Wednesday 29 May 2013

Recent Additions From The New World

Australia

With the Soldier’s Block lines creeping up in price, and the Shiraz going through the £8 barrier (thanks mostly to George Osborne and a terrible exchange rate) we have looked again at our straight Chardonnay and Shiraz options from Australia and returned to a couple of lines we featured at our pre-Christmas tasting last year from Murphy’s in the Murray River.  The Shiraz is deep in colour with characteristic red fruit notes and the Chardonnay is unoaked, fresh and clean.

In due course these will be joined by The Black Craft Shiraz from Magpie Estate in the Barossa (when the ship eventually gets here in July sometime) which is fat and rich and we are sure will win many friends!

Australian wine - click here to browse our full selection of wines online

New Zealand

The ripe tropical fruitiness of The Cloud Factory Sauvignon Blanc was such a hit that we have now added this to our New Zealand section.  It means that we now carry two Kiwi Sauvignon Blancs with the Bascand providing the crisp, green gooseberry flavours as a foil to Cloud Factory’s riper style.  We have also added two wines from Waipara Springs in the form of their 2010 Dry Riesling and 2010 Chardonnay.  Two new Pinot Noirs are also included; the 2011 from Bascand Estate in Marlborough and, after extensive tasting, we settled on the superb 2010 Beetle Juice (great name eh?) Pinot Noir from The Wooing Tree in Central Otago.

New Zealand wine - click here to browse our full selection of wines online

South Africa

With the £ being clobbered against most other currencies at the moment South Africa (where the exchange rate has been less worse) has provided a rich seam of new faces this time around.

We have a couple of new entry level wines (a Merlot and a Sauvignon/Colombard blend) from Cape Heights in the Western Cape.  At £6.25 these are excellent value.  Tasting Pinotage is always a challenge for us but the False Bay version is clean and full of black cherry fruit and joins the ever popular Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Shiraz trio from the same producer.  We are still listing the fabulous Secateurs pair from Adi Badenhorst, though they have gone up in price, so we were delighted to discover a pair of wines called The Curator (a Chenin/Chardonnay/Semillon white blend and a Shiraz/Mourvedre/Cinsault/Viognier red blend) also made by Adi Badenhorst, which hit the list at £9.25 – you must try these, they are super!  Further up the tree is a deliciously smoky Mourvedre called The Spice Route and a deliciously rich straight Semillon from Swartland called “Mon Vieux”, there’s not much of it about though so be quick!
  
South African wines - click here to browse our full selection of wines online
What we love about our new flexible buying regime at Wines of Interest is the opportunities it provides us with to tune into wines like these as we find them rather than having to wait to include them in our annual printed list.  We can sniff out new discoveries and take advantage on suppliers' promotions as and when they appear by adding them to our website, where you can buy wine online and either have it delivered to your door, or collect it from our shop.  You can buy these wines online now - click here to start shopping!

Tuesday 28 May 2013

New French Wines

Where do we start with our new French wines to buy online?  We have several new Clarets ranging from the youthful and bouncy 2011 Ch.Tire Pe Diem to the more mature 2007 Ch.Noaillac - a Cru Bourgeois from the Medoc.  Then there’s the elegant roundness of 2009 Ch.Haut Rian, a 1er Cotes de Bordeaux and the 2009 Saint Jacques de Siran, which is effectively a “baby Margaux”.  There’s also a new Lalande de Pomerol in the form of the 2010 Plaisir de Siaurac joining Mme Riviere-Junqua’s 2009 Ch.Haut Chatain on the list.

Good French Wine – click here to browse our current selection

In the Rhone section we have added the 2011 La Chaussynette (effectively declassified Chateauneuf du Pape made for drinking young, and soon to move on to the 2012) as well as a 2010 Cairanne from Domaine des Escaravailles and a super 2009 Vacqueyras from Domaine Saint Pierre where the blend is 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah with production of only 35hl per hectare which produces admirable concentration of flavour.  At a more modest level try the Vin de Pays de Vaucluse from Domaine des Pasquiers based in Sablet.

Good French Wine – click here to browse our current selection

We’ve also given the French Regional section a good working over this time, adding four new reds and two whites.  The Viognier and Syrah pair from Domaine de Vedilhan are May’s Sampling Club selection and have proved to be very popular.  The other new white is a deliciously clean, fresh Gros Manseng from Domaine Cambos which retains that characteristic hint of fresh pineapple.  The three remaining reds are a Cinsault dominated blend from Domaine de Boede near Narbonne, a super old vine Corbieres from Chateau La Bastide and a deep and rich Mourvedre/Syrah/Grenache blend called Domaine La Vista “Grains Meles” but made by Robert & Cathy Pouderoux.  Added to our range more recently on a "just visiting" basis are the Mourat wines (see previous blog) and another Corbieres that we simply could not resist.  This one comes from Chateau de Durfort and tasting the original sample was one of the highlights of our recent tasting sessions.  We have tiny quantities only and it's not in the printed list so grab some while you can - you will not regret it!

