A Weekend of Antipodean Wines on Tasting

This weekend we're going to have quite the selection of wines on tasting from Australia and a great new Pinot Noir from New Zealand.

The Pinot Noir we're going to have on tasting is the 2014 Ward Valley Estate from Marlborough, this wine is produced by the same guys who produce the Snapper Rock wines that we stock, James Leary and winemaker David Coulston and is produced in tiny quantities, only 250 cases!

 I first came across this at last years London International Wine Fair, and I've managed to grab a couple of cases of this stunning vintage before they move on to the 2015.

This has that lovely pale bright cherry red colour to it, with amazing aromas of red berry and red currant fruit. On the palate these come through wonderfully with a real savoury character it that combine perfectly with a touch of acidity and very soft elegant tannin's, that just produce a stunning glass of wine and even more so when you find out how much it costs. For this weekend there will also be a special introductory offer, so don't miss out!

We'll also have a selection of Australian wines imported by the guys at Aussie Rules on tasting, with the Reverend V wines, Richard Hamilton, Riposte and the one I'm really excited about, the Mornington Peninsular Chardonnay from Dexter. These wines unfortunately won't be in stock for this weekend but we will be taking pre-orders and again there will be a special offer on them as well.

A Home To Call My Own - We Are OPEN!

So, as you can see from my last couple of posts, I've been a little busy over the last couple of weeks with the refurb, but we've finally made it and we're OPEN! There is no way, that I would have been able to get this project turned around so quickly if it wasn't for the huge amount of help and support I've had from family and friends over the last couple of weeks, so to them I say a massive thank you!

The wine, beer and spirits have steadily been arriving with more to come in over the next couple weeks, so keep popping in to see what we've got new in. I'm, also busy planning our opening weekend which is going to be pretty fun day, with plenty of interesting things on tasting

A Home To Call My Own Pt 2

So, we've been in the shop for nearly two weeks now, and we've been working round the clock to get us open as quickly as possible. The inside and outside of the shop has all been painted, the shelving has been built, although one of the units still needs to fixed into place. The Sofa and other furniture has been collected and is in the shop, The joys of painting our own sign has been done, it looks great but don't want to do that again, when it needs re-doing, I think I'll get a professional in to that one.

From This

To this

Speaking of stock, suppliers have been contacted and accounts setup, orders are being placed, with stock hopefully arriving this Friday, so I'm going to be having a busy weekend filling the shelves and labelling them all up, ready to open from next week!

Inside is nearly finished

We may have had a little too much fun ocasionally

Just wanted to say a massive thank you to everybody over the last two weeks days who helped me clean, sand, clean, paint, clean, build furniture and clean some more, without your help I would not be anywhere ready to open!

A Home To Call My Own!

After much procrastination I've finally done it, and by 'it', I mean open my own shop (well nearly) and finally put my money where my mouth is.

I've spent the last five years working for a great independent merchant based down Surrey, where I've learnt a huge amount and been introduced to so many great wines and now I'm hoping to bring to the residents of SW12.

At the moment in between decorating, contacting suppliers, choosing wines and hundreds of other jobs that will crop up over the coming weeks, I'll attempt to update the blog with my progress over the coming weeks.

Don't forget, if your passing 85 Nightingale Lane, stick your head in and say hello!

A Stunning Shiraz from South Australia

Having been a fan of new world wines for many years now, I had the pleasure of being introduced to those from Mitolo recently. The winery was founded in South Australia by Frank Mitolo in 1999, then in 2001 he was joined by the legendary winemaker Ben Glaetzer; who managed to scoop Young Wine Maker of the Year on more than one occasion (until he was too old) and numerous other awards along his way.

The fruit for this wine is grown in the Willunga district of the McLaren Vale in South Australia, which is one of their premium growing regions, especially for Shiraz, which accounts for around 50% of total vines planted. The soil structure is that of heavy grey loam over sandstone, which is excellent at retaining water, thus requiring minimal irrigation. The climate is slightly warmer than the average for the region, helping to give the grapes a greater intensity in flavour and juicy ripe tannins, the cool afternoon sea breezes and nights help to extend the ripening period and maintain the acidity levels.

In the glass, it had an opaque crimson/purple colour, with really pronounced aromas of dark fruits, cherries, plums and cassis, with a touch of sweet spice, liquorice, coming through from the background. On the palate you got these wonderfully intense jammy flavours of plums and dark cherries coming through, and then you got the sweet spice which just combined with the intense fruit flavours perfectly. Merge this with just enough acidity to make your mouth water and the juicy, ripe tannins and you got a stunning and well put together glass of wine.

This, I have to say, was not what I was expecting, I expected it to be far more spice than fruit, which is what you tend to expect from an Aussie Shiraz, but this was the exact opposite, and was just absolutely stunning. To go along with all the fruit, it had a great structure as well, making this such an enjoyable wine that I’d highly recommend, especially with the dark nights and colder weather setting in.

En Primeur Part Two: The Pro's

Arguably, the advantages of buying en primeur are few and far between for the consumer. However for those looking to make an investment; the practice arguably holds great sway. For them, the ability to buy high quality wine from the most sought after regions, for a heavily discounted price makes it a worthwhile process.

