Averys Wine Merchants

Burgundy 2010 En Primeur

2012-01-12T02:31:00.000-08:00

Prepare to be excited. The 2010 vintage in Burgundy combines much of what makes this such a special region. Wines of both colours are impressively intense, with lifted aromatics, purity of fruit and marked terroir definition. Following the ripeness, power and weight of the 2009s, the emphasis in 2010 is on the wines’ precision, perfume and clarity of expression.

You can read John Avery's 2010 vintage report and order your en primeur wines now at www.averys.com/burgundy2010.

Congratulations...

2012-01-03T04:37:00.000-08:00

We would like to wish our congratulations to Averys customer David Simpson who won the fantastic Jade Jagger designed Melchior of La Croix de Beacauillou 2009 in our Christmas 2011 mailing offer. David has been in touch to say;

"I was absolutely delighted to receive a call from Jon King of Avery Wines a couple of weeks before Christmas to say I had won the competition to win a Melchior of La Croix de Beacauillou 2009 in a bottle specially designed for the Chateau by non-other than Jade Jagger! So as both a fan of quality Bordeaux and rock-music you can imagine my excitement at the news! (well there is a sort of connection with the Rolling Stones.) The prize has made a fabulous decorative centrepiece for Christmas and of course a tremendous talking point over the festive period. A prestigious wine like this one from such a fabulous vintage will obviously improve with age, so I am looking forward to sharing the wine with family and friends at a suitable celebratory occasion in the next couple of years"

John Averys November case notes

2011-11-29T08:42:00.001-08:00

By John Avery MW, Chairman

It is some time since I last wrote my case notes. As usual I have had such an exciting time lately travelling, judging, sourcing wines, visiting suppliers and customers that I have now been asked if I would start them again for our blog.

November 2011 has been a busy month. On the first of the month I went to London to attend the 15th anniversary dinner of the London Branch of the Commanderie de Bordeaux which was held in The Vintners Hall which is familiar territory for me having had the privilege to have been The Master of the Vintners 6 years ago. The dinner featured wines from the 1996 vintage which are now mostly ready for drinking. Ch Leoville Barton was included and Anthony Barton himself came over from Bordeaux for the dinner.

I have had the privilege of being President of The International Wine and Food Society since 2008 and I attended meetings of the Council of the Society and the AGM on Nov 3rd and 4th and also two excellent dinners. On the evening of the 4th I had to go to Heathrow in order to catch the evening flight to Singapore where I was going to attend a Festival organised by the Asia /Pacific zone of the Wine and Food Society and I had to speak at a tasting of 10 Pinot Noirs from around the world. The tasting was most interesting as it included two Burgundies (one an Echezeaux from DRC.) and several I had never heard of from places like Patagonia, Italy, Austria and Germany. The wine from Oregon made by Drouhin and the Escarpment from New Zealand both showed very well. In the afternoon after the tasting it was back out to Changi airport for the overnight flight to Sydney.

My purpose of going to Australia was to be the International judge at the Royal Hobart Wine Show in Tasmania but before I travelled on south I had to do some tastings in Sydney and Melbourne. Last year my old friend and wine connesseur Dr Ray Healey had asked me to persuade some of my friends in Burgundy to supply cask samples of the much vaunted 2009 vintage for a tasting in Sydney and it had been so successful that we decided to do it again this time with the 2010 vintage. There were a total of 13 different wines from ‘village’ Gevrey up to Bonnes Mares and Echezeaux and we had two tastings in Sydney and one in Melbourne and again it was a success. While in Melbourne I made a visit to the Yarra Valley – Domaine Chandon and Coldstream Hills where I did a recorded interview for a TV programme to be shown next April which is all about how Australian wine sales to the U.K. have boomed during the last 25 years. On Friday morning I flew on to Hobart and in the evening had a most enjoyable dinner with excellent wines with my old friend Greg Melick.

At 8.30 a.m on Saturday morning work began in earnest out at the Show Ground where I had been made panel chairman of the groups which were going to judge all the Pinot Noirs. The first group contained 114 Pinot Noirs from the 2010 vintage and because of its size we split it into two halves and then tasted the potential Gold and Silver medal winners all together in a separate ‘run off‘ tasting . In the end we came up with 7 Gold Medal winners and 11 Silver Medal winners. The local community was delighted that 4 of the Golds and 8 of the Silvers came from Tasmanian vineyards.

2010 Burgundy...

2011-11-28T08:39:00.001-08:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

If you are a fan of Burgundy – white or red – and are yet to taste the 2010 wines then you should prepare to be excited. Perhaps very excited.

The 2010 vintage in Burgundy combines much of what makes this such a special wine region. Wines of both colours are impressively intense, with lifted aromatics, purity of fruit and marked terroir definition. In 2010 you can taste the distinction between Gevrey Chambertin’s mineral-tinged grip, Chambolle Musigny’s scented elegance, Vosne Romanee’s spicy perfume and Nuits St George’s muscled density as clearly as you can see the borderlines drawn on a map.

Following the ripeness, power and weight of the 2009s, 2010 is a very different sort of vintage. This year, the emphasis is clearly on the wines’ precision, perfume and clarity of expression. From my first tastings, back in November last year at the Hospices de Beaune, it was apparent that the whites had a focus and minerality that is absent from the majority of ‘09s. This year’s whites have an energy and snappy, high-tensile acidity that wakes you up at an early morning tasting and demands your attention. I’m particularly excited by the impeccable line up of whites from Domaines Bachelet-Monnot and Jean-Michel Chartron; both Remoissenet and Roche de Bellene have produced very good value village Meursault.
The 2010s I tasted…are very exciting. An irregular flowering reduced yields and served to concentrate the energy of the vines on a lower crop load. At the same time, the long, cold growing season gave the fruit considerable acidity. This is going to be a fascinating vintage to follow. Right now, I am very optimistic about the 2010s. – Antonio Galloni writing about the 2010 whites in Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.
The joy of the reds in 2010 is that they are fresh, silky and finely balanced. After the concentration and richly tannic textures of ’09, these wines are positively lacy yet they have the balance and intensity required to evolve well in bottle. A curious feature of some Burgundy vintages is that the reds never ‘shut down’ and undergo a dumb phase – I suspect that 2010, like 2006, will always be an attractive vintage to drink. The downside is that yields were extremely low, generally due to millerandage which results in small, undeveloped berries within bunches reducing the overall crop. At the worst-hit domaines, our allocations have been slashed by up to 80% of last year’s volumes, although a reduction of about 33% of an average year’s crop is about the average across the board.

The low juice, high solids of the millerandes has bestowed an über-classic purity and intensity to the best wines – like the best of 2008, only better. – Bill Nanson www.burgundy-report.com

The low yields mean that, more than ever, it will be important to act quickly to secure wines from your favourite estates. From the vibrant red fruit of the Mercureys of Domaine Racquillet to the majesty of Etienne Grivot’s Richebourg, these are wines Burgundy lovers will want in their cellars. Fans of Domaine Drouhin-Laroze will be glad to know that this estate is continuing its march toward the forefront of quality in Gevrey Chambertin, with another very high quality range. Philippe Drouhin’s daughter, Caroline, is maintaining the high standards set by her micro-negociant range in its first two vintages – look out for some delicious Grand Cru wines from Laroze de Drouhin in our 2010 offer.

Having already started my tastings of the 2010 vintage in Burgundy and the Rhône, I must urge those of you who like wines from these two great French wine regions to try to put a bit of money aside (ha!) to invest in the 2010s from them. – Jancis Robinson MW (www.jancisrobinson.com)

Chateau de Bel - The Final Entry

2011-10-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

So this is it. My last day at Chateau de Bel this vintage. The last two weeks have been tough. To be honest, the écoulages (where we take the juice off the must and then press the remaining berries) have been the hardest work we have done this vintage. Happily though its more suited to me than the harvesting! My new nickname is 'The Human Press'.

It is very important to eat well, and this of course being France, meat is plentiful and brilliant. The entrecote in the following photo cost us 20 euros...

After five or six days of this, the body is completely broken. Shoveling all the grapes out of the tanks is hard and hot work, and also quite dangerous too. If you forget to ventilate the tanks before you enter, you can be completely overcome by the carbon dioxide that is left in there, and that is game over! Luckily however we did not forget to ventilate and everything was fine.

Its strange now. We have gotten so used to our routines and the work we are doing, that there is absolutely no stress any more. Everyone seems to know what they are doing from wake up to finish. It was odd when we got to the end of last tank, and we were completely finished, that it just seemed like a bit of an anticlimax. I was expecting some special light to appear out of the ground or even a party popper to explode and baloons to fall from the cieling, but no, nothing. It was a reminder that although the last tank was empty, the work is by no means over. Olivier and Veronique will continue to work for the next 9 months and for the rest of their time here at Chateau de Bel. The work of a winemaker is never finished!

I have got everything from this vintage that I wanted to. A basic lesson on how to make wine and the processes that are involved therein. What I have also discovered is that there are a few rules to working on a winery that you will never find in any winemaking book.

Bryns alternative rules of winemaking:

1) You can do almost anything with a piece of iron wire and a block of wood.
2) Dont drive a screwdriver through your hand. It hurts
3) The winemaker is always right.... even when he/she is wrong...
4) Wherever you go, make sure you take a thermos of coffee.
5) Hosepipes are evil and must be punished.

The most important there is number 1. It was incredible really, a piece of iron wire and a block of wood coped with almost any problem we encountered this vintage and they are certainly two things I will always keep close at hand in my vintages to come!

So there we have it. The 2011 vintage is over and I am very sad to be leaving. Although this morning, the Dordogne gave me a beautiful parting gift...

It was a beautiful reminder of the fact that I have been working in one of the most stunning environments in europe, and I can only feel grateful to Olivier, Giovanni, Anne, Veronique, Jean Louis, Michel and all the other people who have made the last 10 weeks one of the most fantastic experiences of my life so far. I am taking a boot load of wine home with me in the car, and hopefully everytime I take a sip, I will be reminded of the wonderful time I had here. Next stop South Africa in January!

Bryn

Tom Cannavan's wine of the week!

2011-10-18T03:58:00.000-07:00

Wine-pages Tom Cannavan has selected Avery's Project Winemaker Mourvèdre 2010 as his wine of the week!

Click here to secure your case. Read the full review here.

Join us for the Averys Celebration of Wine Tasting Event - Saturday 29th October

2011-10-07T02:28:00.000-07:00

Taste your way round more than one hundred wines from the Averys range and meet the winemakers behind them, at an informal and relaxed tasting at Bristol Grammar School.

Tickets are only £20 per person which will be refunded against any case of 12 bottles or more purchased on the day, making this the ideal opportunity to select your wines for Christmas.

To allow you to taste in comfort, numbers are strictly limited.

Date: Saturday 29th October
Time: 2.00 - 6.00pm
Tickets: £20 - only available in advance.
(Your £20 ticket price is refundable against any purchase of 12 bottles or more placed on the day)
Venue: Bristol Grammar School

To reserve your ticket please call 0843 224 1224 or order online now at www.averys.com/tasting

This is an annual event in the Averys diary and is always great fun. Pop the date in your diary today and reserve your tickets now. We look forward to meeting you there!

Warm greetings from Bordeaux....

2011-10-06T03:01:00.000-07:00

Hi folks and a warm greeting from Bordeaux. I use the word warm because it has been mightily hot here recently, although I read it's been the same back in Blighty so I cant gloat too much.

We harvested the final parcel from the three properties that Olivier has on Saturday the 1st of October and I thought I would give a quick overview of the vintage as a whole and what we have experienced here. Starting with Chateau de Bel itself:

Chateau de Bel - Firstly, excellent quality, but the spread has been rather strange. Different parcels, despite being only a few metres apart in some cases, have ripened at massively different speeds. Both the merlot and Cabernet Franc have excellent qualities and it shaping up to be a very good vintage here. There has been some isolated botrytis but nothing to worry about.

St Emilion (he makes a number of different wines here) - It is dificult to call this one as were not quite through tasting and evaluating properly, but from what we have done, its going to be a matter of the blend. Tim Atkins has called this one 'A Master Winemakers Vintage' and he is not wrong in that. Much like Chateau de Bel, certain parcels ripened very early and others very late, so its not going to be simple to make brilliant wines like 2005, 2009 and 2010. All the ingredients seem to be here though. Our Cab Franc in Taransaud oak has a simply amazing fruit and colour, the Sansaud oak Cab Franc is less overtly fruity but is deeper and richer. The first Merlot we harvested there is awesome but just a little unbalanced. So this one is going to be down to Olivier's skill as a blender, but having seen him in action, I have no doubt that it will be a brilliant wine.

Pomerol - Clos Du Canton des Ormeaux - We were a little bit worried about this one at the start. There was a fair amount of botrytis and burning of grapes on both parcels, and after maceration and a few days of fermentation, the juice was seeming a little flat and utterly uninteresting, but like a phoenix from the ashes, the fruit appeared. It is not a vintage of the century, but there is a wonderful finesse about the 2011 Clos du Canton that we are very, very happy with indeed.

But now back to the heart of the matter, what have I been up to over the last few weeks? Well as I have said the harvests have been small and spread out so there hasn't been a two week period of carnage that I was expecting. It has actually been pretty relaxed (comparitively speaking). The 14th of September saw the arrival of the other person helping Olivier out this harvest. His name is Giovanni Canci and he studied Viticulture at the university of Perugia. He has a small vineyard in central Umbria and arrived just after his own harvest!

So most days Giovanni and I have been sent off to St Emilion to do various things. Olivier ferments a lot of his St Emilion in open barriques and these require constant care and attention. Twice daily at the beginning we have been doing punch downs (pigéages), pump overs (remontages) and various readings of density and fermentation speed in all the different wines we are making there. After a few days of monitoring and constant tasting, we calm this down once the juice has started taking a bit of tannin and colour. Even Olivier was surprised by the speed of one or two of the fermentations, 4 days in one case!

If anyone is wondering why im wearing a glove, its because I managed to drive a screwdriver nearly clean through my hand. A course of antibiotics and a tetanus jab later and its healing quickly!

I have become quite confident here in the cellar at St Emilion, and I am slowly getting to grips with the whole process, although I am of course still making a few rookie errors. But having Giovanni there is a constant learning experience. I tend to crucify myself a little when I make a mistake, however basic, but Giovanni was quick to remind me that if I were working in a bigger Chateau, I wouldnt be doing anywhere near the depth of work that I am doing here. Apparently normal interns really dont get to do much apart from occasionally push a few buttons and look at some things, so I constantly remind myself that even though I am making mistakes (it is my first time after all), I am actually learning things other interns wouldn't get to learn!

So all this leads to today as I am writing this blog (Sunday 2nd). This was the final parcel harvested from the three properties, and we were all here early (after the France Tonga game of course), and when I mean all, I mean all. Extended family, children of extended family and even a small film crew doing a film about Chateau de Bel were all present. Now for those of you who dont know me, I am quite a big man, both in height and weight, and I have to say that harvesting by hand is one of the most painful experiences I have ever put my body through. Imagine squatting as low as you can go for five hours and you will pretty much have it. For people like Veronique (tiny and conditioned for this work) she was clearing vines of their grapes at a speed I have never seen, but for me, it was pretty grueling. Having said that the cameraderie amongst the pickers was excellent and we had the parcel cleared in 5 hours and in the barriques by 3pm ish.

So its just a case of waiting now until we think the various different parcels are ready for pressing!

Some of you might remember from my last blog that I have been in a constant struggle with hoses, and I was very close to writing a whole blog entry on why I detest hoses. I decided against that, but I will leave you with a little Haiku I composed on the subject...

