The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers
The Hut
The Hut is a beachside seafood destination on the Isle of Wight whose eight-page cellar — deep in Burgundy and Bordeaux, benchmark in its sweet and fortified range, and unusually generous in opening fine bottles by the Coravin glass — is a genuine surprise for a wine lover. The programme earns its high standing on serious buying, real vintage depth and honest access to great wine by the measure, held back only by a thin sustainability thread and a premium markup. It will most reward the diner who comes for the seafood and treats the list as the destination it is — trading up by the glass, and leaning on the floor team to navigate the depth.
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RT Café Grill
Ryde, Isle of Wight
Modern British grill and bistro
RT Café Grill is Robert Thompson's relaxed all-day grill in Ryde, where a fine-dining cellar sits behind a casual, produce-led menu. The wine programme earns its standing on an unusually generous by-the-glass offer — one that answers the menu's hardest plates and runs all the way through a full Sherry line, four Ports and nine dessert wines by the glass — even if the classical depth speaks more to the grill than to the Asian-spiced plates. It will most reward the curious drinker who treats the by-the-glass list as the way in and lets a serious cellar lead an unhurried dinner.
Read the assessmentSeaview Hotel (Aquitania and Pump Bar and Bistro)
Seaview, Isle of Wight
Modern British with Isle of Wight regional twist
The Seaview Hotel runs two island dining rooms on one kitchen that cooks hard from Isle of Wight produce. Its wine list is an ambitious, well-built hotel programme that reaches genuine premium Burgundy, an English sparkling and a Champagne, and — its real distinction — puts a Sauternes and two Muscats within reach by the glass, so the cheese and puddings are catered as thoughtfully as the seafood. It will reward the diner who wants a serious bottle for an occasion and, above all, anyone who values a proper sweet wine with the last course.
Read the assessmentThe Royal Hotel (Geranium Restaurant)
Ventnor, Isle of Wight
Fine dining, seasonal British
The Royal Hotel's Geranium restaurant is a seasonal fine-dining room above the sea at Ventnor, cooking the Isle of Wight's produce closely. The wine programme is a real one for a country hotel — confidently tiered, genuinely curious in its middle, honestly priced and unusually strong in its dessert-and-port tail, with a local English sparkling grown on the island itself. It will most reward the diner who books for a proper dinner, drinks the House Selection by the glass across the meal and finishes with a sweet glass and the island cheese.
Read the assessmentThe George Hotel (The Conservatory)
Yarmouth, Isle of Wight
Brasserie, Mediterranean
The George Hotel's Conservatory is a harbourside brasserie in Yarmouth cooking a seasonal, Mediterranean-leaning menu built on Isle of Wight produce. Its wine programme is a competent, France-led hotel list lifted by some genuinely serious bottles at the top and a Champagne by the glass, sound enough to answer the menu's salt-and-chilli challenges even though it is assembled for easy ordering rather than built to the kitchen. It will most reward the hotel guest who wants a well-chosen glass or an accessible bottle with island seafood, and would reward everyone more with a sweet wine to finish and a nod to the island's own vineyards.
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