Trivet and Labombe Master Sommelier Isa Bal’s Favourite Wines

Isa Bal, the Master Sommelier and co-owner of the two-Michelin-starred Trivet in Bermondsey, might be one of the most unserious geniuses working in hospitality in London: A man with wine credentials that put him in the company of the world’s best, he chooses to operate with a casual calm; a messy cap of tight greying curls and a cheeky grin lend him an unusual approachability.

Last week, Bal and his long-time collaborator and former Fat Duck teammate chef Jonny Lake, opened Labombe, a new wine-focused restaurant at the COMO Metropolitan London, a hotel on Park Lane.

For the first in a new series exploring the tastes and minds of the world’s best sommeliers, it felt like the right time to sit down with Bal at Trivet, delve into his cellar to learn more about how he sees his favourite wines, their stories, and what he values in a world that is too often arcane, bewildering, and tribal.

“I’m in no camp,” he told Something Curated‘s Adam Coghlan. “I haven’t spent all these years learning for that. I prefer to keep looking, trying, discovering.”

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Qvevri Bouquet – Mildiani, Georgia

Isa Bal: This is probably the original skin contact wine.

It’s safe to say that the ‘land of wine’ is Georgia — a place with an amazing wine culture and array of indigenous grape varieties that goes back many millennia. This style of [so-called orange] wine has had a popularity increase in recent years but these guys have been making and drinking this sort of wine forever.

What a wine means in a historical context, where it comes from means a lot more to me than the wine itself. 

This one has amazing aromatic structure, with depth and notes of dried apricots from the khikhvi grape variety. It’s also extremely versatile — a wine you can have by itself or you can put it on a table with different dishes and it’s a perfect match. It’s complex and pleasant at the same time but also dangerous: before you know it, the bottle is gone. This one I really love.

Barolo – Burlotto, Italy

IB: What Barolo means to me is this: It’s one of those ‘fuck you wines’ — in the sense that it’s got its style, its character, it’s not gonna yield for you. 

You either like it, or you don’t and I don’t think it cares; it’s not going to change for you. It will be what it is.

I like that in people, too — I can draw some similarities between wines and people. It’s a wine with principles. It will have its tannic structure, yet knowing that it has that tannic structure, it will give you this amazing bouquet of aromatics. Everyone has sides … the clever ones balance one side with something else. 

Côte Rotie – Jamet, France

IB: I tend to refrain from saying ‘x is my favourite variety / y is my favourite wine’ and so on, but at the same time, I must hold my hand up and say I have a soft spot for Syrah. And for Syrah, Jamet is in the top five in the world.

I just love these wines — their sense of place … it’s a cliche, but it does have a sense of place. Blind, it screams of Northern Rhone. Spices. Black pepper, sanguine when they are young. Develops into tapenade in certain vintages; probably one of the best wines to drink with game.

I’ve had many good wines from Jamet and I put them up there with some of my best wine experiences. 

But there are certain wines that I’ve drunk and I would never repeat that experience. You have a wine that you like so much, you try to get it again, it’s screws up the memory. Sometimes, when you have a once-in a-lifetime experience with a wine, you leave it there, and enjoy that memory.

Sassicaia – Bolgheri, Italy

IB: I love human resilience and determination – I think these are good qualities in humans. This wine symbolises that in people. 

Western Tuscany is a sort a swamp and you have this guy coming from Piedmont in the 1950s, planting cuttings of cabernet sauvignon in what looks like a dead end. It’s a massive endeavour, massive determinations.

Ever since the first vintages in 1960s, they have been some of the finest wines in the world. The result of one man’s vision and belief. When you taste this wine, whatever the vintage, you know, ‘I’m in Sassicaia’ 

There’s always roasted red bell peppers, regardless of the vintage. Beautiful. Green pepper and leafiness; the riper ones have cassis and earthy tones. But it can never even be considered to be drunk before its 15 years old. Ideally 20 years old. Then you’ll see what it means.

Marjan Simčič – Slovenia

IB: Merlot: The old hated grape variety among wine professionals.

This is a very site-selective variety — the micro climate, soil type, location. But it can give you something exceptional. And the hand that makes it needs to understand all of those things. 

My dream is one day to give this winemaker a Petrus, one of the world’s great wines, in a blind-tasting and see what he thinks. I really think it’s that good.

This wine is made by a long-time friend. I was the first person to list his wines in the U.K. And I worked with them wherever I went. When we opened Trivet, he sent 120 bottles to wish us good luck. ‘Sell them, make some money.’ Things like that you don’t forget.

This one happens to be a very good wine from a very good human being and that’s important. But sometimes, you get a wine you really like and then you meet the winemaker and you wish you’d never met them. 

Teruar Serisi — Chamlija 

IB: When I was 10, the vineyard where these wines are made was planted in Turkey. I am Turkish. The variety is Ten Göynek and the vineyard is at 1,000 altitude where there are massive temperature differences. This means ripe, but fresh wines: the freshness of a Riesling, and the acidity of an Asyrtiko.

Isa Bal is the Master Sommelier at Trivet in Bermondsey and Labombe in Park Lane.

All photographs by Michaël Protin.