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The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers

Hartwell House

81/100
  • Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
  • Modern European, fine dining
  • By the glass
  • ££££
  • Beta
What's this?

These are confidence labels — how sure we are that what we publish still reflects the restaurant's current practice. They are not a judgement on the restaurant; the wine and cooking are scored separately, out of 100.

  • Beta — assessed and scored, but we are still confirming some details (such as the current wine list), so it is published with that caveat.
  • No label — a fully confirmed entry.
  • In development — not yet a review; it appears so you can see where coverage is coming.

Some restaurants change their menus often, and we cannot always keep pace. Even so, our review stands as a point-in-time assessment — it can help you decide whether to visit, and it sets out the principles of pairing wine here, which should serve you whatever is on the list when you go. If things have moved on, the Vinealto pairing app can give you up-to-date advice on the spot.

Hartwell House is a National Trust country-house hotel near Aylesbury whose dining room cooks classic seasonal fine dining. Its wine programme is a deep, genuinely global cellar under a named sommelier — library Bordeaux, a strong Champagne and English-sparkling shelf with a local Buckinghamshire fizz, a Coravin by-the-glass tier and a deep sweet-wine list — let down only by the absence of dry Sherry, Port or Madeira and by dessert wines offered by the bottle rather than the glass. It will most reward the diner who comes to eat classically and drink seriously, and who leans on the sommelier and the by-the-glass shortlist to match a large list to the table.

The full assessment — the wine programme, the pairings that lift a plate, and how the room reads for a wine lover — is for subscribers.

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More in Buckinghamshire

82/100 Beta

The Oarsman

Marlow, Buckinghamshire

Modern British bistropub and wine bar

The Oarsman is a Thames-side bistropub and wine bar in Marlow where casual British cooking is built around a list of real seriousness. The wine programme earns its standing on breadth, a merchant's eye for grower wines and an unusually deep sweet and fortified shelf, all arranged by mood so that a long list stays easy to explore — held back from the very top only by the absence of any printed pairing to spell the integration out. It will most reward the curious drinker who likes to browse a characterful list and does not mind leading the pairing themselves, with a knowledgeable floor on hand to help.

  • By the glass
  • Mid-range
Read the assessment
75/100 Beta

Bacchus

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire

Italian wine bar and restaurant

Bacchus is an Italian wine bar and restaurant in Beaconsfield cooking a seasonal regional menu against a genuinely serious, Italy-deep list. The wine programme earns its standing on the coherence of that buying — region by region across Italy, a stated small-grower and organic thread, a strong by-the-glass range and real fine-wine reach — held back only by the absence of any dessert or fortified wine. It will most reward the diner who comes to eat Italian and wants a list with the depth to follow the food wherever it goes.

  • By the glass
  • ££
Read the assessment

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