The Curious Quaffer

ELIXIR OXTON

A few weeks back (prior to the Coronavirus situation), the Wirral welcomed a new restaurant into its midst when ‘Elixir’ opened its doors in Oxton Village. In what used to be the Courtyard, but now under different ownership and management, we can now find another smart little place to visit in a village that is becoming something of a food ‘hot spot’ on the peninsula.

For me the task was, as always, to assess the Elixir wine list. Equally, again as always, it would not be right to do so without considering the food. After all, assessing a restaurants wine list does, by necessity, involve seeing how well the wine on offer matches the food on offer.

The Food...

The food is based on the concept of ‘something for everyone’. The main menu consists of some twenty three dishes, with sides, ‘nibbles’ (described as ‘while you waits’) and desserts too. All of these dishes are available as small plates, with eleven available as larger plates too. When the restaurant talks about small plates, think tapas, but not necessarily Spanish in design or origin. The larger plates are for those who simply want more of the same thing.

There is a good mixture of meat, fish and vegan food on offer. The menu is not only one that, therefore, genuinely does have ‘something for everyone’, but is a menu designed for sharing. It is a clever little menu and suited the eleven or so of us who went to try it out. This allowed us to sample a very large proportion of the food on offer. Quality wise – excellent. Presentation – excellent too. For me the pick of the food was the ‘pulled ham hock, toasted croutes, pea puree, salt and pepper crackling’; ‘tempura fish tacos, warm flatbreads, avocado mash, fresh tomato aioli’; ‘slow cooked shoulder of lamb, caramelised onions and redcurrant jelly’. The Wine...

So much for the food. What about the wine? In many ways a menu containing the volume and variety of food on offer at Elixir can present its own problems when it comes to wine and wine selection. Is there enough wine on the list to match all the food? Is there enough variety on offer to do the trick?

In the lead up to its opening I paid a visit to the then, unopened, ‘Elixir’ where I was afforded a sneak preview of the restaurants wine list. The purpose of the visit? Simply to see if it was any good, if it was worth returning for a tasting of some of the wines and, thus, was it potentially worth writing about. The question was answered by the fact that a week later a number of us descended on Elixir and set about tasting a decent number, and a fair selection, of the wines on offer.

On the wine list at Elixir we find ten white wines and ten red wines (together with six bottles of champagne/ sparkling wine and two bottles of rose). It is not, therefore, what one would call a small wine list with little or no choice; but by the same token it is not a wine list of great length. The question, whatever the size of a wine list though, is simple. Does it do its job? Its job is to offer quality, range and value, not only as a stand-alone item in its own right, but as part of a package with the food.

The Whites...

The ten white wines constitute: (i) a sauvignon blanc from Chile; (ii) a pinot grigio from Italy; (iii) a chardonnay - semillon blend from Australia; (iv) a feteasca from Romania; (v) a white Rioja from Spain; (vi) a fiano form Puglia; (vii) a picpoul from the Languedoc; (viii) a blend of indigenous white grapes (primarily codeja) from the Douro; (ix) an albarino from Rias Baxas, and; (x) a Sancerre from the Loire valley. In all, seven different countries represented and a wide range of grape varieties and blends.

From this we tasted the Chilean sauvignon blanc, the picpoul, the fiano and the albarino. The sauvignon was fresh, zesty and packed with ripe gooseberry. The picpoul was a lovely light, fresh, lively wine with great weight. Citrus and heaps of lemon/ lemongrass. The fiano was again fresh, but with a touch of richness to it. Citrus, a hint of grapefruit, some melon and an overall feeling of ripeness about it. The albarino was, as you would expect, clean and fresh. Again, citrus to the fore – but not just lemon here, apple and a touch of orange too.

The Reds...

The ten reds constitute: (i) a merlot from Chile; (ii) a pinot noir from Romania; (iii) an Australian shiraz; (iv) a primitivo from Puglia; (v) a syrah from Portugal; (vi) an alicante bouschet from the Languedoc; (vii) an Argentinian malbec; (viii) a Spanish Rioja; (ix) a St Emilion from Bordeaux, and; (x) a red wine from Priorat in Spain. Again, a good selection of wines from different countries and wine producing regions, and a good selection of grape varieties and blends.

