Chateau Pegau's Maclura Côtes du Rhône is a new addition to our shelves in store at Regional Wines. It's a spicy, smooth blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 10% each of Cinsault and Mourvèdre. Its full bodied style rests on a soft tannic structure with lovely ripe flavours of dark and stewed fruit. It's a great red to drink now and over the next half decade. 

Domaine du Pegau is owned by the Feraud family, who have 21 hectares of top quality vineyards in the famous southern Rhone appellation of Chateauneuf-du-Pape as well as 25 hectares of Cote du Rhone Village vineyards, 5 hectares of Cote du RHone and 19 hectares of more humble vineyards that go into vin de table wines. The name Pegau was created in 1987 by Laurence Feraud

"Composed of 78% Merlot and 22% Cabernet Franc, the 2018 Chambrun is deep garnet-purple in color with warm blackberries, black cherry pie and blueberry compote with touches of fried herbs and cedar. The palate is medium to full-bodied with bags of vibrant fruit and a firm frame of rounded tannins, finishing long and refreshing."

Rating (90 - 92)+

Reviewed by Lisa Perrotti-Brown

Ripe quince, white pear and nectarine flavours combine in this totally dry, medium bodied Pinot Gris from Central Otago, which is beautifully well suited to producing tasty and dry Pinot Gris, as this newcomer shows. It tastes crisp, refreshing and lightly spicy with flavours of white pears and red apples. It is part of the new Dicey Wine brand is the brainchild of the well experienced Dicey brothers, Matt and James, whose parents were among the pioneers of viticulture and winemaking in Bannockburn, Central Otago, when they co-founded Mt Difficulty Wines.

Residual sugar is less than one gram per litre and alcohol is 14.5%.

Veuve Clicquot is one of the world's biggest selling champagnes and is produced by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey in a range of styles and packaging. 

Veuve is named after the late, great Widow Clicquot, who was left not only a widow aged 27 but also in charge of running a champagne house. Her legacy is to have left both the brand and the region in better condition than she found them, mostly famously by inventing riddling; the turning of the bottle to remove the yeast sediment into its neck, prior to disgorgement. This resulted in higher quality, cleaner, fresher bubbles in both look and taste. Her quest was quality and she is widely credited with having raised it significantly in the Champagne region and in the bottles it produces.

This magnum of yellow label non vintage (NV) champagne is typically made up of 55% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 15% Pinot Meunier.

Domaine des Pothiers makes wines from Gamay Noir, the Beaujolais grape, only this producer is in the Cote Roannaise, in the northern Loire Valley. Eclipse is a pale pink sparkling wine made solely with Gamay Noir, using the Methode Ancestral technique; the oldest winemaking method to create sparkling wines via a fermentation in the bottle. This style is now affectionately known in wine circles as Pet Nat; an abbreviation for petillant natural, due to being naturally sparkling following its second ferment in the bottle. Unlike champagne, which is made this way, pet nat is not disgorged, so this style retains lees and therefore a touch of cloudiness. 

This bubbly is medium dry with 9% ABV, and really well balanced by crisp zingy acidity and savoury flavours. A great aperitif style.

A cracking sparkler from Marlborough's Cloudy Bay. This has more weight and fruit sweetness than the standard Pelorus thanks to a higher percentage Pinot and offers strawberry and biscuit elements on the nose and palate. 

94/100 Bob Campbell
“Reasonably deep copper colour. Full-flavoured wine with hints of biscuit and strawberry. Dry, but not austere, with a rich texture and lengthy finish. Classy sparkler with character.”

The innovative style of this cuvée remains loyal to the discreet and balanced charm of the three Champenois grape varieties. No sugar has been added to the dosage.

This is a champagne with complex and seductive aromas of dried fruits and brioche combined with floral notes. These are further enhanced by the subtle charm of lemon verbena.

On the palate It exhibits a charming biscuity flavour with notes of white flesh fruits and a full and harmonious minerality which results in a sensational balanced finish.

Enjoy with gambas, grilled scallops and ceviche.

