White Wine
2008 Highwood Chardonnay
It may be a cliché, but at this price, who cares? Rich flavours of tropical fruits, melons and cashews, framed by creamy French oak. Rob Dundon plundered his favourite McLaren Vale vineyards for this expensive-tasting Chardonnay. Since he left Hardy's to set up on his own in a suite of grand bluestone cellars, this prolific winemaker has racked up an impressive tally of wine show medals, aided by ex-Maglieri assistant cellar overseer Scott McIntosh. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 Domaine Fontareche, Vin De Pays De L'aude
The well-connected Mignard family (Pierre Mignard was artist to the court of Louis XIV) bought Domaine Fontarèche in 1682, and it has been handed down the generations.Once owned by the Archbishops of Narbonne, this distinctive terroir of clay and limestone terraces is located in the Aude region, west of Narbonne, and is now run along ecologically sound lines ('la lutte raisonée'). vines of Colombard and Grenache Blanc the family create profoundly characterful wines which are aged for a year in used barriques and blended to express each vintage's strengths. (read more)
Our Price: £5.00
2008 Sauvignon Blanc,Quando. Robertson
Alastair loved this for it's piercingly grassy aromas. It's simple, classy and fresh. Ideal for sipping al fresco. (read more)
Our Price: £7.00
2007 Coudoulet De Beaucastel Blanc, Cotes Du Rhone
Beaucastel is home to some of the finest Châteauneufs the region has to offer, made from the fruit of classic, organically-cultivated, cobblestone-strewn vineyards. The Perrin family also own Côtes-du-Rhône estate Coudoulet, blessed with the same terrain and certified organic in 2001, where they grow a vast range of varieties, red and white. This elegant white is full-bodied yet fresh and tangy with aromas of grapefruits, lemons, peaches, pears and vanilla oak. (read more)
Our Price: £18.00
2006 Botrytis Riesling, Forrest Estate, Marborough Half
Leaving behind careers in medicine and molecular biology, Doctors John and Brigid Forrest established Forrest Estate in Marlborough's stony Wairau River Valley in 1989. This cheery pair won a coup at their first vintage, scooping a trophy at NZ's national wine awards. Unstopable, they have forged on to become one of the most inovative and reliably good of NZ's top wineries. (read more)
Our Price: £14.00
2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Catherine Marshall, 'Bwc', Somerset West
The clue's in the name: Barefoot Wine Company. Cathy Marshall set up her 'garage' winemaking outfit (i.e. cellars on a rental basis; bijou output) in 1997 with a view to vinifying prized parcels of fruit wherever she found them, hence BWC's nomadic progress from Franschhoek to Swartland to Paarl. Her iconoclastic range formerly focused solely on reds; this welcome Sauvignon addition has elegant, vibrant flavours of gooseberries, fresh cut grass, asparagus and lime peel. (read more)
Our Price: £9.00
2008 Urban Torrontes, Bodegas O'fournier
At the turn of the millenium the Spanish family Ortega Gil-Fournier founded a small 'boutique' winery at the foot of the Andes, in La Consulta, in the Argentinean province of Mendoza. The company is changing - Bodega y Vinedos O Fournier aims to build a winery equipped with the latest technology. It will have a capacity of 600,000 litres in stainless steel, oak and cement vats, ranging from 6,500 to 25,000 litres in capacity. An impressive change. (read more)
Our Price: £8.00
2008 Givry Blanc, Domaine Guy Chaumont
Fine white Burgundy, complex and long, packed with intense, buttery citrus and melon flavours balanced by crisp natural acidity. Givry was the preferred wine of Henry IV, maybe because this town in southern Burgundy's Côte Chalonnaise (a low ridge running from Beaune, recently granted its own appellation) was the birthplace of his mistress Gabrielle d'Estrées. Guy Chaumont's Givry holdings are now certified organic by 'Nature & Progrès'. (read more)
Our Price: £10.00
2008 Picpoul De Pinet, Le Jade, Coteaux Du Languedoc
Southern French speciality that's tailor-made for mussels: light, crisp, scintillating lime and pear flavours. Languedoc grape 'Picpoul de Pinet' is the focus at Costières de Pomerols, one of the region's top co-operative wineries. Close to the mussel and oyster beds of the Etang de Thau, this high-powered outfit has just installed an ultra-modern cellar. Charismatic, quality conscious Jean Veyrier is careful to preserve local character in every wine, winning plaudits globally. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 Sauvignon Blanc, Le Jade Vin De Pays D'oc, France
