The Jugged Hare brings together British game cookery and Georgia’s ancient winemaking traditions for a five-course dinner with Tbilvino.
The one-off event pairs some of the Barbican gastropub’s signatures with six Georgian wines, moving from fresh Mtsvane and amber qvevri wines to dark, full-bodied Saperavi and a final glass of chacha.
Based in Kakheti, Tbilvino combines modern production with Georgia’s traditional qvevri method, in which wine is fermented and aged inside large clay vessels buried underground. The resulting wines have enough texture and character to stand beside the Jugged Hare’s robust, game-focused cooking.
The Ambience
The dinner takes place in The Jugged Hare’s private Josephine Room, creating an intimate setting in which representatives from Tbilvino can introduce each wine and explain the grape varieties and production methods behind it.
This conversational format is particularly useful when exploring Georgian wine. Indigenous grapes such as Rkatsiteli, Kisi, Saperavi and Aleksandrouli remain unfamiliar to many British drinkers, while amber wine fermented in qvevri can be markedly different from a conventional European white.
A welcome glass of Tbilvino Mtsvane provides an accessible starting point before the evening moves into less familiar territory. The atmosphere remains relaxed and convivial, avoiding the stiffness that can sometimes descend over formal pairing dinners.
The Food
The first course is muntjac tartare accompanied by crisp vegetable wafers and bone marrow toast. The venison is rich but only mildly gamey, with mustard providing a welcome peppery hit. The bone marrow sounds like the boldest element on the plate, but its flavour is surprisingly muted once spread across the toast. It adds richness and texture without delivering much of the deep, beefy flavour promised by its name. The tartare itself is much more compelling.
This is paired with Rkatsiteli Qvevris, an amber wine fermented in traditional clay vessels. Its structure and savoury character hold their own against the raw meat without overwhelming its relatively gentle gaminess.
Breadcrumbed cod cheeks follow, served with smoked roe, buttermilk and dill dust. A crisp exterior gives way to beautifully tender fish, while the roe brings a pleasantly marine flavour. The buttermilk and dill provide cooling, creamy contrast without stripping the dish of its essential fishiness.
Tbilvino’s Kisi Qvevris accompanies the cod. Rounder and softer than the preceding amber wine, it works particularly well with the buttermilk and smoked roe, demonstrating that qvevri wines need not be reserved for meat or heavily spiced dishes.
The main event is The Jugged Hare’s signature jugged hare. This is game cookery with no attempt to disguise its origins: dark, mineral and iron-rich, with the distinctive depth that comes from cooking the animal with its offal. It is extremely hearty and entirely autumnal. Nutmeg mash softens the hare’s intensity, while carrots bring sweetness and Savoy cabbage contributes texture, freshness and a necessary flash of green.
Two expressions of Georgia’s signature Saperavi grape are poured alongside it. Both have the body and concentrated dark fruit required to accompany the hare, but enough acidity to prevent the combination becoming exhausting. The pairing feels natural, with the wine meeting the meat’s mineral intensity rather than attempting to soften it.
The cheese course proves one of the evening’s highlights. A selection of British cheeses, including Cashel Blue, Rosary Ash and Black Cow Cheddar, arrives with smoked curds, lightly pickled carrot and fragrant orange honey. The accompanying Aleksandrouli is lighter and more red-fruited than the Saperavi wines served with the hare. It pairs beautifully across the board, particularly with the salt and gentle funk of the cheeses. This fruitier Georgian red keeps the course fresh and allows the individual cheeses to retain their character.
Dessert brings together warm chocolate mousse, a milk chocolate and cognac brownie, blackberry jam and vanilla ice cream. Despite a great deal happening on the plate, the blackberry gives enough sharpness to cut through the chocolate, while the brownie and nutty, crunchy elements prevent the course becoming monotonously soft. The warm mousse is the best part, enveloping the colder ice cream and dense brownie in a light but deeply chocolatey sauce. A glass of Rkatsiteli chacha closes the pairing. Distilled from the grape skins, pips and stems left behind after winemaking, it is Georgia’s answer to grappa: fiery, warming and an appropriately spirited conclusion.
The Verdict
The Jugged Hare and Tbilvino prove unusually well matched. Georgian wine has the tannin, acidity and savoury complexity to cope with the restaurant’s richly flavoured game cookery, while the five-course format demonstrates a much broader range than simply serving Saperavi with hare.
The muntjac tartare is let down slightly by bone marrow toast that tastes milder than expected, but the meat itself is excellent. The tender cod cheeks provide a welcome change of register before the magnificent, mineral-rich hare, while the cheese course produces some of the strongest pairings of the evening.
Most importantly, the wines never feel like an educational obligation attached to dinner. Each has a clear purpose beside its course, introducing unfamiliar Georgian grapes through combinations that make immediate sense on the palate.
At £75 for five courses and six wines, the event also represents exceptional value. It is a thoughtful introduction to one of the world’s oldest wine cultures, delivered through the deeply British language of game, cheese and chocolate.
The Details
The Jugged Hare
49 Chiswell Street, London EC1Y 4SB
Website: www.etmcollection.co.uk/venue/the-jugged-hare