Category — Merchant Offers

Having just read about Champagne Devaux on Spittoon - and what a marvellous wine for food the Cuvee D is - the linked retailer (Surf4Wine) is running a competition to win a bottle; one of six actually.

Popping up in my RSS reader was details of a competition in conjunction with an Oxford paper. So technically, I guess, only those within the readership area should enter (plus those who visited Oxford last weekend!).

“For your chance to win one of these exciting prizes, simply write the answer to the question below on a postcard and send it, together with your name, address and a daytime telephone number to:
Champagne Devaux / Andrew Chapman Fine Wines Competition,
Oxfordshire Limited Edition,
Osney Mead,
Oxford OX2 OEJ

to arrive no later than Friday, September 21,2007.

The question is : What is the name of the area in the south of Champagne where Champagne Devaux can be found? And if you want a hint…”

Another of those Thresher viral things - this one for a free four pack of Fosters Twist. Unlike the 40% discount vouchers thse Foster’s vouchers are barcoded, theoretically limited to one per person. For the voucher you need to complete a quick survey.

Whether being free actually makes Fosters Twist palatable is debatable.

[Lots of comments flying aorund that the free products are actually out-of-date].

Lots of activity over on Surf4Wine - a spate of very attractive discounts via promo codes for a start (a stash of Wild Duck Creek wines… big, huge wines with high alcohol and lots of flavour crammed in … use the promo code WILD07 to get 12.5% off all Wild Duck Creek wines) and an active blog giving insights into the company, its wines and philosophy.

And another special offer just received by email too. The Saint Clair range from New Zealand is on offer, 10% Off, via a mailed out promotion code - STC07. This, according to the email, only runs for 24 hours!

Previoulsy known for their excellent coverage of Austria, Switzerland, and Beaujolais, specialist Nick Dobson wines has announced the introduction of a small range of wines from New Zealand.

“Whilst our strength is undoubtedly rooted in our ranges of wine from the old world countries of central Europe, we’ve also decided on a small foray into the new world, with wines from small family estates in New Zealand. We will be offering wines mainly from the North Island, from the Mystery Creek Vineyard in Waikato, The Cottier Estate in Wairarapa, and a premium range from Amor-BendallPreviously Wines in Gisborne. We’ve just taken delivery of the Amor-Bendall wines, and these are now available from stock. The other suppliers will be added soon, and their arrival will be announced in a future mailshot. The Amor-Bendall wines are truly stunning, and are well worth trying. We start with 7 different wines plus a mixed case.”

The Armor-Bendall range includes a Gisborne Sauvignon Blanc (£14.95), an unoaked Chardonnay (£12.95) and a Pinot Girs (£13.95) while the mixed case comes in at £159.40 for 12 bottles.

Planet of the Grapes is holding a Spanish promotion through May where all Spanish wines are on offer with a 10% discount. In support of this they are holding a Rioja tasting on Tuesday 9th May featuring the wines of Marques de Murrieta

This is one of the most famed Rioja bodegas producing brilliant quality wines across the range. For just £40 per head including Jamon and Queso, you will get to try a generous glass of the following:

Capellania Blanco 2001
Capellania Gran Reserva Blanco 1998
Murrieta Tinto Reserva 2000
Murrieta Tinto Reserva 2001
Dalmau 2001
Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva 1998
Murrieta Gran Reserva 1980 (from magnum)
Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva historic release 1978

Ok so this is beer related, but I am sure many a wine lover also drinks a beer occassionally, as I do. CAMRA has just released new research showing that a shocking 26.6% of pints served in pubs are short measure by more than 5%. This is costing consumers a whopping £1.3 million every single day.

There is one pub I love to go to that really annoys me with short measures. I complained once and to say the barman was reluctant to provide a full measure is an understatement. His words were “They are always like that”!

CAMRA is taking its campaign for full pints straight to the top, by launching a national full pints petition addressed to the Prime Minister. Please add your name to our full pints petition at www.takeittothetop.co.uk.

I’m surprised though that they have launched their own petition rather than using the online one set up by No.10. Still tis better than nothing.

CAMRA has taken an advert in Monday 16th’s Guardian newspaper and another is planned for Friday 20th April. This is the first time in CAMRA’s history that they have placed campaign adverts in a national newspaper. Together we can put an end to short beer measures.

They are looking for a repeat of the huge success of the last viral promotion - Threshers have made available online another 40% off voucher.