Extra dimensions of ripe, appley flavour enhance the crisp citrus zestiness of this seafood-friendly Sauvignon. Charismatic, quality-conscious Jean Veyrier runs one of the best co-operative wineries in the Languedoc-Roussillon, the 'Costières de Pomerols', winning praise world-wide for its polished, well-presented wines. Overseeing a new, ultra-modern winery, near the mussel beds of the Etang de Thau, Jean is careful to preserve the local characters intrinsic to each wine. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 Gruner Veltliner, Selection Trocken, Stadt Krems, Reiden
Well-made Gruner Veltliner (as this one is) is sublime. Fresh flavours of turkish delight (rose petals) and cream. (read more)
Our Price: £7.00
2007 Chablis, The Adnams Cellar Selection
The Adnams Cellar Selection seeks to find wines of a quality above the norm, that you would be proud to have on your dinner table. This Chablis is made by Clothilde Davenne at her new domaine in Prehy. We have followed Clothilde for many years as winemaker to some of Chablis's great estates and now that she has her own domaine it was the perfect opportunity to have her make some of her splendidly mineral Chablis for Adnams. (read more)
Our Price: £14.00
2008 Tour Du Prelat Blanc, The Adnams Selection, Vin De Pays
A fine blend of half Viognier and half Marsanne with the aromas of lime blossom and the flavours of ripe pears. Great with creamy cheeses. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 Les Bastions Blanc, Cotes De St Mont, Gascony
Fascinating Gascon grapes make for a complex array of fresh, fruity, floral and herby characters in this appealing dry white. Made by the ultra-reliable team at the Plaimont winery, who have an admirable focus on polishing the finer characters of the region's local grapes (in this case, Arrufiac, Petit Courbu and Manseng), bringing intriguing styles to a wide audience. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 Vallobera, Bodegas San Pedro, Rioja Bianco
With their covetable vineyards in Rioja's Alavesa and recently-refurbished winery, ambitious Javier San Pedro, brother Carlos and brother-in-law Jesus Navoscués are establishing a reputation for making modern wines of the highest calibre. Vallobera is their highest vineyard, where slow ripening accentuates fruit intensity. Made from Viura, the classic grape of white Rioja, this crisp, concentrated, elegant style has fresh lime flavour with hints of tropical fruit richness. Excels (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2008 The Adnams Selection White Burgundy, Cuvee Paul Talmard
It has to be pretty special for us to put our names to it - and this white Burgundy from the gleaming, steel tank-lined cellars of the ever-reliable Talmard family (they're based in the Mâcon town of Chardonnay, so ought to know a thing or two about the grape) truly is 'les genoux des abeilles' (knees of bees). Stunningly clean, fresh and characterful, with intense white peach, lemon and melon flavours, it's sophisticated and versatile, perfect as an apéritif or with chicken, fish or salads. (read more)
Our Price: £8.00
2007 Riesling, Cave De Pfaffenheim
A delicate style of Alsace Riesling, with floral, citrus and peach aromas, that excels with fish, ham and gourmet sausages. It was made at one of France's top 'co- operative' wineries, the catchily- titled 'Cave Vinicole de Pfaffenheim and Guberschwihr'. Belying its outward disguise - a façade of geranium-fringed, half-timbered Medieval kitsch - this ultra-efficient winery, lined with gleaming tanks, is supplied by contented, well-paid vignerons, many of whom own Grand Cru plots. (read more)
Our Price: £8.00
2008 MÂCon Chardonnay, Domaine Paul Talmard
A beautifully clean, unoaked style of Chardonnay, with fresh flavours of lemons and melons that excel with grilled fish. The no-nonsense Talmard family have long been our touchstone for consistently brilliant, reasonably-priced southern Burgundian whites. Their gleaming, steel-tank-lined cellar sits at the edge of the Mâcon village of Chardonnay: they're intimately au fait with the eponymous grape. (read more)
Our Price: £9.00
2008 The Doctors' Riesling, Forrest Estate,
John and Brigid Forrest have been quietly making themselves into the foremost private estate in the famous Marlborough region of NZ. Their extensive vineyards are to be found in the valley's prime locations and this gives them the ability to blend wines to a consistently high standard. Not content with producing wines from just the one region they have aquired land to the south in Otago and Waitaki and also in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island. Diversity and quality are theirs. (read more)
Our Price: £8.00
2008 Les Cascailles Blanc, Domaine Clavel, Coteaux Du Languedoc
Overlooking a vast music venue, Pierre Clavel's umbrella pine-dotted vineyards in La Méjanelle (coveted sub-region of the Côteaux du Languedoc) often reverberate with rock. Happily, Pierre's slopes are weighted down by reddish 'galets roulés': the same 'storage heating' cobblestones found in Châteauneuf. With its freely-draining soils and rot-repelling maritime breezes, the estate's vines yield exemplary wines. Pierre ferments all his varieties together, believing this creates more harmonious blends. Made from equal parts of Roussanne Grenache Blanc and Rolle with a hint of Carignan Bla... (read more)