What we love about our new flexible buying regime at Wines of Interest is the opportunities it provides us with to tune into wines like these as we find them rather than having to wait to include them in our annual printed list.  We can sniff out new discoveries and take advantage on suppliers' promotions as and when they appear by adding them to our website, where you can buy wine online and either have it delivered to your door, or collect it from our shop.  You can buy these wines online now - click here to start shopping!

Wednesday 22 May 2013

The Mourat wines are back...!

In the spring of 2005 a trio of samples in curiously-shaped bottles with an owl on the label appeared on our tasting table.  They were a revelation; a crisp, aromatic white, a gentle lively rose and a juicy red.  They came from something of an unexpected source, a producer called Mourat located on the edge of a small town in the Vendée called Mareuil-sur-Lay.
 

The Mourat family are passionate about their wines and it would be fair to say that they alone have been responsible for raising the wines of the Fiefs Vendéens from virtual obscurity.  We first stocked their wines in 2004 and, after few years break, are delighted to welcome them back to our range.
 

Jeremie & Jean Mourat
My own annual family holiday has frequently taken us to France and my crew have come to expect me to include a couple of vineyard visits.  So it was that in 2007 we ventured to the Vendée (via Muscadet and back via Saumur in keeping with the holiday template) and paid a visit to the Mourat family in Mareuil-sur-Lay.  I have never before hired a rowing boat from the local hairdresser (he had two to choose from, but one was full of holes) and we had a pleasant hour rowing up and down the River Lay getting sunburn before our appointment. 
 
Getting too much sun on the river

(with apologies to Ben & Lucy who, 6 years on,
don't look like this anymore and who will lynch me for using this photo).

We hooked up with Jeremie Mourat at their small shop by the bridge over the river who took us on a trip to his vineyards and then onto the winery to meet his father, Jean.  Then it was back to Chateau Marie du Fou for a comprehensive tasting.

In the vineyards with Jeremie Mourat
Mourat's enchanting shop by the bridge over the River Lay
The wines from Chateau Marie du Fou and the small Clos Saint André vineyard nearby are their flagships, whilst the Collection range is their mainstay.  Whilst the more expensive wines were super, it was the purity and freshness of the Collection range that proved to be the irresistible attraction.  These are wines of modest alcohol levels and no oak, yet still with plenty of flavour, length and a delicacy of style which is becoming increasingly rare.

The red and the rose are both blends of 40% Pinot Noir, 40% Cabernet Franc and 20% Negrette and the white is 50/50 Chenin Blanc and Chardonnay.  We have debated long and hard about whether we should include these wines in our Loire section or include them as part of our French Regional range.  We have, almost certainly incorrectly, opted for the latter, largely on the basis of geography.  A quick look at a map will show you why.  In any case we felt they deserved special treatment rather than being lumped in with other, more famous names, from further north.

All three Mourat Collection wines will be available to taste at our forthcoming tasting in Ipswich on Thursday 6th June.

What we love about our new flexible buying regime at Wines of Interest is the opportunities it provides us with to tune into wines like these as we find them rather than having to wait to include them in our annual printed list.  We can sniff out new discoveries and take advantage on suppliers' promotions as and when they appear by adding them to our website, where you can buy wine online and either have it delivered to your door, or collect it from our shop.  You can buy these wines online now - click here to start shopping!

Thursday 16 May 2013

2011 Vintage Port Offer

The 2011 vintage in the Douro began with a warm spring which led to early flowering and was followed by three very dry months where rainfall only reached 25mm compared to the average of 94mm.  Well timed rains then arrived on 21st August creating ideal conditions for ripening and harvest which were so perfect as to be almost unprecedented.  As a result 2011 was a vintage of exceptional quality and the resulting wines are expected to age superbly over the coming decades.

Despite an abundance of excellent quality fruit the selection process was rigorous.  The Graham’s 2011 Vintage, for example, amounts to 8,000 cases or just 9% of the total production from their five Graham vineyards.  Available quantities are tiny and these are wines which will be much sought after and should gain considerably in value over the coming years. 