As consumers and investors pay before wine is even bottled another advantage is the ability to choose the sizing of the bottle you require. The producer will present the wine however you want it, from a half to a magnum. Whilst this might not be important to some, for some wine enthusiasts the opportunity to buy wine in a magnum, which is a rarity, adds to the draw.

From a producers point of view, the advantages are numerous. Firstly, and for many châteaux’s, most importantly, is the fact that they do not have to wait three years to cash in on that years harvest. This means the chateaux itself has to invest less capital to sustain its business.

Secondly, en primeur wine creates a huge demand within the industry, due to the publicity it receives. The economic laws of supply and demand mean that when there is high demand for a product in low supply, prices will naturally be high if there is a market for them. With en primeur pricing being guided by commentators such as Robert Parker, and regarded as some of the best in the world, it is unsurprising that many producers are able to charge large amounts for wine which isn’t even matured.

Finally, selling wine en primeur reduces the châteaux’s own risk. By selling it before it is matured, producers do not have to concern themselves with the possibility of unsold wine not to the complexity of the original tasting. Again taking away the risk and ensuring a profit!

Tomorrow – the con’s!

En Primeur – An Introduction

En primeur roughly translates from the French as “first refusal” or “in early produce.”
In its pure form the method originated two centuries ago, when merchants selected barrels of wine which they would then bottle themselves. Today the bottling process has been taken over by the châteaux. Despite the changes, the principle remains the same, allowing producers to benefit greatly from the advance payment for their wine.

In its simplest terms en primeur is the practice of selling wine before it is ready for release, before it has even been bottled. These are unfinished wines, which are only half way through the maturation process. It will be months, even years, before these wines are ready for the bottling process, after which they will still require further maturation before they become approachable.

The method is traditionally practiced by the wines of outstanding quality from Bordeaux, Burgundy and The Rhone valley. Other regions such as Italy, California and Australia have recently begun to partake in this practice on an extremely limited scale.

En primeur purchasers fall in to two distinct categories: Wine lovers, who are unfazed by the prospect of waiting years before they can taste the final product; or investors, whose aim is to make a financial profit from leaving the wine to mature. The latter are the most predominant buyers.

The en primeur process is a complicated one, in which people purchase wines on others recommendation. Often, they will not have even tasted the wine for themselves, and are led simply by the profile and recommendation of wine commentators within the industry, such as Robert Parker, Clive Coates and James Suckling.

Barrel tasting for Bordeaux en primeur wines occur the spring after the harvest, which equates to a maturation of around six to eight months, leaving the raw wine still highly tannic and undeveloped. Tasting for en primeur wines of Burgundy and The Rhone regions occur another six months after that, leaving them in a similar condition to that of Bordeaux. The tasting allows producers of the wine to understand how the market will react, by the feedback of the wine connoisseurs. It also gives the negociants a chance to see how the finished article will develop, giving them an idea of the quality of the wine. This in turn allows them to determine the eventual price.

En Primeur - Time for a change?

Having written an essay on En Primeur for my WSET Diploma last year, I though I’d share with you some parts of it.

So, from this evening, I’ll be posting one part a day (there are four parts). This will include an introduction to the process, followed by short articles on the pro’s and con’s of it usage, ending with my own conclusion on whether I believe it is time for a change in the industry.

As always, I welcome any comments, so if you agree, or disagree with my opinions please do say!

Wine for the Health Conscious

I read a very interesting article on the Guardian website today, http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/apr/30/alcohol-life-expectancy-live-longer, all about how wine can help men to live up to 5 years longer than a teetotaller, and have less chance of a heart attack as well! The research conducted by Dr Marinette Streppel at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands and went on to be published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

It found that men, who consumed less than 20 grams of alcohol daily over an extended period, could prolong their life by up to two years more than those who avoided any alcohol at all. It also discovered that men, who drink less than half a glass of wine specifically on a daily basis, can live two and a half years longer than those who drink beer and spirits. Not only that but they can also live an average five years longer than someone who is completely teetotal; of those five years, researchers attributed two years to the effect of alcohol intake and the other three years to the effects of wine consumption.

Interestingly, the survey showed that 70% of the wine consumed during it was red. Here in the UK, we might want to take note of that as last year we ‘only’ drank 720 million bottles of the red stuff, in comparison to 764 million bottles of white, but a mere 150 million bottles of rose (that’s over 1,634 million bottles of wine we drank as a nation last year…wow!)

Alcohol campaigners, unsurprisingly, see the idea of promoting drinking as a healthy option as dangerous, pointing out that there is a drop in life expectancy of men consuming more that half a glass of wine per day. They’re not alone, with other research this year already highlighting the dangers to women, with results showing that women who drank a small glass of wine per day had an increased chance of getting cancer.

Both of these research studies highlight just how far away we are on concluding whether or not wine is good for your health. In my opinion, we’ll probably never get there, but I think as long as people are sensible with their alcohol consumption and follow both guidelines on the topic, as well as leading a healthy lifestyle – que sera, sera!