I just hate hoses;
They never do what you want.
Damn them all to hell!

More to follow soon!

p.s. - Its funny the things you miss... I have a desperate hankering for Marmite!

Guest Blog: A Harvest moon

2011-09-19T01:50:00.000-07:00

By Hugo Levingston
Domaine de Mourchon

An unusually warm start to the growing season back in April / May brought bud break and flowering forward setting us on course for an earlier than usual harvest. In July the temperatures cooled off somewhat, slowing down the growth cycle and giving the fruit a chance to develop at a nice leisurely pace. In mid-August there was a good amount of rain followed by high temperatures giving a nice boost to the sugar levels. So far September has been textbook perfect with full sun and a moderate mistral to keep excessive maturation in check and allow the grapes to finish their cycle with a lovely phenolic balance.

And so we attack the 2011 harvest a good ten days in advance of the norm. This year we have the blessing of a perfectly full harvest moon watching over us as the buckets and secateurs are dispensed to our chattering team of Polish and Moroccan pickers while the tractors take their places at the head of the rows. This year we are bringing in the Grenache before the Syrah for a change. This is partly because of the unseasonably warm conditions at the time of fruit set allowing the Grenache to be first off the starting block and also because Sebastien, our winemaker, took the decision to thin out the leaf canopy after the August rains which meant the fruit was exposed to more air and sun which giving optimum ripening conditions. The fruit comes into the winery in top condition leaving the workers on the sorting table pretty much redundant. The berries are small and beautifully concentrated, almost like raisons on the outside with delicious strawberry and cherry-sweet juice inside – all this is well supported by a nice, lively backdrop of acidity. The tannins have reached maximum maturity and so are discrete and the pips have evolved to taste more nutty than green. Next it’s the turn of the young Grenache that is destined to go straight into the press and to be made into the Rosé. Very different characteristics here to the old Grenache - lighter more delicate skins with much more fleshy interiors and plenty of sweet fresh juice.

Over all it looks like we will be bringing in a lower yield than 2010 but what is lacking in volume certainly seems to be compensated for in quality. However, we won’t be celebrating just yet as some storms and rain are predicted for the weekend so - as always in this game – anything could happen.

Our wine advisors dish up their favourite food and wine combinations

2011-09-12T02:01:00.000-07:00

In the first of our Averys staff food and wine matching series, Wine Advisor Duncan Pilbeam pairs a classic, fresh Soave with Spaghetti alle Vongole.

Pieropan Soave 2010 Italy - £17.99 if ordered as 6 or 12 bottle case

Incredible purity of fruit with a fine, fresh mineral finish.

Nino Pieropan is joined by his sons, Andrea and Dario in producing Soave from the Classico zone.

They started in the 1930’s growing Garganega, a thick-skinned and late-ripening variety well equipped to deal with the local weather.

Their Soave has tremendous mineral complexity with ripe almost honeyed fruit on the palate. They sacrificed the Classico appellation in order to bottle the wine under a screw cap, believing this helps to maintain the freshness.

Spaghetti alle Vongole

350-400g Dried Spaghetti
5 tbsp Good Extra Virgin Olive oil
4 Garlic cloves, crushed
2 Large Shallots, finely chopped
1/2tsp dried red Chilli
800g small Carpet shell Clams or English Surf Clams, which are small and oval-shaped, rinsed well in cold running water
2tbsp Chopped flat-leaf Parsley
150ml Pieropan Soave white wine
Salt and freshly ground white Pepper
50g unsalted Butter

Cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, then drain.

While the spaghetti is cooking, heat the olive oil in a pan large enough to hold the clams and gently cook the garlic, shallots and chilli for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add the clams with the parsley and white wine, season with salt and pepper, turn up the heat, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 4-5 minutes, giving the occasional stir, until all the clams have opened.

Add the butter and the drained spaghetti to the pan, stir well over a low heat for a minute and serve immediately.

Château de Bel - 10 days in!

2011-09-12T01:36:00.000-07:00

By Bryn Stephens

It was a pretty hot last day of my holiday, 43 degrees in Montauban at the peak. It was not the kind of day you would want to spend in a sticky, crowded southern franch train carriage, but the thought of getting to Libourne and starting my aventure properly quickly dispelled any thoughts of the inner organ penetrating heat. One word of advice to the holiday makers who come here and use the trains though; arrive at least half an hour early for your train if you have to order a ticket from the ticket office. The people who work there are great and give you all the information you might need... but apparently all the customers need to know every piece of knowledge the world has to offer, so it can take a while.

But anyway, arriving at Château de Bel was a very pleasurable occasion. Salutations, hugs and continuing arguments about who is going to win the rugby world cup were quickly dispensed with (I'm sorry Olivier, but it's not going to be France, mind you it's probably not going to be Wales either) and the rosé was even quicker to appear. The 2010 Château de Bel Rosé is the best I think he has produced. Beautifully light in texture, but so full of red berry fruit. For me it is the best rosé for under a tenner by quite some way and it should be with Averys at some point in the near future, but there is a bit of the 2009 Château de Bel Rosé beauty still around too. Olivier had another treat in store for me and a couple of his mates as the organic steaks appeared, cooked so that a skilled vet could bring them back to life, served with the wonderful garlic potatoes, and a starter of mussels that his wife Anne does so well! Also served were a bottle of Michel Gonet Champagne, Echappee Bel Blanc (a blend of Sauvignon and Muscadelle, insanely drinkable), and a bottle of 2007 Château de Bel 'La Captaine'. I was assured that its not always like this...

Veronique

I soon found out that it really isn't like that all the time. The very next day I was whisked away to Pomerol with Olivier's vineyard manager, the lovely Veronique, to take the 2010 vintage Clos Du Canton Pomerol off its lees (to the people I have sold this wine to, you will most certainly not be disappointed). It involved an awful lot of barrel moving and in 30 degree heat, let me assure you, it's hard. Some work in Pomerol continued for the next day or two, cleaning and getting the cellar ready for harvest, followed by a sort of break day where we tidied up a massively overgrown part of Olivier's land. Mind you, it did give me the chance to play with some more boys toys...

On the 6th of September I spent a most interesting day with Olivier and a couple of his advisors, Luc and Stephane. We took a little walk around all of the vineyard plots at De Bel, St Emilion and Pomerol to discuss when the harvet might start in each case, and it was decided that Pomerol would start on Sunday the 11th. That was a bit of news, as we needed to get everything ready, disinfected and cleaned to a mirror shine before things could start. There started three hectic days of cleaning, hosing (I was going to write a whole blog on the reasons I hate hoses... but decided against it... for the moment) and wondering how the hell we were going to get the new shiny thing in the cellar door...

Mmmmm... shiny things

But this all passed without a hitch, and it brings me to today. I'm writing this after the harvest in Pomerol. A very early start this morning, to hand harvest the first parcel of Cabernet Franc and a bit of Merlot. The vineyard team was filled with family and friends and the team spirit was there in huge great lumps. Coffee and croissants were provided at the perfect moment, and we were done by about 2pm. A massive lunch was consumed with all present and enjoying the pleasant warm weather (thank god it wasnt too hot today)

Destemming begins

We have done a bit of work this evening in preparation for the harvest in St Emilion tomorrow, and its going to be another back breaking day. Despite the pain, the cuts, the ant bites, the splinters, the blisters and the desperate attempts to remember the French for 'that might need stitches' I am absolutely loving every second of being here... except Wales losing to South Africa... that sucked... (Wayne Barnes are you blind or something?!)

More to follow soon!

Our former wine advisor Bryn starts his French experience... (well... sort of)

2011-09-09T03:09:00.000-07:00

My last day at Averys was a smorgasboard of emotions and excitement. Saying goodbye to colleagues, friends, my customers old and new was a good deal tougher than I ever thought it would be. For those customers I did not get the chance to speak to before I left I hope you enjoy exploring the world of wine with Averys! I was completely overwhelmed by the leaving gift of a bottle of Chateau Pontet Canet 2004 that they gave me.

The sadness gave way to gratitude for the awesome experiences and education in wine that Averys has given me. It is something I can never properly repay. Then came excitement which appeared in waves of both dread and happiness. I really have no idea what to expect in the following 18 months and the fear of the unknown is a massively primeval emotion. I can honestly say I have never felt fear in such a way. But having said that, the move out of my flat, in which I have spent the last 6 years, went smoothly, and the plan which I have spent the last 8 months hatching, appears to be coming together (I love it when that happens).

POWERRRRR!

I am currently taking a short holiday just outside the beautiful town of Montauban with a few friends who live here; a little oasis of calm before the carnage begins. Village life in rural France is truly just like the movies and the past few days have been a welcome break after a pretty hectic Bordeaux en primeur campaign. Having wanted calm, there is a bit of work to do here to earn my keep. A few trees fell down last night at the bottom of the garden in a pretty nasty storm. This gave me and my friend James a chance to play with a few boys toys this morning (the photo below should explain my feelings on this matter).

The feeling of doing a bit of manual labour is invigorating and I am excited about the possibility of feeling like this at the end of each day on the vineyard. I have never experienced harvest time on a winery. I have to admit to a certain amount of ignorance to this vital part of the process. This got me to thinking how many of us truly appreciate the blood, sweat, tears and love that go into a bottle of our favourite Friday night accompaniment. I remember reading a Neal Martin blog post a while back wondering whether Baron de Rothschild and his staff were ever upset that many of his wines aren’t being drunk, enjoyed and talked about, but heartlessly traded as commodities and symbols of status. My guess is that he might well be, after all a winemaker surely wants his bottle of wine to be opened and savoured after all! I suppose as consumers we don’t think too much about every part of the process. Up until recently, it was the same with meat, fish, fruit and veg. Suddenly all of that changed.

Things like the organic food movement and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fish Fight (which I urge everyone to join by the way, google it) changed our attitudes towards finding the source of the products we consume. So why not the same with wine? When recommending wines to my customers, I tried to find out as much information as possible about the winery so people know a little about the estate and the winemaker. Believe it or not it makes a difference to my perception of the wine. But, when it comes down to the bare knuckles and aching shoulders of actually making wine, I know very little. The reason for me leaving my cosy life and great job was to spend a little time at the coalface of winemaking, to really throw myself into the deep-end. I feel it is my duty as a wine lover to experience every painful, backbreaking, emotionally draining moment that goes into a bottle. My hope is that through this I will love every single bottle I consume just that little bit more for those very reasons.

I leave for Chateau de Bel tomorrow but for now I will have to content myself with consuming copious amounts of duck, in the company of fine friends, playing drinking backgammon with the local rose costing £22 for 10 litres.

It’s a tough life...

2011-09-07T01:54:00.000-07:00

This in from Domaine Voillot:

Bonjour, our harvest started on Monday 29th August and ended Friday September 2nd. As always, the fruit was picked under the sun and the quality is good, if in small amounts! Here a few pictures...

Domaine Huet’s 2010 Vouvrays

2011-08-22T03:44:00.000-07:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

Noël Pinguet and his wife Marie-Françoise

Why, oh why don’t more people drink these wines? Only Riesling can rival Chenin Blanc in terms of versitility and longevity – what other white grape can be made in every style from bone-dry to lusciously sweet to fizzy and have the potential to effortlessly out-live most of us? – yet the great examples of the Loire Valley remain true insiders’ wines and almost criminally under-valued.

In a world where 1st growths cost more than BMWs, the great wines of Vouvray offer a fascinating option for collectors laying down a cellar. Long-lived, complex and fabulous with food, there are real treats in store for those who explore the wines of this region.

Domaine Huet is the leading estate of the appellation. Their wines are exquisitely pure and fine-boned, with the characteristics of each individual vineyard clearly singing through in the glass.

For more information on the vintage, the estate, the region and the specific wines, have a look at Richard Kelley MW’s excellent website – www.richardkelley.co.uk

We recently tasted a range of youthful 2010s in the office. This vintage is the lastest release and is clearly a year where the drier styles really came into their own. Huet have produced a Vouvray Sec from each of their three single vineyards, a single Demi-Sec and a quantity of Moelleux 1ere Trie so small that it is only being offered to private clients of the domaine in France – there are only 800btls of this so if we can eke any out of them at a later stage, I’ll be over the moon!

Le Haut Lieu Sec 2010
Shy and closed up on the nose with only a hint of bruised apple Chenin Blanc notes. With time it does open up a bit and is remarkably clean – without the funky notes you sometimes find in these wines. Quite soft and tendre on the palate, this has a spine of acidity giving it structure but is in no way austere. As it unfurls in the glass it actually becomes quite creamy and spicy. This is going to be a relatively early drinking Haut Lieu. 17/20

Clos du Bourg Sec 2010
The aromas here have precision, focus and spice. Relatively open and forward for a young Huet with piercing green apple / malic characters. On the palate this is riper and fuller than the Haut Lieu yet with more tension – a lower pH, perhaps? It’s vivid, glassy in its texture and bright in fruit with some chalky mineral notes on the back of the palate. Very long and whistle clean. 18.5/20

Le Mont Sec 2010
Resolutely closed and stern on the nose with slight steely / mineral tones. The palate shows similar characters to the aroma – it’s dusty, brooding and muscular, giving very little away at the moment. A tightly coiled spring of a wine that reminds me of a young Corton Charlemagne. There is huge concentration and complexity complexity at the core but this will need a long time to open up. Very long, fantastically intense and promising. 19/20

Clos du Bourg Demi-Sec 2010
Has a typically dusty / earthy nose. On the palate it’s rich and slightly creamy. Blossom-scented with lively acidity and floral tones. Flavours of stewed apples and spice are rich but balanced by crunchy acidity that just about masks the 25g/l of residual sugar. Still very linear at the moment but it will broaden out with time. Superb, soaring finish. 18.5/20

Our departing wine advisor reveals his number 1 wine at Averys...

2011-08-22T03:30:00.000-07:00

In Praise of Regional France by Bryn Stephens...

I have been thinking recently about all the wines I have tried whilst at Averys and at companies before, and of course thinking about my top 6, I cant help but think also about some of the utterly awful samples that have been sent to our tasting room. So I compiled a little black list of wines that I will actively avoid tasting again in the future I shall not list them of course as that would be very unfair to the dedicated winemakers and field hands that toil away to pour their heart and soul into these wines.

People of the world have very different palates and my criticism of certain wines really amounts to nothing in the grand scheme of things. This then got me to thinking about all the different regions that I have tasted and all the different grape varieties I have tried. One thing struck me straight away. Among the black list of wines, there wasn’t a single wine from Regional France. Pretty much every other wine producing region in the world was represented. Napa, Tuscany, Bordeaux, Mosel, Rioja, simply everywhere!

Now this could well be a result of the excellent buyers filtering out all of the rubbish before it graces our lips (and to be honest it probably is. There is no doubt that there are wines down there being made that are awful). Having said that, what always astounds me about wines from regional France is the value and diversity you get. Over the last two years I have tasted Cabernet Sauvignons like the Domaine de L’Oranger that rival decent Bordeaux Sups, elegant Rhone style whites like the Domaine Malves Marsanne Rousanne 2009, Pinot Noirs like Domaine Rudel that can rival Bourgogne Rouges and gloriously full on wines like the Domaine de la Madelaine ‘Les Grand Cailloux’ that take the style of Cote Rotie, and they are all massively lower in price than all these far more illustrious names.

