It’s taken a while, but we’ve finally nabbed him. Ranald Macdonald that is. You know, the convivial iconoclast, flaneur, boulevardier, songwriter, cigar smoker and whisky lover; le patron of Boisdale Belgravia – the club-like restaurant known as Scotland’s Unofficial Embassy to the UK – devoted Spectator reader and all-round good egg.
We’ve run many highly entertaining, late-into-the-night events at Boisdale, and I spend rather more of my leisure hours in its warm, North British embrace than Mrs Ray cares for. What I particularly enjoy is Boisdale’s cannily chosen wine list (I’m not alone: World of Fine Wine recently declared it one of the top ten lists in London) and I’ve long badgered Ranald to make some of its treasures available to us. Finally, the great man agreed and here are my picks of the many peaches on Boisdale’s list, chosen over dinner with Ranald and the mighty Chloe Ferrari of the Spectator Club.
The Boisdale 1er Cru Blanc de Noirs (1) made by independent, family-owned Georges Gardet in Chigny-les-Roses, is an equal blend of Pinot Noir and Meunier aged for 3 years on the lees. It’s soft, creamy, slightly toasty and exuberantly fresh with the finest of mousses. A stalwart of the Boisdale list and International Wine Challenge Silver Medal winner, it’s a beauty, of which I’ve downed buckets. £33.60 down from £48.
I spend more of my leisure hours in Boisdale’s warm, North British embrace than Mrs Ray cares for
A blend of 70 per cent Chardonnay and 30 per cent Pinot Noir, aged on the lees for eight years, the 2006 Boisdale Cuvée Spéciale (2) is a food wine not a chugger, declared Ms Ferrari, happily chugging away. With toasted brioche and a long, creamy finish, it’s extremely classy (it won IWC Gold) and – she was right – worked a treat with crab and avocado. £49.50 down from £69.
Produced using the saignée method, the 2012 Boisdale Cuvée Spéciale Rosé (3) is decadently dark rather than pale, pale pink and is fuller, weightier and more elegantly structured than most rosé champagnes. IWC Silver. £55 down from £75.
Viña Santa Rita was the first Chilean winery to be recognised as a Decanter Wine Legend, famed for producing exceptional wines of extraordinarily good value. Nothing confirms this better than the 2021 Santa Rita Medalla Real Gran Reserva Chardonnay (4) from the Limarí Valley. It’s an outstanding wine at any price, sensitively oaked and full of citrus, cream and just a hint of toast. Good grief it’s good! Neither Chloe nor I could stop smiling. £13.90 down from £16.90.
The 2025 Boisdale Côtes de Provence Rosé (5) won Silver at the IWC and, a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault, is crisp, clean, fresh and elegant. They get through pallets of this at Boisdale and understandably so. £13.90 down from £16.90.
The 2020 Boisdale Claret (6) is, according to Ranald, not just the perfect lunch wine but the perfect breakfast wine and ‘the best house claret we’ve ever had’. A Bordeaux Supérieur from Ch. Reynier in the Entre-Deux-Mers, it’s classic fare, a 50/50 Merlot/Cabernet blend, beautifully made by folk who know what they’re doing. I can’t recall having finer at this price. £12.90 down from £16.50.
Ditto, the 2020 Santa Rita Gran Reserva Carmenère (7), a carefully crafted expression of Chile’s signature grape. Rich, tarry and intense with touches of liquorice, cocoa and bell peppers, it’s what Ranald terms ‘a robust, deep-fruited barbecue wine’, and was bang on with my deliciously blue and bloody Boisdale rib-eye. £13.90 down from £16.90.
Finally, the 2023 Aluvia Malbec (8) from Mendoza, Argentina, rich, expressive and full of juicy cherries, damsons and plums, with fresh acidity, gentle tannins and just a touch of spice. Ranald has offered a seriously generous discount on this and, having had a collective rush of blood to the head, Ms Ferrari and I went halves on a case. Yep, it’s that good. £24 down from £38.
The three champagnes come in unmixed boxes of 6 and in a mixed case comprising 2 bottles of each. Wines 4-8 are in unmixed dozens. Delivery is free for orders over £200. Oh, and Ranald is giving a glass of Boisdale 1er Cru Blanc de Noirs to any Spectator reader and guests lunching at Boisdale Belgravia between now and the end of September.
I told you he was an all-round good egg.
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