Cliveden

The sister hotel to fellow three-star award-winner Chewton Glen, Cliveden House offers a no less sumptuous and luxurious English country house experience in the Berkshire countryside. Executive chef André Garrett, once of top London restaurant Galvin at Windows, is in charge of the kitchen, where, according to the FT magazine, he creates “a deeply earthy, aromatic, truly gastronomic experience.”

While the wine list may not quite yet touch the heights attained at Chewton Glen, it still offers a very sound collection of classic wines, not only from France (though Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhône are particularly well-represented), but Spain, Austria, Germany, and Italy, plus the established New World countries (Argentina, Australia, Chile, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA) that don’t always get their due on British restaurant lists. Quirkiness can be found in a sprinkling of adventurous choices from England (white and sparkling, but also a red), a pair of Canadians (a Bachelder white and a Le Clos Jordanne red), and Romania.