Vinopolis

How Much!!!

29 May 08, 14:19 As expected

Vinopolois is a rainy afternoon activity, ideally before a night out.

You can learn quite a lot about wine in a short space of time and the best bit is you get to sample as you go along. The staff are friendly, helpful and very informative.

So why three stars? It feels tacky in places and it's not cheap. The tasting are well over £2 each and you're lucky to get two sips. My advice is to pop in before an evening meal taste a few wines, learn a little and use what you've learned in one of the local restaurants.

Nice idea, badly executed

19 Mar 08, 22:45 Below expectations

I was really looking forward to going along to Vinopolis, sample a few wines and learn some more about the regions etc. However, what you get is an opportunity to try some poor quality wines of dubious freshness, and wander around displays which are at best pointless and at worst falling-apart.

One particular lady when asked to tell me more about the Absinthe she was serving answered my question with a grunt and then proceeded to say 'read the cards' - she bascially couldn't be bothered to interact or explain anything to me.

Overall I was expecting to learn something more than just 'this bottle is full-bodied'...

Glad I went, had a few sips of interesting wines, but wouldn't rush back.

Excellent Cuisine

28 Oct 07, 17:25 Above expectations

My boss took our team here on Friday for a long "team-bonding" lunch. I think he was hoping to get us in for a wine-tasting session but unfortunately it wasn't on until later that day.

It was suprisingly empty for a Friday afternoon and we managed to get a table for 11 with no wait at all.

The menu looked impressive (and expensive) if a little light on the vegetarian main choices. Whilst waiting for our food, service was brilliant with waiters bringing the most amazingly fresh bread rolls and butter and doling out water and wine where necessary.

Mains arrived and were all beautifully presented. They must have thought we had never saw food with everyone oohing and aahing. I ordered a rack of lamb with champ, mediterranean vegetables and a port jus. The rack of lamb was absolutely faultless -- brilliant quality meat -- and everything was cooked to perfection. One of the chicken dishes came with a roast potato that deep inside had a yucky brown bit (it would have been impossible to tell from the outside). The waiters took it away swiftly and replaced it with a completely fresh dish only moments later. No kitchen can be completely perfect and handling of problems as professionally as that certainly makes all the difference.

Desserts were given ticks on all counts - taste, quality of ingredients and presentation. My strawberry cheesecake possibly the nicest I have ever had. I didn't see a single plate with an ounce of food left on it!

Thankfully my boss was paying as the food was on the pricier side but the food and service definitely exceeded expectations.

Highly recommended for the cuisine. Hopefully I'll get to come back to do a wine tasting tour sometime.

Nice venue, poor quality wine...

26 May 07, 10:15 As expected

I like this place. It's a cool underground venue and the wine tasting lesson is a really nice way to learn how to taste wine and make lots of pretentious comments like ' what a muscular effort from the Lafite vinery', or 'oohh those seething tannins set my heart alight'... (actually if you said the latter you’d probably get shot).

The main problem is the quality of the wine. It's just not that great really. You buy tickets to taste the wines and I think the fine and rare ones work out about £3.50 per wine or something. Considering you get 25ml (i think) of each wine (a couple of sips) you'd have thought the selection of wine would be a bit better - they're typically £10 - £30 retail price bottles. It'd be cool if they have themed evenings, like 1855 classification Bordeaux chateaus or something, then I'd be a happy chap.

Wine Tasting Fun

14 May 07, 19:32 Above expectations

Having recently visited Vinopolis for a wine tasting "social event" with work, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had. Being not much of a wine fan I hadn't expected to have enjoyed the day but the staff there were very friendly and informative and they have a variety of other tasting experiences such as whisky, absinthe and beer. For those not interested in wine tastings, Vinopolis has a very amiable bar and restaurant, though having not tried the food I am not in a position to review it.