Here we tasted the Romanian pinot noir, the alicante bouschet from the Languedoc, the primitivo from Puglia and the Priorat red. The Romanian pinot noir came from the Banat region of the country. It was light, smooth and clean with ripe fruit (red cherries on the nose). Very drinkable. The alicante bouschet was an obvious choice for me. Rarely seen as a single varietal, as it is often found as a blending grape, this stuck out to me as a ‘must try’. This is actually a red fleshed grape which produced a dark red, smooth, juicy but very soft red wine. Perhaps a touch of the forest fruit in here – but very nice. Then the primitivo. As you would expect a powerful, full bodied and rich wine. This was primitivo ‘appassimento’. The ‘appassimento’ process means that the grapes are dried on straw mats for a time. This adds to the ripe, rich flavours you get from this wine. Ripe plum, black fruit, a gentle spiciness and, as the restaurants own wine list states, a bit of chocolate to boot. Finally, the Priorat red. This was Cuvee "Riu" from Trio Infernal - the brainchild of three of the Rhone Valley's most talented producers. A blend of carignan, syrah and grenache, you get a fruit forward, full bodied and fresh red wine. Redcurrant, wild red fruits and vanilla.

The Cost...

As to cost, the white wines range from £18.00 a bottle (the Chilean sauvignon) and go up to £35.00 a bottle (the Sancerre). The majority are in the £18.00 - £25.00 a bottle bracket. The reds also start at £18.00 a bottle (the Chilean merlot) and go up to £45.00 a bottle (the Trio Infernal ‘Riu’). Again most are in the £18.00 - £25.00 a bottle bracket. All the wines are priced with a fair uplift (having, as I often do, compared the price displayed on a wine list against the price I would have to pay if I bought it elsewhere from a retail outlet). If you really wanted to push the boat out you could always go for the Laurent – Perrier Grand Siecle, La Cuvee, Champagne at £175 a bottle! A number of the wines are also sold by the glass – either £4.50 or £5.00 for a 175ml glass. This is, again, a welcome addition to any wine list and gives the customer the opportunity to try a number of different wines with their meal. For those of you who have been reading Wirral Life Magazine for some time, you may remember my interview with Oz Clarke. His advice was that when you go to a restaurant: “Buy wine by the glass, not by the bottle. This way you can experiment and buy a number of glasses containing completely different wines. By doing so you won’t waste a bottle you may not like, and at the same time will have a number of chances of finding something that you do”.

The Verdict...

The problem that many of us face these days is that some restaurant wine lists can be poor and lacking when it comes to both range and quality. Some also involve wines where the mark up, when it comes to their list price, is too high. The wine list at ‘Elixir’ does not tick any of these three boxes. The wines have been carefully chosen. The wine list is excellent when it comes to range and quality. It represents value for money with mark ups, on the wines, which are fair and honest. Finally, when looking at both the wine list and at the menu, and having dined at ‘Elixir’, there are multiple wines that match with each and every one of the items on the menu. Another box ticked.

Overall a good menu and a good wine list to go with it. A survey recently revealed that very nearly half of all diners opt for the second cheapest wine on a restaurants wine list. Why? Who knows - perhaps thinking that the first isn’t worth buying, is below them or that anything else that is more expensive is likely to be overpriced? Well there is nothing wrong with the cheapest or the second cheapest wine on the Elixir red or white wine list. There is much to enjoy here, at every level, and very much so with all of the wines that exceed the price of the second cheapest wine on the list.

So Oxton has not only another restaurant, but another decent wine list. It is a very lively environment for those of you who want to eat in somewhere with a bit of a ‘buzz’. It also does a Sunday lunch menu, albeit one I have not yet tried.

Whenever you go, and whatever the food you choose, enjoy the wine list. Great credit must go to the team that put the wine list together, not least because it is prepared to take us away, as the consumer, from the norm and to take us to wines that you would often not come across on a restaurant wine list. Be bold. Overall you won’t be disappointed – whatever you choose from the wine list at Elixir!