This regional blend of Burgundian Pinot Noir is new in store and impressive with its clean, fresh, savoury flavours, which underpin its lively red fruit and juicy acidity. This is beautiful drinking right now with firm tannins and adding depth to the mid palate and length of flavour to the finish. 

Good drinking now or in the next two to three years.

Beautiful dark and juicy flavours in this lively Cotes du Rhone, which offers great value for money and also offers a complex look at the smooth, appealing structure and velvet mouthfeel of wines from the southern Rhone Valley. 

Even more appeal, the Chapoutier wine team now seals with lovely red with a screw cap to ensure it tastes just the way it did when it was made at the winery. 

This cheeky little French rose is a super fruity, medium dry pink wine made in Anjou in the Loire Valley in northern central France; one of that country's most diverse wine regions. 

It's made from two red grapes, Gamay and Grolleau; both well known for their soft, smooth and fruity style. 

This wine is super popular and has fruit sweetness and an off dry finish.

Although famed for its red wines, white wines have a long heritage in the southern Rhône valley, where the locals enjoy an occasional glass at the start of a warm evening. La Fleur Solitaire is a solitaire amongst the rubies of our Boutinot Rhône range; a white Côtes du Rhône made from traditional southern Rhône white grape varieties.

Production

Following an experiment with a micro cuvée crafted from seven barrels back in 2009, we now source grapes from selected vineyards in the southern Rhône. Each parcel is picked separately in the cooler early daylight hours for gentle pressing that same morning, and each is fermented at a low temperature. To a base of Grenache Blanc, we blend Viognier along with co-fermented pairs of Roussanne/Marsanne and Bourboulenc/Clairette. Over the years we have increased the proportion vinified in stainless steel, with just under a third of the wine now vinified and matured for 6 months French oak barrels (mostly 3rd fill but some new) to add complexity and creaminess.

Tasting notes

Proper white Côtes du Rhône; fresh, medium-bodied, vinous. The nose is pretty and delicate, with a waft of fennel tops and hints of hedgerow flowers. The flavours are nuanced and refined rather than overt. Careful use of oak adds texture and structure without masking the freshness of this very drinkable white.

Food match

A lovely apéritif, and delicious with lighter dishes such as grilled asparagus drizzled with olive oil and toasted almonds or a goats cheese salad. Fish and chicken are a perfect partner; especially grilled halibut or cod, or a creamy chicken dishes such as the French Poulet à l’Estragon (chicken in a tarragon sauce).

Intent on making the very best Côtes du Rhône Rosé we can, we search for varieties naturally suited to rosé; Grenache Noir for body, Cinsault for freshness and a touch of spice from a drop of Syrah. This wine is HVE3 sustainable certified.

Production

Our hunt for specific plots that would deliver the best grapes with the right balance and flavour profile led us to the south of the Côtes du Rhône where we found ripeness and aroma to balance the freshness found in plots from northern villages of the Southern Rhône valley. As with previous vintages, Les Cerisiers is again made in the same way as the best rosés of Provence, uses the ‘rosé de presse’ method as soon as the grapes are picked. This very gentle pressing extracts as much aroma and flavour as possible with the least amount of tannins. The wine is both pressed and vinified at cool temperatures (of no more than 16Intent ) in stainless steel vats to preserve these delicate aroma, flavours and colour. The wine is grown and vinified sustainably, achieving HVE3 certification

Tasting notes

An elegant, truly gastronomic rosé from our home in the Rhône. A classic salmon pink rosé with delicate perfumed aromas of rosehip syrup, wild berry blossoms and cherries on the nose. Full flavoured, ripe and beautifully balanced with acidity, there’s elegant, textured, berry fruit on the palate with a twist of raspberry freshness to lift the finish. Deliciously balanced and moreish.

Food match

As with rosé from neighbouring Provence, Les Cerisiers should not be seen only as a delicious apéritif but a match for light dishes - a simple charcuterie plate or grilled salmon and prawns. It also pairs well with more complex dishes; Bouillabaisse, the classic southern French fish stew, or even Red Thai Chicken Curry, a spicy bean tagine or a mushroom and aubergine lasagne.

Tasting Note: A special blend of Riesling, Muscat, and Pinot Blanc from gravel, clay, and limestone soils. Spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel tanks. The Riesling gives this wine a notable acidity, keeping it vibrant and fresh with the fruitiness from all three and the floral touch the Muscat brings. Dry (less than 2g/L residual sugar.)

Certification: Biodynamic

Alcohol: 13.0%

Variety: Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Muscat

Region: Alsace, France

Chateau du Trignon is located on the Trignon river which divides Sablet and Gigondas in the southern Rhone. This is 100% Marsanne offering subtles aromas of acacia, beeswax, quince, almonds, honey and white peach.

