2010 Top 100 Vin de Pays (PGI) Winners

I really like this competition as a way to find some interesting sub £10 wines. The Top 100 may have altered its name this year, switching from Vins de Pays to Indication Géographique Protégée (IGP)* to reflect the new European wine regulations, but down on the tasting floor the quality of the winning wines was as good as ever. The panel this year was made up of the usual cuvée of journalists, writers, consultants, sommeliers and wine buyers. The fabulous Paul Mas winery had 10 wines in the top 100 and won three trophies. In September we will have 8 or 9 of these and will do a specific Paul Mas offer, the wines are really fabulous, and great value as I have now tasted them all. So watch this space we will add wines as more become available. Those that are available are also offered by the case at a special price.

Angelo Gaja Brunello di Montalcino 'Pieve di Santa Restituta' 2005

In 1994, Angelo Gaja made his first move outside of his Piedmont homeland, purchasing the Pieve Santa Restituta estate in Montalcino. Over the last 16 years, the wines have become established amongst the élite of the region, which has come as little surprise to those of us who have witnessed Angelo’s extraordinary commitment to quality over his long, distinguished career.

Beaujolais 2009 Offer

Our first ever Beaujolais offer, and I am moved to do so by tasting so many thrilling 2009's. It really is the best vintage I have seen and the wines have real ripeness and purity, they drink well young, serve with a light chill now, but the most serious will age. Burgundy guru Jasper Morris MW says in his blog "The real revelation this year, though, is Beaujolais. It comes at a moment when the world seems keen to see a revival of this once iconic region. There is a renaissance in particular among the ‘Crus’, with single vineyard sites coming to the fore. In 2009 almost all the wines seem absolutely lovely, from straight Beaujolais upwards." Victoria Moore in the Guardian writes, "this is Beaujolais's hour. The 2009 vintage – no, it's not just Bordeaux that gets to make a fuss about this one – is glorious. "They spoke about 1947 and...

Cien y Pico, Manchuela Spain New Release

These are two absolutely fabulous new releases, amongst the best and most exciting I have tried this year. Four aspiring wine Knights and some bloody old vineyards,” is how Zar Brooks describes Cien y Pico. This exciting new producer is based in Manchuela, a small region in south-eastern Spain. The name means ‘Hundred and something’, and refers to the age of the ancient Garnacha Tintorera vines from which the wines are made. The project is the result of many years of experience in the region, and the personal quest of four winemakers (Australian Zar Brooks, his Bulgarian wife Elena Golakova Brooks, Spaniard Luis Juminez Garcia and Italian Nicola Tucci) to protect and preserve the 19th century vineyards they found in Manchuela. The old bush trained vines give excellent colour, fruit concentration and flavour to the wines, but yields...

Domaine Grand Cros, Cotes de Provence France New Release

We are delighted to have brought in a parcel of these stunning wines from Provence. Back and better than ever, they really are good. Julian Faulkner has been getting some really good press recently, and tasting these releases it's easy to see why. Julian decided to adhere in 2001 to Terra Vitis, a charter that guarantees environmentally sustainable practices. These wines are absolutely ideal for summer, assuming we get some summer weather...

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht 2008 Pre-Release Offer

We are delighted to once again offer the tremendous wines from Olivier Humbrecht; these wines are all produced from bio-dynamically farmed vineyards, a method of vinification that Olivier is totally committed too. He says of the vintage "Last year, it was difficult for me to compare 2007 with any previous vintage. This year, it is very easy! The 2008 year was in fact very similar to 2007, and the only little difference is that the flowering and therefore harvest were 2 weeks later than in 2007." He also comments that 2008 wines will be very long-lived. On another plus side, a number of the wines are actually down in price compared to 2007's - and that's a rare comment. Olivier's detailed vintage report is here:

July 2010 Bin End Offer

A look at our warehouse stock sheets and a general stock assessment has shown we are accumulating a lot of wine! With lots of new wines on the way it's time to do some trimming, so here is a selection of wines that have been with us for a while or where we are simply overstocked. There are some genuine bargains to be had here, and all the wines have been professionally stored so should be in top condition.Please note if stocks allow there is a case price as well as a bottle price, buying by the case will always have a significant further discount. We will aim to update this document regularly and add wines as we find them, this will be posted as a download on the website so do check back. Please note that we have NOT set these prices up on the website, but feel free to order via the website, adding SALE to the comments box (during the...

Magpie Estate Barossa Valley, Australia New Arrival Offer

Bit quiet on the Magpie front, although by the time you read this I will be in Australia on my annual Magpie Estate sales tour, with just a few days at the winery. 2007 was a small vintage with no super premiums made, in fact will have to wait for the 2009's for a full compliment of wines. So here are a few new releases, the brand new Petite Sirah supercharged Thief Rosé 2009! and the long awaited Beak Semillon-Sauvignon 2009, alongside the last few cases we had in the winery of the delicious Call Bag Mourvedre-Grenache 2006, one of our best, and the lovely supple, spicy Black Sock Mourvedre 2006. Also a chance to buy some of the fabulous limited production Election Shiraz 2006 at a very special price. Barossa Shiraz does not get much better than this!!

New Wave Spanish Wine Awards 2010

Spain continues to excite with the quality, diversity, flavour and extraordinary value of its wines. This coupled with the gastronomic buzz created by Spain's chefs (Spain took 4 out of the top 10 places at the 2010 World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards) makes Spain a country to watch. I really like this competition. 1000 wines are entered, tasted blind by a panel headed by Tim Atkin MW and containing many other notable, journalists, MW's and merchants. The results of the top 100 wines (well actually 119 including dessert wines and sherries) were announced on Friday 9th July. I tasted all the wines despite it being a very warm day, and what an advert for the quality and diversity of wine Spain is producing, I was very impressed. As in the last couple of years we are offering mixed...

Peter Lehmann Wines Stonewell and Mentor 2005 New Releases. Barossa Valley, Australia

2005 was a great vintage in the Barossa, with a long cool Summer meaning wines could be picked fully ripe and with good natural acidity. Peter Lehmann are making some outstanding wines at present and these two new releases typify this. Last year I was lucky to go to a Stonewell 20th anniversary tasting, the 2005 was the wine of the tasting in my opinion, even edging the fabulous 2004. Do download the tasting note pdf's fro the website which are hugely informative. All wines available by the bottle or at a specially discounted price by the case of 6.

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