Category — Still Wines

We generally encourage winelovers to support small independent merchants. Many of them are adventurous in stocking interesting, unusual and small-production wines which the supermarkets and larger merchant chains avoid, preferring bland branded wines suited to the mass (and often undiscriminating) market.
However, business for small merchants can be precarious financially, and from time to time some disappear. Overheads can be high and factors such as excise duty, exchange rates, transport and warehousing costs take a big chunk out of any profits.
It is always sad to see a merchant go out of business. However, there have been some recent horror stories of merchants who have disappeared with client’s money for en-primeur purchases - where you pay upfront for wine which is still in the cellars (usually in Bordeaux) which is then delivered at a later date, when the duty and transport costs need to be paid. Admittedly this applies primarily to the top Bordeaux chateaux, but for many of us this is the only way to get hold of potentially great claret without going broke ourselves.
Decanter (5 October 2007) reports that PMH Wines in Godalming seems to have let customers down by failing to pay French suppliers for wine ordered on behalf of a client. Although PMH went into liquidation in 2006, Decanter reports that the director of the company is now trading as The Wine Barrel based in Sandhurst and Aldershot (Hants). Buying “en primeur” is always risky, because you are assuming that the vintage you have purchased will be both drinkable and valuable in years to come - but you obviously have to be additionally careful who you buy from!

Zelas is the on-line arm of North London merchant Wine of Course.

The range is not huge - just one wine form the Languedoc for example, 7 from Australia, 4 from South Africa etc. But the quality is top notch. Prices generally are in the £12+ bracket and include such delights as Sequillo Eben Sadie (South Africa) £17.99, Daniel Schuster Pinot Noir “Twin Vineyards” (New Zealand) £16.99 and Bolgheri Tenuta Guado al Tasso Il Bruciato (Italy) £17.99. Prices for unmixed cases are generally £1 or so cheaper.

The site is nice to use, each wine having a picture and brief tasting notes. You can add your own notes too on the site if you feel inclined; although I didn’t spot any during my forage. Delivery is free for purchases of 6 or more bottles and £8.50 for anything less.

Wine courses are held on the last Thursday of the month. These cost £25/£35 each, cheaper for 2 or more people, and are held in the store. Their Wines for Christmas tasting session is described as

If you have ever wondered which wines to serve with your Christmas meal, consume over your Boxing Day leftovers, or have just wanted to learn more about wine in general, then this is the tasting event for you. We will taste our way through a range of ten fantastic wines, featuring examples both traditional and modern, for pairing with the rich and varied foods of the season. The tasting will include a champagne, a sweet wine, and a port as well as a spread of festive nibbles.

Wine of Course / Zelas
216 Archway Road,
London N6 5AX

Just one range of wines available from Great Wine Online as this is the UK outlet for the Rickety Bridge Winery of South Africa.

Currently they list 10 wines ranging in price from £6.95 for a Chenin Blanc up to the estates top cuvee Paulina’s Reserve 2003 for £16.95. The wines are of great quality - 2000 vintage of the Shiraz won the Regional South Africa Rhône Varietal Over £10 Trophy with Decanter’s wine awards (there are on to the 2003 vintage now).

“With a cellar policy of minimal interference, Rickety Bridge Winery is one of the most progressive boutique wineries in South Africa, producing a distinctive range of high quality, hand-crafted, award-winning wines in limited quantities. Owned and operated by the winery’s owner, Great Wine Online shares the winery’s aims to provide the highest standards of excellence in all it does, and to make it easy for consumers to buy Rickety Bridge wines in the UK.”

There are currently three mixed case special offers available at £65, £88 or £106 - great value in saving 25% off the normal retail price.

Great Wine UK Ltd
18 Marcham Road
Abingdon
Oxfordshire
OX14 1AA

A good introduction to wine tasting is being run in the Telegraph this week (starting Monday 16 July 2007) under the beguiling title of “Swirl, Sniff, Sip and then Slosh” which seems about right as an approach to demystifying the business of tasting wine. Suzy Atkins style is clear and uncomplicated and will hopefully help more consumers to choose wines carefully rather than just go straight for the big brands or heavily marketed names.
She asks readers to compare the “get it down your throat” approach with a slightly slower and more considered approach and contends that “If you don’t have a clearer, more exciting picture of the liquid in your glass, I’ll not only eat my hat but drink my spittoon with it.”
She also is spot on about note taking - I know I have fallen into bad habits since my wine-business days, but there is little substitute for a few memory jogging notes to remind you of a particular wine - it does not have to be a Michael Broadbent analysis!
“Don’t be shy about making notes. A few well-chosen words about each wine will help you recall what you liked and why.”

