The first wave of new arrivals

September has barely broken into a sweat and we have already racked up a host weird and/or wonderful newbies in our portfolio. As usual we have focused on wines from organic and biodynamic growers. Herewith the details.

Mas Foulaquier is situated on the limestone screes at the northern end of the Pic Saint-Loup cru. Pierre Jecquier and Blandine Chauchat work the vineyards with biodynamic preparations and ferment in cement vats and vinification aims to elegance and fruit rather than extraction. We are taking three cuvees: “Les Tonillieres”, a 50/50 blend of Syrah and Carignan, “Gran’T”, a mix of older vines Grenache and Carignan and “Petit Duc”, a cuvee made from younger Grenache vines.

2009 Pic Saint-Loup Les Tonillieres
2008 Pic Saint-Loup Petit Duc
2006 Pic Saint-Loup Gran’T

Over in the Fenouilledes in the Roussillon, Agnes & Alain Carrere, assisted by Tom Lubbe, are making delicious varietals (and some blends) at their organic estate Domaine de Majas.  The Three Trees represent excellent value comprising “Le Cayrol Blanc”, a Macabeu-Rolle blend which is tangy and flavoursome with lime peel notes and dried fruits and herbs and Cabernet Franc with lifted aromas of blueberries and red cherries and good varietal character.

2009 Three Trees Macabeu-Rolle “Le Cayrol”
2009 Three Trees Cabernet Franc

We’ve also added another string to our Matassa bow. Cuvee Alexandria is 100% Muscat of Alexandria from yields of 15 hl/ha fermented in big old wooden foudre on the indigenous yeasts and handled reductively throughout. The wine has amazing minerality and a verve and definition one rarely associates with this grape variety.

2008 Cuvee Alexandria, Vin de Pays des Cotes Catalanes Blanc

Our first Cornas for donkey’s years is a gem from Frank Balthazar. The 45 - 90 year old vines are planted on granitic slopes. He works organically and still ploughs with a horse apparently. Fermenting in cement vats on the native yeasts he raises the wine is 600-litre old demi-muid and then bottles without filtration or fining and only a small addition of sulphur. Cornas “Chaillot”. Seductive perfumes of red and dark berries, kirsch, lavender and violet, with a bright, iron-mineral element. Spicy-cherry and blackcurrant flavours combine richness and sinewy-sappy vivacity, picking up exotic floral pastille notes on the finish.

2008 Cornas “Chaillot”

Muscadet reaches its metaphorical and literal peak in the wines of Pierre Luneau and his family. Possessor already of superb single and cru locations, they have now brought a spectacular new vineyard on stream. Planted on the exposed slopes of a hill that rises steeply out of the marshes the vines are on a fascinating iron-rich serpentinite and magnetite soils caused by gradual metamorphic transformations. This terroir imparts terrific complexity to the wine which is initially taut with cool oyster-shell notes before unveiling more complex aromas of salt butter, gorse blossom and river stone and a palate bound together by soothing acidity. Truly the DRC of Melon de Bourgogne, the 1er Mousquetaire of Muscadet.

2008 Muscadet “Butte de la Roche” de Pierre-Marie

We have long been advocates of Jura-Prudence (take moment to groan). The wines from Arbois, an almost forgotten region, have remained true to themselves and defiantly quirky. We have added to our existing quartet of Dugois, Aviet, Houillon and Ganevat the wines of Evelyne & Pascal Clairet (Domaine de la Tournelle) and Philippe Bornard. Evelyne & Pascal work biodynamically in the vineyard and naturally in the winery and all wines are bottled without sulphites. Their Uva Arbosiana is a limpid carbonic maceration Ploussard - think of it as a rose and serve from the fridge whereas the Trousseau des Corvees sports a darker plumage and has a nice tannic structure. A demi-sec Ploussard Pet Nat completes the trio. Philippe Bornard, friend and neighbour of Emmanuel Houillon, makes a smashing totally natural Ploussard called Point Barre with a pleasing earthiness wrapped up in a veil of pink grapefruit, candied cherry and pomegranate. Ivresse de Noe, meanwhile, is a November harvest Savagnin. Residual sugar linked to high acidity gives this non-oxidative Savagnin an unusual flavour and texture; it is a beautiful, vinous wine with a very long finish.

