Category — Alsace

The store just opposite the railway station has a wine bar above. This is Five Reasons Wine, a mighty fine looking shop offering 400 or so wines. All are listed on the website but sadly there is no online ordering.

Owner/manager Irene writes

Our approach is to operate a one in one out policy at our optimum number of 400 wines This means that we aim to ensure that our range is continuously improving over time rather than expanding willy nilly, and our customers aren’t met by a bewildering wall of wine, creating the illusion of choice, but actually risking alienating all except the most dogged wine enthusiasts.

This discipline ensures we can keep in touch with how our wines are tasting, and give knowledgeable advice - following a high quality service rather than largely product-driven/cult-wine-chasing model of an independent wine merchant.

Tastings are at the heart of what we do. We’d like to think we are getting a pretty good local reputation for our fortnightly tasting events.

This rolling wine range has resulted in some choice pickings from New Zealand, Alsace (Zind Humbrecht, Clos Wintzenheim, Gewurztraminer for example), Australia (Coriole Shiraz amongst many choice bottles), the Americas, Spain, Italy and across the regions of France. On the bubbly front the Billecart Salmon and Jacquesson bottles would be my recommendations.

Prices are generally in the £10plus range with many in the super-fine league of £30+ a bottle. Delivery is free locally in Tunbridge Wells while overnight delivery elsewhere in the UK is £10.80.

FIVE REASONS WINE
7 Vale Road
Tunbridge Wells
TN1 1BS

Based in Matlock in Derbyshire, The French Wine People are importers of wines from across the regions of France.

What sets The French Wine People apart from the dozens of other smaller French specialists, apart from a nicely designed website?

Some of the more eclectic wines include a Savagnin from the Jura, a good range of aged Armagnac’s and Cognacs and I notice, of all things, a Cave amongst the sparkling/Champagne listings. The dessert wine section has a few non-French infiltrators - the Brown Brothers range from Australia and stickies from Germany and California.

Nice to see a pink Sancerre and unusual blends from Cabardes too.

Prices range from £4.50 right up to £100 plus for the top Clarets but generally sit below the £15 mark. The range is not huge but does appear to be very selective and personally chosen.

Postage is ‘at cost’ working out at £9.95 per parcel fro most of the UK but is free within 20 miles of Matlock.

The French Wine People
Hopton Courtyard
7 Snitterton Road
Matlock
Derbyshire DE4 3LZ

The Nicolas chain, is a French company owned by Casel, the same parent company of Oddbins. They have only recently broken out from their London heartland and now list 51 stores in the UK.

Several branches of Oddbins have or are in the process of being converted to the Nicolas brand (Henley-on-Thames, Beaconsfield for example); a shame in my opinion as the range is vastly smaller and, apart from a smattering of New World wines, is nearly exclusively France focused.

The website, has an English language version, (I dread to think what they mean by “Caution ! We do not go up the goods in the floors !” though) with prices listed in Euros.

All the French regions are covered - Champagne, Rhone, Alsace, Bordeaux etc - with good ranges across the board, although nothing from Pic St Loup is listed. Several pages of fine wines and Armagnac’s are available if you are feeling flush, while at the other end of the scale there are many special offers.

Each wine has basic details attached - a brief suggested food match, grape composition and perfunctory tasting notes (simply full bodied and the like). One indication of a wines popularity are the user votes. A pop-up box allows a grading of 1-5 grapes. I do wonder how many people can be bothered to go back and vote on a wine once consumed mind.

Many of the cheaper wines are listed with a six bottles minimum purchase, more expensive products are not restricted. Delivery to the UK costs 1 to 6 bottles : 19 EUROS TTC which I assume means multiples of 6 bottles attract the charge. No mention of free delivery with large orders.

The on-line wine list appears broader and more in-depth than the UK based stores. While not familiar with the wines listed the new store opening near me will be an excellent opportunity for exploration. Keep an eye on Spittoon for specific wine tasting notes.

What marks out The Winery is the individual wines listed. Each is personally sourced and imported with almost all being exclusive to the company. The wine list is packed with ‘unknowns’ - Mittnacht-Klack from Alsace, Tarlant Champagne, Wild Hog from California and Cheveau from Burgundy.

Strengths are in France - each region well represented by wines worthy of exploration, plus Spain, California and Italy. There is a superb list of dessert wines, mostly from Germany. New Zealand and South America are absent and Australia is poorly represented by just one producer though.

Unlike many London independents the wines are more than affordable with most coming in at under £20 a bottle. Delivery, if you can’t make it to either of the stores, costs £10 per case of 12, or free with 3 or more cases. Sadly no online ordering.

(pull)The Winery At Liberty 2nd Floor Liberty
Regent Street
London(/pull)

From the moment the site pops up in your browser you can feel the class and quality of WineDirect. The site is the on-line arm of Hailsham Cellars, an UK Wine Merchant based in Hailsham, East Sussex.

