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If it were my last night on Earth, I would want the wine to be chosen by Daniel Illsley, wine director at London’s Francisco House. He has a wicked sense of humor and a knack for knowing (often before I know) exactly what wine I want. To me, she’s not just a sommelier, she’s a vinous agony aunt.
Illsley’s elegant but probing wine list, created with Joseph Collier for Maison François, won best wine list at the UK’s National Restaurant Awards last year. It’s a pleasure, but there are times when even dedicated oenophiles may find this leather-bound inventory of more than 500 wines too extensive. Those looking for something less biblical should head to the Maison’s lively new “diffusion line.” Café François in the arches of Borough Yards, where Illsley has created a more concise capsule wine list, illustrated with his own cartoons. “I wanted this list to feel more informal and immediate,” he says, “a little like a cartoon or a comic strip.” The menu is subtitled “les vins qui parlent”, or “wines that speak for themselves”.
There are 70 in total, so the list is not small, but it is a gem by industry standards (the international standard Star wine list prizes classes anything less than 200 wines (a short list). It’s a great edition, with an almost sensationalist-style homepage featuring four sparklers, a dozen whites and reds, a Spanish orange wine, and a Provençal rosé; Everywhere you look there are products that are sure to be a crowd pleaser.
Illsley is a great scout for new talent; I suspect that many of the names on the list will be unfamiliar to most. But the presentation of the list is so attractive that it hardly matters whether you distinguish Hungarian furmint from Australian muscat.
And you’d be wise to stick to the own-brand wines (£9-£10 a glass), which Illsley ordered from a biodynamic producer in Bordeaux he discovered while on holiday on the French coast. The trio includes a citrusy-floral white, a comforting red, and a vibrant clairet: an old-fashioned dark rosé/light red bursting with tart blackberry and raspberry fruit, served chilled. “There is a type of fashionable sommelier today who seems to find the idea that wine should taste good a bit bourgeois,” Illsley says. “I like natural wine, of course, but it should still give pleasure.”
Sparkling wine is “very important” and there are some highly produced champagnes on the list, such as Egly-Ouriet. The house’s effervescence is served in a vintage-style coupe “to make people feel fabulous.” The still wines are served in a cheap and cheerful Paris glass and alongside the nice decanter (there are plenty of magnums too, if you decide to go big).
The food is all about comfort: grilled cheese sandwiches, grilled chicken, and lobster fries. In place of Maison François’ infamous dessert cart is a display case displaying éclairs from the hotel’s bakery.
Eventually, there are plans to start an informal wine club under the title “Café Society.” “The wine list is a playground,” Illsley says. “It’s got everything going, but in a very small space.”