Our Price: £7.00
2008 Riesling Gobelsburg
The purity and vivid clenliness balance the middle palate beautifully, and this is without a shadow of doubt, one of the best value and most scintillating Rieslings tasted in recent times. (read more)
Our Price: £9.00
2008 Chablis, Domaine De L'harmonie
Fine Chablis, clean and citrusy with an undertow of minerality -delicious with Camembert or grilled fish. Jean-Marc Brocard's vineyards, some now certified as organic, are in the well-trained hands of son Julien, a fan of biodynamic cultivation. He strives to express the influence of Chablis' unique and ancient soils. Most famously, Kimmeridgian clay, whose layers of limestone and fossilised oyster shells lend Chablis its minerally edge. (read more)
Our Price: £10.00
2008 Condrieu 'Les Mandouls' Ferraton Pere Et Fils
100% Condrieu grapes of which 80% are fermented in stainless steel tanks and 20% in oak casks. The wine is then blended and matured in 600 litre demi-muid casks. Vignerons since 1946 the Ferratons have been an integral part of the Rhône valley landscape. In 1986 Their friend Michel Chapoutier took an interest in the firm and introduced organic cultivation in the vineyards. A few years later, under the Chapoutier influence, the vineyards were converted wholly to biodynamic cultivation. (read more)
Our Price: £32.00
2008 Soave Borgoletto, Fasoli Gino
Natalino Gino's father went 'green' twice over. First the herbicides he'd been advised to spray on his vineyards (planted by patriarch Amadio Gino in 1925) to the west of the Veneto's Soave region made him unwell. As a result, in 1980 he set out to achieve organic certification, finally succeeding ten years later. 'Borgoletto' Soave has been a consistent Gold medallist. Aromas of fresh pears; a clean, lively palate finishing on a twist of citrus; lovely with Tagliatelli Vongole. (read more)
Our Price: £8.00
2008 Chardonnay, Le Jade, Vin De Pays D'oc
Supreme shellfish Chardonnay with lovely ripe, buttery fruit and aromas of tropical fruits and flowers. Surprising substance and elegance, giving a status beyond expectations. Winemaker Jean Veyrier heads up one of the best co- operative wineries in the Languedoc- Roussillon: Les Costières de Pomerols, near the mussel beds of the Etang de Thau. He produces some very stylish wines indeed, many highly-praised by US wine guru Robert Parker. (read more)
Our Price: £6.00
2007 Pouilly Loche ' 'En Chantonne' Domaine Du Clos Des Rocs
Olivier Giroux, son of a Pouilly Fuisse domaine, set up his own domaine in the nearby village of Loche when his father showed no sign of moving on. This has been to our benefit as from the site he found he has consistently produced Chardonnays of exceptional concentration with clear mineral character. (read more)
Our Price: £16.00
2008 Sancerre, Domaine Vacheron
Domaine Vacheron has some of the best vineyards in Sancerre, comprising equal measures of limestone and flint - the first lending wines 'tang', the latter minerality. In the dream Loire vintage of 2005 (a year of ripe yet perfectly-balanced wines), organically-oriented cousins Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron kept yields one-fifth lower than typical local harvests, resulting in Sauvignon of real concentration. Incisively citrusy; hints of herbs. (read more)
Our Price: £17.00
2008 Sancerre, Domaine Vacheron(Half)
Domaine Vacheron has some of the best vineyards in Sancerre, comprising equal measures of limestone and flint - the first lending wines 'tang', the latter minerality. In the dream Loire vintage of 2005 (a year of ripe yet perfectly-balanced wines), organically-oriented cousins Jean-Dominique and Jean-Laurent Vacheron kept yields one-fifth lower than typical local harvests, resulting in Sauvignon of real concentration. Incisively citrusy; hints of herbs; a fine match for river fish. (read more)
Our Price: £9.00
N/V Golden Samena, Cooperative Cellars Of Samos
The Samos coop has taken their Muscat grapes and done an excellent job in fermenting it dry to create this fresh but complex, food friendly dry white. (read more)
Our Price: £9.00
2008 Chenin Blanc, The Lion Hunt, Seidelberg Estate, Paarl
New Seidelberg winemaker Cerina De Jongh's CV reads encouragingly: top of her year at Elsenburg College, hired by high-profile Grangehurst and veteran of vintages the world over. She's thriving at this idyllic estate, founded in 1680 on the southern slopes of the Paarlberg, and now owned by German émigré Roland Seidel. With this wine, Cerina has captured the soft grapey qualities of Chenin Blanc and adds an appetising fresh edge. (read more)
Our Price: £5.00