Category — Italy

Rare and Organic is dedicated to the search for quality food and wine, locating small organic and natural producers ‘At Source’. Imported direct from the producer, the selected wines are limited production, high quality versions of Italian classic and unusual variietes.

They also stock some sumptuous olive oils, cheeses, pastas and pesto – all of which you can enjoy at monthly tasting evenings in Tunbridge Wells; monthly Slow Food Market at St Nicholas’ in Bristol; and weekly at London’s Kings Road.

Rare and Organic will be at the Bristol Wine and Food Fair 11-13 July 2008

www.rareandorganic.co.uk

3 Clanricade Gardens Tunbridge Wells Kent TN1 1HQ

Tel:01892 511848

Respected Edinburgh wine merchants Valvona and Crolla are supplying the wines for a 5-course wine tasting and dinner at the VinCaffe bistro:-

Producers of our cult Pinot Grigio(the pink one!) are coming to VinCaffè on the 20 June to host a dinner and wine tasting from their fabulous range of wines. We will be preparing a 5 course meal influenced by the region of Fruili where their wines come from.

Tickets cost £45 per person for tasting and dinner Contact Vincaffe, 11 Multrees Walk, Edinburgh, EH1 3DQ Tel: 0131 557 0088

Badminton Wines sources wines from small-scale producers from around the world, whose main focus is on producing wines of quality and character at a fair price. They list over 100 wines and deliver free-of-charge to the Bristol area. Cases can be mixed. Wine tastings can be arranged at your home or in their own Tasting Room.” www.badmintonwines.co.uk

Being confident of their selection of wines they offer a variety of ways of trying before you buy e.g. tasting evenings at home with your friends or tasting sessions in their own Tasting Room. Badminton wines will be at the Bristol Wine & Food Fair 11–13 July 2008 and at the Taste of Bath event 3–6 July 2008.

Their list has a wide coverage with some excellent Italian selections including a Prunetto Barbaresco from Piedmont, a top Californian Old Vine Zinfandel from Seghesio

Badminton Wines,The Street, Acton Turville Badminton GL9 1HH

Tel:01454 219091

Now I had always thought of the people at Joseph Barnes Wines in Saffron Walden as pretty serious, but enthusiastic types when it comes to wine innovation. But, as it is not April 1st, I am assuming that an article in their latest newsletter is factual! As I am one who tends to feel quite offended if anyone dares to dilute a glass of wine even with a jig of water, this idea sounds ghastly - but who knows maybe I’m just too traditional to even consider descrating wine in this way!

Disbelievingly, we decided to find out for ourselves and as a result here is the JBW guide to Wine Slushes:
The most appealing slushes contain a dry, yet fruity white or red wine - Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot will do. Add a combination of fresh fruit juice and frozen fruit puree of your choice and blend until smooth. Freeze until the desired consistency is achieved. (The alcohol in the wine will prevent the mixture from freezing solid). Serve in colorful acrylic tumblers or Margarita glasses.
But do they taste any good? Well, we hate to say it, but wine slushes are indeed refreshing and wouldn’t be out of place at a BBQ or summer party. However, don’t expect us to revisit the subject any time soon.

Maybe thinking of it as a cocktail may make it easier to swallow.

There are more seriously good bits in the Joseph Barnes Wines newsletter (June 2008) such as an offer on one of my favourite reds - Pic St Loup AC in the Languedoc - plus Italian Prosecco (now there’s a proper summer wine drink), ideas for Fathers Day and a recipe.

Joseph Barnes Wines

The Sussex Wine Company will be holding a tasting of Classic Italian wines followed with great antipasti from Lazzati’s restaurant of Lewes. 7pm - 9pm on Thursday 12 June 2008 at Farncombe House, 16 Market Street, Lewes, BN7 2NB Tel/Fax: 01273 477 205 Email: info@thesussexwinecompany.co.uk(£25 per ticket).

The Sussex Wine Company is an independent online wine merchant, based in East Sussex, founded on a few basic but fundamental principals:

1. Value for money at all price points,
2. A personalised service tailored to the need of the individual.
3. Promoting smaller, boutique wineries from around the world.
4. Absolute passion and belief in our products!

The Channel4 sponsored Taste festival comes to Leeds Milllenium Square from 5-8 June 2008, offering visitors a great opportunity to taste fine foods and wines available in the region.

Imagine a picnic in a park. Now multiply it by thousands of people. Invite all the best restaurants in the area to contribute the food, and discerning vintners to bring the bottles. Make sure some of the guests are famous chefs happy to help out with cooking hints, and organise live music to eat and drink by. This is a Taste Festival.

