The food, quite delicious, is very much an accompaniment to the wine, not the other way round.
On my second visit in a week – the salty wine is quite addictive – we came across two sommeliers from Claridges who seem to be regulars with their perfect palate and quest for beautiful wine, while we discussed what makes Michelin stars these days and what Michelins we’d eaten in. The high point was when they started talking wine. The Remedy is a place for those who have a passion for wine and for those who didn’t know they did.
The Spanish sommelier declared that there’s nothing he loves better than when a customer comes in and asks for a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and he turns up his nose and is able to say, ‘Not on my menu.’ The Remedy has all the trends of the future.
The Remedy, 124 Cleveland Street, London W1T 6PG, www.theremedylondon.com.