Douglas Blyde heads to Bow Street hotel NoMad. While there, he samples the “killer” Nebbiolo selection, as curated by wine director Bella Babbitt, and tries chef Ashley Abodeely’s dish of suckling pig confit with wild greens and smoked bacon jam.
“The NoMad’s interior reads as an almighty post- pandemic flex; a sprawling, saucily darkened labyrinth of twinkling chandeliers, mile-long corridors and opulent, emerald accents, patrolled by a scurrying network of bright-eyed servers,” wrote the Evening Standard’s Jimi Famurewa of the former magistrates court turned à la mode five-star hotel.
The “constantly fluctuating beast” that is the 1,000- bin list is overseen by co-wine directors Amber Gardner, who once wanted to be a TV presenter, and Bella Babbitt, who harboured acting aspirations. “Bella is the exotic one – half-American and half-Swedish – but her downside is that she was born in a terrible vintage. I on the other hand am of very unexotic
British stock, but have a plethora of great wine to choose from my birth year – 1988,” says Gardner.
NoMad is definitely not “your typical ‘luxury’ hotel”, says Gardner, whose motto is: “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.” Hence the duo’s ambition, says Gardner, “to create a list that was as dynamic as the various spaces and the people who walk through our front doors”. She adds: “I think it’s also important to note that, as wine directors, we don’t have the classic five-star hotel background in wine that one may expect. Together, we bring our myriad experiences into creating a unique wine programme.”
Gardner is proud that “well-heeled classics”, such as Cuvée Nomad Extra Brut by Billecart Salmon, “rub shoulders with the next generation” as seen with Le Clou 34 by Claire Naudin, and “lesser-known regions” such as Peru, represented by Viñas Queirolo Intipalka. “As long as a wine showcases balance, typicity and speaks to its origins, there may well be a place for it at NoMad.” Hence, don’t come expecting “flabby generic reds”.
With chef Ashley Abodeely’s dish of suckling pig confit with wild greens and smoked bacon jam, Gardner pairs Treinspoor Tinta Barocca by the Sadie Family. “The vibrant fruit notes play beautifully with the apple in the dish, while its acidity cuts through the delectable confit pig.”
Gardner and Babbitt are currently working on building a “killer” Nebbiolo selection featuring the likes of standout Barolo producer Davide Fregonese. Other wines, in their own ways iconic, might include Les Granges Pâquenesses Trousseau from the Jura and the wines of Burgundy-focused Australian négociant, Jane Eyre.
Score: 95.2 Value: 93 Size: 95 Range: 95 Originality: 97 Experience: 96
This was taken from the 2022 Wine List Confidential guide. To purchase a copy, either physical or digital, click here.