Amongst the wine exhibits will be Bordeaux Wines, Wines of Chile, Faustino Rioja, Wines of South Africa and Playford Ros representing Villa Sandi - Italian Proscecco producers.

Leeds Brewery and Goslings Rum will also contribute to what promises to be a great cocktail of wine and food.

For more info and tickets see www.channel4.com

The wine merchant Caves de Pyrene, based in Guildford, Surrey is a bit of a trade secret. Predominantly supplying some of the top trade outlets, they now have an online website and a wine shop to tempt individual customers. We came across them when we realised that they also imported Didier Barre’s award winning Madiran AC Domaine Berthoumieu, Cuvee Charles de Batz - a gloriously rich, tannic but smooth red from South West France based on the Tannat grape.

As Tim Atkin in the Observer observes:-

Les Caves may specialise in supplying pubs and restaurants, but it sells to the public (by mail order and from its shop) too. In fact, if you conducted a straw poll of wine critics, I reckon most of us would put Les Caves in our top three retailers. They specialise in quirky French and Italian wines, most of them sourced from individual growers. Their aim is simple: to list wines that are ‘true to where they come from, which are made by hand with minimal interventions in the vineyard and winery, and which show maximum respect for nature and the environment’.

Their list is extensive and includes rarely seen wines from Marcillac and Aveyron (France), Corsica, Luxembourg, Morocco, Lebanon and Georgia!

The online store is not really user-friendly, but it is worth downloading their list - it makes interesting reading with excellent background notes on the regions.

They are holding a big bin-end sale on 13 and 14 June 2008 at Pew Corner - including a lunch and music on the Saturday - and 10% of the sale proceeds will go to charity. If you are anywhere near Guildford I would recommend a visit.

Caves de Pyrene
Pew Corner, Old Portsmouth Road, Artington, GU3 1LP
T: 01483 538820 F:01483 455068 E: sales@lescaves.co.uk

A novel approach to selecting and presenting wines comes from a new outfit called “Six Wines Eight”. based in London and online.

Six Wines Eight is about finding the right wine first time. The system we have developed is easy to use and even easier to remember.
There are six wines in eight styles. These are our featured wines. We have defined each style in three words and given it a colour. Within each style there are six wines graded by price. We do all the hard work (like taste hundreds of wines!)and then present the best in an easy to understand, easy to navigate system. All you need to do is choose your style and price. Easy!
In an effort to lighten the mood of wine buying we’ve tried to be a little less serious in our descriptions but we do have the usual stuff there as well.
Each quarter new wines will replace the current batch. The wines will match their predecessors in style and feel, though they may be from an entirely different grape from very different countries. That way you get to try wines that you might otherwise have ignored.

I like the classification of wine styles with 3 word descriptors e.g reds are light,simple,fresh;or juicy, round, easy; or spicy, peppery, warming; or intense, complex,elegant. That looks like the sort of vocabulary which both novices and old hands can use - and is a great way to help customers articulate what they are looking for.

Hence they offer 48 featured wines every quarter - although previous selections may be available from their warehouse. It certainly offers a way to help customers select the style of wine which they are seeking - and could be quite fun. The presentation is good, and the wines look to be well-selected from all corners of the globe.

Six Wines Eight
100-102 Tower Bridge road, London SE1 4TP

Tel: 020 7231 4477

Regular tastings and a blog complete a well-thought out approach to wine merchanting!

The Daily Mail (5 May 2008) reports on the findings of Dr Roger Corder (The Red Wine Diet) on the health benefits of RED wine:-

Far more important are polyphenols, the chemical compounds in grape skin and seeds. These are natural antioxidants which protect the membranes of each cell.
Another important element of red wine are procyanidins, which help to reduce blood pressure, lower cholesterol and protect against hardening of the arteries.
The most procyanidin-rich wines tend to be those in which the grapes - including skins and seeds - have remained in contact with the wine during fermentation and afterwards.
Such information is seldom seen on wine bottles - you’d find it by scouring producers’ websites (look for contact time of at least ten days for good amounts of procyanidins).
Two wine-growing regions which boast high concentrations of procyanidins are the Nuoro province in Sardinia (which produces the Cannonau grape), and Madiran in the Pyrenees.

Madiran AOC wines from South West France have certainly become more widely known as a result of this research - the Tannat grape producing big, and potentially tannic wines - and some of the best cuvées ensure that those big tannins are smooth and balanced with plenty of fruit character! - e.g the wines of Domaine Berthoumieu and Chateau d’Aydie.

