The 16th-century game of Pall-Mall (or Pell-Mell) involved driving a wooden ball along an alley and through a hoop with a mallet, demanding quite some skill among the fashionable types who played. It was a pastime that hopped the Channel from the French and Italian leisured classes, also giving its name to London’s own Pall Mall, well known as the capital’s upmarket clubland. Fast-forward to 2015, and Pall Mall gained another fashionable addition, at No. 67, with the opening of a new private members’ club for lovers of wine.

Much of the now 6,000-strong list of wines here are also imported from France and Italy (although there’s much, much else besides), with the members similarly seeking pleasure, but with a wholly vinous focus.

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67 Pall Mall has, in a short time, also become something of a home from home for the trade, hosting innumerable tastings and events, and even boasting its own 67pallmall.tv channel.

All of this is the brainchild of former banker Grant Ashton, who, rather like those earlier Pell-Mell players, has taken the idea of a club ‘by wine lovers, for wine lovers’ and is driving it through hoop after hoop to grow a global collection of clubs dedicated to the cause. Currently with outposts in Singapore and Verbier, venues are soon to open in Bordeaux, Beaune and Melbourne, with an evolving pop-up also on the cards in Hong Kong, which will kick off with 67 Champagnes by the glass.

Ashton’s eye is on further locations too, such as Jakarta, Bangkok, Taiwan, Seoul, Sydney, UAE, China and possibly India. All of which is impressive in its ambition, not least for a concept that began as a somewhat more humble idea among some wine-loving chums.

“Myself and a few mates had a lot of wine between us and we were trying to open a little wine bar in Marylebone, but we couldn’t find a site,” Ashton recounts.

“But we did find a big old building in Pall Mall and, in the words of the man from Jaws, ‘you’re going to need a bigger boat!’”

That ‘bigger boat’, setting sail in a former bank, seems to have pressaged what was to come. By his own admission, Ashton says it was “a much bigger enterprise” than he had ever envisaged, down to “the naivety of a banker wandering into the hospitality world and thinking you can do X, Y and Z, with not a lot of money”. He also had no idea if London actually needed or wanted the wine club that this project morphed in to.

Healthy numbers 

The budget “exploded”, requiring a lot more investors (88 and counting), but the club was also a hit, with its novel raison d’etre attracting a more than healthy membership. And despite the growing global footprint of 67 and its far-flung satellites, Ashton still seems a little surprised that it’s all worked.

“In a way I’m not joking when I say ‘if you discover what 67 does, then let me know’, because there’s lots going on and it grows organically.”

There’s obviously a canny business mind behind the affable demeanour, though, and Ashton has been quick to capitalise on the success of 67 Pall Mall with its global expansion.

“There are lots of interesting opportunities around the world and we jump on them when we see them, we do things quite quickly and it’s worked so far.”

These, however, are not cookie-cutter outposts, but very much rooted in the local environment. Thus, Verbier has “the biggest, most bonkers Swiss list you’ll ever see”; Melbourne will excel in Oz wines; and obviously Bordeaux and Beaune will have a ready-made local core to their lists too.

In turn, various chateaux, domaines and estates are shareholders as part of the financing model.

For the uninitiated, to give a better idea of the ‘wine-ness’ of these clubs, of the 6,000-plus wines listed in London and Singapore, some 800 or more are offered by the glass. The list spans some 45-odd countries, with around 16 to 18 highly qualified sommeliers overseeing the wine offer, along with a head wine buyer. Many top names, including Ronan Sayburn MS, have graced the London venue, setting the tone. Others, such as high-flying ex-winemaker Adrian Garforth MW, are overseeing the global expansion.

“We were lucky in having Ronan for a very long period of time, who brought us very, very high-quality people, building an amazing team,” says Ashton. “And a lot of it is all about the people.”

As Melbourne takes shape, Ashton ponders a final question on what it is that makes these clubs tick.

“We treat each other with respect. We’re all on first-name terms, from the pot wash to me, it’s not formal, it’s not stuffy, the members’ benefits are strong, the wine is all priced too cheaply, and we’ve probably got too much, and it all helps demystify what can be a very mystifying topic for many people,” he concludes.