WLFOOD // CULINARY CASTLE
3,000 bottles with 850 labels in 1888 Chop House alone, with another 7,000 bottles aging in the cellar.
THE SOMM The oldest bottle is from the legendary 1961 Bordeaux vintage; the most expensive bottle will set you back a cool $5,600. The most impressive wine in the hotel’s industrial-sized cellar? Probably the one you’re sipping alongside a small plate of smoked pork belly, as skillfully recommended by one of more than two dozen servers with either WSET or ISG wine certification. Laurent Pelletier is head sommelier at the Springs (two other staff share his rarefied Level 3 certification); he estimates there are 3,000 bottles with 850 labels in 1888 Chop House alone, with another 7,000 bottles aging in the cellar. The hotel specializes in Bordeaux with Italian and U.S. varietals coming up close behind, but wine lovers would be hard pressed to find a grape or region that couldn’t be uncorked in a heartbeat.
Honey Ginseng Mule BARTENDER DAVID RENNIE
2 ounces of Stolichnaya vodka 3⁄4 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice 3⁄4 ounce of honey-lemonginseng tea syrup 1 tbsp of ginger purée Club soda Combine ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Pour into a copper Moscow Mule mug and top with 2 ounces of club soda. Garnish with a lime wedge. To create the syrup, combine equal parts white sugar with boiling honeylemon-ginseng tea and stir until the sugar is fully incorporated. Once cool, it’s ready to use.
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Details, Details For David Rennie and the rest of his 15 fellow bartenders who ply the boards at the Springs, it’s the little things that matter: homemade syrups, bitters and tinctures and appropriate glassware— like a proper copper mug for a Mule.