Cannonau-based wines from the Italian island of Sardinia remain less well-known - Cooden Cellars stocks a Triente 2006 from Pala :”A very intense perfume leads into a fresh palate with rich flavours of mature red fruits and hints of herbs. Good match for spicy foods and oily fish.” (£9.99)

It cannot be often that you would find a New Zealand Cloudy Bay and a red wine from Wales on the same list ! But at ND John you can discover the Sugarloaf Vineyards Deri Coch, and even on their website they state “They must be mad with our weather - but somehow they pull it off, and in some style!” - Deri Coch is a blend of Triomphe D’Alsace, Regent and Rondo varieties and has brambly autumn fruit flavours with a delicious sour cherry finish” (£8.50)

ND John Wine Merchants Ltd are an established wine merchants in the South Wales area supplying fine restaurants, hotels, gastro-pubs and clubs.

In 2003, we moved to new premises and opened a large ‘wine warehouse’ bringing our extensive range of wines direct to the public.

The success of this business led to us expanding our retail operation onto the internet to enable people throughout the UK to experience our portfolio of wines from the bargain new world offerings to the more prestigious old world favourites.

In between they offer a decent selection of wines from France, Italy, Spain, USA, Australia. New Zealand and Lebanon amongst others.

ND John, 90 Walter Road, Swansea SA1 4QF
Phone: 01792 644 688 Fax: 01792 646 600 Email: mail@ndjohn.co.uk

Decanter organises a series of fine wine tastings throughout the year, and for all that they are quite pricey (£38, £66 for 2) that is for a whole day, so you can pace yourself to get the best out of it. They really do offer access to some of the best wines around. On 17 May 2008 the focus is on Italy

Come along to taste top Italian wines and meet the winemakers in person. You’ll also have a chance to meet the world’s best selling wine writer Hugh Johnson, who will be signing copies of his latest books at 1pm.

There are also masterclasses on the “delights of Piedmont” and the “Heights of Chianti Classico”. Amongst the producers will be Antinori, Isole e Olena, Castello Banfi, Aldo Conterno, Ferrari, Bellavista, Poggio Verrano, Santa Sofia, Anselmi, Candido Damilano, Planeta, Sangervasio, Benanti, Castello Banfi, Bisol, Jermann, Umberto Cesari, Carpineto, and many more..
The venue is the Landmark Hotel in Marylebone Road, London, which is particularly good if you are coming from the West Midlands or the home counties to the north west of London, as Chiltern Trains bring you into Marylebone Station which is all of 50 yards from the Hotel!!

For more info CLICK HERE

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

Region Wine is a new Chester-based online merchant with a retail shop in the heart of historic Chester. The website is attractive and offers a wide range from around the world, including Greece, Oregon USA and Hungary in addition to the usual New and Old World sources. In addition to offering selections by region, grape variety and price there is also the opportunity to choose from a selection by “experience” - i.e. Aromatic white, exotic white, fruity white, quaffable red, red with herby notes, red with spicy notes, red, big and dark, refreshing rose, refreshing white, smooth red etc

Our company started out as a quality online wine merchant in 2006 by Ian Wildboar, fulfilling a twenty year ambition to turn his love of food and drink into a business. His aim is to help maintain diversity in wine choice throughout the UK at excellent prices and value for money.

The aim of From Vineyards Direct is simple - to bring you very special, high quality wines at prices well below traditional outlets, and to provide you with the highest level of service possible.

From Vineyards Direct is the brainchild of David Campbell and Esme Johnstone who write that their intention is to offer a small number of delicious drinking wines, principally from France, but not exclusively, imported direct from the growers and delivered to your door at the click of a mouse.

“We aim to be 20% or more cheaper than through traditional channels.”

The wine list, when we looked, numbered 38 products. Mostly hailing from Burgundy the wines include bottles from Spain and Italy too. There are a range of mixed cases too.

While delivery is free in the UK the minimum order quantity might put you off, especially as the range is so small - Minimum total order is 2 cases (24 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for the UK and 5 cases (60 bottles of 75cl equivalent) for Northern Ireland.

Cooden Cellars is an independent wine merchant established by Colin Barnes and Ian Jarman in 1997. In May 2001 we opened our retail shop in the Grand Hotel Buildings, Compton Street, Eastbourne. They were awarded Independent Merchant of the Year 2007 as well as Regional Wine Merchant of the Year in the IWC Awards for the last three years, in 2003 and 2004 as runner-up and in 2005 outright.

For those not lucky enough to live within the bounds of Eastbourne they maintain a very functional and informative website. Registered users can login and leave their own tasting notes. The only thing that is lacking are images of the wine bottles (perhaps they should engage this budding photographer?)

The range is excellent across the board - lots of interesting wines from Argentina and Australia, New Zealand and Portugal are particularly interesting with several wines we are yet to discover. Regular offers, a regularly updated blog section and a decent range of spirits plus a regular payment wine club complete the picture. Perhaps the perfect wine merchant?