The Savoy reopens Beaufort Bar as Beaufort Wine Bar
The London hotel's Beaufort Bar reopens as Beaufort Wine Bar, with more than 250 wines from 18 countries and half the cellar poured by the glass.
The Savoy has reopened its Beaufort Bar as Beaufort Wine Bar, a wine-first relaunch with more than 250 bottles from 18 countries.
The London hotel's bar reopened on 13 October under head sommelier Romain Audrerie, who joined after 15 years in international wine roles, including the opening team at Chiltern Firehouse and a spell as global wine director for André Balazs Properties.
The list spans six continents and 50 years of vintages, from 1975 to 2025, and includes First Growth Bordeaux, Grand Cru Burgundy and mature Champagne alongside wines from smaller, lesser-known regions.
The UK's largest wine-by-the-glass programme, with half the cellar poured through Coravin.
Half the cellar by the glass
Audrerie has built what the hotel calls the UK's largest wine-by-the-glass programme, with half the cellar poured by the glass using Coravin, a system that draws wine without pulling the cork. The approach lets guests taste bottles that would otherwise only be sold whole.
Food runs alongside the wine rather than against it: tableside carving of cured meats, including hand-carved Jamón Ibérico from a custom flywheel slicer trolley, plus artisan cheeses and a black truffle cheese fondue. Wine cocktails and grape-based spirits, among them cognac, grappa and pisco, stay on the menu for guests who want something stronger.
A bet on sommeliers, not mixology
The relaunch is overseen by Savoy managing director Franck Arnold, the current Hotelier of the Year, and lands as London hotels compete harder on wine expertise rather than cocktail lists alone. Sommeliers have had a high profile across the industry this year, with national competitions feeding into the Best Sommelier of the World contest in Lisbon.
Beaufort Wine Bar is betting that a deep, old-vintage list by the glass will draw a different crowd than the hotel's existing cocktail rooms, in a city where the wider dining scene keeps investing in wine programmes as hard as kitchens. Early bookings will show whether London drinkers want a history lesson with their glass, or just the glass.
