Our Wines In The Press

You are at: Home
>
Press Reviews

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

Take the lovely 2012 Viognier from the Ardèche which at £9.95 is a fraction of the cost of the greatest Viognier wine, Condrieu. All right, it’s not quite as good as that, but it does have those lovely floral flavours, the evanescent scent of spring, and is a perfect aperitif. A real summer wine.

Coteaux de l'Ardèche: Cépage Viognier 2012

Bottle	£9.95
Case	£119.40

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

The Orangerie 2012 from Savoie is from the Alps, grown high in the meadows, and with the smack of wild flowers as well as citrus fruits. This was a huge success when we offered it last time, and it is terrific with food — fish, salads, cold chicken, whatever you’re eating outdoors.

Savoie: Cuvée l'Orangerie 2012

Bottle	£10.50
Case	£126.00

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

I love the Chenin grape — sometimes. It can be weak and flabby, though it’s now grown with great success in South Africa, and of course is at its finest in Vouvray. This 2011 Vouvray sec from the Domaine Aubert has smashing apple and pear flavours, and enough acidity to go with rich, even fatty foods, such as pork rillettes — though as Tom and Jason warn, both are dangerously moreish. (I cannot think of a nicer meal than rillettes on a fresh baguette, with crispy, salty frites, all washed down with this wine.) At £11.95, a huge treat.

Vouvray Sec 2011

Bottle	£11.95
Case	£143.40

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

Also from the Loire is a Saumur rouge 2011 in the bottle with the cartoon of General de Gaulle on the label. I do not know why the general — who was, unlike say Mitterrand, not famous for high living — is so featured, but I do know that the wine inside is excellent, with that nice slatey Cabernet Franc taste. This is light but full-flavoured, and I suggest you give it half an hour in the fridge door before drinking.

Saumur Rouge 2011

Bottle	£9.50
Case	£114.00

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

La Ficelle 2012 from St Pourçain is another jolly summer wine for fun drinking with friends. Give it the fridge treatment, too. They get a different comic artist to design the label each year, all on the theme of the ficelle, the piece of string waiters used to measure how much wine a customer had drunk from the bottle. But with its plump fruit flavours, there is no way you are going to leave any of this.

Saint Pourçain: La Ficelle 2012

Bottle	£9.50
Case	£114.00

Spectator Wine Club, June 2013

By Simon Hoggart - Spectator, June 2013. (Posted June 2013)

Finally a superlative wine which I cannot recommend too highly, and at £10.95 a real snip. The Château Valcombe 2009 is made just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and frankly is quite as good as many in that under-policed appellation, and much better than most. A glorious wine, perfectly balanced, with that terrific evanescent perfume you get in the best C-du-P’s.

Côtes du Ventoux Rouge: Château Valcombe 2009

Bottle	£10.95
Case	£131.40

The 20 best summer wines - Star Buy

By David Williams - The Observer, 15/06/2013. (Posted June 2013)

A dry rosé with personality that blends the local speciality, nielluccio, with the more widely grown syrah and alicante to produce vivid red cherry flavours with whispers of thyme, minerals and spice. Crisp and zesty, it's perfect with herb-encrusted salami.

Coteaux de Cap Corse: Domaine Pieretti Rosé 2012

Bottle	£14.25
Case	£171.00

Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate

By Robert Parker - The Wine Advocate. (Posted June 2013)

This is the type of vintage consumers will love as the wines are fruit-forward, full-bodied, relatively high in alcohol with low acidity and sweet, well-integrated tannins.

Côtes du Rhône: Cuvée Personelle 2009

Bottle	£10.95
Case	£131.40

Yapping On

By Henry Jeffreys - Henry's World of Booze, 17/06/2013. (Posted June 2013)

A blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay with layers of crunchy forest fruit, smoke and then something earthy. Very rural and refreshing.

Saint Pourçain: La Ficelle 2012

Bottle	£9.50
Case	£114.00

Yapping On

By Henry Jeffreys - Henry's World of Booze, 17/06/2013. (Posted June 2013)

I’ve fallen in love with the wines of this venerable Provincial Estate. The red, a blend of nearly every grape in the world, tastes like a sort of heady Levantine claret. Imagine Suleiman the Magnificent enjoying a moment of intimacy in Château Léoville Las Cases, and you’re nearly there. The white, a blend of nearly everything else, is beguiling, complex and blossomed beautifully with some crab at Medcalf.

Château Simone Rouge 2009

Bottle	£35.00
Case	£420.00