All of the wines listed above are superb quality and way under a tenner… for the moment… Regional France has built its reputation on offering decent wines at a very affordable level. Often, were you to buy these types of wines from the regions they were imitating, you would spend double the price. But recently we have seen regional France slowly but surely raise their prices. There could be a number of reasons for this and every one of them justified. Rising cost of fuel, labour and equipment are all squeezing margins. In my humble opinion, what regional France needs to do is to start leaving behind its tag of being a place to buy cheaper imitations of more traditional French regions and start playing more on its diversity and individuality! There is so much good wine being made down there that it cant be long before the great wines from the Languedoc Rousillon AOC’s start taking a bigger share of the wine market than wines from the Rhone or Bordeaux (excluding the classified growths of course). It is wines like my number one wine from Averys that I hope will show the way forward for regional France!

Morillon Blanc 2009 by Jeff Carrel - £137.88 per case of 12 (£11.49 per bottle)

Jeff Carrel

Jeff Carrel describes himself as ‘an eclectic winemaker’. He is part of a new generation of winemakers springing up around the world that have neither vineyard or winery. They buy small parcels of grapes from growers, rent little parts of a cellar and make brilliant wines! Jeff currently makes around 40 wines including most recently a Priorat.

This became my top wine very quickly as the value for money you are getting here is simply immense. The grapes come from a tiny vineyard in between Carcasonne and Limoux and the story goes that the grower was simply selling them off to a local grape spirit producer. Back in 2005 he was unable to sell his grapes until Jeff turned up at his door wanting a look. This was after harvest and the grapes were starting to rot slightly on the vine, but Jeff realised there was great potential here and bought the lot. To balance off the slight hint of sweetness, he fermented the wine in new oak, then transferred the wine to more new oak for ageing, so in effect this wine has 200% new oak. Now I’m sure this method has calmed down over the last few years but that doesn’t stop this being a gloriously oaky, minerally, slightly sweet beauty of a wine!

The nose is full of walnuts, melon, peach, cream, hints of spicy pear and apple skin. It just keeps producing flavour after flavour and after time in glass, notes of sweet grapefruit and a hint of ginger and orange peel. It’s a bouquet I could smell for the rest of my days. The palate is even more of a conundrum, showing ripe pear, grapefruit and quince, with those creamy walnutty notes showing their heads. But this is all balanced off with a taut lemony acidity and just a touch of residual sweetness. The finish is simply superb and long. I ate a creamy fish pie with this and it went perfectly. Back in my scoring days, it was the first wine I gave a perfect score to. I would still give this a perfect score... but I don’t score any more... so I’ll just say ’Buy it. Now!’

If you would like to order any of this for your cellar please don’t hesitate to give one of the wine advisors a call on 01275 812230. They will be happy to help!

Cheers all!

Bryn reveals his number two...

2011-08-11T05:26:00.000-07:00

Our soon to be departing wine advisor Bryn carries on his countdown of his top 6 wines from Averys. At number two...

Todays discussion is ‘what annoys you about world wine labels?’ Please feel free to comment at the bottom!

Wine Labels 101

I have always had a love/hate relationship with Italian wine. Back when I was starting out in the wine industry, I rarely delved into the Italian collections for my own cellar as I always found Italian (and German) wine labels so damn difficult to navigate. Add this to the fact that there are over 2000 grape varieties planted in Italy, and its soon clear that you could spend the rest of your life learning about Italian wine and all the subtle differences and nuances contained therein. Looking at this from the point of view of a pretty timid 24 year old new to the industry, and you quickly see my fear! However after a few years of learning all about the rest of the world, I quickly got to a point where I could no longer ignore Italy, after all, they are the largest producer of wine in the world (just… France are not far behind at all). Instead of sitting with book in hand reading about the wine laws that govern regions and such like, I decided that a scattergun tasting approach would be the best (and most fun) way of trying to understand Italian wine. So I set about a long and very painful process (I even had to take my work home with me on occasion) of tasting a huge amount of Italian wine whenever I could and discovered… even more problems!

Lets take Soave as an example. You can buy Soave in most shops now for less than a fiver and the quality ranges from utterly awful to pretty damn good. I remember only recently tasting one of our soon to be in wines, the Pieropan Soave (possibly one of the most delightful summer whites I have had the fortune to taste. It will be around £11). I was so enthused by this tasting that I went out that evening in search of a bottle of Soave to enjoy that Friday evening. I went into a shop in search of a Soave I had not tasted before and spent around £8 on a bottle, and found it to be so completely dull. No fruit, no character, just an acidic mix of tasteless ingredients in a glass, and it wasn’t the only rubbish offering I drank over the next few weeks. I went to our Italian buyer Liz field looking for some clarification on my findings. It turns out that the Pieropan is technically a Soave Classico (the next quality level up) but due to the fact that the winemaker wanted to bottle it under screwcap, it could not be ranked as such. Confusing? I thought so. Surely it has everything to do with the quality in the bottle as to what rank a wine should be? But apparently in Italy, it doesn’t. This isn’t an isolated problem. Until the mid 1980’s the most expensive and sought after wine in Italy, Sassicaia was labelled as a table wine! Super tuscan wines came from the winemakers realising the could make a better quality wine if they weren’t restricted by the DOC Chianti laws. So now, the most sought after wines in Italy are labelled IGT, the Italian equivalent of the French Vin de Pays.

So my findings so far in this scattergun approach in the last two years are as follows:

Italy can produce some of the worst, tasteless, fruitless concoctions in the world, no matter how they are labelled. Fact!
Italy can produce some of the finest, most flavoursome, beguiling wines in the world no matter how they are labelled. Fact!
Italy really need to sort out their labelling!

I don’t know what to conclude from my research really. My recommendation would be to take my approach and keep trying Italian wines until you find the ones you like. After all, without this approach that I took, I would not have found my second favourite wine from Averys!

Podere Capaccia Querciagrande 2005 IGT - £31.99 per bottle

This tiny little estate is based in the hills around Radda in Chianti, about an hour south of Florence, and it is truly ‘bite the back of your-hand’ beautiful. The history of the estate goes all the way back to the mid 12th century where the whole village and land surrounding were shared and farmed by the locals. This ‘sharecropping’ scheme was abandoned in the early twentieth century as urbanisation and industry tempted people away from the country with the promise of riches in the cities! The estate remained empty and run down until the 1970’s when the Prato family bought the estate with the idea of making superb wine and olive oil. They quickly began a programme of replanting and renovation, building a new cellar and restoring a family house. Over the next 20 years, quality went from strength to strength. In 2000, the Prato family decided to sell up after having done so much loving work to the estate. It was bought by Joseph and Alison King. They have continued the great work done by the Prato family, and are in the middle of a massive project to modernise the winery and restore all of the out buildings as tourist houses. I cannot overstate how beautiful this place is and it should be open to the public in a year or two.

The Querciagrande is 100% Sangiovese made from their best part of the estate. It spends 14 months in French oak and 12 in bottle before being released onto the market. Due to the current renovation at the winery, this is the last parcel we will be getting for a while!

Beautiful dark red in the glass with a slight tawny rim. Wonderful nose of dark cherry fruit, crushed strawberry, tobacco leaf, herbs like rosemary, and a slight note of sweet vine tomato. It bellows out of the glass like dry ice would, going up and down the sides, and filling every part of your glass and your nostrils. The palate adds a little cassis and sour cherry onto the table. This is a wine that doesn’t flirt or dance, it’s a passionate caress of your palate, like getting a pillow soft hug on your tongue. Velvety smooth tannin and a wonderful acidic zip on the finish. This is an Italian woman wrapped up in a bottle. Passion, anger and love at the same time. Its simply an bewitching, sensational wine. Push the boat out for this one and you will not be disappointed. I drank this wonderful nectar with a hearty mixed game tomato ragu. The acidity and weight of this wine make it very food friendly, but keep Italian with tomato based sauces for best effect! It is worth decanting this for a few hours before drinking too…

As I said this will be the last of this for a while and at current count we have about 36 bottles in stock. If you would like to have any for your cellar, please don’t hesitate to give one of the wine advisors a call on 01275 812207 or visit www.averys.com

Where to go and what to make next?

2011-08-05T06:37:00.000-07:00

By Emma Roberts, Buying Director

Emma in Minervois

From concept to launch Project Winemaker takes a surprisingly long time. Recognising which growers and vineyards will give us the best fruit and working with the winemaker on harvest dates, vinification process and how we plan to age the wine is the first stage. Following harvest we re assess and then anywhere between 3- 12 months later we finalise the blend and at this stage can confirm when we will bottle and ship the wine to the UK – which in itself can take anywhere between 2-8 weeks.

You’ll by now be familiar with the different projects from France and Australia but I thought I’d whet your appetite with a few that are still on the horizon. In the vintage of 2010 I started a project in Chile with Casa Silva, who better to work on Carmenere with? I’ve just finished the final blend and this perfumed, rich red will arrive at the end of November – perfect for Christmas drinking. Again in Chile but from 2011 vintage I’ve selected a couple of Syrah vineyards from my friend Horatio Vicente’s estate in Aconcagua, for me an outstanding valley for Syrah. This particular gem is currently in barrel and the plan is to bottle towards the end of the year and ship in the Spring.

As I write this I’m packing my bags for a week in California and Washington State to see what is looking promising there – I’m hoping to bag some great Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon before it gets picked!

When I get back it’s a quick dash to see Matthew Copeland at Vondeling in South Africa to blend the new vintage of his fantastic Mourvedre and to see the new baby – an old vine white Grenache that has been fermented and sat on its lees in old French Oak 500 litre barrels which we intend to blend with some of the estate’s delicious Chardonnay.

September will bring a trip to Vincent at Abbots to look at the harvest in the South of France, as well as two to Spain – I have an idea for Rioja and one with my old friend Daniel Castano in Yecla.

Next stop ?.....

And at number 3…

2011-08-04T04:47:00.000-07:00

Bryn continues his countdown his top six wines from his time at Averys. And at number 3…

How do we as wine lovers, justify what our favourite wines are? Is it a sense of place, that is to say, is our favourite wine one we had whilst sitting in the heart of Namibia with family enjoying a braai (Catherine Marshall Pinot Noir)? Is it that special bottle we open with that special someone (Krug NV)? Is it the bottle which made a tear fall down the cheek because we never thought wine could taste that good (Domaine de Chevalier 2003)? When we sit down and actually think about it, it really isn’t an easy question to answer. For my brother, his favourites are the ones he opened at the right time with the right people. For my father (much more of a pragmatist than my brother and I) it was all about the taste and quality, not the situation. For some of my customers, its all about the value they get when spending £70 on a case rather than £70 on a bottle. So I would like to open this discussion up to the readers of this blog. What criteria do you use to judge your favourite wines? Why are they so special to you? Please leave a comment below! Happy posting!

Deciding upon my top three wines I had to really think about these questions, and for some reason, it has caused me a comparatively large amount of bother, and at least one sleepless night. Only Wales losing to England at rugby and stupid things I have said in front of women on nights out have preyed on my mind more, so I did console myself in the fact that after spending all of my early twenties deciding what I really wanted to do as a career, only something that matters to me this much could keep me up like that! So the first thing I did was to have a look at all the wines I have bought since starting with Averys (quite frightening when I realised how much money I have spent but hey ho!). Surely it would be something spectacular that leapt out at me and said ‘Yes Bryn I am your number three and you know it!’ but nothing really grabbed me properly until I had nearly got through all my orders. I felt like an opera director casting my supporting role, being presented with spectacular singers all day, but none the perfect fit for the role. Then five minutes after the auditions finish, someone timidly pokes their head through the door asking for a chance, and saving my day completely! This is a wine that I have bought continuously since starting at Averys, but it’s so unassuming that I never really thought about how much it actually means to me as a wine drinker! So after all that I suppose I used my father’s advice for which university to choose. ‘Tabulate all the results giving each chosen category a mark out of 10, weigh up all the pros and cons such as living costs and price of accommodation… then disregard everything and choose the one you like the best’

Conde de Cron NV Vino da Mesa, Spain - £83.88 per case of 12

A table wine… a bog standard Spanish table wine…But look closer! Spanish wine laws dictate that Rioja is only allowed to produce a certain amount of wine each year. Everything that producers make beyond this limit has to be labelled as table wine. Now usually this kind of stuff is sold on to friends of the winery, staff, and occasionally restaurants, but due to our relationship with Javier Murua at Bodegas Muriel, we get to sell this! And my god its good drinking. The wine inside the bottle is actually a 2004 declassified Rioja Crianza.

Beautiful brick red colour and good texture in the glass. Nose of soft berry fruit, blackcurrant, crushed cherries, cedar wood, spice and hint of roasting meat. The palate is satin smooth with just a dash of tannin. The fruit is pure and hearty with a great finish that lasts way beyond its price tag. Brilliant!

I wrote this tasting note back in November 2009 and not much has changed in the final verdict of the 14 times or so I have blind tasted it since. What keeps me coming back to this wine is the fact that every time I have tasted it, it has been slightly different. I remember the Christmas 2010 parcel having a wonderful note of nutmeg and cinnamon. I got two or three cases of that… I remember the most recent parcel is much fruitier with not so much spice. It just keeps changing slightly, not so much as to be a different wine or to dampen the quality in any way, just enough to keep things fresh and not get bored of the taste. It is simply the only table wine I shall buy as long as it is still here, and I think that is a pretty good reason for it to get into my favourites list!

Please give one of the wine advisors a call on 01275 812230 if you would like to order this, or get advice on wines of any region country or price!

Averys History Project – In the beginning…

2011-07-28T01:48:00.001-07:00

Mimi Avery

In June I was tasked with researching the history of Averys.

I am Mimi Avery 5th Generation Avery in Averys, my father, Francis John still works in the firm and my grandfather Ronald, who really put us on the map, passed away in 1976. The business is listed as established 1793.

I was aware that projects of this sort had been done in the past so my first task was to locate these. This is easier said than done, if any of you are aware of my fathers filing system (folders of paperwork, unlabelled, in document boxes labelled “taken from top left drawer of desk) no note as to which office move this related to – most helpful. Luckily my ‘man’ on the ground was my mother, Sarah, at the family home, she manages to rescue important pieces and squirrels them away in the morning room cupboards. So it was with relative ease that she handed me my Grandmother’s bound selection of newspaper, magazine articles and eulogies post Ronald’s Funeral, along with Hilary Clout’s “A short History of Averys & Co Bristol” June 1979, K.C.Bourke’s “Wine Merchant out of Bristol”, circa 1969/70 and My fathers Oxford university summer dissertation “The problems of production, marketing and packaging of wines in the United States of America” oct. 1964.

I plan to continue the hunt and regularly blog and tweet the more interesting findings over the next few months to give you more of a feel of what we do, why we do it and how we do it so well.

...and at Number 4

2011-07-26T01:31:00.000-07:00

Bryn continues his countdown of his top 6 favourite wines we have here at Averys. After two South African wines at numbers six and five, its time for something a little more classical.

Winemaker Olivier Cazenave

Olivier Cazenave was the first wine-maker I met after I started at Averys. For weeks before, the senior guys and our buyers were slowly getting more and more excited about his visit. I wondered to myself who he was? Was he going to appear out of some kind of elaborate fire show in a puff of smoke? Large gaggles of women crowding around fainting if he so much as turned his gnarly but Dolce & Gabana catalogue-worthy face in their direction? I wondered what kind of person could conjure such a hushed sense of excitement in the office. And then he appeared….not that I noticed mind you. No fire show, no screaming women. Just a normal bloke with a fairly rough t-shirt and jeans. I wondered where all the pomp and circumstance I had come to expect from Bordeaux lay. I’m glad to say that it never appeared.