Sympathies to the guys at Le Bon Vin; this Sheffield based web and premises wine merchant has suffered badly during the recent floods. The warehouse and shop suffered an estimated £250,000 of damage.

Web-sales though have been unaffected.

We have just launched our all new website with new features and even more wines than before. Please take the time to have a look at www.lebonvin.co.uk We have some excellent prices for branded champagne as always and a massive selection of wines that are top quality. As our main business is to the trade we pass on big saving to retail customers who want to buy the wines without the restaurant mark-up. We specialise in French wines but we also have decent offerings from around the world.

They have created a great little website. Fully search-able they have plenty of special offers, pre-mixed cases and a wine range that encompasses the world. Champagne is a big feature with 40 wines listed but Australia, France, Spain and Italy are all well covered.

There is a reliance on stocking the full range from a single estate (New Zealand for example) and a tendency to the lower end of the price scale but you are sure to find plenty of interest. A few spirits - around 110 different products - pop up in the search results to complete the offering.

Le Bon Vin
340 Brightside Lane
Sheffield
S9 2SB

Bordeaux Undiscovered offers French wine and champagne made by small Châteaux “that the UK has never seen before”.

Nick, the proprietor, writes a daily Blog on topics which are food and wine related from around the world, histories and backgrounds of all sorts of wines and spirits etc and the site has useful Recipes and Cocktails. There is also an online magazine, Ladies With Bottle - which is dedicated to ladies who are interested in wine but also includes such topics as fashion, food, health and general chit-chat.

Names such as Château Chadeuil, Graves de Barrau, Château Tooumalin and Domaine Ricaud appear on the list; as they say nothing I have come across before so worthy of exploration and experimentation. Prices seem good with each generally well under £10 a bottle.

In addition to wines of Bordeaux there is a selection of champagnes from Philippe Seconde, various pre-mixed cases and, a little oddly, two Spanish wines.

The wines we choose are low production wines made by producers using traditional methods handed down from father to son/daughter over many generations. Wines which were predominantly made for the French market and until recently undiscovered in the UK.

When you share good food with friends and the occasion is accompanied by good wine what better enjoyment can you have? So let Bordeaux Undiscovered expand your choice of wines and make a contribution to your enjoyment!”

Bordeaux Undiscovered
Hillfield House
Eldersfield
Gloucestershire
GL19 4NN

A member of the Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants Decanter Wines specialises in Spainish Wines.

The list is not huge but the quality of the wines, all hand picked and tasted by the husband and wife team, is excellent. About as much information as you could possibly require is available on the website - tasitng notes, food suggestions, producer background details, even tapas recipes.

“We have long had an avid interest in Spanish wine and love trying new, unheard of wines from small bodegas. This experimental approach has uncovered some exceptional wines - as well as some which should have been left in the cellar! Typically however, the excellent wines we enjoyed were not usually available commercially in the UK, so since the mid-1980’s, we have imported wine for our own private collection.

Our aim with this website is to introduce you to some great, but less well known Spanish wines. Over the years, our interest in and knowledge about Spanish wine - and food - has developed, but our goal remains what is has always been - to source good quality, value for money wine from small producers whose focus is on quality rather than quantity. It is therefore unlikely that you will find any of our wines in the larger UK supermarkets or warehouses, as the bodegas we deal with usually don’t produce enough wine to meet the needs of mass distribution channels.”

A decent Cava, a true Spanish Brandy and a range of wines you won’t find elsewhere that easily should entice you if you have even a passing interest in wines from Spain.

Decanter Wines Limited
Little Porch
Yarm Way
Leatherhead
Surrey KT22 8RQ

A post covering Alsace Pinot Gris (over on John’s French Duck) highlighted Blotto Wines; a wine company new to me, and John too me thinks.

Two hundred wines are listed by this Somerset company on its nicely designed website. Sadly no on-line ordering though. Although only a smattering of wines from around the world (so no specific country specialisations) what is listed is rather interesting. There is a Palomo Peak, Late Harvest Semillon -Riesling from Australia for example, Rock and Pillar Pinot Noir from New Zealand, Kempton Clark Petite Syrah from California and Calderrona Tempranillo from Cigales, Spain.

Each wine is listed with a short description such as this one for the Château Simian, Côtes Du Rhône 2002.

“Superb perfumed aroma from the touch of Cinsault added to the jammy and spicy Grenache and Syrah. Ageing in oak some three to six months and no longer allows the young Grenache fruit to show, to provide enough backbone and to maintain the potential too. A really enjoyable number.”

Various mixed cases are listed for those unable to make a decision (like me!) from the range.

