1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Location: Berkshire, UK

1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I had the opportunity after the Symington 1994 Library Release launch event to visit the 1857 Bar in the St James Hotel & Club on Park Place, just off St James's Street.

Although this is a private member's club, the bar is open to the public. The manager of the Bar is a huge Port fan and has an ambition to rekindle the love affair that the St James's district of London once had with Port - more Port was consumed in this area of London in the late 1800s than in any other part of the UK. The team have worked very closely with the Symingtons and have come up with an amazing range of Port all of which, thanks to the miracle which is Coravin, is available by the glass. Albeit some is rather expensive!

I was stunned by the range and settled myself down initially with a glass of the 1990 Graham Single Harvest Tawny poured from a jeroboam for what I considered to be a reasonable cost of £28 for a pour of 125ml. It was a lovely wine.

Then I had a proper look at the wines on the display table and was well impressed.
Two jeroboams and a tregnum!
Two jeroboams and a tregnum!
1857 Bar - left side of display.JPG (333.63 KiB) Viewed 3334 times
The 1940 is a serious Port
The 1940 is a serious Port
1857 Bar - SHT in bottle.JPG (342.88 KiB) Viewed 3334 times
Probably London's oldest Port by the glass
Probably London's oldest Port by the glass
1857 Bar - Ne Oublie.JPG (279.01 KiB) Viewed 3334 times
Plenty of bottles for the Vintage lover
Plenty of bottles for the Vintage lover
1857 Bar - mature vintage port.JPG (264.15 KiB) Viewed 3334 times
Yes - a proper Tappit Hen
Yes - a proper Tappit Hen
1857 Bar - more mature vintage port.JPG (242.01 KiB) Viewed 3334 times
A nice range of mature Port
A nice range of mature Port
1857 Bar - yet more mature vintage port.JPG (305.29 KiB) Viewed 3334 times

The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted the bottle with the liquid chalk hand written identification. I've never seen nor heard of this wine before so there was only one thing to do - I asked the barman how much a glass would be. That caused no end of confusion. The bar has only just opened and the range of Ports are almost entirely new - only the 1990 Graham Single Harvest Tawny, the 20YO Dow and the Graham 6 Grapes were on the wine list and programmed into the till. The manager was summoned, which led to an hours chat and conversation about Port, the Douro and life, during which he advised my that a glass of the 1969 Cockburn Single Harvest Tawny would be £55 for a 75ml pour. Eye wateringly expensive, but for a bottle which existed nowhere else in the world? The only stocks being in Portugal where they were needed for the tawny blending.

I did what was right, and am really glad I did. It was a stunning wine, right up with the legendary wines like Niepoort VV (the old bottling), Scion, Ne Oublie and so on. I am so pleased I decided to treat myself to something special and different.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14880
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I managed a quick visit back to the 1857 Bar last week, where they have updated and completed the price list for the Ports. Judging by what they sold in 9 days their list will be changing rapidly!

My second visit to the 1857 Bar at the St James Hotel was on Thursday 11th November (my first having been on Tuesday 2nd November). In between visits the Bar has sold a glass of Ne Oublie @ £400 for 25ml and 2/3rds of a Tappit Hen of Graham 1977 @ £75 for 75ml! This seems like a very good start for them. The full price list on 11 November 2021 was as follows (for a 75ml pour unless otherwise stated):

- Graham Ne Oublie 1882 @ £400 (25cl)
- Graham Single Harvest Tawny 1940 @ £115
- Warre 1960 Private Reserve @ £55
- Cockburn Single Harvest Tawny 1969 @ £55
- Gould Campbell 1977 @ £35
- Graham 1977 from Tappit Hen @ £75
- Smith Woodhouse 1980 @ £33
- Graham Malvedos 1984 @ £29
- Warre 1985 @ £31
- Graham Single Harvest Tawny 1990 from Jeroboam @ £28
- Graham Single Harvest Tawny 1994 @ £23
- Dow 1997 @ £22
- Graham 2000 @ £27
- Cockburn 2003 @ £19
- Warre Cavadinha 2005 @ £13
- Warre Otima Colheita 2006 @ £10
- Dow Bomfim 2010 @ £11
- Graham Malvedos 2010 @ £12
- Smith Woodhouse Madalena 2013 @ £10
- NV Dow 10YO Tawny from Tregnum @ £11
- Graham 20YO Tawny from Jeroboam @ £15.50
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
MigSU
Warre’s Otima 10 year old Tawny
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Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by MigSU »