We’re passionate about wine and believe that knowing more about where the wines come from, the grape varieties and wine styles, can enhance your wine drinking experience and embolden you to experiment with the wide selection of wine styles and grape varieties on our list. That’s why we’ve added a lot of information about wine on the site in the Wine & Food and Wine Companion sections and why we are selling great wine books in our Books section.

The wine range is wide reaching - they list 35 wines from often overlooked Argentina, 100 wines from ever-popular Australia and 69 from New Zealand. But it is not just the New World at WineDirect - Spain with a list of 54 wines, Italy (187) and the regions of France (258) hold many interesting wines.

Prices are generally in the £7-£14 range although more expensive wines are of course listed. Minimum purchase is 6 bottles.

Pre-mixed cases, with prices ranging from £65 and upwards, and various regular wine club offerings complete the picture.

One thing I noticed is the embracing of customer feed-back they ask that their customers send in wine reviews and recipes for great dishes to accompany wine for publication on the site. Very Web 2.0!

In genteel Buckinghamshire, at Bourne End to be precise, there is a “local” off licence which has a pretty ghastly website (see above), but get beyond the colour scheme (or through the shop door) and you’ll discover a truly superb wine list at Bertrand & Nicholas with all sorts of French gems - fine Bordeaux and Burgundy for sure - but also an eclectic selection from South West France, Alsace, Jura and Savoie. Loire, Languedoc…… My selection would include Menetou-Salon AC from Henri Pellé (Loire); Cahors AC Clos Triguedina, Madiran AC Domaine Berthoumieu, Irouleguy AC, Domaine Abotia(South West); Bandol from Chateau du Pibarnon (Provence).
You can order by phone, mail or email - download their list from the website.

BERTRAND & NICHOLAS
14 FURLONG ROAD, BOURNE END, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE SL8 5DG - see map
TEL :01628525202

Down in rural Sussex n the centre of Hurstpierpoint High Street, 10 miles north of Brighton, just off the A23 you’ll discover South Downs Cellars - and behind the modest facade you’ll be greeted with an excellent choice of wines. My own predelictions lean towards the wines of South West France so its always a good start to see some really classy and classic producers such as Chateau de Cedre in Cahors (one of the very best); Madiran and Pacherenc du Vic Bilh from Bouscassé. There are equally good wines from the other French regions.
At the other extreme in style and location, their selection of Californian wines is superb, including Bonny Doon and the extraordinarily intense wines of Ridge - the 2001 Geyserville (a stunning Zinfandel blend) being one of my favourite wines of all time.
Their selection from the Old and New Worlds indicates a judicious selection of some of the best producers sprinkled with interesting lesser-known offerings.

They have a shop, online ordering and a wine club. Their Christmas tasting is on Sat 25 November 2006 - not to be missed I’d say.

For more info see www.southdownscellars.co.uk

Stone Vine and Sun receive two hearty recommendations in today’s Wine Style column in the Times. Johanna Simon is on an ‘anything but Chardonnay’ binge quoting several wine buyers who report the continuing decline of Chardonnay sales and the rise of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio falling into the nations shopping baskets. Her recommendations for non-Chardonnay’s from Stone, Vine and Sun are

Domaine de L’Aumonier, 2005, Touraine Sauvignon
Stone, Vine and Sun £5.95 “Pure refreshment - textbook Sauvignon”

Belles Pierres Les Clauzes de Jo, 2004, Coteaux du Languedoc
Stone, Vine and Sun £8.75 “Full-bodied Mediterranean white; no oak, just pure, apple-scented fruit, wild herbs and a fresh finish”

Stone, Vine and Sun are a fabulous little outfit, with numerous retailing awards under their belt, since their launch in 2002. The company was founded by Simon Taylor and Andrew Shaw, although the latter has just announced he is leaving the company to become a wine buyer for Waitrose. Based in Twyford, near Winchester, delivery is free locally and just £3.50 per case to most UK destinations with orders over £250 delivered free. You can collect wine from their warehouse too.

The regions of France are well represented in the wine list with a particular passion for Burgundy and the Languedoc. The company initially concentrated solely on France but has recently expanded to include a good range from Chile with a smattering of wines from Germany, Argentina, Italy and elsewhere.

I always look forward to the latest list from Yapp Brothers - the epitome of everything a good wine merchant should be - independent, knowledgable, approachable and courageous enough to offer interesting and unfamiliar wines.
The former dentist’s main specialisation is in the Loire and Rhône (North and South) Valleys, but that does not exclude excursions into Languedoc, South West, Savoie and even Australia. So on his list you will discover excellent Bandol (mourvedre-dominated red from Provence) Lirac from the superb Domaine Maby in the southern Rhône, excellent Jurancon Sec from Domaine Bellegarde; Collioure from Roussillon; Thouarsais and Saint Pourcain from the Loire - I could go on and on!
Their Christmas Offers list is available now, and their Christmas Sale takes place at their premises in Mere, Wiltshire on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th November 2006.

For more info see www.yapp.co.uk