What I did get however was an in depth tasting of brilliant wines from a winemaker who exudes passion and ‘savoir-faire’ in his subject. His outward, genuine friendliness as he took us methodically through his range really endeared me to him and his wines, and I started to see where all this excitement had come from. The particular wine that I enjoyed the most I actually didn’t get to taste the first time he was here, I had to wait until I got the chance to visit him on his estate last year to taste this excellent value St Emilion.

View of the estate from the drive

‘Aux Plantes’ St Emilion Grand Cru 2008 - £18.99 per bottle (currently just 10 cases in stock!)

Olivier owns Chateau de Bel, a small place comprising just 8 hectares of vines on the banks of the Dordogne river, just outside Libourne. It is ranked as Bordeaux Superieur, but if you had a good enough arm, you could probably throw your shoe into the St Emilion appellation. From this estate he makes three wines we stock, Chateau de Bel, Chateau de Bel ‘La Capitane’, and the outstanding Chateau de Bel Rosé. All three are well worth a go and priced well between £9 - £12, also available en primeur at exceptional prices!

A few years ago, a friend of Oliviers was looking to purchase a little land in St Emilion, so with partner in tow, he started to scout around. There were a few rumours that Chateau Grand Mayne (Cru Classé) were looking to sell off a few hectares of vines. Instead of buying, they decided to rent the land for the 2008 vintage. ‘That was the start of my St Emilion adventure’ grinned Olivier, with a child like excitement in his eye as I asked him about it. ‘We decided to do things very traditionally in the small cellar we had rented. The wine was fermented and macerated in open top oak barrels, with all punch downs done by hand and juice transferred by gravity. We then built the barrels again and use them for the ageing. In the vineyard, because we only have a couple of hectares to look after, I get to do everything by hand meticulously. This produces better grapes for me!’

The resulting wine is simply sublime and packs so much value in to the price. This ‘bang for your buck’ is the reason that it makes it into my favourites list at number four. You’re unlikely to find a better St Emilion for the price anywhere else.

Brilliantly fresh and beguiling nose of plum, blackcurrant, granary toast, and hints of woodsmoke and clay. The palate is balanced, fleshy, concentrated and abundant with layer upon layer of fruit. The tannin is starting to dissipate, and whatever tannin there may be left is silky smooth and sweet. Its weighted beautifully and has a good acidity that lifts the finish perfectly. Please see photo below as to what to drink this with… it is starting to drink well now, but would reward cellaring for the next few years.

Moooooo...

I always wonder with wine, whether the surroundings make things better. Its something I like to call ‘the Manzanilla effect’. I have never liked Manzanilla sherry, especially on a dreary rainy day in the Westcountry, but when out in Spain on a baking hot evening, there is simply nothing better than a nice cool copita of sherry. For this reason, I always re-taste things when I get home to see if it was the quality, the surroundings or a combination of both that made the wine so special. In this case the wine tasted just as good at home as it did on that lovely afternoon on the banks of the Dordogne. A sure sign of quality!

We have around 10 cases of this in stock right now. The 2010 vintage was available en primeur (a different property, but no decline in quality!) but its all gone now I’m afraid. Keep an eye out for the 2011 vintage next year as this will be a wine that I have helped make!

If you are interested in this wine please give one of the wine advisors a call on 01275 812230.

Mature Burgundy lunch - and a Lazarus 1923!

2011-07-25T02:11:00.000-07:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

I had lunch today with the generous client who'd provided the old Aussie wines for tasting the other night (see other post).

He'd been kind enough to line up a magnum of 1979 Burgundy so I dug out a couple of interesting, but ullaged and potentially challenging, old halves. In case of a complete wipe out I had some young white in the car, but luckily it stayed there!

We ate at the restaurant of a friend who had been a guest at the Australian tasting and he pulled out all the stops for lunch. I haven't got pics but I'll list the dishes at the end and urge anyone visiting Bristol to check out the Pump House. Today's lunch was awesome.

Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Mouches rouge 1979 - Drouhin.
From magnum. Evolved mahogany colour and bricking. Had a bewitching aroma of sweet red fruit and rose hips that kept evolving and changing in the glass - impossible to pin down. On the palate it was cool, silky. Perhaps not the most complex but with gorgeously unforced and natural sweet strawberry fruit. With time it gained in breadth. The finish was long and coated the palate with scent. Lovely and at peak now. 17+

Clos du Tart 1945
From a domaine-bottled half bottle. This is the second time I've had this in the last year, the first being an awesome bottle at lunch with Neal Martin (of www.erobertparker.com) at the same restaurant last year - it appeared on both of our 'wines of the year' lists. This was strikingly similar. Brilliant, youthful colour that was essentially younger-looking than the 1979. Aroma of crisp, red Pinot Noir fruit and spice, developing spicy musk notes. Bloody hell this was good. Over a 4 hour lunch this grew and evolved, never fading. The palate showed some leather notes and rich incense spice. Really lively and still showing plenty of fruit and even some delicately chalky tannin. Layered, rich and yet light on its feet. This was an absolutely stunning glass of wine with a long, beguiling finish. The 19/20 has nothing to do with the vintage - it was JUST THAT GOOD!

Le Musigny 1923
Another half, with significant ullage, bottled by Averys. This would suggest a Vogue wine, as that's where most of our old Musigny came from, although I've never had one this old. The cork crumbled but the base came out intact. On opening I was extremely sceptical - totally brown with a dead fruit, maderised, molasses aroma. The palate showed the vestiges of rich fruit and weight, but it was essentially DOA. Nevertheless, with a mag and a half bottle between two of us (and all the passing staff we could persuade to have a glass) we kept this in hope that a bit of oxygen would work some magic. Guess what...it sort of worked. The wine remained oxidised, but some sort of Lazarus-like thing happened. It gained in depth and fruit. Spice appeared and the sherried element receded - although not entirely. By the end of lunch, and the end of the half, I could get a sense of black fruit, depth and power. You could sense the richness of the year. Far from a perfect 1923 but a fascinating drink and a real treat. No score for this as there's no point.

As for the food...

We had two pre-starters that we hadn't ordered. First up, a trio of cured salmon, assembled as a bite-sized terrine sort of thing, served with a horseradish-filled beetroot ravioli. Great palate cleanser and fluffer of the gastric juices. (we didn't start the red Burgundy with this)

Second was smoked quail with a pickled quail's egg yolk on a savoury meringue (made with the white) and rocket foraged from just over the road in an abandoned building! Superbly smokey and the yolk was gorgeous.

My starter proper was squid and seaweed with samphire. Two types of seaweed foraged from beaches on the Severn estuary were delicious. Something called lava seaweed was thick, toothsome and quite fishy, a bit like some sort of nori wrapper. Toby had also made some sort of bisque that he'd set as little jellied spheres, some coloured with the squid ink, that made cavier-like explosions on the palate.

My guest's starter was a gorgeous take on lambs liver, bacon and onions that I've had before. The liver having been cooked in a water bath and being meltingly fine, all served in a gigantic, battered onion ring. Looked and tasted a lot better than it sounds.

For a main we both had guinea fowl served on a smear (is there a better word?) of black pudding puree, with a sausage that was some sort of black pudding / guinea fowl combo with brilliant mustard mash and green beans. Neal Martin and the guys had had this at our Cheval Blanc / Petrus lunch last week and I'd been gutted not to have picked the same. Today's did not disappoint.

We decided to skip dessert, but Toby sent down a tasting plate of English summer fruit type concoctions, including some sort of canneloni of raspberry filled with a flavoured cream, and lots of fresh elderflower, gooseberry, strawberry type flavours with texture coming from meringues, jellies and suchlike. Can't remember the details, but it was fresh, light and lovely.

Finally we wrapped up with a bit of cheese.

I need to hone my food writing before I can do justice to meals like this, but the wines were stonking and I really can't say enough nice stuff about the Pump House in Bristol (google it - no connection other than they're friends of mine and I spend too much money there).

Bryn's top six count down continues: Number 5...

2011-07-22T02:48:00.000-07:00

Our roaming wine advisor Bryn continues his countdown of his top six favourite wines from his two years with Averys. And it’s another South African at number five!

Vondeling Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - £8.99

‘Granite! Granite! Glorious granite! Nothing quite like it for old Savvy Blanc!’ exclaims brilliant young winemaker Matthew Copeland. It is precisely this knowledge, passion and skill that tempted me to send off my CV to apply for harvest internship with Matthew in February 2012.

Vondeling is situated on a rocky granite outcrop on the slopes of the Paarderberg where the farm benefits from unique microclimates and very complex soil profiles. These microclimates give the Vondeling vines a longer ripening season than most of the other appellations in South Africa, so the grapes are able to reach the peak of maturity before being picked. Matthew has been the winemaker here since 2007 having worked in a number of challenging places around the world, and he has been garnering an enviable reputation for making wines of elegance, purity and finesse, almost European in style.

Having said that there are still problems with excessive heat in South Africa, but as his earlier exclamation says, it’s this granite outcrop that makes this particular Sauvignon Blanc so brilliant! It adds a minerality to the naturally flavourful warm climate Sauvignon fruit that balances the wine perfectly! Yields are kept ultra low through dedicated vineyard management to increase concentration and complexity in the flavours. The free-run juice and pressed juice are managed separately and blended to create perfect balance. Cold fermentation is used to lock in the zing and the wine is aged on its lees for around 7 months to add weight and a creamy mouth feel.

Brilliant pale elderflower colour in the glass with just a slight tinge of green. The nose is restrained for new world sav, showing tropical fruits like guava and passion fruit, hints of blackcurrant leaf. It opens out to reveal hints of grapefruit and freshly sliced green pepper, and a wonderful herbaciousness that I love about South African Sauvignon. The palate is pure, minerally and beautifully poised. It washes the whole palate with a deep and rich flavour and zippy acidic zing on the very long tropical and flinty finish. Drink this as an aperitif, or with fish. Another suggestion is to try this with simple steamed asparagus. I personally will be drinking this with some Kingklip (local SA fish) as my first meal out in South Africa!

Vondeling wines have been wowing critics and restauranteurs for a long time now, with people like Albert and Michel Roux of La Gavroche (Britain’s first Michelin starred restaurant) stocking several of the estate’s wines. If you ever find yourself out in South Africa, the winery is well worth a visit but you may need to call ahead. There is even a luxury farmhouse available for hire should you want to stay in the winelands for a week!

I feel slightly harsh singling out this wine for such praise as all of the Vondeling wines are extremely well made and excellent value. Check out their Erica Shiraz, the Baldrick Shiraz, the Petit Rouge and Blanc, and when we have it the Babiana! They are all superb!

Should you want to know more about this wine or any of the Vondeling range, please don’t hesitate to give one of the wine advisors a call on 01275 812230 or visit Averys.com.

Cheers!
Bryn

One-off Australian tasting

2011-07-20T03:30:00.000-07:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

Corks were pulled on this unique line up of wines by a generous customer of Averys. Originally purchased by him from Langtons, at auction in Australia, they had been shipped to his UK cellar and subsequently to California and Canada before returning to these shores. Whilst the owner is now back living in New South Wales, he’s finally baulked at the import tax involved in re-patriating them, and so was born the idea of opening a selection from the cellar whilst he was in the UK.

These were well travelled bottles, many had degrees of ullage and some had clearly been seeping. We were expecting about a 50% hit rate.

Bottles had been standing in our Bristol cellars for about 3 weeks, having been collected from a couple of locations in the UK. I arrived early and opened bottles in advance, leaving them standing, uncorked, to benefit from a slow oxygenation for a couple of hours prior to tasting. There was some concern that the weaker bottles might topple over with air but, in the end, most seemed to grow and blossom with a little O2 and none fell apart.

Whilst there were few rock stars amongst the line up that doesn’t do justice to how exciting it was to see so many well-preserved, mature and delicious old wines. It was pretty much a ‘dry bucket’ tasting – no spitting – but we were drinking proper Australian wine history.

Proceedings got underway with some Champagne – the only non-Aussie wines of the night.

Meiter 1998 Vintage Champagne
No idea about this house. The colour was mid-gold with an evolved but quite reticent bouquet. Best bit about the wine was the richly buttery, creamy texture. There were hints of mushroom on the palate and a notably high dosage leading into a broad finish. 16+One person kept some in a glass and apparently it improved over the evening, but I wasn’t totally convinced by this.

Bollinger NV
From a batch purchased in 1988, this was a great showing. A golden colour with evolved red fruit notes and a marked (Bollinger) oxidative style. Dark toned and complex with notes of burned embers and very rich, underlying, autolysis. This had great length and complexity on the mid palate and finished full and assertive. 17.5

Ingoldby Chardonnay 1996, McLaren Vale.
I remember selling the 2004 vintage of this not long ago and would hope that all that is long drunk up, yet this was surprisingly alive. A burnished gold colour, this was surprisingly fresh on the nose, especially for McLaren fruit. Still some vanilla oak poking through. Has evolved aromas of butterscotch with some peach and tropical fruit. Some of the banana notes I’d expect from this style, but they’re not overwhelming. The finish is a bit raw and diffuse. This has seen better days and isn’t a style I personally would age but, whilst it’s well into the down slope, it’s neither dead nor not worth drinking – really good for what it is. 15.5

Leo Buring Burgundy 1969
100% Shiraz from Coonawarra and Clare. I’ve seen some brilliant Buring Rieslings from the early ‘70s but this was entirely new to me and, I think, the only bottle of this from the collection with only slight ullage. Cork came out well. Good, strong colour for the age with only some bricking. Had a rich and spicy bouquet with complex smokey notes of dying embers / ash. Stunning on the palate – sweeet and leathery with some red fruit, very silky tannin and good depth still. A definite cool climate profile with some mint, mid-weight body and good clarity. Not the most complex but long, sweet and gorgeous. 17.5

Kay Brothers Special Bin 1971
A Shiraz / Cabernet blend from McLaren. This was on the way out. There had been some seepage from the cork and quite a bit of ullage. The colour was old and browning with high toned and maderised notes. That said, the palate still had the vestiges of big, lush Shiraz fruit. Past it, really, but 15 for trying.

Yalumba 1971 Shiraz Cabernet
Barossa fruit and, according to the label, a traditional Bordeaux blend. Pulling the cork, I’ve seen worse in bottles from the mid-1990s from France – clean as a whistle, and almost no soaking. This was served alongside the Kay Bros and was a huge contrast in terms of the vibrant, youthful, colour and nose. Really great fruit and classic Barossa pepper / spice still. Sadly, the palate didn’t quite deliver on the nose. There were some red fruit notes and a touch of mint, but it seemed to be tilting towards decline. Still, the nose hinted at the greatness of 1971 in the Barossa (not quite Grange, though) and this was still holding onto life. 16.5

Hardy’s 1972 Carignan
Got to be a rare, if not unique, bottle. Apparently there were 300 acres of Carignan in the Barossa in 1972 – bet there are fewer now. Still a deep colour, this had a sweet, ripe and spicy aroma. The palate was full and soft with worn leather notes and some dark berry fruit. Big on the attack there was less oomph on the back palate yet it did have good persistence, some red fruit on the finish and more life in it than some of the more prestigious bottles. Impressive stuff and one of the surprises of the night. 17+

Hermitage Estate 1974 Hunter Dry Red
100% Shiraz. I opened two bottles of this, one ullaged to top shoulder and the other much better. The ullaged bottle had a very dodgy cork and was the weaker wine from the outset. Very delicate and autumnal it was over-run with VA and had a shrill citric edge. The better bottle was classic Hunter Valley, with gamey, leathery, savoury notes yet a coolness to the palate and some mint on the finish. 17-I’ve never heard of this producer and assume they no longer exist…?

