your guide to online independent wine and drink merchants in the UK.

At UKWOL we always welcome and applaud merchants who try something new or interesting and manage to break away from the often bland brands which bombard many shelves. So full marks to LeBonVin, which despite their French sounding name are offering wines from Tunisia and the Lebanon. Its easy to forget that many Mediterranean countries have been growing vines ad making wines for centuries - and whilst in earlier times they may have been made solely for local consumption (or for the invading troops) - good winemakers can now produce good wines in such potentially hot, dry climates by employing modern winemaking techniques.

Lebabon has been recognised for some time, the best known being Serge Hochar’s Chateau Musar in the Bekaa Valley - although probably known best for the feat of producing a wine in the midst of the bullets and mortars which can be a feature of that corner of the Middle East. However, the wines do get decent reviews.

But Tunisia is a completely unknown quantity for most of us. Although many winemakers in the south of France have their origins in north Africa and brought their winemaking skills and traditions with them.

LeBon Vin offers both red (Cabernet, Syrah and Merlot blend) from Chateau Elissa in theMornag Valley and a Chardonnay from Domaine Clipea.

Well situated on the most fertile lands, the quality of the Tunisian wines is rich in alcohol content, without excess of acidity, and soft, with the character of new wines. Today, Tunisian wine continues to boast the high repute that the sun, soil and time-honored Tunisian traditions have conferred on it.

LeBonVin also offers a wide range of wines from more traditional wine regions - and adds a wine from Mexico and a Rum from Venezuela - certainly different!

Le Bon Vin Ltd, 340 Brightside Lane ,Sheffield S9 2SB

The Saffron Walden Food and Wine Festival takes place 26-27 July 2008 - This two day event has grown to three marquees including livestock and stallholders and will include Joseph Barnes Wines who will be offering tastings and a 10% discount on all wines from the South of France purchased on the day.

On taste will be

• Domaine Sainte Croix, ‘La Fournas’ 2004 Rouge
• Bergerie de la Bastide, Vin de Pays de Mediterranee 2007 Rose
• Chateau de la Mirande, Picpoul de Pinet 2007 Blanc
• Domaine de l’Orviel, ‘Les Trois Blancs’ 2007

For more info see www.tastesofanglia.com

Tim Atkin in the Observer (20 July 2008) takes a bit of a swipe at the new owners of Oddbins, and bemoans the way the wine merchant has developed in recent years. Certainly it is not quite as good as it was in its heyday when even as a small competitor wine merchant, I could recommend Oddbins with little hesitation - an interesting range, keen prices and particularly knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff who never disappointed.

OK so nowadays it has lost some of its quirkiness and originality and is a bit more like the rest of the national wine merchant chains - a tad more formulaic and with a narrower range. The staff still seem helpful though (at least in my local branches) and it still feels more like a wine merchants than a convenience store! And they do have some good wines:-

Tim highlights:

I liked the soft, grassy, smoothly textured 2007 Saumur, Réserve des Vignerons (£6.95, 12%) and the modern style, sensitively oaked, sturdy yet polished 2004 Château de Crouseilles, Madiran Premium (£11.99, 14%), made from Tannat and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Interesting because these are both wine styles which are usually difficult to get right, and at these price points have to be worth a try! See www.oddbins.co.uk

The annual Edinburgh Festival and the “Fringe” offers a wealth of cultural opportunities - from stand-up comics, theatre, music,opera - and now wine tastings.

Every evening throughout the Festival (2- 24 August 2008) the Edinburgh Wine School offers a range of wine tasting sessions for beginners upwards - France, Champagne, Italy etc - an ideal combination of education and entertainment!

WINE IN THE CITY is offering daily wine tasting classes from beginners upwards. Fantastic wines with a daily changing programmes From £15.00
Cocktail making evening, malt whisky and chocolate tastings, champagne and chocolate tasting. Great fun for all. Central just off the Royal Mile

For more info see www.edinburghwineschool.co.uk

Bordeaux Index specialises in trading in the fine wine end of the market, a rarified zone which few of us get a chance to explore. The nearest I have reached was a tasting of some top St Emilion Grand Cru vintages which was unforgettable (and unaffordable!)

