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10 wines that tell the Averys story - Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay,

6. Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay Next up in our ‘10 wines that tell the Averys story’ is Tyrrell’s Vat 47 Chardonnay, the wine that put Australian Chardonnay on the world wine map. It’s hard to believe that fifty years ago, you couldn’t buy a bottle of Australian Chardonnay – even in Australia – it simply didn’t exist. The first commercially released Australian Chardonnay was Tyrrell’s Vat 47 1971. The story goes that Murray Tyrrell jumped the fence of the Penfolds HVD Pokolbin vineyard in the middle of the night to steal vine cuttings of Chardonnay (he’d already asked politely but as they’d refused, this was his only other option!) These cuttings reputedly went on to become the basis for Vat 47. Whether this is true or not is debatable but it certainly makes a good story! Since then, Tyrrell’s has become an Australian wine legend and that’s thanks in no small part to our very own John Avery. “The connection with the Avery family went back into the 1950s and John played...
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Rhone 2017 Vintage Report

2017 - Small but perfectly formed Good things come in small packages goes the cliché, well cliché or not, the overall picture of the Rhone in 17 is one of reduced volumes, but broadly (whisper it) excellent quality; both North to South. In fact, the mantra being repeated by a number of vignerons I met in the sweltering conditions of August whilst travelling the region, was that the vintage in qualitative terms is parked somewhere between that of the duelling titanic years of 2015 & 2016. After regaling this sentiment to a colleague on my return, the reply was one of ‘that’s not a bad place to be’, well indeed, and from my stand point I’d struggle not to concur. This was a viewpoint echoed North to South. As ever lumping the entire all-encompassing Rhone region into one rigid narrative, or stylistic summary is almost impossible. One only has to appreciate the different natural surroundings of the split region. The north being the home of beautiful terraced vineyards, stark...
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Meet the winemaker – Bernard Repolt

Meet the winemaker – Bernard Repolt What changes have you made since taking over at Remoissenet? What was it like taking on such a famous old name? Basically, the challenge was to turn an old negociant into becoming all about quality wines. Our domaine now includes 25 hectares and we also vinify another 25 hectares. Remoissenet is renowned for having one of the largest libraries of old wines in Burgundy. Can you share a few highlights with us? There are many good wines! I still particularly enjoy the 1966 & 1967 Volnays. Can you tell us a bit more about the 2017 vintage – any tips for buying en primeur? It’s a very friendly vintage. I recommend Beaune 1er Cru, Gevrey Chambertin and Nuits-Saint-Georges. What does the future look like for Remoissenet? We have a new project on the Côte de Nuits starting in 2018. I can’t say anything more now but we’ll update you in a few months time. The Photo is of the Family visiting Roland Remoissenet at his moated Chateau Pos...
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Meet the winemaker – Javier Murúa of Bodegas Muriel

Meet the winemaker – Javier Murúa of Bodegas Muriel Bodegas Muriel was set up by José Murúa in 1926 and is today run by his son Julián and grandson Javier. We caught up with Javier to find out more. Do you remember when & how you first began working with Averys? I would think around 15 years already, time passes by fast… Can you tell us a little about the history & winemaking philosophy at Bodegas Muriel? My grandfather began making wines in Elciego at the beginning of the 20 th century and supplying the restaurants in the Vasc Country. There has been quite an evolution since then and our range of products, as well as our markets have expanded a lot. We like the wine diversity, same as consumer diversity. But we feel each wine has its origin and purpose. We are very committed with the roots, and respectful with the traditional wine styles but we also consider consumer profiles which is why our range is quite wide. We also try minimum intervention in the vineyards a...
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Becoming a member of the Jurade de Saint Emilion

So, last weekend, I was intronised into the Jurade de Saint Emilion. Founded in 1199 and re-born in 1947, it is a group of vignerons and wine trade from the area, that invite selected foreign members to join twice a year.  And what a weekend it was because at this time of year, it is incorporated into the weekend that celebrates the Ban des Vendanges (the announcement of the beginning of harvest). The weekend involves a torch lit parade of the core Jurat members on the Saturday night, through the medieval town to the Tour de Roy, followed by the most amazing fireworks I have ever seen!                            with Brian Rushton, also from the UK. Processing from the Cathedral to the moat. The Sunday begins at the Town Hall where those to be intronised are gowned up. They then...
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Meet the winemaker – Laurent Saint Pasteur of Château Cissac

Meet the winemaker – Laurent Saint Pasteur of Château Cissac The Vialard family have owned Cissac since Louis Vialard inherited it in 1940 and today it’s run by 5 th generation Marie Vialard with the help of winemaker Laurent Saint Pasteur. Do you remember when and how you first began working with Averys? We don’t remember exactly but from the 70s without any doubt and almost certainly even before. Your wines have a very large and loyal following within Averys and the UK as a whole. What do you think has made them so successful? The fact that Mr Louis Vialard was the first producer selling directly his wines to wine merchants in the UK just after the 2 nd World War and organised many tastings and events across the country. We have then followed this work and are strongly committed to always increasing the quality of the wine. Also, the fact that the wine is only sold through traditional merchants and we always do our best to offer a fair and more or less steady price. W...
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10 wines that tell the Avery Story No 5.

5. Penfolds Grange The fifth   of our ‘10 wines that tell the Averys story’ is Australia’s iconic Penfolds Grange, known as ‘Penfolds Grange Hermitage’ until the 1989 vintage. It was 1965 when a young John Avery arrived in Australia for the very first time. So rare was it for a wine merchant from the UK to visit Australia back then that he was greeted at the airport by journalists from the Sydney Morning Herald and Sydney Daily Telegraph keen to find out why he was visiting Australia and get his views on Australian wine. “ I’ve come to Australia to taste your wines as I haven’t had a good one yet.” His reply may have not been the most diplomatic but Aussie wine producers rushed to change his mind including Max Lake (Lake’s Folly), Brian McWilliam (McWilliams), Richard Hill-Smith (Yalumba) and Max Schubert (Penfolds). He toured Australia in a 1938 Rolls Royce and discovered that in fact, there were lots of exciting wines being made. So much so, that he wrote a...
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