Wine, Spirits & Tobacco
South-western France's Plaimont winery has market savvy by the lorry-load, efficiently delivering desirable wines to markets around the world and organising breathtaking PR events like their 'instant vineyard' (cropping up at a city square near you soon). Their forte is very intensely-flavoured whites like this unusual, mouthfilling blend of Sauvignon, Gewürztraminer and...
Category: Wine £7.99
Great depth of colour and flavour; 2004 is made from organically grown Carmenere, Cabernet and Syrah by one of Chile's finest winemakers. Outstanding. Special offer until end August - was £22.50, now £19.99
Category: Wine £19.99
The town of Andosilla, at Rioja's northern edge, has prospered by its proximity to vineyards set among the fertile plains of the rivers Ebro and Ega in the beautiful valley of Baztan. Bodegas Bagordi was born of the enthusiasm of several local grapegrowers who united in 1995 to produce organic wines. Their success is evident in releases like this old vine red blend, oak-aged for over a...
Category: Wine £11.75
Pitted with deep valleys and sheltered by the Aragonese Pyrénées, Somontano offers protection from bitter northerlies, Zaragozan dryness and Mediterranean humidity, natural advantages exploited by the Otto Bestué family, resident in Enate since 1640, and now owners of sizeable Tempranillo and Cabernet vineyards. A year in American oak has added toasty, spicy overtones to...
Category: Wine £11.99
Bodegas Pirineos, named after the Pyrenéean backdrop to this massive Catalan winery, is one of only 3 outfits making nearly all the wines in Somontano (between Rioja and Barcelona). Having nurtured hundreds of growers since the '60s, and overhauled the cellar in the '90s, Pirineos now offer a fascinating array of wines. Here they've brought the charms of local grape Moristel...
Category: Wine £5.75
Mainly Garnacha but with addition of Cabernet which dominates with its blackcurrant flavours. Vigorous and fruity balanced by an oaky backbone.
Category: Wine £13.50
The Great Zorbel. Youthful Traslepuy proprietor Frédéric Z. has the attention-grabbing skills of a circus ringmaster. Hearing we were in the southern Rhône he waylaid us with an invitation to taste and we're glad he did. In 2000 he took vineyards around Roquemaure and Lirac, began cultivating organically and built his own winery. This big, ripe Grenache-based red has...
Category: Wine £8.99
Revitalised management at this 60-year-old co-op winery in the Western Cape's idyllic Franschhoek Valley has rallied the number of crush-contributors to 50, including historic Huguenot estate La Motte. Cape- and California-trained Jolene Calitz heads up a youthful, culturally diverse winemaking team. Their succulent Chenin Blanc, just a touch off-dry, has ripe, gently honeyed apple and pear...
Category: Wine £5.99
Lively purple-red. Bright and vivacious with soft, ripe plum and summer fruit flavours.
Category: Wine £2.99
Lustrous Sémillon-Sauvignon with enticing aromas of lime blossom, quinces, figs and toast. Serve chilled with Roquefort, crab, asparagus or desserts. Key to the sweetness of Bordeaux's Sauternes is 'noble rot', triggered by autumnal river fogs, that shrivels grapes to syrupy succulence. The rot sets in slowly; up to 8 successive vineyard sweeps are needed to strip affected...
Category: Wine £15.99