2011 is a much smaller vintage than any of the previously declared vintages this century (2000, 2003 and 2007) and stocks will not be about for long.  We recently spotted the 2007 Dow being offered by one of the larger UK merchants for £450 per case of 6 bottles under bond; if you bought it from us when we issued our 2007 Vintage Port offer 4 years ago, you would have paid £186.00 for the same case.

Initially, we are offering sealed 6 bottle cases only, at discounted rates, up until 30th June 2013.  Any stocks remaining on 1st July will then be available to buy as individual bottles or mixed cases at discounted rates until 31st August.  From 1st September any remaining stocks will be added to our selection at the bottle prices advertised on our website.  Click here to view the offer.

The wines themselves should be available later this year.

Tuesday 14 May 2013

New Spanish Wines

The middle of March sees the annual Wines from Spain tasting in London.  We always make an effort to attend since past experience tells us that Spain consistently over-delivers when it comes to quality and value for money.  There are always new discoveries to unearth and this year was no exception.  However, the strength and depth of our Spanish range does mean that competition is fierce for space in the list and we have restricted ourselves to three additions this time.  However, we have more up our sleeves for the “just visiting” section of the shop so others will emerge from time to time.  To buy Spanish wine online click here

The three we simply couldn’t leave out were:

The new vintage of Albarino Gundian from Adega Valdes in Galicia.  Their 2011 is just delicious.  We looked hard at this grape variety and, whilst we found a couple which certainly stood alongside this wine, they were also significantly more expensive.  Some, with more concentration, also see some time in oak (though we think this misses the point of Albarino) so Gundian gets the nod.

Buy this wine online - click here

The 2011 Tarima Monastrell from Bodegas Volver in La Mancha is chunky and meaty and wonderfully individual.  It’s made from old vines which give it extra concentration and, if such things matter to you, Parker has been throwing his points around in Spain again and gave this 91 out of 100.

Buy this wine online - click here

Finally, we have added 2012 Venta Morales Tempranillo which is a Vino de la Tierra de Castilla which is dark and juicy and a super example of Tempranillo.  If you like the Mesta Tempranillo that we have listed for a while now, you’ll love this, and it doesn’t cost much more!

Buy this wine online - click here

What we love about our new flexible buying regime at Wines of Interest is the opportunities it provides us with to tune into new wines as we find them rather than having to wait to include them in our annual printed list.  We can sniff out new discoveries and take advantage on suppliers' promotions as, and when, they appear by adding them to our website where you can buy wine online and either have it delivered to your door, or collect it from our shop.  You can buy these wines online now - click here to start shopping!

To view our complete selection of wines for sale click here

New Italian Wines

Following their respective successes in our Sampling Club three wines have made it into the main list this spring and we’ve added in a couple of other new Italians for good measure.  They’re already on the website so you can buy wine online…

The 2011 OSA from Maremma in Tuscany is a Sangiovese dominated blend from the Fattoria Quercegrossa which is located between Magliano in Toscana and the sea of Talamone - a stretch of vineyards with two enormous oak trees at its centre from where you can glimpse the sea. Here, in Maremma, Bruna Baroncini produces a different expression of the Sangiovese grape with spicy fruit and soft tannins – a great Italian all-rounder. 

Buy this wine online - click here

Secondly, there’s the 2009 Crocera Barbera d’Asti Superiore which has authentic notes of damson, smoke and spices; a fantastic expression of Piemontese Barbera which was so popular with customers when we featured it last December.

Buy this wine online - click here
A more recent favourite on the Sampling Club is Cavit’s solution to the soaring price of Pinot Grigio grapes in the form of the Principato Pinot-Grigio/Chardonnay blend from Veneto which combines the fresh stone fruit characters of Pinot-Grigio with a touch of ripeness and comes in at a price significantly lower than the straight Pinot-Grigios we list.

Buy this wine online - click here
The two other additions to our Italian range are a superb Verdicchio from Monte Schiavo, a modern and dynamic producer in the heart of the region and the Nebbiolo d’Alba from Poderi Colla.  JH visited the Poderi Colla winery last year and was very taken with the wines he tasted.  We have featured their Barbera d’Alba recently but found space in the main list for their Nebbiolo which, at £15.50, is a fraction of the price of Barolo or Barbaresco yet the equal of many.  You can read more about JH’s visit to Poderi Colla here.

What we love about our new flexible buying regime at Wines of Interest is the opportunities it provides us with to tune into new wines as we find them rather than having to wait to include them in our annual printed list.  We can sniff out new discoveries and take advantage on suppliers' promotions as, and when, they appear by adding them to our website where you can buy wine online and either have it delivered to your door, or collect it from our shop.  You can buy these wines online now - click here to start shopping!

Buy wine online – click here to browse our full range