Category — Shop

The wine trade is reporting a big increase in the demand for rose (pink) wines.And this is not just for light summery wines or in response to a few good weeks of weather and a peak in picnics.
Rose wines have generally been misunderstood - they are not “compromise” wines for those undecided between red and white; neither are they blends of red and white wines!
Rose wines are generally wines made from red wine grapes which are either pressed only lightly or left in contact with the skins for only a brief period, The skins and pips etc are the source of colour and tannins, and hence rose wines are lighter in colour and tannin.
So, grapes as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Pinot Noir can make excellent rose wines, full of character, flavour and structure. For example a good rose can be a great match for lamb - not reserved for fish or poultry.

Majestic Wine is running a summer promotion on rose wines from as lttle as £3.79 a bottle for the Argentinian Terra Brisa, a blend of Syrah and Malbec - “A deep pink, fruit driven rosé with aromas of fresh strawberries and cherries. The palate reveals plenty of juicy summer berry fruits with a crisp and elegant finish. This is an ideal summer apéritif. “

Just right for stocking up in the run-up to Christmas, the Wokingham Wine Fair takes place on 6-7 December 2008 - a few miles east of Reading and the M4 in Berkshire.:

The Wokingham Wine Fair brings together members of the ASDW, the Association of Small Direct Wine-Merchants which was formed by a group of British independent small wine merchants directly selling to the general public via mail order and the internet. There are currently around 20 members each of whom is passionate and knowledgeable about wine. We offer customers a specifically selected, interesting and often exclusive range of wines at very reasonable prices. The British public are well served by supermarkets at the lower end (sub £5) of the price range but it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find quality wines as big brand names dominate high street shops and supermarkets.

For more info see www.nickdobsonwines.co.uk

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

Another event to celebrate English Wine Week takes place on Saturday 31 May 2008 at Duncan Murray Wines in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, with free in-store tasting of English wines (noon-2pm) - from Three Choirs (Gloucestershire)and local vineyard Welland Valley, with proprietor David Bates.

We’re a rapidly expanding independent wine merchants in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Our mission? Well, we want to offer our customers a superb range of wines, beers and spirits that they’ll be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

We’re especially enthusiastic about Southern French wines: Duncan Murray dedicated (?!) 2 years to tasting the best this region has to offer and getting to know the winemakers. The result is an extensive (often exclusive) selection of fantastically-flavoursome yet affordable wines from an area that still has oodles of potential.

The selection of wines looks very interesting with a number of little-known wines, but all with good information and tasting notes.

Duncan Murray Wines
10 Adam & Eve Street, Market Harborough, Leicestershire LE16 7LT - Tel: 01858 464935

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 Flying Corkscrew is holding two rather special tastings in June:-

Friday June 13th - Tindall Estate, Marlborough, New Zealand and Stanton & Killeen Rutherglen Muscats

The Sowmans, owners of Tindall Vineyards, will be showing the latest vintages of their Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and Peter Mulford will be taking us through the classic Muscats of Rutherglen, which are sublime on the rocks or over ice-cream, so not just for your Christmas pudding!

Friday June 27th - DEREK SMEDLEY MW - A Vertical Tasting of the Wines of Warden Abbey Vineyard, Bedfordshire.

Derek has been consultant to Warden Abbey for some years now and their wines have become amongst the best in England. He will be raiding their cellar for some older vintages as well as showing the latest vintage. Be prepared to have your view of English wine changed for ever!

For more info see

To book either reply to this e-mail with a contact number or call 01442 412311.

English Wine Week is celebrated 24 May - 1 June 2008, when vineyards around the country will be hosting special events and tastings to promote the improving quality of English Wines.

One of the participating vineyards is Sharpham Vineyard just south of Totnes in Devon. Bordering the River Dart makes it possible to reach the vineyards by ferry from Greenway between Sharpham and Dartmouth.
To coincide with English Wine Week Sharpham is open everyday for vineyard tours and tastings. Wines Cheeses and Devon Strawberries!
Sunday 25th May - Concert at Sharpham Vineyard. Exeter Chamber Choir, Summer songs in the winery
Wednesday 28th May - Belly Dancing at Sharpham Vineyard!

