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[Written for wine.com]
Vini,
Vidi, Vinopolis
By
Elizabeth Sagehorn & Don Lipper
If
you’re visiting London and think that it has nothing to offer an oenophile in
the way of entertainment, then prepare yourself for a pleasant surprise.
Vinopolis, City of Wine is a wine-lovers dream come true.
What’s not to admire in a place whose motto is “Explore, Taste and
Enjoy”?
If
London seems a curious place for a wine museum, you need to remember that it has
a long history of being the crossroads of the wine trade.
The museum is only a few yards from the archaeological remnants of an
ancient wine storehouse. In fact
the first exhibit at Vinopolis features 2,000-year-old Roman wine jugs that were
recently unearthed there.
Vinopolis
opened just a year ago. It covers 2½
acres and an infinite amount of information.
Perhaps the reason it has not gotten much publicity in the States, is
because the first visitors are only just now finding their way out.
This is definitely a sneakers-wearing day.
They say you can comfortably tour it in two hours, but if you really want
to get the most out of your visit, set aside half a day and make a reservation
at the café for some sustenance. You’ll
need it.
Each
of the 20 exhibit rooms is devoted to a different type of wine or region of
wine-making. Some of them are more
interesting than others. The Italy
room invites you to take a video tour of Tuscany on a (stationary) Vespa
motorbike. The California exhibit
has (among other features) three large movie cameras with little video
presentations that trace the history of winemaking in the state.
Step into Spain/Portugal and you suddenly find yourself in the courtyard
of a lovely Mediterranean villa complete with a working fountain.
Then hop on the plane to Australia.
On your way, you get a primer course in the winemaking regions of that
nation.
On
the other hand, the section on Austria features a wall map.
All together now, “Oooooooh, ahhhhhhhh!”
Another disappointment was the throwaway partial reproduction of the
Hotel Dieu in Beaune, France. Their
pale, almost monochromatic version was an insult to the real, vibrantly colored
tile roofs that dot the Burgundian landscape.
The
only really unprofessional element is the sign posted in each room, which
indicates the type of grapes grown in that region. Each variety is given an obnoxiously cutesy mnemonic name
such as Colonel Cabernet Sauvignon, Maxine Merlot, Charmaine Chardonnay, Serena
Sauvignon Blanc, etc. All the
grapes with male names are described as having strong flavors while the female
grapes are slightly slutty: “she’ll give up her secrets once you get to know
her better.” Gag me with a
hoofpick.
Visitors
are given headsets in one of six different languages (English, Italian, Spanish,
German, Japanese, French) and have the option of listening to as much or as
little of the 4½ hours of recorded information as they like.
As you enter each room, there is an automatic brief introduction.
After that you punch in the number of the exhibit you want to learn more
about, and there is a ten second to two minute blurb, narrated by international
wine experts.
If
you’re feeling more daring, you can punch in numbers at random.
You may be surprised at what you hear.
We punched in a missing number and were startled to learn about the
iconography of a Roman orgy scene that was allegedly hanging on the wall in
front of us. Sadly, several minutes
of frantic searching failed to turn up any sign of it.
No trace of it in the gift shop either.
There
are wine tasting tables at four different points in the tour.
You may use your five complimentary tickets to taste whichever of the
available 200 wines from 16 countries you wish.
If you’re not driving, you can buy more tickets at the rate of five for
£2.50 (about $4). The table attendants ranged in helpfulness from disinterested
to very knowledgeable and friendly. And
each station has some reference books in case you stump the attendant with a
question.
If
you still haven’t had enough, there is a gift-shop that is packed with enough
food, wine, and accoutrements to keep the most avid oenophile in birthday and
holiday presents for several lifetimes. Assuming
you can afford them.
Throughout
the museum several computers offer access to a wine encyclopedia that provides
additional information about the wines of various regions, which wines go well
with different types of food and which are a good bargain.
The Vinopolis branded CD-ROM (Oz Clarke’s Wine Guide 2000) is available
for sale in the gift shop.
Vinopolis
is open Tuesday-Friday 10:00-5:30. Their
last admission time is 3:30 PM. Admission
is £11.50 (about $18) for adults, £10.50 for seniors, and £5.00 for a child
(5-15). Special wine-tastings and
other events are offered periodically. They
recommend that you make reservations either by phone or through their website to
ensure a place.
Vinopolis
is located at:
1 Bank End
London, SE1 9BU
Phone: 011.44.870.4444.777
www.vinopolis.co.uk
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