Domaine de la Tournelle

2009 Uva Arbosiana
2008 Trousseau des Corvees
N.V. Petillant Naturel de Raisin

Domaine Philippe Bornard

2009 Ploussard Point Barre
2009 Ploussard Point Barre - magnum
2007 Ivresse de Noe - 50cl

Our Spanish selection continues to swell. Gaznata comes from Sierra de Gredos mountains of Avila, north west of Madrid. This strawberry squishy of an old vine Garnacha is what Spain does so well and so inexpensively. It is fruit and nothing else.

2009 Gaznata Tinto

Traslanzas is a vineyard estate in the district of Mucientes (Cigales DO). The high altitude vineyards were planted in 1945 on brown soils with high limestone content and big boulders to reflect back the heat. Farming is without chemicals and yields are very low. The wine is aged in a mixture of Allier and American oak for twelve months and bottled without filtration or fining. Primary hints of lavender, violet and fruits of the forest complemented by the secondary aromas that come from the Tempranillo variety, including black fruit and liquorice. Toasted wood aromas, cedar and hints of spice such as cloves, vanilla and cinnamon also feature. The wine has an excellent equilibrium.

2006 Traslanzas

Bodega Balcona is located in Bullas, half way between the city of Murcia and the mountains in the west that form the frontier with Andalucia. This is a rugged landscape with numerous small valleys with individual micro-climates. The brown soils are hard, poor in organic matter and well draining. Balcona is a family run winery. Although they own a large amount of land, 8 ha of the best organically-farmed vineyards (on the highest parts of the slopes and broken slate soils) are kept aside for their own project. Partal is which blends old vine Monastrell (65%) with a remainder of Tempranillo, Cabernet, Syrah and Merlot. We have taken the 2000 vintage which is still remarkably fresh and well-balanced.

2000 Partal

It is a simple enough label: Prosecco sur lie without geographical designation, from Gatti Lorenzo with a pair of black cats on the label. The wine is pure Prosecco - con amore. The second fermentation occurs naturally in bottle and there is no dosage, filtration or fining. The wine itself, bottled under crown cap, has delicate bubbles and a pale straw colour. There is a lovely creaminess from the lees-contact and other flavours of apples, almond biscotti and apricots. The finish is both precise and mellow.  As with our two ancestral-style Proseccos the wine is cloudy; it feels – and tastes – like a true artisan product. It is simply, and therefore, profoundly, drinkable.

Gatti’s Raboso comes close to that idealised condition of a devil-may-care wine that gives a Gallic pouf! (or the Italian equivalent) in the face of critical judgment. “Take me as I am”, it seems to say, “drink me, don’t think about me, and preferably with a sliver or several of bona fide salami”.

2008 Prosecco Marca Trevigiana Sur Lie
2008 Raboso Marca Trevigiana

There are few characters like Elisabetta Fagiuoli who owns and runs Montenidoli in Tuscany. Her passion and warmth are inspiring and her organic vineyards are equally bursting with life. She is a pioneer of the Vernaccia grape. The Tradizionale is where the must macerates with the skins; this wine has a rich herbal and bitter almond flavour. Fiore is the free run; this wine is beautifully pure and has wonderfully complexity. Il Templare Bianco is blend of Vernaccia, Trebbiano Gentile and Malvasia Bianca, fermented in traditional barriques and matured in wood for 12 months.