Louis Jadot owns one of the largest holdings of top level vineyards in Burgunday so has access to outstanding grapes in good volumes, so wines like this lively fresh young Chardonnay benefit hugely. This wine is a regional blend from Burgundy, made from grapes grown in both the Cotes d’Or and Macon, which combine to add flesh, weight and depth along with purity of acidity for freshness. 

This Pinot Gris is characterised by ripe stone fruit, particularly white peach and nectarine notes, with hints of floral and ginger spice characters. The mouth feel is very textural – dry and weighty with fleshy stone fruit and fine textured tannins that give a long balanced profile. A serious style of Pinot Gris to be enjoyed now or cellared for up to 5 years.

Tasting Note: Deep and complex bouquet of red cherry and sweet raspberry, pomegranate and hints of fresh zesty blood orange. Full-bodied yet extremely elegant, fine-grained but present tannins, minerally, youthful acidity and hints of Five Spice and a deep core of cool, vibrant fruit, lovely length, and persistence. Cellar 12 to 18 years.

Winemaking Notes: Harvested 9th April 2016, bottled 15th February 2018. Hand-picked and carefully selected 100% Abel Clone Pinot Noir grapes. All de-stemmed, cold-macerated and fermented in small batch stainless steel vats and left on grape skins for 4 weeks. Aged in 100% new French oak barriques of the Bourgogne Tonnelleries Rousseau, Remond and Meyrieux for 20 months. No fining and only light filtration before bottling.

“With a slew of red-berry and spicy nuances, this is a super-elegant pinot noir with very fine tannins that are now almost perfectly resolved. Extremely long, polished and mineral finish of the kind you expect from Grand Cru red Burgundy with some age. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold.” – James Suckling, January 2022

“Plenty of spiciness to the hibiscus, ripe-cherry, strawberry, oyster, mushroom and earth aromas. Smoky, too. Full and dense. Then it changes to dried cherries with some citrus, closing up nicely with freshness and intensity. Needs time to open. First bottling of this. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold. Better after 2024.” – James Suckling, October 2022

Certification: Organic

Alcohol: 14.0%

Variety: Pinot Noir

Region: Wairarapa, New Zealand

Accolades:
90/100 - James Suckling
91/100 - Bob Campbell MW

"The nose here has attractive, deep-set blackberries and plums that follow on the palate with assertive, mocha-flavored oak that builds on the finish. Drink or hold." James Suckling

"From the Jumilla region in central Spain from grapes grown in certified organic vineyards. Rich, flavoursome red with dark berry, savoury/new leather, spice, baked earth and vanilla flavours. Gutsy red with a pleasingly rustic edge. Best with food." Bob Campbell MW

Tasting Note: Deep-red coloured wine with purple edges, with an extremely intense aroma of red and ripe fruit, pleasantly creamy, accompanied by touches of toasty oak. It is fruity and flavourful in the mouth, meaty and gamey with smoked charcuterie notes and soft, ripe tannins. Vanilla and cinnamon accent the finish.

Winemaking Notes: The harvest is done by hand at the optimum ripening time. Each grape variety was separately fermented and macerated with their own peels during 15/20 days at a controlled temperature no higher than 28ºC. Ageing: 4 months in American oak barrels.

Certification: Organic

Alcohol: 14.5%

Varietal: Monastrell, Syrah and Petit Verdot

Region: Jumilla, Spain

Tasting Note: This is a high-altitude wine (450m), with warm, sunny days and cool nights. The result is a fine, elegant, fresh wine with a fine tannic structure. A fine finish of tension and freshness.

Winemaking Notes: Density: 10,000 vines / ha Growing region: Beaujolais – Lancié Average age of vines: 40 years Yield: 45 hl / ha Soil type: Weakly decomposed granite, mid-slope. Alcoholic fermentation: In cement vats and whole bunches. Maturing: 50% in vats and 50% in 228-liter barrels. Bottling: At the Domaine in Lancié, Beaujolais

Certification: Organic

Alcohol: 13.5%

Variety: Gamay

Region: Beaujolais, France