Robson Vineyard 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon
Another Hunter wine, I’d never heard of Murray Robson but gather he’s part of the tradition of Australian doctors turning to wine production. I nearly chucked this bottle on sight as, in a Burgundy bottle, the level was a good 3 inches from the cork and the sediment / muck was like nothing you’ve ever seen. Really glad we kept it as it was a gorgeous example of sweet, perfumed and mature Hunter fruit. Actually reminded me of older Graveyard Shiraz from Brokenwood. Complex, layered and quite Burgundian in its scent and texture this had really great definition and poise still. About the best red of the night. 18.5

Tyrells Hunter River Dry Red 1978 Vat 9
100% Shiraz, sadly this was maderised, browning and too old…out of condition. Pity as ’78 can be a really rewarding Aussie vintage.

Tyrells Hunter River Dry Red 1982 Vat 8
Served in a bracked with the above. This was fully mature, pale and delicate Shiraz. Sweetly perfumed red fruit with some volatility. It was in the last stages of maturity – autumnal and leafy but still tasty. 16

Huntington Estate Shiraz Cabernet 1985 – Mudgee
My first reaction was that this was a bit corked. Had a definite whiff of TCA but still good, sweet fruit and richness on the palate. With time, questions were raised about the taint but, whilst if cleaned up a bit, it stayed a touch dusty to me…?

Farmer Brothers Shiraz Cabernet 1986 – Coonawarra
Another one I’d never heard of. There was some talk of a rumour that this was made from fruit destined for Grange but diverted. Who can say? What it was, was a really good example of cooler climate Shiraz from a cool, but great, vintage. Don’t think I’ve ever had a poor ’86 from Australia. Prettily defined and well crafted wine with aromatic top notes of fresh red fruit. Really bright, vivid acidity – probably added but done well – giving a juicy style. Fragrant a lifted raspberry fruit on the finish. To me, this bears zero resemblance to Grange but it was good kit in its own right and probably doesn’t deserve to be over-shadowed by that comparison. 16.5+Across the top of the label it advised ‘To be enjoyed in moderation’ – the fun police existed in the mid-80s.

Rouge Homme Cabernet Sauvignon 1990 – Coonawarra
A familiar label to the Averys contingent, we’ve had good bottles of 1978 and 1982 from John’s cellar in the past and I remember selling lots of late 1990s vintages over the years. This was moving into graceful decline – sweet, easy-going and mature. The fruit was fading but still hanging in there. It finished delicate and aromatic but not really distinguished. 15.5

Penfolds Bin 407 1990
In a bracket with the Rouge Homme 1990, I believe the term is that this pancaked the previous wine. A really dense, youthful purple. Rich, spicy and classic Penfolds – reassuringly oaky! Thick, young and liquourous in the glass and on the palate. This was staggeringly young, with masses of upfront fruit. Perhaps lacked a bit of complexity and genuine depth of fruit but a better definition of Penfolds you couldn’t find. For the money they would have charged for this – drop dead bargain. 17-

Wyndham Estate Bin 555 1992 Shiraz
A much lighter, cooler climate and evolved style. This had red fruit characters and a slight medicinal note with some volatility poking through. Holding onto life but, a bit like those grasping the railings on the Titanic, it’s on the way down. 15

Rothbury Estate Shiraz 1994 Hunter Valley
From Len Evans’ old estate, the format of this tasting had echoes of his ‘single bottle club’. Rich, spicy and peppery with savoury Hunter fruit still cushioned by some toasty new oak. The palate was youthful and vibrant with a marked tarry Shiraz character. Still with a nice spine of acid, this showed good tension on the finish even if it wasn’t the most outstanding wine of the night. Reminded me of how good 1994s can be from Australia. 16+

We decided to call it a night on the reds and leave the last three for another day, in order to taste a couple of stickies.

Baileys of Glenrowan ‘Lexia’ 1983
I believe this was some variety of Muscat…? A pale amber colour, this was one of those wines that has got older without really maturing or ageing but, I guess, they never thought someone would keep it for 28 years and it was made to be drunk early. Some toasted butterscotch notes and a touch of marmelade hinting at a bit of botrytis. Simple, non-complex wine but good in its context. 15.5

McGuigan Botrytis Semillon ‘Reserve’ 1996
Very similar to the above in that this was a simple botrytis wine that’s lasted well but there’s probably not much upside to be had from keeping these in terms of improvement. Full-flavoured, rich and gingery, with enough acid to be fresh, this did its job admirably and worked well to close off the tasting without being a profound or complex fine wine. 15

Bryn is off to get his hands dirty...

2011-07-19T10:15:00.000-07:00

Bryn Stephens is one of our specialist wine advisors here at Averys, and is approaching his last month with the company. He is off to get his hands dirty, experiencing the mayhem and carnage that is harvest time on wineries! Whilst travelling to places like Bordeaux and South Africa, he will be updating us on the ins and outs of how the wonder that is wine, is made. But for his last few weeks he will be counting down his top 6 wines from the last two years.

I have long been a fan of South African wines, indeed it was a trip to South Africa in 2003 to see my brother that I think kick started my love affair with the vine! And I’m tolerably certain that it was a bottle of 2001 reserve Cabernet from Rhebokskloof that did it… or it could have been the Baksberg Elbar….. or possibly the Kanonkop Pinotage… maybe even the friendly waitress Truschen, at Vrede en Lust (I always wonder whether she did follow her dream and open up a café in London?), but whichever experience it was out of the several hundred I had that fortnight, I was hooked. It was then a delight to find some utterly spell-binding South African wines back here in the UK.

FW de Klerk Shiraz 2004
FW de Klerk will be a name familiar to many of you. He is the man who negotiated the end of apartheid with Nelson Mandela. After he retired, he decided to make a world class wine. All in a days work eh? His small estate has only produced four vintages (of which we have three). The estate Wildepaardejacht is situated on the north-western slopes of the Drakenstein mountains. It is an utterly breathtaking part of the world, and this is a wine to match that big country!

Brooding and dark, with a great concentration of flavour and viscosity. Having said that it is very well balanced, stewed black berry fruits abound on the nose, with hints of liquorice, prune and plenty of spice. This is not a nose for the faint of heart! The palate is rich, dark and deep, with a chocolatey feel and a flavour that really coats the whole mouth. The finish is nicely balanced with a small acidic lift. Its, powerful, concentrated and hearty. It would go with a number of different things, but for me this has to be drunk with a massive slice of cow served very rare, maybe with a bit of char grilling. I’m giving this 9.5 noms out of a possible 10… nom nom nom….

Jane MacQuitty’s 50 Top reds for Summer

2011-07-04T05:07:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to blog that our 2009 Averys Project Winemaker Carignan was included in Jane MacQuitty's recent Top 50 Reds for the Summer feature in The Times.

We're absolutely delighted that Project Winemaker, already a firm customer favourite, is also picking up accolades in the press.

Not taking the honour personally

2011-06-16T06:15:00.000-07:00

By Mimi Avery, Wine Buyer

17 years ago I visited New Zealand for the first time. It was somewhat of an epiphany for me, for although I had an interest in wine owing to my family’s history, it wasn’t until I visited those vineyards and spent time with the winemakers that I knew I wanted a career in wine. And the winery that inspired me all those years ago was a small, family-owned and run business called Allan Scott.

Allan had been growing grapes for years and selling them on to the big guys but it wasn’t until 1992, the year before I visited, that he established Allan Scott estate, directly opposite Cloudy Bay. He was an early pioneer of Marlborough – he helped plant the very first Sauvignon Blanc vines at Montana and then planted Marlborough’s first Riesling vines at Allan Scott. I have loved the Riesling ever since I first tasted it 17 years ago and these wines will always have a special place in my heart. I returned to Allan Scott at the end of last year and although they have expanded and diversified, very little had changed since my initial visit. It continues to be a real family affair and one of New Zealand’s most inspiring estates.

Now, Allan has been awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queens Birthday Honours. However, when he first received it in the mail, he was going to refused it.

"He was talked around by his adult children Josh and Victoria Scott, who told him to do it for the industry he helped pioneer. "I think there's a lot more people who have done a hell of a lot more and are worthy of higher accolades," he said. Accepting a Queen's Birthday honour for services to the wine industry was about Marlborough and the industry, rather than personal gratification, he said."

Click here to read the full article in the Marlborough Express.

You can order Allan's wines here.

En Primeur update...

2011-06-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

By Emma Roberts, Buying Director

Well finally a flurry of adrenalin and excitement! This morning has brought us some top names including Pontet Canet, Calon Segur and Giscours.

We were beginning to wonder whether we would be even half the way through the 2010 campaign before we return to Bordeaux in 10 days time for their Vinexpo wine fair, but fingers crossed that this momentum will keep up. Calon Segur and Pontet Canet, two of my favourite wines of the vintage, are reduced in volume - 50% of the crop at Calon Segur lost to hail. We will be contacting customers on allocation of this shortly.

In the meantime we have secured good allocations of Chateau Giscours which we have released at £500 IBB per case of 12.

It is a little unsettling to realize that 2009 and 2010 may be the greatest back to back Bordeaux vintages produced in the history of the region. The over-achieving Giscours has turned in a great performance in 2010, which possesses an opaque purple color as well as notes of licorice, black truffles, sweet blackberry and cassis fruit, flowers and soil undertones. It is very full-bodied and exceptionally opulent, fat and round, but the vintage’s acids, precision, high glycerin, alcohol and extract are all present. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring and drink it over the following 25-30 years. Robert Parker 92-95

To order your wines, view all the latest releases, compare critics' scores and read John Avery's 2010 vintage report, visit www.averys.com/bordeaux2010.

2009 / 2010 Bordeaux - 1928 / 1929 all over again?

2011-06-03T06:20:00.000-07:00

As this years Bordeaux En Primeur Campaign gathers pace, we are talking about comparing dual vintages. Ronald Avery built his reputation as a fine wine merchant by backing the 1929 vintage – when everyone else backed 1928... he was right.

Below is his actual tasting notes from his notebook on tasting those two vintages in 1935. (Click the image to enlarge).

For this years latest releases, critics' scores, John Averys vintage report and more, please visit www.averys.com/bordeaux2010.

Bordeaux 2010 tasting at our historic cellars...

2011-05-19T02:23:00.000-07:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager
Last week we hosted our annual Bordeaux en primeur tasting, welcoming 100 customers to our cellars beneath central Bristol. We tasted samples of about 60 different wines, ranging from Petit Chateaux right up to the lofty heights of Domaine de Chevalier, Angelus and Rauzan Segla. For me, it was great to be able to re-visit the wines for the first time since early April. The formiddable tannin of the vintage was certainly in evidence but the fruit concentration is such that they were surprisingly fun to taste.

None of the major chateaux have released their wines yet but we are starting to hear stirrings from some of our favourite properties further down the pecking order. These are well worth a look as, especially in top vintages, they provide excellent drinking, don't take a generation to reach maturity and - unlike the 1st growths - don't necessitate a re-mortgage. I tasted through these last night and was particularly impressed by both Beaumont and Gigault - I'm sure that anyone who came to our Gigault dinner with the owner earlier this year will be delighted to have a case of the 2010 in the cellar.

Chateau Cissac 2010 Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois - £95/cs EP
A long-standing favourite of Averys customers and a bastion of traditional, savoury claret. The last couple of vintages seem to have seen a slight change in the style at Cissac, keeping the ageworthy structure but with greater fruit purity and riper tannins, giving a more sophisticated and elegant result.

Chateau Beaumont 2010 Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois - £99/cs EP
I think this is a delicious Beaumont. The chateau is just south of Margaux and this really does have a Margaux-esque character. It has a fragrant, red-fruit aroma with fresh blackcurrant notes on the palate, a lovely cool, silky texture and some floral characters on the finish. I scored this a very respectable 17-/20 and it punches far above its £99 price tag.

Chateau Gigault 'Cuvee Viva' 2010 Blaye Cotes de Bordeaux - £120/cs EP
This has got to be the best property in Blaye. Stephane Derenoncourt has consulted here since 1996 and last night the ripe, glossy fruit and rich texture really shone through. The 1998 we drank at our Gigault dinner demonstrated that the wines can age elegantly too, and for rather longer than Mr Parker seems to think.
A consistent overachiever, Gigault Cuvee Viva’s 2010 (100% Merlot fashioned under the guidance of Stephane Derenoncourt) was made from yields of 25 hectoliters per hectare and achieved 14% natural alcohol. Fat and plump, it offers abundant aromas of coffee beans, plum sauce and black cherry jam as well as a lush, hedonistic personality. Although not complex, it delivers lots of fruit, glycerin and thrills. Enjoy it over the next 3-4 years. 88-90pts - Robert Parker

Chateau Cambon la Pelouse 2010 Haut Medoc Cru Bourgeois - £135/cs EP
This is a gorgeous little wine in 2010 with a really impressive core of sweet, ripe fruit wrapped in an elegant structure. Like Beaumont, the vineyard is near Margaux and they produce wines very much in the style of that commune. I recently found a bottle of 2000 in my cellar that had opened up beautifully and really exceeded expectations.

A major sleeper of the vintage from this 100-acre vineyard near Cantemerle and Giscours, the 2010 is a blend of 50% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Petit Verdot produced under the guidance of well-known consultant, Claude Gros. An opaque ruby/purple color is followed by sweet black raspberry, black cherry and black currant fruit notes intermixed with notions of licorice and graphite. Medium to full-bodied and supple textured, this sexy Bordeaux should be consumed over the next 5-8 years. 89-92pts - Robert Parker

Chateau Bourgneuf 2010 Pomerol - £295/cs EP
Mr Parker doesn't like this wine very much, but please ignore him. It's part of the J-P Moueix stable of chateaux and, unusually for them, is in a particularly opulent and richly textured style. I've tasted it twice now with consistent notes and scores: Complex, spicy nose with sweetly toasted oak notes. The palate is glossy and highly polished with sweet, ripe fruit. The style is really rich and hedonistic but, despite the low acidity, this pulls off all that decadence and manages to remain balanced. 17.5/20 - MH.

As ever, please let me know if you're tempted to put any of these in the cellar but also, please do give me a call if you'd like to discuss the 2010 vintage or express interest in any of the major wines.

You can also visit our Bordeaux 2010 En Primeur website (www.averys.com/bordeaux2010) for the latest releases, John Averys vintage report, critics' scores and more.

A Lesson in Fizzics

2011-04-15T02:10:00.000-07:00

Legend has it that Dom Pérignon invented it. But the locals of Limoux say their monks were first. Even the English claim to have mastered the style before anyone else. So when and where did bubbles first appear in wine and how exactly do they get there?

Let’s first look briefly at the science of sparkling wine. Bubbles are carbon dioxide (CO2). Cheap sparkling wines are injected with it much like a soft drink but quality wines capture naturally occurring CO2 during fermentation. The Traditional Method, used in Champagne and elsewhere, requires a still wine to be made and bottled before for a second fermentation is induced by the addition of sugar. Sealed in, the gas dissolves into the wine.

The wines of the Champagne region were originally still, though it was a hit-and-miss affair. With limited understanding of wine chemistry, winemakers struggled to prevent wines naturally refermenting (and turning effervescent) as temperatures rose the following Spring. The ‘invention’ of Champagne as we know it was not a Eurika moment, but a process that evolved over centuries.

Dom Pérignon, famous monk of the Abbey of Hautvillers, is synonymous with Champagne yet devoted his life not to making sparkling wine – for he saw it as a fault – but to improving techniques that ensured his wines remained as fresh and aromatic as possible. One of his many lasting legacies was the crafting of white wine from red Pinot Noir grapes.

