Barbadillo Relic Sherry

Antonio Barbadillo SA, the famous Manzanilla house, has recently released a small amount of very old and rare sherry. These wines are known in the Barbadillo bodegas as the “Reliquias”, or relics, due to their great age and extreme scarcity. Traditionally they were wines that were offered on special occasions to honoured guests of the Barbadillo family and have been lying in the bodegas for several decades. At Christies on Thursday 20th May 1999, 12 bottles of the Relics (3 of each style) were sold from between £360 and £420 per bottle, and according to Christies, achieved record prices for any Sherry sold at Auction. The buyers are known to be private collectors from the UK, continental Europe and the United States. It is difficult to say precisely how old these wines actually are, but Barbadillo‟s records report that they are in...

Bollinger RD 1997 Offer

On certain selected vintages, Bollinger’s prestige cuvee ‘La Grande Année’ gives birth to something greater still: Bollinger RD. Since 1952, small parcels of certain vintages of La Grande Année have been kept on the lees for extended ageing, and then released years later as this unique wine. The grapes (one third Chardonnay, two thirds Pinot Noir as a rule) are harvested exclusively from Grand and Premier Cru vineyards, most of which are owned by the House itself, ensuring optimum quality from the vineyard to the bottle. Only the ‘cuvee’ juice is used, and this is fermented cru by cru in old oak barrels of at least 5 years of age. This increases the complexity and ageing potential without imparting any tannin or oak flavour. Once the wine is bottled, the carbonic fermentation and ageing take place under natural cork, a better seal...

Christian Moreau Chablis 2007

We are delighted to be doing a pre arrival offering on the stunning Christian Moreau Chablis 2007's. A real favourite since we started working with them mainly from the 2004 vintage. It's a very impressive set up. They have got a large holding of Grand Cru vineyards, some of them the very best. Fabien Moreau is an intelligent and thoughtful winemaker and with his fathers long experience they are crafting some top Chablis. These will all drink well on release especially the Vaillons. I do not think personally these are for long term aging, at there best over the next 5-7 years. "This 12.5 ha domaine is directed by Christian Moreau and his son Fabien describe the 2007 vintage as one where the growing season was “jump started by a very not April that ultimately caused the vines to be almost one month in advance of their normal development....

Clonakilla Australia

We are delighted to have obtained another small tranch of this stunning wine. The note below is from James Halliday in his 2009 Australian Wine Companion. Please note 2007 was hit by inclement weather and none will be exported.

Decanter World Wine Awards

Domaine William Fevre 2007 Chablis

We are delighted to be doing an offer on the stunning 2007 wines from William Fevre. I was reintroduced to these wines by Tim Atkin who I met at a tasting of wines from Crete !! in 2006. He had just tasted the 2005 Fevre wines and was raving about them. I duly sought samples and wholeheartedly agreed. These are fabulous wines of great concentration, but most importantly elegance, freshness and minerality, beautifully complex. I have not tasted the 2007's but include reviews from two of my most reliable sources on Burgundy. Allen Meadows who writes Burghound, an online Burgundy specialist and if you have not been to his site, do so and subscribe. lt's so refreshing to read from a passionate lover of a region, and someone who when he scores a wine 89, he really likes it!! So to get the scores Fevre gets, you know how impressed he has been....

Felton Road 2007

The new 2007's from the much lauded Felton Road winery have just arrived. 2007 has turned out to be a bit of a landmark vintage for Felton Road. Well on their way to be certified Biodynamic, they have possibly made their best wines yet, in what most of the region has described as a difficult vintage. 2007 was very warm and many vineyards struggled, however Felton Road's biodynamic approach is paying big dividends, in the health of the vines and the quality of the fruit. I have only tasted the regular 2007 Pinot and it's absolutely delicious. Sadly quantities are down, prices have gone up at source and the £1 is 20% + worse off against New Zealand Dollar. Please do download the trade newsletter pdf which is very detailed and really interesting. Where possible the wines are available to buy by the case. We also have the Felton Road...

GAJA PIEDMONT 2005 NEW RELEASE

Comments on the 2005 grape harvest in Italy From a climatic point of view the Italian peninsula is split in two: The Adriatic side up as far as Veneto- Friuli; The Tirrenic side up as far as Piemonte. On the Adriatic side the climate has created quite a few problems: - luminosity (amount of hours sunlight) reduced - often there were alternating low temperatures compared to the yearly average seasonal temperatures - unfavourable atmospheric events (too much rain, hail) The consequence in several areas has been a more or less accentuated delay in the ripening; a state of health of the grapes not always perfect; and in some defined areas, the partial or total loss of the crop due to hail. The result of all this has been a considerable reduction of the production. The quality of the grapes: rarely excellent, for the most...

Giaconda

We are delighted to offer these stunning limited production wines from Giaconda in Beechworth Victoria. Rick Kinzbrunner is widely regarded as one of Australia's foremost and best cool climate producers. He spotted the fabulous terroir and climate of Beechworth very early on. These wines have a great track record for aging. A 1996 Chardonnay tasted earlier this year was stunning and a worthy rival to mature top class Burgundy. We are offering the wines by the bottle. 10% discount for purchases of 6 bottles or more. It is worth noting that 2007 was a miniscule vintage and none will be exported.

Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis Cote-Rotie 2004

Guigal’s Château d’Ampuis Côte Rôtie 2004 has won Australian magazine Winestate’s third ‘World’s Greatest Shiraz’ challenge in a line up of nearly 800 wines from all over the world. Guigal’s ‘Brune et Blonde Côte Rôtie 2003 snapped up third place, sandwiching Australian icon Henschke’s Hill of Grace 2004 in second place. France beats Australia at its own game by Sally Easton MW Guigal’s Château d’Ampuis Côte Rôtie 2004 has won Australian magazine Winestate’s third ‘World’s Greatest Shiraz’ challenge in a line up of nearly 800 wines from all over the world. Guigal’s ‘Brune et Blonde Côte Rôtie 2003 snapped up third place, sandwiching Australian icon Henschke’s Hill of Grace 2004 in second place. Calling the result the ‘Judgement of Adelaide’, Winestate’s editor, Peter Simic said: “This is the first time that the French have won...

Hewitson Barossa Valley, South Australia Exclusive Offer

We are delighted to have shipped an exclusive parcel of Dean Hewitson's most special release. In the best vintages a small parcel is awarded Private Cellar status. Quantities are tiny. In 2006 it was a fabulous parcel of Tempranillo from Bashams Beach 30 kms south of the McLaren Vale.

International Wine Challenge 2008

Another massive competition, and the most professionally run yet in my opinion. The results have been announced, and of most interest the Trophy winners. Of over 9000 wines entered, just 267 received a gold medal, and of those only 90 went on to be awarded one or more of the 116 Trophies awarded. The following wines are all Trophy winners that we currently stock or are about to stock - they are very fine wines and well worth a go - we think the International Wine Challenge throws up some great wines, and this is an excellent way to choose some new wines. All the wines are offered at a 10% discounted case price, and by the bottle - alternatively, select a mixed 12 bottles (or more) yoirself and we'll apply a 10% discount. Keep checking the website as more wines will be added as they are tasted and become available. To order the...

James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2009 Top Scoring Wines Offer

This is Australia’s most eagerly anticipated Wine Guide, coming from by far Australia’s most prestigious and respected wine writer. Over 9,000 wines are tasted from an enormous number of wineries. Recently he has started compiling a list of the highest scoring wines by variety. Below is an offer containing many of these. These are nearly all wines that we were stocking already and therefore totally agree with James...

Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese Collection 2006 Pre Release Offer

We are delighted to offer, as we do every year around this time the brand new releases from the extraordinary Kracher winery in Illmitz, Burgenland, Austria. This year's collection is especially poignant as it is the first year with Gerhard Kracher at the helm. His father Alois 'Luis' died tragically in December 2007. Well Gerhard, those of us from around the world who went to the collection launch last month can say unanimously well done. This is a great collection, better than 2005 in my opinion. Of course Gerhard has been full time with the winery for several years and has taken part in blending for many years. Along with Alois Senior and Hans the assistant winemaker continuity is pretty much assured. Obviously the spotlight is on Gerhard, such was the reputation worldwide these wines have. However they have the best vineyards and...

ORNELLAIA - LE SERRE NUOVE 2006 OFFER

I have pleasure in offering the release of the new 2006 vintage of Le Serre Nuove from Tenuta dell’Ornellaia. Please find detail below and information on the vintage above. This is the true second wine of Ornellaia and genuinely drinks as the baby brother. This wine also ages very well, the 1997 showing very well indeed recently. I have followed this wine from its inception with winemaker Axel Heinz and in my humble opinion is the best Serre Nuove yet. As you well know the 2006 vintage in Bolgheri (and many other parts of Italy) is truly special and this wine is not only very fine in its own right, but a portend of things to come next year when the “big guns” are released. The wine is offered IB in cases of 6 x 75cl, on a first come first served basis

Rhone 2007 En Primeur

Chateauneuf du Pape "Vintage of a lifetime" Robert Parker The Wine Advocate 10/08 He also had the following to say. " 2007: Throughout the southern Rhône, 2007 is the greatest vintage I have tasted in my thirty years working in that region. In a future issue, my enthusiastic notes about Gigondas, Vacqueyras, and the other Côtes du Rhônes will be published. Nearly every producer has attained largely unprecedented levels of quality. Moreover, the vintage is remarkably consistent from top to bottom. As for Châteauneuf du Pape, that appellation has had an unprecedented succession of superlative vintages. Forgetting the huge washout in 2002, every vintage between 1998 and 2007 has had both high quality and something different to offer stylistically. Where does 2007 fit. Think of 2007 as a hypothetical blend of an opulent, powerful,...

Shafer Pre-Arrival Offer

We are delighted to a pre arrival offer on the fabulous Shafer wines, long a favourite with our customers. Doug Shafer is making some excellent, opulent yet structured wines, from some of the best vineyard sites in the Napa Valley. Wines are due end November and are offered under bond excluding duty, vat and carriage.

Yalumba Single Sites Barossa Valley Australia Offer

We are delighted to be doing pretty much an exclusive offer on these new single site wines. Yalumba have long been believers in the different terroirs of the Barossa, and obviously making wine in the Barossa myself i see this all the time. These 5 of the top vineyards that Yalumba buy fruit from. In the fabulous 2005 vintage they chose to vinify small parcels seperately to highlight the different terroirs and sheer quality. Vinification was pretty much the same. These are 5 excellent wines in there own right, and do make a really interesting tasting. Only 250-300 cases was made of each of the wines, so it is genuinely limited. We are offering the wines to buy by the individual case but also as a special 5 bottle mixed case. We will include a brochure with each of these cases that details the vineyard, and methods of production in a very...