Last December’s promotion generated £15 million of extra business for Threshers in the crucial run-up to Christmas. Maybe they can repeat the success in this pre-Easter season. The voucher lasts for a week and can be downloaded from Spittoon.biz.

New Zealand House of Wine has announced that their pre-mixed cases now include a free bottle of wine! Yep, a free bottle.

We have redesigned ALL of our pre-mixed cases so they each contain a free bottle of wine! For example, our stunning new Pre-Mixed Premium Sauvignon Blanc selection now includes the acclaimed Isabel Estate and Dog Point, and also the much sought-after Saint Clair Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (very limited availability).

Prices for the cases range from £94.95 for the Sauvignon Blanc case (free bottle is worth £7.91) up to the Premium mixed red and white case at £189.00 (free bottle is set at £15.75).

Not sure if it is my obsession with collecting interesting looking props for my food and drink photography or if these two glasses are actually stylish. The image isn’t that clear…

DrinkOn are offering a bottle of Moet & Chandon Brut Rosé for £32.99 that includes two free champagne flutes.

The two elegant glasses are set in flower-shaped holders supported on a base and are perfect for sharing a romantic glass of the world’s best-loved pink champagne.

While it is not the intention to use UKWOL as a reposting station for every merchants special offers we thought a quick mention of the Nick Dobsnon winter sale was worthy of mention.

The company specialises in wines from Switzerland, Beaujolais and Germany - they are offering some good discounts for a selection of choice and interesting wines.

There are some cracking good wines here, representing excellent value for money. In many cases stocks are very limited. Everything listed here is sold on a strict first-come first-served basis and is offered subject to stock remaining, so don’t hang around. A few more wines may be added to this list over the duration of the sale so please look in again from time to time.

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

It’s Christmas; deals abound across the supermarkets, specialists and high street.

Majestic have announced a range of offers across their Champagne range.

Nicolas Feuillatte NV is down to £21.99 but buy 2 and save a further £20; the equivalent to £11.99 a bottle. Jacquart Brut Mosaique NV is £23.99 and again, buy 2 save £20, or £13.99 a bottle. Heidsieck Gold Top Vintage 2001 is buy 2 save 50% or £14.99 a bottle. But my choice would be Perrier-Jouët Grand Brut NV down 50p to £25.49 and buy 2 save 33.3%. Making this just £16.99 a bottle.

Then again the Louis Roederer NV is down £2 to £35.99 and buy 2 save a further 25%!

The only problem with Majestic is their insistence on a 12 bottle minimum purchase. Last day for orders delivered by Christmas is the 13th December; delivery in the UK is free.

That happy bunch of like-minded fellows - The Association of Small Direct Winemakers - have combined in more ways than one this month.

They now offer a small range of mixed taster cases offering the opportunity to gain an insight into their various ranges. Each member has selected a wine to put into one of three mixed cases. There’s a white wine case (£85), a red wine case (£85), and a mixed case containing reds, whites, a sweet wine, and a Champagne (£135).

The latter looks particularly interesting, heavy on France perhaps but so are the individual members specialisations, but Italy, Spain, Australia and New Zealand are all represented. As a snap-shot of the quality offered by members this looks superb. Delivery is included in the price. Order from Nick Dobson Wines.

It’s a secret - but download and print the voucher and you can claim 40% off all wine purchases at Threshers. No promotion, no advertising, just word of mouth - from blog to blog. Runs from the 30th November until 10th December

Voucher Download.

Goes to show what a great price Arthur Rackham’s offer for Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc actually is - Oddbins has just sent out an offer setting the price at £17.49 compared to AR’s £15.75.

Oddbins though also gives a 5% discount off 12 bottles. The maximum you can puchase is 12 bottles.

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc set the world alight with its pure, vibrant flavours and unmistakable varietal character when it hit the stage in the mid 1980’s. Today, the wine has earned itself a worldwide reputation, and it virtually sells out before it arrives in stores. For the 2006 vintage, the grapes were sourced from estate and grower vineyards located in the Rapaura, Fairhall, Renwick and Brancott sub-regions of the Wairau Valley. Free draining, stony soils typify the Rapaura and Renwick areas whilst Fairhall and Brancott are predominantly aged alluvial loams containing some clay. The majority of fruit was grown on a vertical shoot positioned (VSP) trellis, and the balance on the divided Scott Henry trellis system.