In the southern French town of Limoux, the winemaking monks of St Hilaire made no attempt to prevent secondary fermentation, turning it instead to their advantage, They did so by using cork, from nearby Catalonia. This tight seal proved to be effective in trapping carbon dioxide in the bottle. The sparkling Blanquette de Limoux has been made since 1531 but early glass bottles were barely strong enough to withstand the pressure of a sparkling wine and certainly did not travel well.

The fashion for sparkling wine first took hold in London where merchants decanted and bottled oak casks of Champagne into superior quality English glass which proved less prone to exploding. The first written mention of Champagne as a sparkling wine in England was in 1676.

Early Champagnes were not clear, but cloudy. Secondary fermentation in bottle results in a sediment of dead yeast cells and it was Antoine de Muller, an employee of the Widow (Veuve) Clicquot who finally solved that problem in the early 1800s. He invented the technique of remuage – turning bottles daily to coax sediment to the neck of the bottle, thereby facilitating its removal.

Sparkling wines are made the world over with most wine regions boasting a signature style. While the Spanish have Cava and the Italians Prosecco, the French have Champagne and various sparkling wines known as Crémant made, most notably, in Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Loire.

And the nominations are...

2011-04-04T01:21:00.000-07:00

We’ve just heard that we have been finalised in the Marketing Week Engage Awards 2011 for our Bordeaux En Primeur Campaign 2009 - this is a notoriously difficult category to become a finalist in and we'll be competing with businesses across a variety of sectors of industry. As you can imagine, we're pretty thrilled to be included. Until then, it's fingers crossed and we will update you after the awards ceremony!

Château Gigault dinner

2011-03-18T03:18:00.000-07:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

Last Friday we were delighted to welcome Christophe Reboul-Salze to Bristol. Christophe owns Chateau Gigault - the finest estate in the 1eres Cotes du Blaye. Many of us think of Blaye as a relatively new addition to the famous names of Bordeaux, so it was fascinating to learn that Averys had actually listed Gigault in our 1935 Wine List! Christophe's promised to send us a copy (but not a bottle...).

Over twenty of us - the wine advisers, team Culver Street, Liz Field from the buying department, Beccy from marketing, and me - took Christophe to my favourite Bristol restaurant, where they not only accommodated our large party (plus bottles) but served us some top notch food. Over the course of dinner we worked our way through a vertical tasting of Christophe's top bottling: Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva.

We kicked off with Champagne from the restaurant's list - Pierre Moncuit's Blanc de Blanc. This is a grower Champagne I really enjoy - it's ultra-fresh, pure and direct. A lovely perfume of white blossom is followed by a creamy palate with a fine mouses and some yellow stone fruit. The finish is brisk, dry and bracing - really sets you up for dinner.

As this was dinner rather than a tasting, I decided just to make a few brief notes and dispense with scores...

Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 2007
Bright and youthful with a crisp red fruit aroma. Mid-weight on the palate with some earthy tannin. This is lifted and fresh with a sense of delicacy and a nicely fragrant finish. A very tasty '07 for current drinking.

Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 2005
Has a notable density and richness of colour and aroma. Lots of glossy black fruit and spice on the nose. The palate shows sweet, ripe fruit and supple, velvet tannins. Despite the weight the wine has admirable density and precision. Really good stuff this. If you have any, I'd stay away from the corkscrew for just a little longer but you won't regret it if you do pull a cork now.

Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 2003
Controversial vintage, this. Many people feel it was just too hot to make classic Bordeaux and many of the Merlot-based wines, like Gigault, are already starting to tire. The nose shows very ripe fruit, with a slightly fudgy edge to it - as you might expect from 2003. The palate is better, with very ripe, sweet fruit but plenty of weight to make it rich and opulent for current drinking. I wouldn't keep this too much longer, but it certainly gives lots of pleasure if you like a hedonistic claret - a bit of a guilty pleasure, with low acidity and loads of fruit.

Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 1999
The first bottle I tasted was just a little bit oxidised but luckily we had two others to hand. The next glass I poured was a lovely, mature wine with elegance and delicacy. 1999 was never going to be a powerful wine, but it offers delicious current drinking. This is claret that's light on its feet and fine-boned, with lovely, silky tannin. Drinking at peak now.

Chateau Gigault Cuvee Viva 1998
A great right bank vintage, this was also Christophe's first harvest at Gigault so we were very lucky he shared some with us. There's something very cool and controlled about the aroma, combined with classic, mature, notes of earth and sweet spices. Absolutely at the peak of maturity, it perhaps lacks the precision of modern vintages - but a lot has changed in winemaking since 1998! - and is growing old gracefully. Has a lovely, lingering finish.

To round things off, I'd brought along a few bottle of Chateau Raymond Lafon 2005 Sauternes - carefully chosen to go with my dessert of 'Apples & Pears: Tarte Tartin'. 2007 and 2001 might be better vintages for Sauternes, but in terms of pure richness and decadence, '05 is the way to go. For those of us who can't quite stretch to d'Yquem, Raymond Lafon is a pretty good choice...this had an intense perfume of blossom and creme brulee with complex spice and toast notes. Full and rich on the palate with crystalline fruit purity and nicely taut acidity to balance out all the sweetness and weight. The gorgeously long finish drew the evening to an end in great style.

'Chapeau' to Christophe for doing such great things with Chateau Gigault and for being such good company over dinner. Of the reds, 2005 - unsurprisingly - gets my vote as the wine of the night, but the 2007 gets an honourable mention in despatches for offering delicious current drinking whilst we wait for it's older sibling to really hit its stride.

Thanks also to Toby, Adam, Flo and everyone at the Pump House (www.the-pumphouse.com) for yet another stunning meal and for once again being generally brilliant.

Book release - Quicklook@Wine by Richard Avery

2011-03-14T04:03:00.000-07:00

Quicklook@Wine provides an instant solution to help you get to grips with this fascinating industry and its products. Wine expert Richard Avery takes you briefly and clearly through the story of wine, exploring the amazing care taken in its production and the marriage of art, science and luck needed for success.

Son of the noted Bristol wine merchant John Avery, Richard Avery has wine in his blood. He represents the fifth generation of a family business founded in 1793. Following in the footsteps of his ancestors, Richard completed a Wine Tasting diploma at the University of Bordeaux in 1995. While in France, he helped to set up and manage Cousin et Cie, a Denmark-based wine company that challenged even the more established Bordeaux specialists. To this day, one of his proudest achievements is having sold Burgundy and Australian Shiraz to the Bordelais.

Richard’s French excursions allowed him to further his family’s relations with the region that began in the 1920’s with his grandfather Ronald, and have since been a solid connection of the Bristol business. On his return to the UK, Richard joined the tasting panel for Decanter magazine, for which he remains a consultant. He is also a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Vintners.

Richard has also found the time to pursue a successful acting career, training at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, performing in leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as on the West End stage under the guise of Alex Avery. He has featured in a number of films alongside acting legends such as Michael Caine, Emma Thompson, Johnny Depp and Dustin Hoffman.

For more information and to order your copy, please click here.

Château de Beaucastel tasting with Marc Perrin

2011-03-10T02:48:00.000-08:00

By Aaron Rice

Chateau de Beaucastel is one of the leading lights of the Rhone valley – and recent vintages were illuminated for us when Marc Perrin visited last week to host a tutored tasting of some of the impressive wines which he and his brothers have crafted in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Almost all of their wines are blends because, as Marc explained “Each grape is like an instrument – and the symphony will always be more impressive than the solo recital” hence Rhone wines gain their depth, complexity and unique appeal from the interplay of different varieties; so blending becomes as important as the growing and making of the individual wines. This he cites as one of the main differences between the northern and southern Rhone.

‘People think of the Rhone as one region, but the North and the South are completely different. In the north they mostly grow Syrah, the south we blend thirteen different varieties of grape. The north is granite, the south is clay and limestone. The climate in the North is continental, in the South its Mediterranean. The north is sloping, the south is mostly a plateau … and the food is different – butter in the north, olive oil in the south. We even support different football teams. We support Marseilles, they support Lyons.’

‘We want to be the major force in the Southern Rhone,’ he said. ‘All the big names – the brands – in the Rhone are from the north: for their wines from the south they become negociants. But we don’t want to buy grapes – you have no control – so we have invested and bought or leased vineyards. We own all our vines in Gigondas, Vaqueyras, Cairanne and are now running them along organic or bio-dynamic lines.’

The wines are all intended to fully express their terroir and the climate in every vintage – and this was illustrated beautifully in the contrasts between the ultra-ripe 2007s, the elegant 2008s and the silky, velvety opulence of the 2009s.

I have listed the notes for the wines below in the order they were tasted:

Coudoulet de Beaucastel 2007 Blanc
Marsanne 30%, Viognier 30%, Bourboulenc 30%, Clairette 10%. From vineyards just outside the Chateauneuf appellation which share the same terroir. Ripe, full and honeyed on the palate with a bright, vivid acidity; lovely richness and a saline minerality on the finish. Drinking at its peak now and over the next two years.

Chateau de Beaucastel 2007 Blanc
80% Roussanne, 15% Grenache Blanc, 5% Clairette, Marsanne and others. The Rousanne vines are all over 50 years old. Lush ripeness with hints of tropicality on the nose. Impressive weight and depth with an almost creamy texture and with a vibrant acidity which lifts the palate. Profound.

Chateau de Beaucastel 2007 Roussanne Vieille Vignes
The sole exception to the ‘symphony rule’, this comes from a tiny parcel of 75 year-old Roussanne vines.

Wonderful nose, toasty, nutty, smoky, honeyed and complex. Unctuous, honeyed texture with impressive weight and depth on the palate, yet a balancing acidity and delicious salty, minerally tang to the finish. Remarkably complex, praiseworthy. If you’re lucky enough to own this, either drink it within 5 years of vintage or (preferably) leave it in the cellar for a decade. Marc Recommends it with sea urchin risotto.

Perrin Cotes du Ventoux 2009
Very ripe, with red and black fruits bursting from the glass. Vibrant and crunchy on the palate – an immensely enjoyable wine that would be delicious with or without food.

Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages 2009
50% Grenache, 50% Syrah. Black fruits – damsons, plums and black cherries on the nose. Impressively deep, rich and dense on the palate with layers of fruit, spice, and minerality on the palate. Amazing depth and complexity for a wine at this level. Superb.

Perrin Vinsobres, Les Cornuds, 2007
The vineyards of Vinsobres are at some of the highest altitudes in the southern Rhone – so Syrah thrives here. This is a blend of 50% Syrah & 50% Grenache. Lovely fragrant note of violets and black pepper on the nose with a whiff of granite. Beautifully balanced and silky on the palate with supple forest fruits and mineral notes with hints of truffles.

Perrin Rasteau, L’Andeol, 2007
Quite a meaty style from a much warmer part of the region – and it shows. Rich black cherry and damson on the nose and palate with notes of leather, roasted game and garrigue. Very long finish with hints of winter spices and dark chocolate very complex and impressive and just beginning to open out.

Perrin Gigondas, La Gille, 2007
Marc calls this ‘a more feminine style of rhone’ due to the sandy soils of Gigondas which give wines of greater elegance than the stonier soils. Really complex nose; blackberries and cherries with floral notes and some gamy, earthy characters. Lovely texture in the mouth, very pure and focussed with a finish that lingers for an age.

Coudoulet de Beaucastel Rouge 2008
“A wine which proves” according to Marc “that even in a difficult vintage, great terroir will make fine wine”. This is a good reason to ‘buy‘wines and not vintages’ as Marc puts it. Already delicious (though some decanting is necessary for full enjoyment) this will drink nicely for a decade. Blackcurrant, cherry and spice with some garrigue and herby notes on the nose. Lovely, pure fruit on the palate and a very long, complex and delicious finish.

Chateau de Beaucastel Rouge 2008
Marc calls this ‘quite a Northern style’. Already quite open, the nose is immensely inviting with notes of liquorice, roasted game, blackcurrants, violets and garrigue. Beautifully focussed yet opulent texture, quite full on the palate with silky tannins, good freshness, and a long finish. Wow – a Beaucastel that can be enjoyed over the next decade instead of after two decades!

The diversity, complexity and across-the-board excellence of all the wines tasted, coupled with Marc’s passion and depth of knowledge, left everyone immensely impressed – and I guarantee that every member of staff who attended learned at least a couple of new facts about the family, the region and the wines.

So Marc, if you read this, thank you once again.

Aaron is a wine advisor at Averys. Should you wish to discuss any of our wines, you can contact him on 01275 812 237.

Tom Cannavan names Project Winemaker Carignan his wine of the week

2011-03-08T01:29:00.000-08:00

Thanks Tom!

Click here to read Tom's full review.

Order your case for just £9.99 a bottle - here

Questions for Michel Chapoutier

2011-03-04T02:15:00.000-08:00

How would you describe your winemaking philosophy? How important is the notion of ‘terroir’?
Firstly, we should explain the notion of terroir. The OIV (International Wine Body) has created a definition for terroir: this is the conjunction of soils, climate (can be a microclimate), a vintage and a man /woman with his/her historical traditions.

The Chapoutier philosophy is to have a respectful approach to the terroir. Producing an AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) wine does not simply consist of extracting the aromatic flavours of grapes, it is much more than that.

It is also very important to talk about yeasts in relation to the terroir – during the alcoholic fermentation, yeasts will transform sugar into alcohol. Several types of yeasts exist and give the wine an aromatic signature. The wine is like a symphony and yeasts are musical instruments. At M. Chapoutier, our philosophy consists of choosing indigenous yeasts naturally present on the grape skin. Mineral elements extracted from the soil by the roots will select certain indigenous yeasts versus others during the fermentation. There is therefore a real link between yeasts and terroir and this is the reason why we can talk about terroir only for fermented products – for example, you cannot distinguish a granitic or a calcareous soil if you eat only the grapes. Each yeast, selected by a specific oligo-element will bring its aromatic signature.

The fermentation starts at a low temperature – temperature will progressively increase and some yeast will appear at certain times and will bring complexity to the wine. We are looking for complexity and not strength. The control of temperature is important for that reason. A cold temperature will produce very fruity wines which are “Marketing wines”. The “terroir wines” we produce will show complexity, texture and length.

I usually say: “fruit is for the wine what speech is for the music.” Therefore we leave the temperature at a moderately high level to harness complexity.

As France’s largest biodynamic producer – can you explain what ‘biodynamic’ means and how it affects your wines?

Traditional farming is phytosanitary and curative – “if I have a headache, I take some aspirin.” What we do is actually treating the symptoms.

Organic farming also treats symptoms but replaces all chemicals by plants. Biodynamics, however, treats the origin of the headache. This is a preventive approach and not a curative one. With biodynamics, we work with the plants to nurture the power of life and not the power of death. With the use of herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, the notion of death is everywhere.

This is the reason why during pruning we use cow manure and bentonite to protect the vine as they are very rich in bacteria: by boosting the presence of bacteria, diseases cannot settle.

What are you views on climate change and what effects does it have on wine production and in the future?

When we talk about climate change, this is not only about global warming but also about the increase of certain gas like carbonic gas in the atmosphere.

With photosynthesis, the plant will transform the gas into sugar. The more carbonic gas the plant absorbs, the more it produces sugar. Therefore, the increase in sugar in the grapes and hence the increase of alcohol degrees in the wine is not only linked with global warming but also with the increase in carbonic gas.

Global Warming will have an influence on the evapotranspiration of the plant. Global Warming can be considered a good thing for the wine industry as it will require the winemakers to work with traditional methods. In the old days, our ancestors did not irrigate and were used to natural yields of 30 to 40 hl/ha (and not 100hl/ha as we can see sometimes today). Our ancestors planted 10,000 vines per hectare - the shadow of a vine protected the vine next to it. This avoided the process of evapotranspiration and vines needed less water.

