67 Pall Mall, where wine takes centre stage
Since its launch last year, 67 Pall Mall has become a copper-bottomed hit. Clubbable oenophiles have fallen over themselves to join, with the result that the membership list had virtually closed before the club was even opened.
With 5,000 wines on its list (500 available by the glass), modest cash mark-ups rather than ridiculously inflated industry-standard percentages, a team of top sommeliers led by Ronan Sayburn MS, iPad wine lists, fine food, a relaxed dress code (no ties needed; jeans okay), facilities to store members’ own wines and trade them, regular tastings and a handsome, listed building in the shadow of St James’s Palace – it’s easy to see 67 Pall Mall’s appeal.
Wendy Outhwaite, the QC turned wine producer at Ambriel, West Sussex, is a great fan. ‘ I like 67 Pall Mall because I love wine and it has lots of good stuff. It’s not all just club-land claret,’ she says. ‘ The wine list changes regularly and is a wide-ranging mix of delicious treasures. I’ve tasted all sorts of things that I hadn’t met before. And at the risk of sounding very old-fashioned, as a woman it is very refreshing to be genuinely welcomed into a club. It’s completely unstuffy and has no cliques. People are there simply because they love wine.’
According to Nicholas Hall, of Herbert Hall winery in Kent, a major part of 67 Pall Mall’s considerable charm is that it’s the very antithesis of the typical gentlemen’s clubs that – surprisingly, some would suggest – continue to thrive nearby.
‘ It’s elegant, smart but not stuffy,’ he says. ‘ They have no portraits of whiskery old men staring down from tatty gold frames. And no battle scenes either! Everything is beautifully finished. It’s not a huge space compared to most gents’ clubs, and there are no enormous rooms with a lone member snoring in a corner under newspaper. There’s a buzz about it and it feels like the members are still alive.’
Some have quibbled that the various lists are so extensive that they’re too complicated to navigate on the iPads, and others that, although it’s meant to be a wine-lover’s home from home, it’s too heavy on the well-heeled hedgefunders and too light on the slightly less well-off wine trade.
Who knows? The fact remains that there are some exceptional wines to enjoy here. Random highlights on the list that caught my eye on a recent visit include Alain Graillot, Crozes-Hermitage 2013 for £7 a glass; Château HautBatailley 2005 for £ 11 a glass; Pol Roger Brut for £45 a bottle (retailing for £42 at nearby Berry Bros & Rudd); 24 English wines; 25 Greek wines; 15 different vintages of Château Palmer; Domaine François Villard, Condrieu 2014 for £49 a bottle; magnums of Hamilton Russell, Chardonnay 2011 for £98; Felton Road’s Cornish Point Pinot Noir 2014 for £85 a bottle; and Lafite 2010 for £795 a bottle (£708 a bottle in bond at Berry’s).
Most recently 67 Pall Mall has announced that it will be taking another floor of its Lutyens-designed building, enabling it to add another 103 seats to a new first floor clubroom, complete with a large bar which will serve the 500 wines by the glass currently available elsewhere in the club. As a result, 67 Pall Mall’s founder and CEO Grant Ashton will also be increasing the club’s membership by 1,000.
If you’re interested in joining, you’ll need to be proposed and seconded by an existing member and stump up a joining fee of £ 1,250, together with an annual membership fee of £ 1,000. However, if you live beyond a 80km radius of London, are aged 27 or under, or are a member of the wine trade, the annual fees are significantly lower.
For more information, visit www.67pallmall.co.uk