Category — Jura & Savoie

In Birmingham you’ll find a real specialist wine merchant - Jura Wine - specialising in the organic wines of Jura in Eastern France - and specifically one winemaker - Domaine Tissot.

Seldom seen and little known in the UK these wines can be quite distinctive and in addition to familiar grape varietals such as Chardonnay they also use very distinctive local grapes such as Savignin ( a cousin of Alsace Gewurztraminer), and Poulsard, a distant relative of Pinot Noir.

Jurawine collects the wines in person from our supplier, Domaine Tissot and arranges courier delivery to you throughout the UK.
Jura is part of the region known as Franche Comte and lies in eastern central France between Burgundy & Switzerland. This beautiful area has fine gastronomic traditions, including unusual wine festivals

Specialities of the region include “Vin de Paille” (straw wine), where the grapes are laid out on straw mats to shrivel and concentrate the juices producing delicious, long-lasting sweet wines; and Vin Jaune (yellow wine) which is made from Savignin grapes in a manner similar to Sherry!

You can try some of these wines at the Real Food Festival in London (24-27 April 08), or at the Windsor Food & Wine Festival at the Royal Windsor Horse Show (8-11 May 08) or at the London Wine Show (23-26 October 08)

Jura Wine - , 1 Augusta Rd, Acocks Green, BIRMINGHAM, B27 6LA
E-Mail: jurae@jurawine.com Tel: 0121 243 4042 Mbl: 07850 845518 Fax: 07092 888372

A refreshingly different approach is evident as soon as you enter Cadman Fine Wines website. Its crisp design and great graphics tempt you with some good special offers, yet also provides easy navigation of the site to find what you want.

The tagline “Quality is merely a starting point…” is more than merely words - they do seem to have a real commitment to sourcing their wines:-

Cadman Fine Wines stands for quality, exclusivity and selection

We bring you the world’s finest wines from the world’s finest producers: classic labels from famous names and regions that sit at the pinnacle of their craft; rare gems that have never been seen in the UK, plus exciting, cutting-edge wines from newly emerging stars of the fine wine world.

Our wines are intelligently and skillfully sourced by an international team of experts based in Italy, France, Spain and the UK. Through desk research, field trips and tastings, our experts seek and source hand-crafted wines from producers and winemakers who reaclly care about the contents of the bottle. To achieve a Cadman Fine Wines listing, a wine must score at least 88 points on our quality rating system or from the world’s most authoritative wine critics.

The wine list is extensive covering a wide range from New and Old World, some classic fine Bordeaux and Burgundies together with an eclectic mix of lesser-known wines such as Spanish Jumilla DO, French Cour-Cheverny AC and Otago wines from South Island, New Zealand.

Yet for each and every wine there are thoughtful tasting notes and good background information - very impressive. What’s more each delivery comes with “full tasting notes and background information for each wine, including grape varieties, when to drink the wine and reviews from our own experts and the world’s leading critics where applicable. This leaves you free to argue/ discuss the merits of wines with your friends and family. Their inclusion also makes each order an ideal gift.”

Cadman Fine Wines
Freepost NAT21632, Northampton NN3 6BR
Tel: 0845 121 4011
sales@cadmanfinewines.co.uk

The French Wine Festival at Waitrose (online and in its stores) runs from 26 March to 27 April 2008 and will feature a total of 48 wines.

Waitrose will be featuring 13 specially sourced small parcel wines from a wide range of less well-known appellations like Quincy, Bergerac, Provence and Lirac and the wonderfully unusual Pierre Boniface Domaine des Rocailles Apremont de Savoie 2007 and La Bastide Blanche Bandol 2005 Provence.

Some highlights:

Champagne Taittinger Rose NV, save £7, £38.99 - £31.99 (A delightfully fresh and youthful pink champagne with mouth-wateringly delicate flavours of crushed wild raspberries and red cherries, perfect forearly summer as an aperitif or with strawberries. )

Vouvray AC Champteloup Vieux Vauvert 2006/07 Vouvray, 20% off, £5.99 - £4.79 (A fine, medium Chenin from the tuffeau terroir properties around the towns of Vouvray and Rochecorbon, famous for the production of these deliciously soft-textured, waxy wines.)

Bergerac AC Domaine des Eyssards Bergerac Rouge 2005 25% off, £5.99 - £4.49 (Another brilliant wine from Pascal Cuisset of Domaine des Eyssards in Bergerac. A traditional Merlot / Cabernet Franc blend yet with a soft,almost modern generosity in the mid-palate.)

Mercurey AC Blanc 2006, Philippe Hardi, 20% off, £13.99- £10.99 (A Burgundy Chardonnay using a combination of modern cool-ferment vinification followed by malolactic in barrel where the wine stays for a year, with regular lees stirring, to achieve theunmistakeable classic Burgundy signature with some modern fruit expression.)

Quincy AC (Loire) Domaine de la Pierre qui Danse 2006 Quincy, 20% off, £8.99 - £7.19. (Simple delicate, grassy style from this Domaine with its pretty name, the land of the dancing stones.)

Apremont de Savoie AC Pierre Boniface Domaine des Rocailles 2007, 20% off, £7.49 - £5.99 (a refreshing citrus acidity and a light grapefruit flavour.)

Lirac AC Domaine du Joncier 2005 Rhône, save 1/3, £8.99 - £5.99 (The Domaine is run by the charming Marine Roussell, who featured last year in Oz and James’ Great Wine Adventure. The wine is dense and beefy, with a good deal of brooding rich fruit and great concentration.)

Bandol AC La Bastide Blanche 2005 Provence, 25% off, £11.99 - £8.99 (Hugely impressive example of this most remarkable of appellations using the traditional Mourvedre grape as the backbone to the wine. …it encompasses the spice and complexities of Grenache, Cinsault and Carignan as well as the black, damson fruit of Mourvedre andSyrah.)

Minervois AC Château Maris Organic Syrah 2006, 25% off, £7.99 - £5.99 (An extremely lively Syrah from the irrepressible Bertie Eden at his Biodynamic estate in the Minervois. This is full of bright and peppery raspberry fruit, with a twist of liquorice and is a highly drinkable style.)

Waitrose Wine Direct

Yapp Bros will be holding their pre-Christmas sale on 23 and 24 November 2007 (9.00am-5.00pm) in Mere, Wiltshire (the Old Brewery).
Widely recognised as serious specialists for the wines of the Rhone Valley and the Loire, their French selction also extends to some great bottles from Alsace, Provence, Savoy, Languedoc-Roussillon and Corsica.

Yapp Bros, The Old Brewery, Mere, Wiltshire BA12 6DY

FRIDAY 16 - MONDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2007 - The Annual Salon des Vignerons Independents (indpendent winemakers) holds its annual show in the Grand Palais in Lille. Over 400 winemakers from every corner of France will be offering tastings of their wines with the opportunity to buy at vineyard gate prices. Makes a great weekend in the exciting city of Lille with its medieval centre for shopping, dining and drinking!
See www.frenchduck.co.uk
London - Lille by Eurostar in 100 minutes

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.

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

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