In the Rhone Valley, the temperature can be very high; with a large density of vines, we produce a humid environment which has a lower temperature. Grafting also has an influence. Our ancestors used to first plant the rootstock and after 2 or 3 years cut it and graft it on to the vine. This resulted in very deep roots, capable of extracting humidity. This explains why you have old vines in Banyuls or in the Roussillon where it does not rain much. Nowadays, vinegrowers mostly graft in the nursery as it is quicker. We need to adjust our farming and respect the wisdom of our ancestors.

The question is, can we accept to have wines with abv of 15/15.5 ? Some winemakers would like to take out sugar or alcohol from the wine but these processes ruin the balance of the wine.

The wine industry will need to think about the following: could we add the 3 / 4% water lost by evapotranspiration? The difficulty will be to control the abuses.

The Rhone 2009 campaign is well underway - what’s your view of the vintage?

2009 is a very solar vintage, aromatic, rich, pleasant, courteous. The only inconvenient feature is that the signature of the vintage is predominant compared to the signature of the terroir. 2010 will be a completely different vintage but as interesting as 2009 – with a lot of minerality.

What vintages from the Rhone Valley are you drinking right now? What else are you currently drinking from your cellar?

I do not drink my wines very often. I try to be an example as the major risk in the wine industry is chauvinism. The wine should carry the notions of conviviality, sharing...I often says: “Give the power to the winemakers and you will avoid wars.”

Chauvinism is totally the contrary of these ideas of generosity. I love looking for new regions with interesting terroirs, for example, there are beautiful granitic terroirs in the Masif Central area.

I regularly taste many wines from foreign countries, from other regions in France or from other winemakers in the Rhone.

Last week, we tasted with my family two Hermitage wines from 1991 vintage (which is my daughter’s year of birth): one from Chave and Le Pavillon from M. Chapoutier. We will do the same next week with 1992 vintage which is my son’s year of birth.

Apparently you considered becoming a chef before becoming a winemaker – how similar do you think the two jobs are?

It is essential that the winemaker is passionate about food and respects cuisine.

We live in a world of masculism, rarely asking the women what they want. Complementing one another is something very important for a couple. I have seen so many wines produced by other winemakers, very rich and concentrated which could not match any dish as they were overpowering the food.

You have a growing range of wine projects outside of the Rhône – where’s next for Chapoutier?

It will be on an outstanding terroir, but this is still confidential.

What’s the best thing about being Michel Chapoutier?

Drinking Champagne every day

No spitting in Tower Hamlets

2011-03-03T06:25:00.000-08:00

By Matthew Hemming, Fine Wine Manager

I rounded off a freezing cold week in January with an indulgent trip to Corney & Barrow's London offices, where I found perhaps the least used spitoons in the world for that one morning. The occasion was the annual trade/press presentation of the latest vintage release from Domaine de la Romanee Conti - perhaps the greatest wine estate in the world.

The tasting was conducted in a hushed but relaxed atmosphere and it was really nice to be able to take my glass off to a corner and work quietly at my own pace. With each wine, after an initial swirl I was careful to put it aside, and leave it for a while to unfurl in the glass. Not a luxury you often find at these events.

Echezeaux 2008 Domaine de la Romanee Conti
Immediately very scented and pure with complex floral and musk aromas. Very pretty wine without the darker and more rustic liquorice element I often find in Echezeaux. The oak is very much in a supporting / framing role. Silky and suave palate texture. The acidity is bright but not at all strict, as '08 can be. A seductive and elegant wine that's fine-textured and even delicate on the finish. 17.5

Grands Echezeaux '08 DRC
Greater intensity and aromatic breadth than the opening wine. The nose is very expressive after some time - incense, spice, dark-toned fruit with some smoke and toasty oak. An extremely sleek palate entry is followed by almost penetrating intensity of flavour. Somehow sappy and mouthwatering without being noticeably acidic. The finish is rich and heady with an almost saline mineral cut. I was pretty much floored by this. 18.5

Richebourg '08 DRC
Very flamboyant, forward aromatics. Seems to emphasise the rich, dark fruit elements rather than the spice and scent of the Ech and GE. Aromas are heady and complex. Sweet and full on the palate, flashy almost. Has a fine, silken tannic structure but not quite the tension and multi-layered complexity of the GE. There's some serious grip on the finish and the finish is extrmely long, promising great potential and suggesting I'm under-estimating it. 18

Romanee St Vivant '08 DRC
Extremely shy and reticent at first. With time and elusive perfume develops - complex and floral. There's great precision and detail here. Beautiful, soaring aromatics emerge on the mid-palate. It's lithe and really fine-spun yet with a riveting tension to it. Rich spice and incense notes dominate the finish. This is stunning. 18.5

La Tache '08 DRC
I think I missed something here. I had the last of a bottle, which was barely a lip-wetting quantity, then another bottle was produced. My first thought was that it was pretty reductive. I'm sure I just caught it in a bad spot and look forward to seeing what others thought... Dark and stern on the nose. Closed and extremely hard to read - the most brooding wine of the morning. On the palate the tannin is firm yet velvet textured. There's some ripe, cherry fruit and clear intensity but it's not giving much up. Aristocratic and pretty austere this morning...?18-?

Romanee Conti '08 DRC
Infinitely more open and generous on the nose. Rich, ripe and layered with exotic spice, musk and the merest whiff of toasty oak. Intriguing reductive / mineral notes too. Has a fabulous cashmere texture to the tannins, it's fine boned and intense yet light on its feet. It's very complex and continues to evolve in the glass and on the mid palate, not wanting to be pinned down. This defines 'light and shade' and is classy in the extreme. 18.5+

So there we have it. I was super impressed by the GE and RSV. Should remember, of course, that all this is massively academic as these wines are so far from the realms of the attainable that scores, preferences, etc are almost meaningless. Just pulling the cork on these is special, regardless. Nevertheless, another great showing for 2008s.

Averys do receive a tiny alloaction of DRC in most years. Whilst we can't pretend that the wines aren't already massively over-subscribed and first offered to those who have bought in previous years, if you'd like to be considered for an allocation please drop us a line.

Re: Project Winemaker vintage update from down under...

2011-02-03T03:43:00.000-08:00

To: Emma Roberts
From: Hugh Cutherbertson @ Cheviot Bridge
Re: Project Winemaker vintage update from down under...

Have been whizzing about looking at vineyards. Summer rains have caused some disease issues in the warmer irrigated areas of Australia, reducing the expected national crush. The season is quite late (or maybe normal if you take away the last 10 years of drought effected production). Most of the dry land premium regions in South Australia and Victoria are looking OK. The east coast has been lashed with rain while Margaret River in the west desperately needs some.

The vintage 2010 Project Winemaker wines are coming along nicely. The Clare old vine Grenache has come out of wood and is ready for bottle. It's got a great colour with aromas of plum, black berry and spice... the flavour is savory and rich with a level of complexity that only comes from happy old vines.

The three components of the Adelaide Hills Chardonnay have been put together... The fresh fruity tank / the well stirred lees tank and the oak fermented parcel. This gives us the "layers" of flavor we are looking for. The wines showing great nectarine like aromas with some pear and green apple. The palate has good depth and length.

The Merlot is off the same vineyard as the Chardonnay at Angas Creek in the Hills. It's just out of oak and ready to bottle... juicy, rich and flavorsome. It will fill out nicely in bottle.

The Heathcote Shiraz is still dancing with its French oak. The colour is amazing... black as a dogs guts. It has the typical regional aromas of blueberry, cloves and plum.

Will keep you posted.

Cheers, Hugh.

John Avery’s Burgundy 2009 Vintage Report

2011-01-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

By John Avery MW

Expectations were high in Burgundy 2009 – would it follow the general run of excellent ‘9’ vintages? It was apparent from the first time I tasted this vintage in September 2010 that the answer was a resounding yes.

The year began with a cold, cleansing winter and a fresh, cool spring. And whilst there was some hail damage in Morey St Denis and Gevrey Chambertin it was not widespread. But what made this year particularly memorable was a very long, sunny summer. It was largely dry and bright, warm rather than hot, with just the occasional downpour of rain. Like elsewhere in France, 2009 was a glorious summer that lasted well into harvest time.

This was ideal for growers, allowing them the luxury of when to pick, rather than when the weather dictated it. Matthew Hemming (Fine Wine Manager), Emma Roberts (Buying Director) and I visited Burgundy in November 2010 to select the wines for this offer. It is such an enjoyable vintage that it was difficult to narrow it down but we are all thrilled with this year’s collection.

Click here to view the full 2009 Burgundy En Primeur offer

Weather / Delivery update!

2010-12-09T03:48:00.000-08:00

Due to the icy conditions in some parts of the UK, we are currently experiencing delays on deliveries to some areas. Your order will be delivered within a week (subject to acceptance of your order), unless otherwise specified. For DN and S postcodes please allow 10 days. For Northern Ireland and English offshore islands please allow 14 days. For Scotland due to the severe weather unfortunately we cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.

We'll keep this blog updated with any further developments.

Weather / Delivery update!

2010-12-09T02:50:00.000-08:00

Due to the icey conditions in some parts of the UK, we are currently experiencing delays on deliveries to some areas. Your order will be delivered within a week (subject to acceptance of your order), unless otherwise specified. For DN and S postcodes please allow 10 days. For Northern Ireland and English offshore islands please allow 14 days. For Scotland due to the severe weather unfortunately we cannot guarantee delivery before Christmas.

We'll keep this blog updated with any further developments.

Delivery and Weather Update

2010-12-07T03:29:00.000-08:00

Please be advised that the adverse weather conditions over the last few days have caused unavoidable knock on effects on our carrier network and deliveries from all depots have been delayed.

We are doing everything we possibly can to clear the backlog from our depots and endeavour to resume normal delivery service as soon as the weather permits us to do so.

Please rest assured that there is no need for you to do anything and that any orders that you have placed with us will be delivered to you as soon as physically possible. If your delivery exceeds the current 10 day period, we would be happy to track your order for you. Just give us a call on 0843 224 1224.

We recommend that you keep an eye on this page for further updates and would like to apologise for any inconvenience experienced.

'Singing for my lunch'

2010-11-15T02:59:00.000-08:00

Began the morning with a tour of the lower Awatere (a-wa-tree) valley at the Clifford Bay End, with Vavasour. Then a tasting of their wines showing the regional typicities. Then a generic Marlborough tasting focussing on the sub regions of Awatere, Wairau plains and Waihopai valley. This was followed by a picnic in a stunning oasis of a gardin in a dell of the vineyards, where I had to "sing" for my lunch, by having a video'd and taped Q and A session on the tasting.

Saturday in New Zealand...

2010-11-09T02:04:00.000-08:00

Spent a rainy day off in Kaikoura but was with a poly friend that made up for it. Then arrived in Marlborough that evening, to stay with the Scotts. Lots of memories came back from the last trip I made here 17 years ago, attached is a picture of "my" Riesling vines, the oldest in Marlborough that I lovingly tended. --Mimi

Mimi in NZ - Waipara, Marlborough and Nelson...

2010-11-05T02:29:00.001-07:00

Up early again, this time starting my self drive tour of Waipara, Marlborough and Nelson. Has got distinctly cooler and a front is coming in from the west. Headed up the highway - only NZ could have a one lane highway! Visited Simon McGeorge at Mudhouse, who also makes Waipara Hills. Bio diversity themes to add to sustainability. Some good solid wines across the ranges, from Waipara, Otago and Marlborough, across the board better than many of the wines tasted at the regional tasting on Monday. Then down the backroads to the very exclusive biodynamic Pyramid Valley.

Stunning whites and unfined, unfiltered reds with a delicious home cooked lunch of pumpkin soup and rabbit terrine. Then up to Mount Beautiful in Cheviot. Shown round by Finn, the vineyard manager - the rain really kicking in. Again well on the sustainable path and a wonderful Sauvignon Blanc with a salty tang of minerality on the finish.

Day 4 in New Zealand - The Speech!

2010-11-04T04:51:00.000-07:00

The Speech! - Just gave a very well received speech on the UK wine market and the marketing of premium New Zealand wines in the UK. There were also speeches on China, USA and Sweden. Followed by the great capitals wine awards dinner where we were welcomed by the Maori's.

Mimi Avery in New Zealand - Day 2

2010-11-03T06:01:00.000-07:00

We flew to Queens Town at 6 A.M past Mount Cook and were tasyting flights of Central Otago Pinot Noir by 9.30! The extent of Sub-Regional differences are their next piece of PR. Then off to Felton Road. Collected by the man himself, Nigel Greening, we had a tour picking up some block 5 chicken eggs for supper, and helping a duck and her brood of 10 cross the road in Wanaka! Not sure what the queues of traffic thought of it!

Mimi Avery in New Zealand...

2010-11-01T02:22:00.001-07:00

Day One - The opening day of the conference 'Great Wine Capitals' Christchurch. Had a quick tour of Waipara Hills and a 90 wine regional tasting. Muddy Water and Terrace Edge ranges really stood out. Beautiful weather and although only 50 mins north of Christchurch is 6 degrees warmer. Cool in the wind and the shade, but lovely and warm in the sunshine. --Mimi

Mimi will be blogging daily for the duration of her trip. More tomorrow.

2009 Burgundy – our first taste

2010-08-16T05:40:00.001-07:00

The excitement of the 2009 vintage is by no means restricted to Bordeaux. All over Europe, near-perfect weather gave winemakers fruit of exceptional quality. Fans of the classic regions have some extraordinary wines to look forward to.

At the end of July, as the dust was settling on Bordeaux en primeur, John Avery and I spent a week in Burgundy, dashing up and down the Cote d’Or to have an early look at the 2009s. The purpose of our trip was threefold - to concentrate on some of the less well-known villages and appellations, where you can often find great value in a good year; visit a few long-standing supplier and old friends (to ensure we keep getting good allocations!); meet and taste with some producers new to our list who we’d not seen before.

It proved to be an exhausting yet exhilerating week. On a couple of days we tasted well over 100 wines – harder work than it might sound – yet these were some of the greatest young Burgundies I’ve ever sampled. Burgundy defies generalisations more than any other wine region I can think of but, if pressed, I’d characterise the 2009 whites as rich and generous and the reds as luxuriously textured with full structures and marvellously ripe fruit.

For me, the highlights of the trip included tastings in Mercurey, Dezizes les Maranges and Rully. I’d never visited these gorgeous little villages before and was hugely impressed with the quality of the wines. It’s no secret that Burgundy is often expensive, so as a buyer I’m hugely excited by the prospect of mouth-wateringly delicious and sensibly priced 2009s from lesser known villages and areas. These are just the wines to show people that Burgundy can produce stunning wines that don’t require a second mortgage and don’t need a generation in the cellar before they’re ready to drink. In particular, look out for sun-kissed Maconnais whites from Domaine Thibert, elegant Mercurey 1er Cru from Domaine du Meix Foulot and stunning fruit purity in Domaine Racquillet’s Chalonnaise wines (several cases of which will find their way into my cellar).

In the heartland of the Cote d’Or we spent a morning tasting with Bernard Repolt at Remoissenet, in Beaune. After tasting his 2009s from barrel – including a lip-smackingly lovely St Romain - John and I spent an hour or so looking at some mature wines, one of which we hope to offer as a ‘Library Release’ later this year – after we’ve finished arguing about which vintage we prefer!

