Douglas Blyde visits LPM in Mayfair and speaks to wine manager Johnghyun Jung about finding vintages with “danger”, “excitement” and “passion”, and how he went from being a loan administrative assistant in a bank to working in wine. Taken from this year’s Wine List Confidential guide, available to buy now.
“LPM’s food is very much southern French, sun-soaked and built for languid beach days: it’ll make you feel you’re on holiday, even as the nights draw in and the clouds bank up. Allez-y,” appraised Tatler of Mayfair’s LPM restaurant and seafood and cocktail bar, located in a private mews beside Claridge’s. Owned by Arjun Waney, the co-founder of Zuma Restaurants, the
dining room’s art and flowers and pastel tones evoke the original restaurant on Nice’s Rue Saint-François de Paule. Other incarnations followed in Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Riyadh.
In collaboration with Veneto-born group sommelier and wine buyer Andrea Fasan, Korean wine manager Johnghyun Jung oversees a 400-bin list, including a minimum of 20 rosés from Provence all year round. Of the latter, you can find magnums of Domaine Ott’s Clos Mireille and Étoile as well as the sparkling Figuière Atmosphere. “Our selection also includes some unusual, richer, darker rosés, which can even complement slow-cooked duck legs with an orange glaze, or grilled lamb cutlets with smoky
aubergine,” says Jung.
Elsewhere, standout producers, among numerous classed first growths, include Liber Pater. “Owner-winemaker Loïc Pasquet uses un-grafted varieties once native to Graves before the scourge of phylloxera,” recalls the enthusiastic Jung. He is also
fascinated by the large collection of Domaine de Trevallon, Baux de Provence, which reaches back to 1982 and includes large formats, while also being available via Coravin. “It is not just the greatest wine of Provence but, arguably, the finest example of a Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon blend. The wines are getting nobler as the vineyard ages. It is a wine of the garrigues, and a wine
of uncompromising personality, and like its origins, it is a wine of no half-measures. There is danger here. There is excitement. There is passion.”
This being a go-to venue for celebrations, with the team often pausing service multiple times to sing, rather well, choruses of Happy Birthday, De Venoge Louis XV Champagne rubs shoulders with Billecart-Salmon’s Clos St. Hillaire and, from England, Hundred Hills Blanc de Blancs.
Jung previously worked in a very different arena – as a loan administrative assistant. “While working in a bank during the day was
quite one-sided, I really enjoyed bartending in the evenings, which is one of the reasons why I decided to become a sommelier. I really love wines and interacting with guests.”
Take note, Jung’s favourite spot in the house is table 10, being “intimate and cosy with a great view”.
Score: 92.7 Value: 92 Size: 94 Range: 92 Originality: 90.5 Experience: 95
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