Hong Kong is Asia’s premier hub for wine. The overflow of wine traders here has had a tremendously positive effect for the consumer with fierce competition driving down the price of wine and forcing restaurants to make smarter choices about their wine list. Last week, I was out pounding the pavement conducting some detective work as I wanted to discover which establishments serve the city’s best wines. Here’s what I discovered...
Best Wine List – L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon
It’s hard to look past this establishment in Central. One doesn’t receive three Michelin stars just for excellent food and service – wine is judged with equal merit. The selection here is mind-blowing, comprehensive with both classic producers and special vintages. An oenophile’s heaven, one can spend hours browsing the 3,400 strong wine list. The bottles do come with a bling-bling price tag, though.
What to order: Puligny-Montrachet, Les Combettes, Jacques Prieur, Bourgogne, France 2009
Best By The Glass Wine List – 12,000 Francs
If you can confidently serve 45 delicious wines by the glass on any given night, you deserve this title. 12,000 Francs is a Euro-centric wine bar and bistro in Soho with a wonderful selection of international wines that are served up alongside top notch charcuterie and cheeses.
What to order: GD Vajra, Barolo Albe, Nebbiolo, 2012, Italy
Best Quirky Wine List – Francis
A new comer to the scene who’s definitely not afraid to list bottles that are off beat with hard to pronounce names. I was immediately impressed when I saw the team here serving some of my favourite Lebanese wines (Chateau Ksara) and a food friendly Italian white like Verdicchio. Power to these guys for taking such risk on wines that can require some hand-selling.
What to order: La Staffa, Verdicchio, Marche, Italy, 2016
Best Value Wine List – Amuse Bouche
A huge diamond in the rough when it comes to great food and a wine list that fares well when put against some of the city’s biggest names in fine wines like Petrus, Upper House, Amber and Caprice. The wine collection is jaw dropping – some of the prices are seriously too good to be true. I honestly thought there were typos on the wine menu when I read it.
What to order: Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne, Blanc de Blanc, 1999, France
Eddie McDougall
Follow Eddie on social media via:
Instagram – @theflyingwinemaker
FB – @theflyingwinemaker
FB Eddie – @theflyingwinemakereddie
Twitter – @tfwhk
Twitter Eddie – @eddiewinemaker