2007 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Tradizionale”
2007 Vernaccia di San Gimignano “Fiore”
2003 Il Templare Bianco


I Vigneri is a natural wine project run by Salvo Foti in the vineyards of Etna. Salvo is the spirit of natural viniculture in this corner of Sicily and if you want to understand Etna you have to understand Salvo. The vines on Etna are bush (alberello),now rehabilitated, some are over 100 years old and grow on the volcanic ash terroir. The main varieties are Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio with some Alicante and a smattering of Francisci (French varieties of unknown origin). No fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides are used. All work is done by hand and with the help of an occasional mule.  We start actually with a white called Vinujancu which is a blend of Carricante, Riesling (on French roots, Grecanico and Minnella. Like all his wines all work is done according to the phases of the moon. Vinudilice is a rose from a tiny 120 year old vineyard 1,300 metres above sea level and is a field blend of red and white varieties. There are two reds: Vinupetra and I Vigneri, both majoring on the Nerellos, one of which is fermented in tanks carved out of the volcanic rock! These are all superb wines characterised by elegance, finesse and texture.

2009 Vinujancu Bianco
2009 Vinudilice Rosato
2008 Etna Rosso “I Vigneri”
2007 Vinupetra Rosso

Vino di Anna is a project from Anna Martens, ably assisted by the mysterious E.Narioo. Based in Etna where she has been working for a few years, Anna makes two (and soon three) wines from a field blend of Nerello Mascalese and other local grapes. Jeudi 15 is her so-called peasant wine, mainly whole bunch fermented in open vat. Otherwise minimal intervention: no filtering, fining or sulphur. It is a pale red colour and wafts gentle aromas of bruised strawberries, morello cherries and balsam and background terroir notes of pepper, roast bay, mushroom and cooked earth.

2009 Vino di Anna Jeudi 15

Our selection of Framinghams continues to increase. We begin with the Select Riesling, an exquisite and plain irresistible spätlese-style weighing in at a minimal 7.5% alcohol and 65 grams of residual sugar. The wine floats like a butterfly and stings like yer best German Riesling, seemingly oozing fragrant honeysuckle, guava, sugared pink grapefruit before swathes of ripe acidity tingle and freshen the tongue. The Noble One is a fabulously intense, grapey botrytis, balancing unctuousness with cleansing levels of acidity. Surely one of the greatest sweet wines from New Zealand.

F-Series refers to a special project of micro-bottlings that winemaker Andrew Hedley has created. The F-S Viognier grapes are handpicked and fermented with a mixture of cultured and wild yeasts in a 225L stainless steel barrel, 50L beer keg and 23L glass jar. Once fermentation had stopped, it is transferred into barrels on full lees with a full malolactic ferment and lees-stirring for 10 months. Spicy leesy notes, oily, rich palate with some delicate varietal characters of honeysuckle and apricot stone. The F-S Old Vine Riesling is from the old vines at the back of the winery, left to hang a bit longer than everything else and hand-picked as the vines were closing down with little botrytis. Only the free run juice is used, and this is a pretty natural wine, wild-fermented before racking. Lees-stirring on full lees for 10 months and a partial malo add a creamy, honeycomb note and fill out the palate. A really intense, complex wine which needs food. In Germany this would be classed as a dry wine at 9 g/l RS.

2009 Framingham Select Riesling
2009 Framingham Noble Riesling - 37.5cl
2009 F-Series Old Vines Riesling
2009 F-Series Viognier - 50cl

An area well known for the unique calibre and identity of its wines Martinborough is most often associated with Pinot Noir and Cambridge Road is planted with 26 rows of various clones of this grape.  The balance (24%) is in Syrah, a mass selection clone dominantly on its own roots, these original vines happen to be among the oldest survivors in the country and certainly the oldest in the Wairarapa region.
Although a small block the Cambridge Road site has three distinctly different soil profiles which confers different accents to the fruit. The small 5.5 acre vineyard was first planted by the Fraser family in 1986 to the classic red varieties Pinot Noir and Syrah. These older vines still make up the majority of the block, their roots run deep into the complex soils of the Martinborough Terrace, offering small yields of intensely flavoured berries.

