We have selected six wine merchants to work with, who we believe to offer a fantastic quality of wine and fantastic customer service. Every month, I choose six of my favourite bottles from one of our merchants, and will provide you with my tasting notes for each, so you can be assured of what you're buying. These wines are not readily available in the shops, and bring a little something extra to the table. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have.
Bruce Palling, Wine Editor - The Week Wines
£226.80 £270.00
This classification, originally part of Macon, is a mere 20 years old but the vines themselves are considerably older. These are bright, full-bodied white Burgundies that punch considerably above their weight with their heady honeyed flavour of pale stone fruits. Now under the control of Gautier Thénevet, his father Jean was perhaps the most famous producer of these compelling wines, which are ready for consumption now but would happily keep for five years or so.
£202.80 £239.40
This is not a wine I have come across before but I was seriously impressed with its purity and intensity. Winemaker Nick Mills spent some time working with leading Burgundy producers and has made his wine 100% biodynamic which also means no pesticides or herbicides. There is the distinctive grapefruit taste of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc but the extra balance and minerality makes this stand out from the crowd. It also received a very high score from www.JancisRobinson.com.
£123.00 £143.40
Blaye used to distil most of its white grapes into Cognac, but there are still a couple of hundred hectares that still make dry white wine, predominantly from Sauvignon Blanc with a splash of Semillon grapes. This deliciously fresh wine comes from a five-acre plot and is remarkably cheap because the vintner cleverly uses barrels destined for his red wine, which is bottled slightly later. A perfect introduction to the much-neglected dry white wine of Bordeaux.
£202.80 £239.40
I have always been a big fan of Fronsac, the relatively unknown neighbour of Right Bank classics such as Saint Emilion and Pomerol. I have fond memories of cases purchased for £50 in the Nineties, which still give pleasure two decades later. More robust than its neighbours, it is a 100% Merlot wine with broad shoulders, which is why it excels in this relatively light vintage elsewhere in Bordeaux. The perfect complement for any game birds or stews, it is a lively and great value addition to any cellar.
£180.00 £215.40
Located right at the northern tip of the Médoc, this Claret has all of the characteristics that you’d hope to find in straightforward well-made Bordeaux. This vineyard has been run by the same family since its creation in the Fifties and consists of 100 acres on the gravelly banks of the Gironde River. Predominantly Cabernet Sauvignon, with additional Merlot and Cabernet Franc, it’s well rounded and harmonious without needing further bottle age. If you have neglected Bordeaux in favour of more exotic destinations, this might be the wine to remind you of what you are missing.
£154.80 £179.40
Gone are the days when New Zealand Pinots tasted like computer copies of Burgundy. Located just outside Christchurch, the grapes for this wine come from Waipara and spend time in French barrels and are bottled without fining or filtration. This has remarkable depth with a pleasant mushroom undertow with elements of bacon and dark cherry – in other words, a classically earthy Pinot that is seriously savoury.
£181.70 £214.50
The 12 bottle mixed case includes 2 bottles of each of the following wines:
Château Beaumont Les Pierrières 2017 Blaye, Bordeaux,14%
Viré Clessé Quintaine Domaine Émilian Gillet, Burgundy 2015, 14%
Rippon Sauvignon Blanc Central Otago, New Zealand 2016, 14%
Pinot Noir The Crater Rim, Canterbury, New Zealand, 13.5%
Château Poitevin cru Bourgeois Médoc 2012, 13%
Château Carlmagnus, Fronsac 2011, 14%
£184.20 £217.60
The 12 bottle mixed case includes 4 bottles of each of the following wines:
Château Beaumont Les Pierrières 2017 Blaye, Bordeaux,14%
Viré Clessé Quintaine Domaine Émilian Gillet, Burgundy 2015, 14%
Rippon Sauvignon Blanc Central Otago, New Zealand 2016, 14%
£179.20 £211.40
The 12 bottle mixed case includes 2 bottles of each of the following wines:
Pinot Noir The Crater Rim, Canterbury, New Zealand, 13.5%
Château Poitevin cru Bourgeois Médoc 2012, 13%
Château Carlmagnus, Fronsac 2011, 14%
