Red Wine IS Good for you

Life for a wine merchant used to be filled with tastings and the buying and selling of wine - but now it is much more. Sadly it is a sign of the times that I am now spending more of my time checking exchange rates, duty rates, price rises and the inevitable bad and (some good) press referring to benefits or not to drinking wine. The power of the euro, below £1.10 as I write, is making all European products more expensive sometimes as much as 30% more.

We have always majored on French wines and fine French wines to boot but the increases have made us look to the New World for some less expensive but quality wines. New Zealand in particular has produced in recent years some fine reds such as Vidal Syrah (16.50). The grapes are grown on the Gimblett Gravels of Hawke’s Bay in the North Island. This is wine of lots of rich red fruits, black and white pepper and a wonderful soft finish.

From Australia we have some great wines from Margaret River such as Leeuwin Estate and Voyager Estate and if you don’t want to spend too much on a wine Chilean Merlot is always a good stand by. (Carta Vieja Merlot 5.80). From Argentine we have a number of Malbecs including Obra Prima (£11.90)

In white wines New Zealand continues to produce some wonderful Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough but other regions such as Waipara are beginning to take the eye. We have Hanmer Junction Sauvignon Blanc (£9.40). South Africa has some delightful reds and fresh whites especially Chenin Blanc – Simonsig (£6.50)

Notwithstanding what I said above we are continuing to support and ship wines from France. We are pleased to announce the return of the wines from Domaine Montmarins in the Languedoc The Rosé (£6.00) is light in colour – a fresh salmon pink, with a gentle strawberry taste. This will be ideal for summer drinking. The Viognier
(£6.90) is beautifully made with hints of almond and honey and a full slightly rich finish. As for the Cabernet Franc (£6.70) it is dry with good fruit flavours, and is ideal bar-be-que wine. Perfect with a burnt sausage!!!

During these times of financial constraint and contradictory advice on drinking what about buying a half bottle of wine. We have always stocked a good range of halves, which go from Muscadet (£4.30) to Fine Bordeaux (from £3.45) and from New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (£5.20) to Spain (£3.95). Although a touch more expensive pro rata than bottles the overall cost is less. We also have some Champagne in halves for good measure.

In the next few months we will be shipping the wines we bought “en Primeur” from 2006 vintage. If you bought in 2007 we will contact you but we do have very good stocks of this vintage which we will be ideal for laying down for a few years

We have recently added a HALF BOTTLE section to our website so have a look at what we can offer

I have recently done a number of evenings for businesses that have used the concept of an in-house wine tasting as part of their team-building excise and to reward loyal staff. They are fun evenings and educational. If you would like to do something along these lines please contact me.

Neil Bingham