Review 2019

Trinity’s list lavishes particular attention on hand-picked producers from Burgundy and Bordeaux, says sommelier, Sara Rossi, who delights in crewing up the cuvées for monthly wine dinners held at “Upstairs”, the restaurant’s “casual” dining space. She singles out one celebrating a sensuous union between Bordeaux, Burgundy and pungent white truffles. Hosted by the youngest Master of Wine, Thomas Parker, this included a starter of hand-cut macaroni with sea urchin and white truffles, then main of saddle of fallow deer cooked on the bone in white truffle butter with prunes poached in Armagnac and truffled celeriac boulangère. Accompanying wines were modest but complete, including Verget Chablis Cuvée de la Butte and Chateau Montlandrie.

Rossi draws attention in her list to the wines marked, “CCW” (Chef Cellar Wine). “These are fine wines hand-picked by chef-owner, Adam Byatt which pair well with the food we serve. Our aim is to motivate guests to experience something from a different region or grape variety,” she says of wines such as Gilles Berlioz’s Altesse El Hem, which is cheekily named after a Moroccan lawyer who helped the winemaker untangle themselves from a prospective driving conviction.

Rossi registers Adam Byatt’s considerable vinous interest. “Last year, Adam visited the Rhône where he had the chance to visit Château de Beaucastel, discovering a small allocation of 2004. Since it is such an important vintage for him, being his son’s birth year, he decided to buy all 200 remaining bottles and label them with Trinity’s logo, of which we’ve only one bottle left!” Own-labelled Coudolet de Beaucastel followed, and “is working well,” she notes.

One of Rossi’s most treasured memories was the trip to Friuli’s Fulvio Bressan, where she indulged in a six-hour tasting of Verduzzo, Schioppettino, Pignol and “an outstanding” Pinot Noir. “Fulvio was not short of words, telling me about his passion for the vineyards and winemaking.”

On arriving in London nine-years-ago, Rossi began working in a wine bar, which galvanised her to become a professional sommelier. “I found a job as a commis sommelier at Cut at 45 Park Lane, improving my service skills and knowledge about classic wine regions.” She later found “a radical change of environment” at her next employ, Fera at Claridge’s, “focusing on small producers, indigenous grape varieties, forgotten appellations and sustainable viticulture.”

By Douglas Blyde.