France
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Chateau De Dufort, Corbieres
GL012
Intense spicy fruit flavours, supple, soft, sometimes sweet tannins and a fresh acid core, which makes this wine from the Languedoc irresistible with all the hearty rustic fare of autumn - a rich cassoulet, or meaty slow-cooked ox cheek with garlicky mashed potato - the kind of stuff that makes you feel like Henry VIII.
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Nuit-Saint-Georges, Dufouleur Freres 2015
GL013
Cherry, tobacco, herbaceous notes with silky tannins showing good weight and concentration, showing flesh and balance. A superb vintage!
Not to be confused with Dufouleur Père et Fils whose cellars are also found on the main route out towards Dijon, Dufouleur Frères is an artisan family domaine and winery who operate from their Château in Nuits-Saint-Georges. It’s not that the two cellars aren’t historically connected in some way – both claim proof of ancestry dating back to 1596 – spanning some 12 generations. For over 250 years (and before the family went their separate ways) the Dufouleur’s existed as a family of vignerons, but after the creation of Maison Dufouleur in 1848, the name became also synonymous as a négociant house.
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Boutinot ‘Les Coteaux’ Côtes du Rhône Villages
GL015
Immediately impressive, this wine reveals its class from the start. Brambly fruit underpinned by subtle oaky nuances, lovely sweet spice - warm star anise with a touch of cinnamon. This classic Côtes du Rhône Villages is enriched with specially-selected parcels from the cru vineyards of Séguret, Sablet and Cairanne.
Grenache Noir and Syrah make a bold and interesting blend typical to Southern Rhone. Full bodied, fruit forward and very well priced for the quality. Even though Grenache Noir is one of the worlds most widely planted grapes, there's definitely a unique spine to this beautiful red!
Common practice in the Côtes du Rhône is to bottle the best cuvées as a single, named, village wine and the rest as more basic Côtes du Rhône Villages. Boutinot’s philosophy, on the other hand, is to start with the intention of making the very best Côtes du Rhône Villages possible by sourcing wine from the vineyards of named villages, and enriching them with a small proportion of barrel-aged wine from Sablet, Séguret and Cairanne. Boutinot's Côtes du Rhône Villages 'Les Coteaux' is therefore a selection of the best Grenache Noir and Syrah from some of the 17 named Côtes du Rhône Villages. We source wine from a number of growers with exceptional terroir and so have the flexibility to select only the very best fruit each vintage (rejecting parcels which do not meet our high standards). Mostly unoaked, a small proportion (20%) is part-aged for 22 months in a few new, but mostly older, oak barrels to bring depth and subtle notes of complexity.
A delicious accompaniment to grilled meats, herby Sausages, casseroles or a classic shepherd's pie, red meats, tomato-based pasta dishes and oven roasted vegetables.
VEGETARIAN, VEGAN
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M de Moulin Riche Saint-Julien
GL017
The second wine of Château Moulin Riche which is meant for earlier drinking. Made with the same attention to detail, the blend spends less time in oak so has a classic Bordeaux nose of black fruits and cedar with lively acidity.
This is a fruity and classic Bordeaux with a nose offering black fruits and cedar with brisk acidity and structured tannins on the palate. The finish is bright and fresh.
Vegetarian;Sustainable
M de Moulin Riche is the second wine from Château Moulin Riche, designed for earlier drinking but made with the same care. It is a blend of 87% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 1% Cabernet Franc. The wine ages for six months in two-year-old-French oak barrels and then spends a further six months in stainless steel vats.
Until 2009, Château Moulin Riche was the second wine of Château Léoville Poyferré. It was bought alongside Léoville Poyferré in 1920 by the Cuvelier family. Château Moulin Riche's vineyards are located on what is considered one of the finest gravel rises in the Médoc producing wines of exceptional quality. Also within the Cuvelier family’s portfolio is the M de Moulin Riche, which is the second wine of Château Moulin Riche, which is meant for earlier drinking.
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Vallet Frères Bourgogne Pinot Noir
GL019
Delicate garnet colour with peppery, strawberry fruit on the nose, the palate is light to medium-bodied with appealing nervy fruit and mouth-watering acidity balancing the dry tannins and elegant red fruit.