Wine enthusiasts sometimes look a little askance at wine investors - savouring the monetary value of the wine rather than the delights of it as a drink - although there is probably an element of envy in that. I have known several customers with impressive and expensive cellars who do get at least as much pleasure from drinking the odd bottle, as they do from the investment angle (and from lovingly admiring the rows of bottles in their cellar). But lets not forget that the value of any particular bottle rests in large measure on how the wine tastes - judged by fine palates who can assess how the wine will develop in the bottle over decades. Hence Bordeaux Index will be incorporating Michael Shuster’s Wine School, which brings together these complementary aspects of the extraordinary liquids contained in fine wine bottles.

Bordeaux Index is delighted to announce that from September 2008, Michael Schuster will be moving his famous wine school to our offices in Hatton Garden. Michael has helped to design the specialist tasting facilities on the top floor of our new building, where his school will be run from….. .Bordeaux Index prides itself on an unstuffy approach to fine wine selection and investment, demystifying the wine buying process for its clients and continuing to deliver expert advice in a straightforward way.

Michael Shuster’s book Essential Winetasting: The Complete Practical Winetasting Course (Mitchell Beazley Drink)is based on his courses, won all three major British wine book awards for the Best Drink Book 2000: The Andre Simon, Glenfiddich and the Prix du Champagne Lanson awards.

For more information on Bordeaux Index and Michael Shusters Wine School - see www.bordeauxindex.com

Just to put things into context, here’s a few facts and figues from Bordeaux Index:-

Our most popular wine for investment in 2008: Mouton Rothschild 1982 (£11,000 per case of 12 in bond)

Our most expensive bottle of wine: 1990 La Romanée-Conti - DRC; £8,000,in bond

Our most expensive bottle of champagne: 1995 Krug Clos D’Ambonnay -£1,995, in bond

The wine region to watch in 2008: Champagne

Busiest time of year for wine market: Spring/Autumn

Biggest annual spend for a client: £2million plus

Cadman Fine Wines has two new exciting releases timed just right for the summer.

Firstly a Pouilly Fumé from Tinel-Blondelet (a cracker, exhibiting super aromas of gun smoke backed up by moreish citrussy flavours. Quite simply, Loire sauvignon at it’s best. The mouthwatering 2006 vintage is drinking absolutely beautifully right now.)
And from the much heralded Domaine Fondreche (in the Cotes de Ventoux, Provence) things just keep getting better and better. “Well known for its production of great value spicy reds, we are now delighted to be able to offer a wonderful little gem of a rosé: the l’Instant, 2007 - offering delightful strawberries and cream aromas with a little spice and minerality adding interest - a classic, vibrant southern French Rose”
“Fondreche…a source of sensational wines that still sell for incredibly fair prices…Shrewd consumers should have been stocking up on these wines for a number of years as they represent terrific values.” Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

The choice is yours, but at these sizzling summer prices, with savings of up to £24 per case off the Pouilly-Fumé , it really would be a shame to miss out on either of these gems…

For more info see Cadman Fine Wines
Domaine de Fondreche
Domaine Tinel-Blondelet

A difficult time to launch a new wine business, especially as I note that the energetic Andrew Chapman at www.surf4wine.co.uk is not currently trading. But if you can offer something different that coincides with consumer trends, then it can be very successful - and Will Shepherd’s new wine website www.willswine.com may just have got it right in asserting that there is too much Australian Chardonnay and cheap French Cabernet Sauvignon (?) available, and offering something a little different.

Will’s Wine sells wines from lesser know regions of France and Italy, as well as Hungary, with plans to sell wine from Slovenia and Uruguay in the near future. Their wines are made from grapes including Tanat, Petit and Gros Manseng, Cot, Olaszrizling, Cabernet Franc and Manzoni.

Will’s Wine believe that for just a few pounds more, these wines are much more enjoyable than most supermarket offerings. We are promoting something different and more fun!

The list is a bit embryonic at the moment with new arrivals planned from Australia, Uruguay and Slovenia to add to the initial selection of Italy, Hungary and France.

www.willswine.com

CAMRA’s (Campaign for Real Ale) Kent Beer Festival takes places from 17-19 July 2008 on a farm near Canterbury. With over 130 real ales and ciders, including foreign beers, music, food and a family area this looks to be a fun, and well-organised event for beer lovers.

“Beer on the farm” is the unofficial motto of the Kent Beer Festival, which is held in a large barn on a working farm just outside the city of Canterbury.

Kent has a rich brewing heritage and you’ll find beers from all ten Kent breweries grouped together on the left-hand side of the barn. Other British beers are on offer at the other two bars. As well as real ale, the Kent Beer Festival also sells real cider and a wide range of mainly bottled foreign beers.

