I credit my lovely Dad for introducing me to the wonderful world of wine, so it was a very easy decision to decide where to take him for his birthday. The Fulham Wine Rooms are the sister restaurant to The Kensington Wine Rooms, which I’ve written about before, and boy are they good.

Here’s the concept. A great selection of wines – and a cash card you can load up allowing you to taste at your own pace and your own amount. The price for a small 25cl taster of the wines ranges from as little as 70p up to around £2 for the really good ones. £15 on each card got us around 15 wines to taste between us. Each wine has a handy little explainer card below, too, giving you an idea of what you might taste.

The stand-out wines:

<< Dobogo Furmint Tokaji (2012). This Hungarian white is made in the same region and from the same grapes as traditional dessert wine, but is actually very dry and very, very good. Think honeysuckle, apricots, warm and complexity.

>> SP 68 Bianco, Sicily (2013).  The Wine Rooms had a good selection of natural wines, made with minimum chemical interventions or additives.  This white was incredibly clean and fresh, disappearing from the palate almost instantly. With pleasant fruity flavours and a crisp taste, the lack of sulphates should mean less chance of a hangover too. Winner.

<< Puligby-Montrachet ‘Les Enseigneres’ Domaine Chavy-Choet (2013). Simply wow. A stunning white burgundy, it was full and rich and had a beautiful taste of honey.  Expensive, retailing at around £35 a bottle, but I think I’ll be saving up my pennies to treat myself.

>> Ballon, ROT Wine Rooms Production, Cotes-du-Rhone (2013).  Boo, the only wine that disappointed. I really *wanted* to like this red, blended by the Wine Rooms and another natural wine. But to me it smelt of feet, and tasted a little of vinegar.

<< Rioja Crianza Bodegas Amezola (2010) / Rioja Reserva Especial, Urbina (1998). Although not a strict comparison, tasting these 2 riojas together was really useful to compare how age changed them. The Crianza was younger and would be perfect in another 5 years or so. The Reserva – aged to perfection – was full bodied, smooth and tasted similar to Port.

>> Lacoste Borie, Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac, Bordeaux (2007). My favourite of the whole evening (and that’s saying something!). This Pauillac was smooth, but with big flavour and an amazing nose. A real treat – at £63 a bottle it’s not normally one I would be able to try!

 

You can see more information about the wines above here.

Don’t forget you can always tweet @wineblag for more information.