A decade ago, Bob Bob Ricard (www.bobbobricard.com) caused a sensation within the restaurant world when it capped the maximum mark-up on wines at £50, however expensive the bottle. The original reserve list at the Soho 'diner deluxe' raised eyebrows – and tempers – by including price comparisons with other top London restaurants and established a reputation as an uncompromising maverick for owner Leonid Shutov.

Today, while the price comparisons have gone, the newly updated wine list at Bob Bob Ricard continues to offer probably the best value fine wine and champagne in the UK. 

Pressing Bob Bob Ricard's much-imitated 'Press for Champagne' button might summon forth Dom Perignon, 2008 at £24/glass or £138/bottle, or Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut NV  £15.50/£89. Pol Roger Brut Reserve NV, which appeared on the original 2009 list at £82/bottle, is available eleven years later for just £90, an exceedingly modest increase of not even 10%.

Red wines start at £6/glass or £28/bottle for Moulin de Gassac Classic, L'Herault, 2018 and rise to £248 for Chateau Palmer, 3ème Cru, Margaux, 2004. Château Smith Haut Lafitte, Grand  Cru, the bright new star of the Graves region, appears at £183 for the spectacular 2005 vintage.  Italy and Spain are well-represented with Amarone della Valpolicella, Corte Giara, 2016 at £86, Barolo 'Le Albe', G.D. Vajra, 2014 at £90 and Rioja Gran Reserva, Marqués de Murrieta, 2012 at £93 to name just a few.

White wines also start at a modest £6/glass or £28/bottle for the fantastic Picpoul de Pinet, Chateau de la Mirande, 2018. While European and New World wines feature, it is Burgundies that make up the majority of this part of the list, of which three are Puligny Montrachet – Domaine Bzikot, 2017 at £94, 'Les Enseignères', Domaine François Carillon, 2016 (£109) and 1er Cru 'Clavoillon', Domaine Leflaive, 2013 at just £170.

The list ends, as any good meal should, with a concise but superb selection of dessert wines. The world's most highly-prized sweet wine, Chateau d'Yquem, 1er Cru Supérieur, Sauternes, 1998 can be enjoyed at a £29/glass or £169/half-bottle; the 'perfect' 2001 vintage of Yquem is offered at £256/half-bottle. Another Sauternes, Chateau Delmond, 2016, is listed at £7/glass or £35/half-bottle. Vintage port, Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas, 1996, is £8/£39 and Vin de Constance, Klein Constantia (arguably Africa's greatest wine) completes the selection at £12/glass or £77 for a 500ml bottle.

Summarising Bob Bob Ricard's 2020 wine list, Leonid Shutov says, “People thought I was mad when I first introduced the pricing model we have at Bob Bob Ricard, but I am glad to have stuck to my guns. It's an unabashedly 'special occasion' type restaurant, and those occasions should also include the best wines. The maximum £50 mark-up means that our guests can enjoy some of the world's finest wines, champagnes and sweet wines at prices they simply won't see elsewhere, confident that they are getting outstanding value for money whatever they choose to spend.”

Media Contacts: sarah@dovetail-agency.co.uk/hrw@hughrichardwright.com