Those who pay £400 for a 25 ml pour definitely ne oublié! :o


(sorry)
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
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Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Glenn E. »

Alex Bridgeman wrote: 21:48 Sat 13 Nov 2021 2/3rds of a Tappit Hen of Graham 1977 @ £75 for 75ml!
That is astounding! To me, even more so than Ne Oublie @ £400 for 25ml. That's the equivalent of 2 full bottles sold at a rate of £750/bottle. For a 1977.

I have 7 magnums of GC77 that I will hand deliver to anyone willing to pay £750/750ml for the lot.
Glenn Elliott
PopulusTremula
Warre’s Traditional LBV
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Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by PopulusTremula »

Glenn E. wrote: 21:49 Sun 14 Nov 2021
Alex Bridgeman wrote: 21:48 Sat 13 Nov 2021 2/3rds of a Tappit Hen of Graham 1977 @ £75 for 75ml!
That is astounding! To me, even more so than Ne Oublie @ £400 for 25ml. That's the equivalent of 2 full bottles sold at a rate of £750/bottle. For a 1977.

I have 7 magnums of GC77 that I will hand deliver to anyone willing to pay £750/750ml for the lot.
Deal! I look forward to welcoming you and the bottles to Sweden. 88)

Edit: after re-reading Glenn's post, i realize that the quoted price was per btl - offer rescinded. :oops:
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
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Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Glenn E. »

PopulusTremula wrote: 09:12 Mon 15 Nov 2021
Glenn E. wrote: 21:49 Sun 14 Nov 2021
Alex Bridgeman wrote: 21:48 Sat 13 Nov 2021 2/3rds of a Tappit Hen of Graham 1977 @ £75 for 75ml!
That is astounding! To me, even more so than Ne Oublie @ £400 for 25ml. That's the equivalent of 2 full bottles sold at a rate of £750/bottle. For a 1977.

I have 7 magnums of GC77 that I will hand deliver to anyone willing to pay £750/750ml for the lot.
Deal! I look forward to welcoming you and the bottles to Sweden. 88)

Edit: after re-reading Glenn's post, i realize that the quoted price was per btl - offer rescinded. :oops:
:lol:

(Not only per bottle, but per 750 ml and mine are magnums. 1857 Bar's prices are crazy!)
Glenn Elliott
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

They're not crazy prices, they're prices aimed at a market segment who are happy to pay those prices as can be seen from the fact they sold most of the Tappit Hen in just over a week. I wish 1857 every success.

If only your GC77 was in Tappit Hen I'm sure you could have sold them at around £250 per 750ml (see explanation in Selling Port thread for why you wouldn't be able to sell at Restaurant retail price!)
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4174
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Glenn E. »

They're crazy prices for crazy people! ;-)
Glenn Elliott
Bertie3000
Cockburn’s Special Reserve
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Joined: 11:28 Sat 30 Oct 2021

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Bertie3000 »

I finally managed to persuade someone to visit this bar with me yesterday. It is annual review time so I said we could discuss his performance here. Suffice to say we spent 80% of the time discussing port. I think I did a good sales job for the Symington family as I know he has already ordered the 1994 single harvest. It is a lovely bar and, whilst the prices are not cheap, you are paying for the experience. I did email them on the day to book a table but did not need to as there were a couple always free.

I shall not repeat everything above but would add that the range is pretty much what is described above except I am afraid there is no 1969 left as we managed to secure the last glass. The 1977 Tappin Hen is very close to the end too.

The 1969 was a stunning glass that just went on and on, with the orange peel flavour I was getting just lingering for minutes. I also love the 1994 and is probably my favourite single harvest for 2021. I did also try 2 of the vintage ports (Warre 1985 and GC 1977) but felt the tawnies won the day.

I did ask if they had any news on any new arrivals but they did not. I shall wait a while then go again and hope they have some new ports to try.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14880
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

Re: 1857 Bar, St James Hotel & Club, Park Place, London

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Bertie,

Thank you so much for adding your review - and the sad news that the Cockburn 1969 is no more. But I’m delighted that you were as impressed with it as I was.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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