Move aside, cheeky little anything red  fora bottle of this gorgeous French rouge from the Southern Rhone Valley. Its pretty purple colour gives way to a red fruited, lightly spicy tasting wine with smooth tannins, a medium body and a fresh finish. This wine is made by the Perrin Family, owners of Château de Beaucastel, which makes some of the greatest reds in the Rhone Valley. 

* This wine is made from a blend of grapes grown in the Southern Rhone Valley and it was formerly a Cotes du Ventoux but is now a blended rouge from a wider area. 

Killerman’s Run Shiraz is comprised of selected parcels of fruit from the Clare Valley. The result is a layered, concentrated red with great depth, spice and red fruit flavours. Subtle smoky and liquorice notes add complexity to the long finish.

Pieropan Soave is a blend of 85% Garganega and 15% Trebbiano di Soave. This fresh, bright, white wine comes from Pieropan’s hillside vineyard in the Soave classico zone. On the nose, delicate notes of almond are complemented by flinty mineral notes. The palate is crisp and fruity, with notes of lemon and fresh stone fruit.

2019 Vintage:

2019 started slowly due to a long-lasting winter season. A rainy April and a fresh May produced a season in line with more traditional development. The high temperatures during June and July combined with the availability of water in the soil to create the conditions for rapid plant growth. August was mild with good rainfall. The harvest started regularly. The grapes were healthy with slightly higher acidity than the average and, for the red ones, a high accumulation of anthocyanins and an excellent polyphenol profile.

Harvest & Winemaking:

Grape bunches are hand-sorted on a vibrating table and chilled with carbonic snow to avoid oxidation and reduce considerably the use of sulphur. After destemming, berries are hand-sorted on a second vibrating table and finally softly crushed. 

The must is cold soak to preserve its best characters before fermentation in stainless steel vats at controlled temperature. The maceration is long acting using délestage and, partially, submerged cap technique for over 20 days.

Colour: deep ruby red with garnet hues.

Nose: wide, intense and pleasant bouquet with scent of liquorice and tobacco, spices, leather and faded roses. 

Palate: fine, velvety, medium to full bodied and very well balanced with silky tannins and elegant finish

It pairs with hunting game, roasts, mature cheeses and truffle dishes.

Country / Région:
France.

Color:
Light gold with silver & lasting fine bubbles.

Nose:
Pleasant fresh white Flower notes, typical of Chardonnay with seductive notes of fruit aromas.

Palate:
Dancing freshness with lots of vitality. The wine greets your palate with grapefruit zest with a touch of minerality.

Soil type:
Clay and limestone.

Grape varieties:
Chardonnay.

Vinification:
First fermentation in stainless steel tanks with temperature control to protect the delicate primary aromas of the Chardonnay. Light ageing on fine lees to perfect the structure of the wine and the base bubble. Then the “prise de mousse” is done in sparkling tanks with temperature control of 18-20° to create a fine texture, to reach a depth with a lot of aromatic sparkle at a pressure of 2.5 bars.

Alcohol:
12% Vol.

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.

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

About the producer:

"Established in 1823, our sixth-generation family-operated winery is located in Magrè, Alto Adige. We embrace biodynamic farming and offer three product lines. Our winery works with 30 grape varieties, and we’ve got a thousand and one ideas whirling through our heads – with plenty more to come."

About the Wine:

"We like fresh wines. That’s why we’ve been growing Lagrein in the little-known area of the Magrè talus cone for the last ten years. The dolomite limestone in the soils of the cone is crucial for developing the fruity, fresh and well-rounded profile of our wine. The name Conus comes from the Latin word for “cone”, alluding to the geological formation of the Magrè talus cone."

Grown 230-320m above sea level on gravel & sand with a high dolomitic lime content, vinified in cask & stainless steel.

Great Aromas of Plum, Cocoa, Licorice, spice, violet & red rose florals with woody spices.

About the Grape:

Lagrein is the decendent of Teroldego & cousin of grapes like Marzemino & Syrah.

Imagine a cool climate Syrah with high acidity & lots of gorgeous spice & savoury characteristics accompanied by violet florals.

Moët Impérial is typically a blend of 30% Pinot Noir, 40% Pinot Meunier and 30% Chardonnay and is made from grapes grown in several different sub-regions within the wider Champagne region.

It tastes medium to full bodied and dry with crisp acidity and a long finish. Flavours are of fresh apples and citrus. 

It is part of the large Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey (LVMH) group; the world's largest champagne producer. 

Amarone, classic wine from the Valpolicella region, is a new, exciting venture for the Pieropan family. It comes from the desire to test our skills with the Valpolicella zone, which though a neighbour of Soave, is very different and completely unique. It stems also from the desire to make a top red wine, both rich and structured, but also elegant and fine in line with the whole Pieropan range.

