Northcote wine cellar

Under the direction of Craig Bancroft - the team of four who work on the list offer complementary skills, along with Assistant Sommelier, Marcin Oziebly and James Myers, Trainee Sommelier. This unit is made up of Craig Bancroft, Managing Director of Northcote with over 25 years' experience; Adam Pawlowski, Head Sommelier, who acts as the vital interface between the kitchen, the wine list and the dinners, ably assisted by Marcin and James; Julian Kaye who runs the main wine supplier to Northcote, The Wright Wine Company and Nick Adams, Master of Wine.

Craig believes strongly that the wine cellar is an integral part of the dining experience at Northcote. Over the years we have put together a list that now boasts some 400 bins and is well renowned for our fabulous range of half bottles, which are instrumental in food matching Nigel's gourmet menu. Within the list we have created a fine range of Sherries to encourage the perfect aperitif which is also extremely useful and daring in food matching our gourmet menus.

Champagnes are from all over the region displaying many well known houses as well as our particular favourite The House of Vilmart. The list of white wines is vast and varied and should provide a glimpse of all grape varieties that are produced from all over the world. This enables us to provide a great selection of choice, the opportunity to occasionally challenge and a range of prices that should suit every occasion.

The list of red wines is similarly vast and we have taken time and trouble here to find great growers producing approachable wines at all levels of the market. We are particularly fond of wines from Spain and we have a real understanding for Portuguese reds which are exceptional in matching some of Nigel's more rustic main courses, especially in the Winter months when game becomes one of his incredible strengths. We do not specialise in huge ranges of grand and premier cru wines as for us there is only a limited market but we hope that the quality of the growers and houses we display will never leave you disappointed.

Not only does the list provide the choices we have described but it also provides an excellent service. We have made considerable investments in the education and service of wine by providing our staff with the opportunity to take wine exams in association with the WSET and for those that are particularly enthusiastic the opportunity to take the wine sommelier examinations. We believe in total education so that all our staff should be able to help in varying ways in your choice of wines from our list.

Wine List Awards

• Wine Spectator's 2011 Award of Excellence
• AA Notable Wine List Award 2011/12
• Wine List place 9th in the Sunday Times Top 100 in association with Harden's

Congratulations to the following members of the team who have picked up numerous awards in 2011:

If you are interested in staying at Northcote please click here to fill in our online enquiry form or call 01254 240555