For more info see www.kentbeerfestival.co.uk

Another online wine (or rather drinks) merchant - with an amusing strapline of “Drinks on the Mouse” offers an interesting mix of alcoholic beverages (including wine, cocktails, beers and spirits) plus drinks accessories and a lot of information. There is also a video diary of English winemaker, Simon Coulshaw at his Domaine des Trinites in the French Languedoc - his wines (Faugeres AC, Coteaux du Languedoc AC and a Viognier Vin de Pays d’Oc) are available to purchase on www.thedrinkshop.com

This is a great site for anyone who is looking for something alcoholic and wants to learn how to mix that extra special cocktail or buy spirits and stock up with the best known brand names and highest quality, specialty distillers around the world. Every spirit and cocktail mixer you can think of is here with a very simple and intuitive website that the Drink Shop has created.

Zelas wines are offering a free open-door tasting of low-sulphur wines from France and Spain on Saturday 19 July 2008 at Wine of Course in London N6.

What do we mean by natural wine? A natural wine is a wine made without adjustments of acidity and micro-oxygenation in small quantities from had-picked organically grown. If sulphur dioxide is added, it will be only in very small quantities. Most natural wines are made without the addition of sulphur dioxide at any point. Natural wines are more suitable for people who suffer from allergic and intolerant reactions to wine - asthma, migraine, respiratory or skin disorders. etc.

A red natural wine contains no more than 10 mg/l total sulphur and 25 mg/l total sulphur, if white. Low sulphite wine, low sulfite, low sulphur dioxide.

There is an evident trend towards organic wines throughout Europe, especially with increasing EU legislation, and in response to consumer demand. My approach has always been to be a little wary of buying wines just because they are “organic” - I still search out good wines, and if they happen to be “organic” then that is a bonus.

Interestingly sulphur dioxide is generally regarded as “natural” products, and even organic production allows its use as a preservative and disinfectant. Because of its affinity for oxygen it is good at preventing oxidation, and it kills off wild yeasts and ensures that fermentation stops when the winemaker determines. Virtually all winemakers will use sulphur dioxide, but increasingly winemakers are trying to ensure that all such interventions are kept to a minimum, especially as some consumers can be quite sensitive to traces of SO₂ in wine. Whilst Suphur dioxide is probably one cause of headaches after drinking wine, I suspect that tannins and other constituents (especially in red wine) are also guilty - so I suspect that just because a wine is low-sulphur you should not assume that you can drink it with impunity. Reactions to wine can be very individual - I know of people who react badly to Pinot Noir or Gewurztraminer, but can happily imbibe a heavy Chateauneuf-du-Pape or Rioja!

It should prove an interesting tasting and it would be great if it demonstrates that good. big, substantial wines can be made with low sulhur dioxide.

For more info see www.zelas.co.uk

Terry Kirby in the Independent (14 July 2008) selects his top 10 rosés and includes an interesting sparkling rosé from Ridgeview Vineyards in Sussex - the rather splendidly named Ridgeview Merret Fitzrovia (£19.00): “Made on the Sussex downs, using traditional Champagne grapes and methods, this stunning, sophisticated wine demonstrates how English producers canmatch anything the French can do. Perfect for summer celebrations.”

Ridgeview names its ranges after central London districts, hence Bloomsbury, Belgravia, Pimlico etc. They are rightly proud of their production, and Champagne-style wines are potentially ideal for UK vineyards - they are confident enough to arrange a blind tasting and comparison of Ridgeview vs major Champagne brands - contact them for details of the event on Tuesday 9 September 2008. For more info see www.ridgeview.co.uk

The other rosés in the selection included France, Australia, South Africa, Italy and Portugal.

St Chinian in the Languedoc is not best known for its rosés, but Majestic Wine’s Chateau Cazal Viel Vieux Vignes - “big bold flavours” £6.49 (or £5.49 if you buy two or more); Tasmania offers another sparkler with the Pinot Noir based Clover Hill Brut Rosé from Oddbins - “a lovely salmon-pink and is packed with delicate fruit flavours” (£16.99 or £14.15 if you buy 6);

OK, so its not a real vineyard, but a clever marketing campaign to promote an Australian wine label - and it looks rather good.

McGuigan is one of Australia’s most celebrated wineries and we are creating a vineyard in the heart of London to share some of our wines with you. Situated next to Liverpool Street Station it offers you a wonderfully convenient opportunity to kick off your shoes and stroll amongst some lush 50 year-old vines.