Sunday 1st June - Slow Food Tasting and Lunch at Sharpham Vineyard, to include Blue Grass Music

Classic English wines are produced at Sharpham vineyard as a result of a happy marriage of soil, climate and grape variety known as terroir, and nature has bestowed her gifts freely upon us here at Sharpham. In the winery, we employ both New World and traditional techniques to best develop our unique regional characteristics. Our tally of International Awards confirms our position as one of England’s foremost quality wine producers. We invite you to visit, sample, and make up your own minds about our fine English wine.

For more info see www.sharpham.com

The Bristol Wine Company is offering a series of “mini-tastings” on Saturdays 1.00pm - 5.00pm from 26 April, culminating in the Summer Tasting on 14th June.

The company’s website is evidently quite new and will hopefully be refined over the coming months.
We were somewhat bemused that the online store goes under the name of www.nationalwine.co.uk and it is not clear what the connection between them is? I think the website needs a bit of refinement to make it more legible, user-friendly and informative. It’s all a bit impersonal.

They set themselves a high benchmark- “With a wealth of wine industry knowledge and experience, matched only by our outstanding range, we’re the nation’s sharpest online wine merchant featuring a profusion of outstanding wines, whisky, spirits and Champagne.”  The list is quite impressive with a wide range of products.
The Bristol Wine Company, Transom House, Victoria Street, Bristol BS1 6AH
Tel: 0117 373 0288 Fax: 0117 373 0287 Email: info@thebristolwinecompany.co.uk
 

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

For something a little different, Constantine Stores is holding a number of tastings in the coming months in Cornwall:-

Malt Whisky Tastingwith Andrew Torrance of Morrison Bowmore on April 24th at the Maritime Museum, Falmouth - Tasting the whiskies of Auchentoshan (lowlands), Bowmore (Islay) and Suntory (Japan) - seven whiskies in total!

SPANISH WINE & FOOD EVENING on 22nd May 2008
at Aguaviva Restaurant, Islington Wharf, Penryn TR10 8AT

Tutored Tasting with Helena Grant - Tasting wines from the regions of Campo de Borja, Jerez, Jumilla, Majorca, Navarra, Rioja, and Toro. 10 wines in total accomanied by a selection of Tapas from Agauviva - Latino Restaurant.

Constantine Stores Ltd, 30 Fore Street, Constantine, Falmouth, Cornwall TR11 5AB Tel: Andrew Rowe on 01326 340226

Majestic Wine is offering 25% off all its Spanish Wine between £3 and £20 per bottle) when you buy any 2 bottles from any of its 48 offerings. This includes some good Rioja (Riscal, CVNE,Caceres), Cava, Ribera del Duero, Galicia etc.

However, do beware that Majestic does impose a 12-bottle minimum order on all purchases, a self-imposed restriction these days - and a hangover from a time when sales of 12- or more bottles was classed as “wholesale” rather than “retail”.

However, they tend to have knowledgeable and helpful staff and a good range of wines with some good bargains. They will also deliver from their store for free!

Majestic Wine - branches nationwide and online!

The Wine Cave, part of the Angel Inn at Hetton, North Yorkshire celebrates 25 years this year, and is featuring wines from 1983 for a tasting. Although probably better known for their selection of fine Burgundies, this special offering features some fine Bordeaux and one northern Rhone!

It is our 25 year anniversary of owning the Angel Inn this year and to celebrate we are holding a number of exciting events, the first of which is a 25 year old wine tasting lunch.

I have spent the last 12 months sourcing a number of 1983 wines and on Saturday 12th April we will be tasting 5 of them with lunch. Two wines with the starter course and two wines with the main course followed by a 1983 Sauternes with pudding!

The wines will be:
1983 Lafleur St Emillon Grand Cru
1983 Chateau Rouget Pomerol
1983 Clos Du Marquis St Julien
1983 Cote Rotie Jaboulet Aine
1983 Bastor Lamontagne Sauternes

The cost of the event is £45 per person and starts at noon on Saturday 12 April 2008.
Call 01756 730263 NOW to reserve your place.

The Wine Cave at the Angel Inn, Hetton, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 6LT
Tel: 01756 730415 | Fax: 01756 730363 | email: info@winecave.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.