Visit to Graycliff in The Bahamas (275,000-bottle cellar)

WINE TALK
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We were in The Bahamas for a friend’s wedding, and since the weather was miserable the entire trip, we spent an evening at Graycliff - the most celebrated restaurant on the islands, with a price tag to match. [swearing.gif]

While the food was excellent, the wine cellar was obviously the most impressive feature. Billed as ‘the third largest private collection in the world’, the 275,000 or so bottles (organized solely with Excel spreadsheets - sorry, Eric, I asked!) are within the most cavernous maze you’d ever find in a basement. The basement level of this 18th century home, which was built by pirates, was used as a prison for the unlucky sailors who fell victim to the rum-running pirates. Such a build is perfect for a wine cellar, with super thick concrete/cement walls, a huge steel door, and dark, dank climate. It was damn near impossible to take all of it in, it is so monstrous.

Has anybody else visited and toured the cellar?

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A quick google finds this.

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That’s the same cellarmaster that took us on the tour. His relatively short height is a definite advantage with those ridiculously low doorways.

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People were at lot shorter back then! (You could have been king.) :slight_smile:

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And? What did you drink?

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Rum!

The wine list was so incredibly pricey that anything that looked interesting to me was immediately out of my budget. This is like what I imagine Bern’s is, only with an additional zero on everything. I have to save money for the wedding (only 4 weeks away) so buying a pricey, rare bottle of wine is not in the budget! It was fun to look, though flirtysmile

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I have eaten there several times and had a grand wine cellar tour twice. I remember turning around a corner and seeing boxes and boxes of 1990 Dom Perignon Rose Magnums. Lots of old bottles of Bordeaux (1865 Lafite if my memory serves me) and I believe a German wine from the 18th century. An armed guard was present 7x24 at the cellar door - I was told this and saw the Bahamian equivalent of Barney Fife.

Prices were indeed high but that didn’t stop us from hitting it quite hard one night. One dinner I put together we drank a 3L of 1973 Giscours from the cellar that was wonderful. The cellar is quite damp and the labels of the older bottles are often moldy and deteriorated. They also have many old cognacs and armagnacs. The owner of the resort was quite a character.

Thanks for bringing this place back to my memory.

If you get tired of Atlantis and want to experience a bit of old Bahamian charm and character it is about a 10 minute cab ride away.

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This looks to be incredibly close to Atlantis Alan - will have to take the family there next time we’re there :slight_smile:.

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Jon, you should just hop over there after your 40th celebration at Bern’s next year. Keep the party going! champagne.gif

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Do they have a list somewhere you can browse through all of their wines?

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We’ll save the Bahamas for the mid-year 40th b-day celebration :p.

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I was there once on my honeymoon. Unfortunately my wife fell ill before our meal really got started so we had to leave. Poor girl probably realized the monumental mistake she just made. Loved the old school charm with cocktails in a separate room. In 99 the cigar roller was formally the exclusive roller for Fidel and was allowed to leave when Castro stopped smoking cigars.

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At least cost wise Bern’s is the opposite. You can find great bottles to drink for under $100 without a problem. You can spend a lot more but $200 get’s you a great bottle of Burgundy from the 60’s. $200 at Greycliff probably gets a $40 bottle of Napa Cab…

We’ve been to Atlantis a few times but no more. Last trip it was like Disneyland at the pool everyday. I looked at Graycliff online and made the same decision to drink Rum for the trip. Everything around Atlantis is incredibly over priced. Did splurge on a few cuban cigars though.

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Favre- Going to see how many nights Lazar and I can knock out at Rekondo! Spanish Berns! With pricing, I understand, closer to Berns than this Bahamian place.

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And this is why you have a 275,000 bottle cellar. Nobody is drinking anything part from cocktails.

2 Likes
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Cafe Martinique has better food and a very solid wine list…

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Are they down near sea-level, or are they up on a hillside?

And what’s their history with surviving CAT-4/CAT-5 hurricanes?

My impression was that most of the great old historical restaurants in New Orleans lost everything when Katrina hit.

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Most of New Orleans is under sea level.

That bit of silliness isn’t workable when you’re a small island out in the ocean.

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[dance-clap.gif] [cheers.gif]

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Resurrecting this thread with hopes of experience at Graycliff for dinner in the last few years. I’m heading there in April and have a dinner planned…anybody have a recent report?