Delivery is free within 15 miles of Somerton, Somerset. Otherwise it’s £7.50 for the first case and £4.50 per case thereafter. Now my only concern is whether the website is kept as up-to-date as it could be. The wine list is dated 2006 and some of the vintages seem a touch older than they could be.

Blotto Wines Limited
Maddison Farm,
Martock Rd,
Long Load, Nr.Langport,
Somerset. TA10 9LA
Telephone 01458 241792

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.

Since participating in the Zarcillo Awards in Spain at the beginning of the month I’ve been trying to track down UK stockists of the award winners. Simon Fance kindly left a comment on the Grand Golds from the Zarcillo Awards post mentioning that he imported several of the wines.

Although his company, Masterpiece Wines, only sells to wine merchants and restaurants he has established another ‘front’ for selling direct to the consumer. Sadly no website for Dulcinea Wines but I thought the range, in all its excellence, was worth highlighting here on UKWOL.

The small wine list Simon supplied as a PDF File. You can order by post in addition to emailing your order.

Simon mentions that stockists, if you would like to buy direct, include Vinoteca (although an excellent restaurant they also have a wine shop and stock the Rejadorada Roble), Le Pont de la Tour (have Rejadorada Sango, Rodero Crianza and Oro de Castilla Verdejo, again they have a wine merchants alongside the restaurant) and John Armit (Agnusdei). The Theatre of Wine who are specialists in fortified wines, amongst other things, stock the old Málagas.

One of the joys of the dynamic wine merchant scene in the UK is the band of plucky fellows who hunt out the unusual and the obscure. The internet of course gives access to these specialists to all.

One such is Novavino, a specialists utilising there indepth local knowledge, to bring to these shores wines from Slovenia.

“We specialise in importing only the finest wines from Slovenia, a country which is rapidly becoming recognised as a major supplier of top quality fine wines. Our Slovenian wines are of the highest standard and offer excellent value for money.”

Six white wines are listed, ranging in price from £5.99 to £7.99 a bottle and six reds in the £6.99 to £13.99 range. There is also one sparkling wine, Emeran Reya Brut 2001, at £10.99. A mixed six bottle case is listed (£47.99) which would be a good introduction to the obscure grape varieties and how the country handles more well known grapes such as Cabernet Franc. Many of the bottles - the website pictures them all - are very trendily packaged.

Postal charges are set at just £4.99 for any sized order.

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

While the Wine Cave does list a smattering of wines from around the world and most regions of France it is Burgundy were this merchants specialism lies.

Burgundy Wine - Once you’ve tried it you can’t go back!

Once you’ve got a taste for Burgundy wine you can’t really go back. Burgundy wines offer structure, complexity, charm and a smoothness, that no other red wine anywhere in the world can compete with.

The Burgundian wines are imported direct mostly from small concerns with several being exclusive to the Wine Cave. Plenty to explore in the red and white wine listings but there are various pre-mixed cases for those in a hurry or wishing for a sample mix. There is a Chablis tasting case for £68, a Nudent Burgundy case at £130 and a selection of wines from Domaine Leflaive for £79.50.

Each wine is listed with a brief tasting note and provided with a bottle picture (it is important to me to see exactly what I am buying!) while the background copy is punctuated with atmospheric vineyard images.

Minimum purchase is six bottles (a half case) unmixed. I couldn’t find details of delivery charges.

The Wine Cave
The Angel Inn
Hetton
Skipton
North Yorkshire
BD23 6LT

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

Easy Wine/Wine Of Course probably have the largest range of Bulgarian wine in the UK. A total of 18 different wines at the last count, ranging in price from £4.99 up to one at £14.99!

But there is a lot more available from the company than just Bulgarian wines. The nicely designed website holds vinous treasures from across the globe.

Strengths are in Australia (look out for Vasse Felix, Innocent Bystander and a Sangiovese from Uleybury), California (expensive but Ceago, Hirsch and Shafer are listed), Italy, New Zealand (Dog Point, Akarua and Isobel), The Rhone and Spain. Chile is a little light at just four and there are no listings for Austria or Germany.

We’re an independent wine specialists with shops in leafy north London and beautiful Ongar, Essex. Our goal is to source top quality wines from around the world from producers who are individualistic, small (but perfectly formed), and who represent the best that their respective regions have to offer. We deliver across the mainland UK at no additional delivery charge* and offer monthly wine courses and additional events to suit the casual enthusiast to the hardened connoisseur.

Free delivery across the UK.

Wine of Course (London)
216 Archway Rd
London N6 5AX
T: + 44 (0) 20 8347 9006

Wine of Course (Essex)
135 High Street
Ongar, Essex CM5 9JD
T: + 44 (0) 1277 365116