Taste through our range of delicious wines, brush up on your wine-tasting skills with our expert winemakers and meet the man behind the wine - Brian McGuigan.

From 9-11 July 2008 the “vineyard” is open to the public - I have always thought that except in winter, vines can be very decorative, and can certainly improve the concrete and glass dominated landscapes of our business districts. For more info see www.mcguigancityvineyard.co.uk

The idea was first tried out in Sydney, Australia and generated a lot of attention - especially from those who had not seen vines before, and from those interested in doing a bit of tasting.

Mc Guigan wines come from Australia and are geared to introduce customers to the range of wine styles which Australia can produce.

In the UK York Wines (amongst others) stocks the McGuigan range - which includes a Gewurztraminer/Riesling blend - The Australian - Medium Sweet White Wine - If you are still a fan of sweetish German wines you will love this - there are so few actually Medium Sweet wines available these days.
This wine has the rich aromatic sweetness of the Gewurztraminer grape blended with the strikingly fruity £5.95

For years the traditional wine business has frowned upon the idea of screw tops as only suitable for bulk wines and those made for drinking young. However, the Telegraph (8 July 2008) reports that even die-hard top French vineyards are now looking at the option of abandoning the cork.

But according to one wine expert, two of the world’s top names - Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy, whose bottles can sell for tens of thousands of pounds, and Bordeaux’s legendary Chateau Margaux - are now looking into screw tops.

Although the “romance” and reassuring sound of a cork being pulled would be lost (and it would be a major blow to Portugals’ economy where most corks come from), the real reason is that too many bottles are spoiled by cork taint which has proved to be difficult to eradicate. Some industry figues suggest that up to 10% of bottles are affected in some way, which is a sobering figure!

For consumers there is undoubtedly a convenience factor - no more corkscrews to find, no difficult corks to shift - and quicker transit from cellar or fridge (or shopping basket) to glass. And with luck the wine will be more in line with what the winemaker intended.

The wines of the Italian island of Sardinia are less well-known in the UK, so for a top opportunity to taste some of these wines you should book in for a Newcastle-Upon-Tyne tasting hosted by specialist merchants Italy Abroad:-

Italyabroad.com brings you the best wine and food Sardinia can offer in one of the best Italian restaurants in Newcastle.
Menu
On arrival: Vermentino di Sardegna
Starter: Filieri Rosato Cannonau Rosato with Antipasto sardo or Fregala cozze e gamberi
Main: Cannonau Vigna di Isalle with Gnocchi alla sarda or Spezzatino agnello piu’ contorno
To finish; Glass of Grappa di Cannoanu aged
The tasting will be held at Sabatini restaurant on the quayside on the 22nd of July starting at 7.00 pm. Places are limited to 25.

Italy Abroad is based in the North East, and looks to be both informative, knowledgeable and entertaining - everything you might want from an Italian specialist in both food and wine - olive oil, antipasti and the rest. Certainly they meet my criteria for a good merchant - offering something a little different with passion and enthusiasm!! There is tons of good information e.g. who has heard of the Lagrein grape - “The Lagrein, a grape widely planted in Trentino and Alto Adige in the north east of Italy, produces tannic, soft wines with real character and they age well. The grape is also used to produce elegant and fresh rose wines.” With a blog, newsletter and tastings this has to be a must visit site for Italianophobes!

For more info see www.italyabroad.com

Unit 6, Stanfield Business Park, Addison Street, Sunderland SR2 8SZ
Tel/fax 0191 565 4884
E-Mail: info@italyabroad.com

The wine trade is reporting a big increase in the demand for rose (pink) wines.And this is not just for light summery wines or in response to a few good weeks of weather and a peak in picnics.
Rose wines have generally been misunderstood - they are not “compromise” wines for those undecided between red and white; neither are they blends of red and white wines!
Rose wines are generally wines made from red wine grapes which are either pressed only lightly or left in contact with the skins for only a brief period, The skins and pips etc are the source of colour and tannins, and hence rose wines are lighter in colour and tannin.
So, grapes as Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Pinot Noir can make excellent rose wines, full of character, flavour and structure. For example a good rose can be a great match for lamb - not reserved for fish or poultry.

Majestic Wine is running a summer promotion on rose wines from as lttle as £3.79 a bottle for the Argentinian Terra Brisa, a blend of Syrah and Malbec - “A deep pink, fruit driven rosé with aromas of fresh strawberries and cherries. The palate reveals plenty of juicy summer berry fruits with a crisp and elegant finish. This is an ideal summer apéritif. “