Founded in 1864 by Pierre Bourée, Vallet Frères is now in the hands of the fourth generation of the family, Bernard and Jean-Christophe Vallet. The family owns vineyards in Gevrey-Chambertin, in the Beaune Premier Cru of Les Epenottes, and in the Grand Cru of Charmes-Chambertin, as well as the entire monopole vineyard of Clos de la Justice, also in Gevrey-Chambertin. Vallet Frères is also a négociant, and sources the best grapes from growers in other areas, with whom it has worked closely for decades.
Serve with a traditionally Coq au Vin. Roast chicken or young game birds and equally good with pasta bakes or wild mushroom linguine.
VEGETARIAN/VEGAN
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Domaine La Haute Marone ‘Le Cru des Dentelles de Montmirail’, Gigondas
GL023
Gigondas is a single village 'cru' of the southern Rhône valley whose vineyards nestle under the jagged, lacy peaks of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains.
Intense aromas of black cherries, then a wisp of smoke creeps in along with some hints of toasted cocoa beans. Deep and intense, this wine slowly reveals its secrets - black cherries, dark chocolate, a hint of clove and nutmeg - hugely rich and enveloping but with elegance.
Ideal with a good Provençale daube or game dishes. Also a treat with hard cheeses, particularly farmhouse cheddar.
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Domaine Sautereau, Sancerre Rouge
GL024
Ruby red in colour, this wine shows notes of black cherries, raspberries, blackcurrant and spices. The palate is fruity and elegant with fine tannins and a touch of minerality which adds length to the finish.
Vegetarian;Sustainable
The fruit for this Sancerre Rouge is sourced from David's vineyards, which are situated mainly in Crézancy, with a tiny proportion located in Bué. The soils in this area range from calcareous to iron-rich sandstones, which produce a variety of different blending components for the wine, which in turn results in fine and fruity reds with more complex and varied flavours.
The Pinot Noir grapes were 100% destemmed and pressed before alcoholic fermentation took place for 10 - 15 days at temperatures of 25°C. The wine then underwent malolactic fermentation which helped enhance the fruit profile of this wine. Ageing took place mostly in stainless steel tanks with 20% of the wine matured in oak barrels, to add complexity and texture to this traditional red Sancerre.
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Château Tour de Capet, Saint-Émilion Grand Cru
GL027
Château Tour de Capet has 10 hectares of vineyard located at Saint Hippolyte, at the gateway to Saint-Emilion.The ripe, full-flavoured wine is exceptional value, packed with mouth-filling dark plum fruit and hints of sweet spice.
This wine is intense purple in colour, with a bouquet of ripe dark berries, tobacco and mint with hints of cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. On the palate, it is full bodied with soft, velvety tannins and a long, juicy finish.
Château Tour de Capet is a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru. The property lies to the south of Saint-Émilion, close to the village of Saint-Hippolyte. The 10 hectares of vines enjoy an excellent position with good southerly exposure, making a ripe, full-flavoured wine that offers exceptional value. The vineyard is next to those of Château Capet-Guillier and the two wines are made in the same cellar, by the same winemaking team led by Stéphane Derenoncourt. Since 2009 the property has been run by Antoine Moueix Propriétés, a producer with over a century’s experience on the Right Bank of Bordeaux.
Located in Saint-Hippolyte at the foot of the southern end of the Saint-Émilion plateau, the vineyards sit at an altitude of 60 metres. The fertile clay and silt soils result in an open, forward style of wine. Crop thinning in the spring and leaf plucking in the summer ensures the fruit ripens evenly. Yields from the 30-year-old vines are 45 hectolitres per hectare.
The outstanding weather conditions in August and subsequent Indian summer resulted in red wine grapes with a particularly high sugar content, satisfactory levels of tartaric acid and promising aromatic potential. The thick skins and concentration of tannins required meticulous care during extraction. The Merlot wines are deep and concentrated, while maintaining freshness in spite of their relatively high alcohol level. Harvest took place between 24th September to 3rd October.
