The Restaurant Guide for Wine Lovers
The Plough Inn
The Plough Inn is a Peak District village pub whose comforting, broad kitchen sits beneath a wine list far better built than the setting suggests. The programme earns its standing on how clearly it is organised — grouped by taste-style so anyone can navigate it — and on a genuine by-the-glass shortlist that runs from everyday whites to Champagne and English sparkling, with serious Burgundy and a fine-wine tier above, held back only by a single-house Champagne offer, a thin sustainability story and no dish-by-dish integration. It will most reward the walker or local who wants an easy, well-priced glass after the hills, with the option of a serious bottle and no city markup on it.
The full assessment — the wine programme, the pairings that lift a plate, and how the room reads for a wine lover — is for subscribers.
Subscribe for full access Already subscribed? Sign inMore in Derbyshire
The Peacock at Rowsley
Rowsley, Derbyshire
Modern British fine dining
The Peacock at Rowsley is a premium modern-British dining room in a Peak District manor house whose wine list reaches far beyond what its setting would demand. The wine programme achieves genuine mutual elevation — the hardest plates are answered fluently by the glass, the sparkling and dessert offers are exceptional, and a 125ml-on-request policy puts serious bottles within a single pour's reach. It will most reward the diner who comes for a special occasion and wants a great list to lead the meal, whether by the glass or from the grand end of the cellar.
Read the assessmentThe Maynard
Grindleford, Derbyshire
Modern British gastropub
The Maynard is a Peak District gastropub whose eclectic, seasonal kitchen sits beneath a wine list far more ambitious than its village setting would suggest. The programme earns its standing on breadth and on genuine by-the-glass access — a merchant-grade sweep from house wines to grand Champagne, Burgundy and Bordeaux, with a strong showing of fizz and a full sweet-and-fortified close — held back only by a general list's lack of dish-by-dish integration. It will most reward the traveller or local who wants to eat well in the hills and drink a serious bottle, or a considered glass, without a city price on it.
Read the assessmentLorentes
Derby, Derbyshire
Spanish tapas and wine bar
Lorentes is a long-established Spanish tapas restaurant and wine bar in Derby, cooking a broad, traditional tapas menu from conservas to paella. Its all-Spanish list is genuinely built for the food — saline Galician whites and a bone-dry Fino for the seafood and the fried plates, juicy Spanish reds for the meat, and real sweet wines for the puddings — so the hardest plates, the oily tinned fish and the cured salmon, are answered with exactly the right styles. It will most reward the curious drinker who likes Spanish wine and wants to explore sherry and the regions with the food.
Read the assessmentRafters at Riverside House
Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire
Modern British fine dining, tasting menu
Rafters at Riverside House is a chef-led Peak District restaurant serving a seasonal tasting menu, with the wine as its lens. The wine programme achieves real mutual elevation through an expert, warmly narrated and adventurous list, though its weighting toward powerful reds and its bottle-only format leave the most delicate courses reliant on the sommelier's steer rather than a dedicated by-the-glass pour. It will most reward the curious drinker who is happy to take a bottle and be led by a passionate sommelier through a genuinely personal cellar.
Read the assessmentThe Pepperpot
Derby, Derbyshire
Modern British bistro
The Pepperpot is a two-Rosette modern British bistro in a landmark Derby building, cooking refined, seasonal food from asparagus tarts to herb-crusted lamb. Its wine list is a competent, well-rounded merchant selection with real reach in its Champagnes and dessert wines, and it answers the menu's hardest plates — the asparagus and the acid-sharp scallop consommé — with the right high-acid, unoaked whites. It will most reward the diner who wants a considered glass alongside ambitious cooking and is happy to take a steer from the floor.
Read the assessmentStones Restaurant
Matlock, Derbyshire
Modern British
Stones is a long-running Modern British restaurant on the river in Matlock, cooking a concise seasonal menu with a handful of genuine wine-challenge plates. Its wine programme earns its standing on a plainly helpful, fairly priced commercial list with an unusually good Port, Sherry and dessert-wine tail for its size, held back only by a by-the-glass choice that stops at the entry tier and the absence of any printed pairing. It will most reward the diner who is happy to take a clear steer — a bone-dry unoaked white for the fish, a sweet glass for the blue cheese — and read it against the list rather than wait to be led.
Read the assessmentBelong Bar
Derby, Derbyshire
World tapas and cocktail bar
Belong Bar is an award-winning, cocktail-forward world-tapas bar in Derby, cooking Asian-and-Latin sharing plates for grazing. Its wine list is a competent, flexible commercial selection — genuinely strong on by-the-glass sizes and sparkling, but not curated for the food and without a sweet wine — that copes with the menu's chilli heat through its lighter whites and fizz rather than any dedicated pairing. It will most suit a group who come for the cocktails and the food and want a straightforward, well-priced glass of wine alongside.
Read the assessmentThe Engine Room
Derby, Derbyshire
Modern British grill and pizza
The Engine Room is a relaxed modern-British grill and pizza room in Derby with a seasonal menu built on spice, smoke and char. Its short wine list is generous by the glass — a Champagne among them — and carries sound, oak-aware answers to the smoked fish and the fermented heat, though it offers nothing to close a meal. It will suit a diner after a good, unfussy glass rather than a deep cellar.
Read the assessment