Domaine des Beaumont was a new addition to our list earlier this year when we offered their 2008s. I’ve admired this estate for some time so was very pleased to meet Thierry Beaumont for the first time. This is an extremely impressive estate, turning out wines of intensity, structure and finesse. Over lunch we had a bottle of Thierry’s 2008 Morey St Denis. It seemed a bit decadent pulling the cork on this over a hasty steak frites but I’m glad we did as the wine was very good indeed – a silky, supple texture, sweet fruit and delicate tannins, drinking surprisingly well on its youthful fruit. Of the 2009s, I think both John and I would agree that the Morey St Denis 1er Cru Les Ruchots stood out.

One of my final visits, having dropped Mr Avery at Dijon station for an early flight home, was to Domaine Fourrier in Gevrey Chambertin. Regarded as one of the best producers in Gevrey, Averys got an allocation of Fourrier for the first time last year. Jean-Marie Fourrier has a reputation for being one of the most thoughtful, engaging and talented winemakers in Burgundy and John was more than a little bit annoyed he had to miss this appointment. Jean-Marie took me through his range, explaining the difference between his Gevrey Chambertin Aux Echezeaux – from the south of the village – and the Gevrey Chambertin Vielles Vignes – from the north. I was really impressed by the Vougeot 1er Cru Les Petits Vougeot, a vineyard beautifully situated between Clos Vougeot, Le Musigny and Chambolle’s greatest 1er Cru, Les Amoureuses. The chiselled structure and marked minerality of his Gevrey 1er Cru Les Goulots framed great fruit purity, this will be one to put in the cellar and forget about for a few years. We finished the tasting with Fourrier’s two most famous wines, the complex and crystalline Clos St Jacques and his intensely scented Griottes Chambertin. Griottes is one of the smallest Grand Crus in Burgundy, at just over 2.5ha it’s by far the smallest in Gevrey Chambertin, and Fourrier owns just 0.26ha of vines. It’s rare and valuable stuff and the 2009 is magnificent.

By Matthew Hemming

Fine Wine Manager

Invivo's Rob Cameron talks new releases...

2010-07-19T02:40:00.000-07:00

2010 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc...

Central Otago Pinot Noir 2009...

More Invivo wines of Averys.com

Australia and Regionality

2010-07-19T02:32:00.000-07:00

The European wine industry has evolved with the concept of terroir at its heart; recognising that soil, climate and topography of a vineyard and region all affect the final wine. So much so, that it is far more common to talk about French regions – Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Loire etc, than it is to talk simply about French wine. After all, the wines of these regions are so very different, it would be ridiculous to consider them in the same breath, wouldn’t it?

And yet, Australia, which is 50% bigger than the whole of Europe, is invariably still viewed as a single wine region rather than a multitude of vastly different regions. To be fair, this is in part due to the fact that a significant number of wines which have proved popular in the UK – particularly the big brands – have little, if no distinct regional character. Indeed, many would say one of the reasons they have been so successful, is the fact these wines are very approachable, fruit-forward and uncomplicated.

Click here to continue reading our new Australia and Regionality guide on Averys.com

Observer Wine of the Week - Averys Pioneer Range Eden Valley Riesling

2010-07-16T01:58:00.000-07:00

Our Pioneer Range Eden Valley Riesling continues to impress customers and critics alike, this time David Williams from the Observer rating it his Wine of the Week. Winemaker, Louisa Rose has received international notoriety for her award-winning Riesling, including a special award for her contribution to the development of Riesling in 2008. It's available to order from our website now at just £7.92 a bottle.

Loire in flower

2010-06-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again - the vines are in flower here in the Loire...

Chenins and Cabernets started last week, the Sauvignons are now in flower too.

And there are buttercups, poppies and other wildflowers in the vines...

Many thanks to Charles Sydney of Courtier en Vins de Loire for his beautiful photographs.

Averys Pioneer Range Eden Valley Riesling - Wine-Pages Wine of the Week

2010-06-22T03:45:00.000-07:00

Tom Cannavan of wine-pages.com rates our Pioneer Range Riesling his wine of the week. Click here to read his full review.

Order Averys Pioneer Range Eden Valley Riesling 2009 Australia today at www.averys.com.

Mimi Avery in South Africa

2010-05-25T08:25:00.001-07:00

We arrived at Klein Constantia on a beautiful wind free day which they were very pleased about as wind can burn the grapes and although most of their harvest was finished the remaining grapes that we drying nicely and developing noble rot for their infamous sweet wine Vin de Constance. Also they had lost some of their potential in November due to strong winds funnelling through the vineyards and drought at flowering.

This was on top of the fact that they have started a rigorous programme to naturally reduce the vigour of the vines, which will ultimately increase the volume and quality of production. The programme involved covercrops and lack of weed killing which is helping to reduce soil compaction and increase nitrogen fixing but initially it is reducing the crop whilst the plants adjust to the “competition”. The vines are tipped to encourage energy to the grapes and not the foliage. Nearer harvest they are leaf plucked on the morning sun side and left shaded on the afternoon sun side.

The vineyards are planted with 80% white varietals and 20% red.

Adam Mason, originally trained by Jean-Marc Saboa, the illustrious winemaker of our Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc, showed us round the vineyards on the back of his buckie. We stopped to see new plantings, they re-plant every 15 or so years to keep yields to a maximum and viruses to a minimum. The prevalent problem is mealie bug for which they import wasps who lay their eggs in the mealie bug and live off them parasitically.

We tasted over ripe, dried and botrytic Muscat de Frontignan grapes in the vineyard, that went from sweet grapey flavours to sultana notes to the truffle notes of noble rot.

In the winery we tasted tank samples of Vreda (freedom) Hemel en Aarde Sauvignon Blanc bought in from specific vineyards that they work closely with, giving tropical notes with hint of pear followed by an Elgin sauvignon that was very lean dry and mineral almost bordeauxesq, the blendability was obvious. Then Klein Constantia’s Powder Block Reserve Sauvignon Blanc that was quite tropical with a touch of passionfruit and Mango, it has 11-12 months lees contact but is structured with good acidity.

We then went into the Dungeon and had a tasting of finished wines through the KC range from the Anvilka vineyards in Stellenbosch to the Marlbrook and reserve wines of Klein Constantia. Finishing with a 1974 Marlbrook from the library stock over lunch and 2005 Vin de Constance with the desert. Lunch was a splendid spread of buffet selection from a caterer that they were “testing out” we definitely felt that they should use them again.

As is usual for trips where you have tried to squeeze too much into the allocated time we arrived an hour late at Vondeling the sun had set behind signal hill but was causing Alpen Rosen on the Drakensburg across the valley. The boys were in the pool with beers when we got there, but after a refreshing dip we were all quick to get back into work mode. We tasted the Petit Blanc (which has just been listed as the house white at Glyndebourne) with dinner and they pulled out a sample of a mature parcel that they had of Cabernet Merlot 2005, wow, we thought, better start negotiating now – we want that wine.

They had spent the day organising the winery to cope with the higher yields than 2009, and with the second vintage of Klein Vondeling coming in too it was a bit of a juggling act. James, a student from Exeter, was on the night shift for punchdowns, and also a life saver for lending his phone charger.

The Averys Pinotage is sourced from these vineyards. They have sourced grapes in the past from this neighbouring vineyard and bought the property last year. (see picture of Dad and Matt in the vineyards last year?)
After our Friday appointments we returned – on time - for the full tasting.
Sauvignon Blanc 2009 textural full and fruity yet not tropical. A “steely” mineral herbaceous structure (aged on lees for 6 months)

Rob Cameron of Invivo - New Zealand Vintage Report

2010-05-25T07:34:00.001-07:00

After the much written about 2008 vintage followed by a fantastic 2009 the industry entered 2010 with some trepidation, both with quality and volume of the harvest. However on both fronts I’m pleased to say that New Zealand is back to dong what it does best – producing fantastic wines.

Marlborough experienced less typical weather conditions than usual with a cold Spring and relatively cool and wet Christmas giving us all a bit of a scare but as so often happens the vines catch up in February packing in two months worth of ripening in one.

Little summer rain meant that for the majority there was very little disease pressure and the actual harvest was extremely settled. The cool start to the year however made things interesting with acid balance and flavours. I think this year we’ll see much greater variation in flavours from very green but fully ripe to intensely tropical. INVIVO’s principal Sauvignon vineyard has produced an amazing spectrum of flavours, from tight, razor sharp grapefruit and bell pepper to big, ripe rock melon and passion fruit. For a winemaker this is fantastic as I have lots of different raw material to create exciting blends. Volume on the whole was down comparative to last year which is a positive sign showing the region focussing on lower crops and quality.

Invivo Wines story aired May 2010, TV.1 see footage at:
http://tvnz.co.nz/close-up/vintner-s-luck-3559107/video

Otago equally produced lower yields across the region, possibly due to a cool and dry spring and when this happens its usually time to get excited. INVIVO’s Lowburn and Northburn growers once again showed their utmost commitment to quality in ensuring their crop loads were balanced and in perfect condition – helped along by a near perfect long season of hot days and cool nights. Fruit this year had great balance, perfectly ripe but without high sugars enabling lovely intense wines to be made without high alcohols. This year is the best I’ve seen from Otago with the wine having real presence already – should be a good one!

John Avery's 2009 Bordeaux Vintage Report

2010-05-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

I have now returned from Bordeaux where Emma Roberts, Matthew Hemming, Aaron Rice and I tasted about 300 wines from the 2009 vintage which were on show at the various 'En Primeur' tastings.

Following the weather reports which I have already written about and my first impressions from the visit we made in January I was expecting to fine big, rich wines with great ripe fruit flavours and quite high alcohol levels. I remember when I first tasted the 1982 vintage in 1983 the comment I wrote following my first tasting was:

'California has come to Bordeaux'

and I was expecting to have the same reaction when I tasted the full range of wines at the 'En Primeur' tastings. I was not alone in this expectation and in conversation with other tasters during the visit they frequently made comparisons with 1982. Some Chateaux - notably Ch Montrose - have produced wines which have full ripe fruit richness in the middle palate and some even show evidence of 'over extraction' but on the whole I was surprised by the underlying elegance and finesse of many of the wines and with a fresh finish .

Many of the wines do have a high alcoholic strength but one does not notice this on tasting. In the Medoc the Merlot grown on gravel soils got very ripe and produced a very high level of alcohol and as a result most of the 'Grand Vins ' (Top wine) produced by the Chateaux contain a much lower proportion of Merlot than usual but the situation on the 'Right bank' is different.

The other significant thing is the level of tannins in the wines and IPT readings are very high but surprisingly most of the wines do not taste especially tannic. My note at Ch Palmer includes 'lovely soft tannin' yet we were told that the IPT level was 88 which is higher than ever recorded before (the previous highest was about 80!) and one of the striking things about many of the wines was how easy and enjoyable were a pleasure to taste even at this early stage. The entire weeks tasting was really quite a pleasure!

As I have mentioned above much of the Merlot was often excluded from the top blend in the Medoc but on the other hand most Chateaux used all the Petit Verdot they could find. This grape ripens late but the ideal ripening period right through to mid October was ideal for this variety and will have given those wines where it has been used the typical extra length and complexity which this variety can supply - I often think of it a Bordeaux's secret weapon!

The fact that in the Medoc much of the Merlot has been put in the 'Second wines' has resulted in these often being completely different in style to the 'Grand Vins'.

One of the most extreme examples of this was at Ch Latour where the Forts de Latour had loads of ripe fruit and was almost drinkable already while the Ch Latour itself was so strong and massive that it was very 'closed' and difficult to assess (one needed to know it was Ch Latour!) .

A region which has produced an unusually consistent level of quality is Margaux and here there are several Chateaux which in the past have frequently not made very exciting wines but this year have made something exceptional - I think that there will be some good value wines from this region.

The Graves region has also produced many excellent wines which follow the pattern of the Medoc and tend to have a lower proportion of Merlot than usual. It is worth mentioning that I feel Ch Haut Brion has produced a remarkable wine and from my notes is equal to Ch Lafite as the best wine of the vintage but we will see!

The tastings on the Right Bank provided interesting differences. I was worried about what we were going to find following the questionable quality of the Merlot in the Medoc but after tasting the top Pomerols I was convinced that the Merlot grown on the colder, heavier clay soils had avoided the over ripe problems of the Medoc and great wines have been produced by many Châteaux. This paradox is well illustrated at Vieux Chateau Certan which I had already been told had produced a remarkable wine and I assumed that this would be because of the high proportion ( by Pomerol standards ) of Cabernets in the vineyard but my friend Alexandre Thienpont rapidly corrected me when I advanced this theory and told us that in his time of running the Chateaux he had never used such a high proportion of Merlot - 84% with only 8 % of each of the Cabernets! (the actual percentages in the vineyard are only 60% Merlot with 30% Cabernet Franc and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon so a lot of Cabernet Franc has been rejected which perhaps explains why I was disappointed with Ch Cheval Blanc!). Ch L'Evangile and even its 'Second wine - Blason du Evangile has produced a remarkable wine.

St Emilion was a little erratic and there were some big differences between the wines but the best are very good.

Inevitably people are trying to compare 2009 with earlier vintages and as I have mentioned above 1982 is one of the popular choices but I feel the wines have more elegance and a years like 1959 or 1989 and 1990 are perhaps better comparisons. They are certainly more approachable than 2005 was at the same stage and I feel will be more enjoyable as they mature - the good news is that they may develop quickly enough for me to be able to enjoy them during my lifetime!

I have, on the whole, avoided mentioning name of wines I liked but you have my list of scores and tasting notes can be provided if required. It is, however, worth recording that out of the 300 odd wines tasted I gave 40 wines - 18 points or more out of 20 and I do not think that I have ever given such a high proportion of wines such top scores!

Cheers,

John Avery, MW

Chairman

Chateau Cissac returns!

2010-05-06T05:57:00.000-07:00

We are delighted to offer you the 2009 vintage of Chateau Cissac, which has just been released. Cissac is a classic Medoc of great class that has always been a firm favourite with Averys customers and has a large following right across the UK.
In 1895, Jacques Mondon, a lawyer in Pauillac, acquired several vineyards in the parish of Cissac-Médoc. He combined these different vineyards under the name of Château Cissac. Then in 1940, Louis Vialard inherited the property from his grandparents and he set about the task of restoring the vineyards and the out-buildings as well as the family home. Today, it's his grand-daughter Marie Vialard who runs this 50 hectare, Cru Bourgeois estate in the heart of the Medoc. The wines are very well structured and usually age exceptionally well, indeed Decanter magazine refers to the 2009 as 'structured, classic Medoc'.

75% of the vines planted on the estate are Cabernet Sauvignon which has been particularly successful in 2009, thanks to a very long and warm Autumn. Robert Parker recently wrote that the Medoc is 'where the Cabernet Sauvignons shine' and that the 'wines are extremely dense and concentrated'. He refers to the overall style of the vintage as 'one of opulent, voluptuous textures, with abundant fatness and succulence'.

The wine shows a deep purple garnet colour with a fine viscosity. After a few moments the first classic aromas of dark fruit, cassis, plums and blackcurrants reveal themselves, blended with hints of spice, vanilla, toast and cedar wood. In the mouth there is an abundance of full, ripe, well structured tannins, rich with the elderberry and plum fruit. The finish is full and rich with spicy notes. The remarkable points are the extreme purity of the fruit, the freshness and delicacy combined with a very good and well balanced body, followed by a lingering and pleasant finish.

I have no doubt that 2009 is going to be the vintage to have in your cellar for years to come. Why not invest in your future drinking-pleasure now with a case or two of Château Cissac. I am certain that you will not be disappointed!

To order, visit www.averys.com/e457