The berries were sorted upon arrival to the winery. After gentle destemming, the berries were placed into small concrete vats for a cold, pre-fermentation maceration. Temperature-controlled fermentation took place at temperatures rising from 24° to 28°C with four to five weeks maceration and gentle extraction by manual punching down three to four times a day. This is then followed by light vertical pressing in wooden cages and malolactic fermentation in thermo-regulated vats. Each batch was then aged for 12 months in 225-litre French oak casks (one third new, two thirds in one or two year old barrels), before the final blend was assembled.
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Jean-Marc Burgaud, Régnié
GL030
Wine Critic Matthew Jukes wrote JAN 2022:
"There are two things that I love about this week’s tip. Firstly, a select handful of independent merchants have spotted this truly awesome wine, and they are to be applauded. Secondly, the wine itself is utterly thrilling, and it does a neat job of explaining the virtues of the 2020 vintage in Burgundy and Beaujolais in red-wine form".
A fruit forward Beaujolais cru with notes of red currant and cranberry fruit on the nose. The palate is well structured with silky tannins and flavours of fresh strawberries and a hint of spice.
This Régnié comes from a one hectare vineyard where the vines are over 60 years old and grow on sandy soils, lending elegance and finesse to the finished wine.
Jean-Marc Burgaud was recently dubbed ‘Monsieur Côte du Py’ by Bourgogne Aujourd’hui magazine. His fine domaine has seven hectares of vineyard on the Côte du Py in Morgon, making the Burgaud family the biggest owner of vines on this famous hill. Jean-Marc is originally from Lantignié and his wife, Christine, is from Morgon, the 11.5 hectares in Morgon were inherited from her side of the family. “My father used to tell me that Lantignié produced the best Beaujolais, but when I first met Christine, her father opened a 20-plus-year-old bottle of Côte du Py for me and that opened my eyes to the potential of Beaujolais,” he explains. Today, the domaine has 18 hectares of vineyards across Beaujolais Villages, Morgon and Régnié.
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Mondeuse 'et ma goutte de...' La Combe des Grand Vignes, D&D Berthollier
GL327
As befits the Alpine grape variety Mondeuse, this is a characterful and distinctive red with a little wildnesss to it, a glorious perfume, a berry scent and slight bitter-sweet finish. Glowing purple, with the most glorious heady perfume - peonies and mulberries, violets and hibiscus juice, all sprinkled with crushed pink peppercorn, a soft tinge of peppery tree bark and gentle bittersweet finish with soft, chalky tannins.
It firmly sits in the "natural wine" camp, with very low added SO2, and just the right amount of VA that brings such lift. Serve on the cool side.
Grape: Mondeuse, Roussanne, Viognier
Run by brothers Denis and Didier Berthollier, we were drawn to La Combe des Grand'Vignes not only for their entrancing wines, but for the brothers unrelenting commitment to regenerative and organic farming. Appalled by Big Agriculture and the mega-corporation companies behind it who favour progress and increased production over environmental destruction, the brothers made a conscious decision to prioritise qulity over quantity and working with nature rather dominating it. They are on a mission to produce wines that reflect the healthy soils of the land following on from their return to the farming ways of their grandfather Marius pre-Green Revolution. Like many estates in the area, their vineyard parcels are small and scattered across the steep hillside with only narrow paths for access.
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Cuvée Jean-Paul Rouge IGP
GL328
A classic southern Rhône red with ample rich fruit and an appealing herbal freshness. The palate is lusciously textured with plum, strawberry and a touch of spice. Uncomplicated and deliciously drinkable yet serious enough to accompany food.
Drink with hearty food such as grilled meats and casseroles. Also great with BLTs, pizzas and mature, hard cheeses.
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Tom and the Peloton, Ventoux Rouge
GL332
A blend of Syrah and Grenache made in memory of Tom Simpson, one of Britain's greatest cyclists.
Very easy drinking red, with lots of red fruits and a hint of spice. -
French Bulldog Grenache
GL392
An arrogant, stubborn and cheerful French Bulldog makes you discover a powerful and fruity wine with silky tannins.
It comes from vines planted on well-drained hillsides located in the northern part of the Corbieres region near Narbonne, influenced by dry, windy and sunny climate, typical of the South of France.