The Producer

The Pieropan Winery in the town of Soave is one of Italy's most accomplished and critically acclaimed of all wine estates in the country. Soave has been produced here since the early 1900s, and their versions, ranging from a classic offering as well as two cru (single vineyard) versions are routinely considered among the finest Soaves of the entire production zone.

For many years, Leonildo Pieropan managed the estate, and in doing so helped preserve the huge quality of Soave, all this while many producers released simple, inexpensive versions that too often typified this lovely Italian white wine. Thanks to Pieropan and a few others artisans, Soave could still be characterized as one of Italy's finest whites, one that could age for a decade or more when treated in a proper fashion.

Sadly, Leonildo Pieropan passed away in 2018 at the age of 71, having worked 50 harvests in Soave. Today his sons Andrea and Dario continue their father's passionate work not only with Soave, but also with a few local reds such as Valpolicella and Amarone.

2019 Vintage:

2019 started slowly due to a long-lasting winter season. A rainy April and a fresh May produced a season in line with more traditional development. The high temperatures during June and July combined with the availability of water in the soil to create the conditions for rapid plant growth. August was mild with good rainfall. The harvest started regularly. The grapes were healthy with slightly higher acidity than the average and, for the red ones, a high accumulation of anthocyanins and an excellent polyphenol profile.

Colour: deep ruby red with garnet hues.

Nose: intense and pleasant wide bouquet with scent of currant, liquorice, tobacco, spices, coffee and leather. 

Palate: multifaceted, harmonic and smooth with hint of blackberry, full-bodied with chewy tannins and pleasant finish.

Food Pairing: It pairs with hunting game, roasts, mature cheeses. Also appreciated as an after-dinner drink.

Harvesting & Winemaking: Grape bunches are hand-sorted on a vibrating table and chilled with dry ice to avoid oxidation and reduce considerably the use of sulphur. After destemming, berries are hand-sorted on a second vibrating table and finally softly crushed. 

The must is cold soaked to preserve its best characters before fermentation in stainless steel vats and conic oak vats at controlled temperature. The maceration is long acting using délestage and, partially, submerged cap technique for over 28 days.

Commercial description

The late Greg Trott saw many of his unusual dreams realised at Wirra Wirra. Yet one vision eluded him - to build a medieval siege machine, or trebuchet. Why? To use as a catapult to bomb neighbouring wineries with bottles of wine of course. This wine is part of a range, the RGT collection which remembers the pioneering spirit of Richard Gregory Trott.

Colour - Rich mulberry with plum-purple at the edge.

Bouquet - Lovely fresh plum and raspberries with notes of cinnamon, cocoa, clove, cardamom, nutmeg and dried ginger. A warm, vibrant and inviting nose. 

Palate - A delicious offering of blueberries, raspberries and plums are layered with patisserie-like notes of baking pastry, vanilla bean, butter biscuit and spice. The palate is generous with f lavour and supplies an ample measure of tannin that is smooth and fine, with mouth coating persistence. 

Vinification Fruit was gently crushed and destemmed en route to fermenter. Early temperatures were maintained at 20-22 degrees, rising to 25-28 degrees at peak of ferment. In general, ferments were pumped over two to four times daily to assist flavour and colour extraction, as well as spreading heat through the cap and body of the ferment. Nearing completion and having achieved the desired flavour and tannin extraction, pump-overs were reduced to once or twice daily to keep the cap moist. Close to dryness, wine was drained from the fermenter and the remaining skins were pressed via tank or basket press. Wines completed their secondary malolactic fermentation in tank then filled to oak with barrel selection and maturation times tailored to each parcel – those showing a more powerful structure receiving a longer maturation time in oak before blending.

Oak Maturation - Approximately 70% French and 30% American. A combination of new and seasoned oak is used, blending to about 20% new oak in the final wine.

Drink - Drink now to 2030 Food Match Eggplant involtini  

Sandpiper is classic Shiraz from South Australia; the headquarters of the country's wine industry - and world HQ of Shiraz, thanks to dry, super fruity and full bodied drops like this tasty, spicy, consistently good quality dry red wine. It's great value for money.

Trapiche is one of Argentina's best known wineries and based in the country's wine HQ, Mendoza, where it owns over 1,000 hectares of vineyards, devoted mostly to Malbec - the great red of this part of South America.

Trapiche's Oak Cask Malbec sees a minimal amount of oak, which adds a touch of spice and complexity to this otherwise fruity, dry, medium bodied red. Great value for money and lively drinking year round.