After a year in oak in a mixture of first use and six year old barrels and a second winter in tank, the Syrah is blended with 9% Pinot Noir.  The wine is unfined and unfiltered, grown organically and a very pure expression of what Syrah does on the Martinborough Terrace. Classy Syrah that strays close to the edge of physiological ripeness but stays on the right side of the line. Edgy wine with floral, dark berry plus white and black pepper flavours.  The Pinot Noir comes from various clones predominantly of Pommard origin. Hand harvested and 75% wild fermented then raised in 30% new French oak.  The wine has a brilliant clarity and intriguing red fruited perfume. 

2009 Cambridge Road Pinot Noir
2009 Cambridge Road Syrah

On the sunlit uplands of the wine list of the Martinborough Hotel one finds the crème de la crème of New Zealand’s wine aristocracy. A vertical of Stonyridge Larose is accorded its own page. It is one of those wines you take against in theory because of the exalted prices and possibly because it is a Bordeaux blend. However, the proof is in the tasting and just because it is expensive doesn’t mean that it is not worth it.

Stonyridge Vineyard is a world-renowned Cabernet-blend winegrower, located on the beautiful island of Waiheke, near Auckland, dedicated to producing the finest Cabernet blends in the world (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot), combining traditional winemaking with meticulous organic viticulture. Waiheke Island, in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland, is famous for producing great red wines because of its low summer rainfall and consistently high temperatures.

White and Mackenzie are firm believers that great wine is made in the vineyard, not the winery. Hence the grapes are farmed organically without resorting to herbicides or pesticides, weeds are controlled by sowing grass between the rows, with hand hoeing around the vines. Even the wooden trellis stakes are made from untreated timber. If humidity threatens mildew, rose bushes planted at the end of every row give early warning, and then copper sulphate may be used. Low-yield rootstocks, Bordeaux-style pruning and a summer “green harvest” ensure yields are rigorously controlled and kept to a very low 20 hl/ha. The grapes are picked by hand, taken the short distance to the winery, where they are de-stemmed and pressed.

The 2008 Stonyridge has some fine spices, cedar and pencil shavings are also derived from the oak.  A big mouth filling wine, matured in 70% new French oak, engulfed by the huge ripe fruit.  Richly flavoured and beautifully complex, with immaculate tannin and amazing structure. This wine is greatly concentrated with a finish that lasts and lasts. This looks like being one of the great Stonyridge vintages.

2008 Stonyridge Larose

Nick Stock’s supremely elegant Syrah is from the Greenstone vineyard, 400 metres above sea level, on the Mount Camel range in Heathcote. The terroir is volcanic Cambrian subsoil with high calcium content, and red soil with high level of iron oxide.

Harvest is manual and takes place in the early morning. A mixture of whole bunch and some destemmed berries head into the press. Extraction is gentle: grapes are gravity fed; fermentation is in open vats with small batches with hand plunging and pump overs. The wine spends twelve to thirteen days on the skins and ultimately matured in old barrels for nine months. Only 120 cases are produced. The Syrah has a complex, vivacious nose with lifted aromatics, red fruits and perfume, typical of a warmer season, and a lithe and detailed palate with juicy red fruit flavours, musky through the finish peppered with lovely spice.

2009 Heathcote Syrah

They play rugby and they make wine. Or is it the other way round? The nice thing about this trio of red varietals from Bodega Cecchin in Mendoza is that they possess a tasty angularity that is sometimes absent from other wines in this country. Strict adherence to organic methods in the vineyard is not undermined by larding on the oak; the intention here is to represent the terroir and capture the essence of the fruit. The Carignan, a grape variety we associate more readily with the Languedoc-Roussillon is tasty with notes of earth and leather underneath the blueberry fruit. The Cabernet Sauvignon is sinewy and peppery with flavours of dried herbs. The Malbec, a grape that Argentina has successfully appropriated, is made without the addition of sulphur and contrasts to the lavish, extractive, chocolate-cakey numbers that most wineries seem to churn out. Here one notices the acidity of the grape along with savoury red fruits and liquorice.

2007 Carignan

2007 Cabernet Sauvignon

2008 Malbec Sin Sulfito