Wine List

Welcome to The Pierhouse 2011 Wine List

It is always fun producing a wine list and this year is no exception!

We have taken advice from Jonathan Pedley, who is one of just two hundred and fifty Masters of Wine in the world. He acts as Wine Consultant to Carlsberg UK, as well as lecturing on wine in Britain and Australia. Jonathan co-presented the “Floyd Uncorked” series for Channel 5, and he is the author of the “Good Housekeeping Wine Book”.

An annual review of the list allows us to keep up with the latest trends in wine and introduce you to some of our discoveries.

The last couple of years have seen an almost exponential growth in rosé sales.  This is extraordinary in many ways, not least because for decades rosé was a forgotten corner of the wine market. Most rosé is designed for relaxed, informal quaffing. The Lyric Pinot Grigio Blush is very much in this unpretentious style, although it has no shortage of ripe fruit. For those of you in search of slightly more “serious”, food friendly rosé, there is another important addition - Marqués de Cáceres, which is one of the most famous Rioja houses. Its rosado is very light, bone dry and almost austere. It would be a great choice to partner crab or mussels.

Given that the main theme of The Pierhouse’s menu is local fish and shellfish, it is only logical that we should continue to strengthen our dry white wine offering which are all chosen to go well with fish. If you are looking for something sublime, try our new selection of Las Ondas wines from the Cono Sur Winery in the Valle Central in Chile. The Viognier and Pinot Noir are extremely special although we have also included two extremely good new House Wines in the Las Ondas Sauvignon Blanc and the Las Ondas Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Viognier certainly has great complexity and would complement most white fish and in particular salmon, perfectly.

This year we have introduced into our list what is arguably Spain’s most interesting white wine; Rias Baixas. The vibrant fruit and refreshing acidity of the local Albarino grape have been a tremendous success and we are listing a delicious example from Bodegas As Laxas which partners extremely well with grilled white fish.

To top and tail your meal you may wish to consider the Prosecco. This Prosecco is the trendy fizz from the Veneto. Off dry and fruity, you can drink this as an uncomplicated but refreshing aperitif.

Food and wine are the perfect partnership for any eating occasion, so ensuring our Wine List complements our Menu is of paramount importance. We have therefore endeavoured this year to provide a simple guide alongside many of the wines to show which wines partner or compliment which particular food dishes. We hope you find this useful but as a rough ‘rule of thumb’ the flavour of fish depends on the sort of fish and how it is cooked. The milder the fish, the lighter the white wine needs to be. Red wine can work with full flavoured fish with a robust texture.

Whichever wine you choose, we hope you enjoy your meal and the wine that you drink with it.

To see our Wine List click here

Taste Guide

White Wine - For the white wines a scale of sweetness, defined by the Wine Development Board using numbers 1-9, has been used. Number 1 signifies a very dry wine and number 9 a very sweet wine.

Red Wine - This guide uses a simple five point A-E scale.  Wines designated with the letter A are wines that are easy, undemanding and quaffable.  At the other end of the scale, wines with an E grading are bigger and more concentrated, with a greater sensation of depth and fullness.