A great champagne made by father-son grower-winemaker team. The pair are based in Ay, also home to Champagne Bollinger, to which they sell approximately half of their grapes each year. The vineyards around Ay in the Champagne region are focussed strongly on Pinot Noir, which makes this wine taste toasty and rich. These alluring savoury qualities are softened, mellowed and added to in the autolytic process of ageing the bubbles in the bottle while the lees (decomposing yeast cells) break down, releasing deliciously rich flavours on the journey. 

A great champagne made in relatively small volumes, pushing boundaries of great flavour to new heights. 

Les Griottes is a perfect example of what makes good Beaujolais so popular. It's made from the youngest vines on the estate so it's all about fresh fruit flavours and juicy acidity. It is called Les Griottes because the bottom of the vineyard is lined with cherry, wild cherry and morello cherry (griotte) trees. 

It's a fruit driven Beaujolais with spicy intense cherry flavours, just like its name suggests.

This wine represents great value for money as it shows what good Beaujolais is about. 

Drink lightly chilled.

How is it possible to roll all these flavours into one affordable wine? Ask the Famille Perrin, one of the great winemaking families in southern France, who create this complex, fruity, earthy and fresh Cotes du Rhone from a blend of Grenache (mainly from their Prébois vineyard in Orange), Syrah from further north in Vinsobres and Mourvèdre. While many less interesting Cotes du Rhone are made from a straightforward blend of Grenache and Syrah, the addition of the dark, mocha-like flavours of Mourvèdre add depth, richness and smooth soft velvet mouthfeel. 

The grapes in this wine were destemmed and fermented in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks between 150hl and 190hl. Extraction is done by pumping over and the frequency is determined by tasting. The separate component wines are transferred partly to oak barrels and partly to stainless steel vats for a year's maturation, prior to blending. 

The result is outstanding dry red wine flavours with rich soft fruit appeal and a long finish; all to be hoped for from the family who own Chateau de Beaucastel.

This is a great young red with medium term ageing ability and especially fresh and consistent thanks to being sealed with a screw cap.

One of the great pink champagnes, combining toasted red fruit flavours and the freshness of a great, complex wine with long lees ageing. This outstanding rose champagne that is made intentionally as a pink hued wine that gains richness and flavour from being a 100% Pinot Noir sparkling wine made from 10 different crus located mainly in the South and North areas of the Montagne de Reims, which is home mostly to Pinot grapes.

The grapes from carefully selected plots are sorted and destemmed before vatting
and maceration lasts from 48 to 72 hours depending on the harvest, helping to reveal all the richness of Pinot Noir.

The result is an elegant salmon pink in the glass offering a precise nose of extraordinary freshness and a wide range of red fruits: raspberry, redcurrant, strawberry and black cherry. The palate is supple and rounded with flavours of freshly picked red berries.

Champagne Laurent-Perrier was founded in 1812 by Andre Michel Pierlot and took the name Vve Laurent-Perrier when Mathilde Emilie Perrier, the widow of Eugène Laurent, combined the two family names after she decided to expand the business.

Eugenie Hortense Laurent, her daughter, inherited the House in 1925 and sold it to Marie-Louise Lanson de Nonancourt in 1939.

Laurent-Perrier Brut NV is enjoyed for its creamy softness which comes from Chardonnay, the dominant grape in this elegant sparkling wine.

The Laurent-Perrier Champagne house was founded in 1812 and is the main company of the Laurent-Perrier Group, whose other flagship brands include the houses of Salon, De Castellane and Delamotte. Laurent-Perrier Group also acquired Chateau Malakoff in 2004.

Classic dry Alsace Riesling. Hand picked from Riquewihr vineyards. Matured on fine lees for 4 months, no oak.  cropped to Grand Cru levels bringing superb concentration. Green apple, lime, dried pineapple, waxed honey, generous length and pleasing minerality.

This powerful and warm wine comes from a selection of exceptional terroirs. The vineyards used in this Gigondas red are located on the arid hills of the Dentelles de Montmirail. The mistral blows regularly on these slopes, assisting even growth and excellent fruit quality. This terroir produces a wine capable of ageing for at least ten years.

The wine is an intense garnet colour. The nose offers notes of liquorice, red fruit with brandy, garrigue and pepper. The palate is rich and concentrated, with notes of red fruit and dried herbs.

Ambrosius by name and by nature, this beautiful expression of Saint Emilion Grand Cru is a dry, impressive blend of 75% Merlot and 25% Cabernet Franc. Grapes were grown on sandy soil and sandstone on one vineyard and this wine represents exceptional value for money, both for drinking now and for cellaring. Expect a commanding southern French red now; expect great complexity within four or five years of bottle age.