Chateau La Coste Rose 2008

My choice of wine on my sunny day off yesterday? Bellugue, Coteaux d'aix en Provence
from Chateau La Coste. A pleasing blend of 55% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 20% Cabernet.

This is a gorgeous, delicate rose wine. Provence is famous for rose wines for a reason: this wine demonstrates exactly what that is. Forget ideas of sweetness or elementary flavours; this wine is as divine as any high end white – a triumph in natural wine making.

I first tasted Bellugue at Chateau La Coste, with wine maker Mattheiu Cosse. It's a fairy tale landscape, with the most modern and sophisticated winery I've ever seen on a natural vineyard.

You can buy it, with all of our other wines, on the artisan & vine online shop. This classic Provence rose sells on artisan & vine online for £17.90.

Image: me at Chateau La Coste, with my first wonderful encounter with Bellugue

Visit to Bourgueil, Loire Valley

Andy & I visited a number of vineyards during our recent trip to the Loire Valley. Two that really stood out are those of Sebastien Riffault in Sancerre, which I wrote about a few days back, and that of Catherine and Pierre Breton, in Bourgueil.

Visiting Pierre is a pretty cool experience. His vineyards are scattered around his very French country house. The tasting cellar, where a number of barrels are kept, is below his house, and this is where we commenced our experience.

The day's tasting would be dominated by his range of electrifying Cabernet Franc wines. The grape variety is often accused of being harsh or bitter. At Domaine Breton it is only bright red berry fruits, striking minerality and rounded plum tones to finish. We loved every wine and were particularly impressed by how elegantly some of the wines had aged.

After the tasting we took a short drive to what is probably the coolest natural underground cellar I've ever been in. A limestone cave to rival those of Aladin. It was all as fairy tale as the idea of an elegant Cabernet Franc!

We're stocking a few of my favourite of Pierre's wines at artisan & vine. Come by for a taste of fantasy!

Image: Pierre and I at the entrance to his most awesome natural limestone cave.

Visit to Sancerre

Last week Andy and I had the lovely privelege of some days in the Loire Valley.

We started in Tours, and went to a fabulous little wine bar to "orientate" ourselves with the local wine scene.

Day 2 was a trip out to Sancerre to visit the fabulous Sebastien Riffault. His Sancerre wines are out of this world - full of fruits and minerals - DESPITE being 100% Sauvignon Blanc.

Sebastien doesn't add an sulphites at all to his wines (since 2007), using the natural acidity and health of his grapes to preserve his wines. Horses rather than tractors are used in the vineyards, for the most part, and it was clear the soil was grateful for this.

In addition to rows of lovely weed-infested vineyards, Sebastien also grows his own biodynamic vegetables, which we took part in harvesting, before a wonderful sunshine BBQ.

We stock my favourite of Sebastien's wines, Sancerre Akmenine, at artisan & vine. Not your average Sancerre and a great example of how different natural wines can be from the norm.

Image: Andy (left) and Sebastien check out the beautiful vineyards on the rolling hills of Sancerre.

A new favourite? Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc

1 June 2010 saw the introduction of the new 2010-11 artisan & vine wine list. It heralded a lot of new exciting wines. It's fabulous to see how people are reacting to the new wines, and I reckon we already are starting to see a new favourite amongst our regulars.

Is it a big surprise that it's a Marlborough Sauvignon? Perhaps not. Though this wine is surprisingly good. We're selling it at only £12.90 take home, which makes it absolutely worth a try!

Click here to buy some online for home now!

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee & Blanc de Blanc

As you'd expect, our best selling wines on the artisan & vine Online Shop tends to move around a bit. I've previously written about the wines that are currently sitting at #1, #2, #4 and #5 within this blog. Recently, Nyetimber's Classic Cuvee 2003 climbed our charts to take the #3 position. How exciting!

I first tasted the Nyetimber Classic Cuvee at a friend's dinner party. It is immediately evident why Nyetimber has earned it's sterling reputation in sparkling wine making. Gorgeous depth and complexity of flavours, lasting finish, soft toasty notes. We're currently stocking the 2003 vintage, though 2005 is just around the corner and will be with us by Summer.

In particularly exciting news, the Classic Cuvee's sister wine, the Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2001, won a Gold Medal in this year's International Wine Challenge (IWC), of which I was a judge (check out my previous blog entry on judging at IWC 2010 here). We're selling the Nyetimber Blanc de Blanc 2001 both in store and online now too... best grab a bottle before it sells out!

Image: artisan & vine online shop #3 on the best seller list: Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2003

Wine profile: Camel Valley Bacchus Dry

Today's blog post: a wine profile on what is currently the 2nd Best Selling wine on the artisan & vine online shop. All my bloggy wine profiles are found by the tag "wine profiles" - who'd've thunk?

Long long ago when Andrew was trying to romance me, he bought be a bottle of Camel Valley Bacchus Dry (a former vintage) so, this wine has I suppose unlikely romantic connotations for me.

Can we call this a Love Potion? As things have panned out, I'd say yes. Can I guarantee it will win the heart of the one you're courting? As I a former Management Consultant, I'm not in the habit of guaranteeing a lot :)

That said, I will guarantee that this is one of England's most pleasing still white wines. Floral, fruity, a surprising depth and length of finish.

Seems other people like it too. The Times 21 April 2009 said: ‘Best Value English Still Wine': ‘Young, aromatic, fresh and zesty, England's answer to Sancerre. A bright accompaniment to seafood, full of zip and fruit. They like it in The House Of Commons.'

Take a taste of Cornwall's version of now classic Bacchus grape today!

Click here to see the full range of Camel Valley wines that we stock at artisan & vine.

Our best seller: Clos du Chapeau, Domaine de l'Arlot

Since sunshine has again abandoned us, I'm going back to red. I thought it was worth sharing thoughts on what has become our Online Shop's Best Seller: Clos du Chapeau from Domaine de l'Arlot in Prémeaux-Prissey, Burgundy.

Domaine de l'Arlot is an absurd place. No where in the world should be this beautiful. I can't even think of a way to be more Burgundian than these guys manage. The estate is regal but not overstated; the gardens are manicured yet decorated by stone carvings from hundreds of years of children playing there; the wines are elegant and opulent all at once. For me, a bottle of these wines is a bottle of Burgundy. Beautiful, sumptuous red Burgundy.

I have to agree with our customer's excellent taste: Clos du Chapeau is absolutely one of my favourite wines on our list. It is strawberries and smoke all at once, & for me is a more enjoyable drink than many of its Premier Cru companions.

There's a reason wine lovers love Pinot Noir so much & this wine can show you. Perfection in a bottle, ready for you to drink now (though it will age if, like me, you'd like to keep some for home).

Click here for photos of Domaine de l'Arlot and my travels around Burgundy.

Click here to buy the wines of Domaine de l'Arlot with free home delivery!

Wine Profile: Cuvee Faustine 2007, Domaine Comte Abbatucci, Ajaccio, Corsica

Any wine blog worth its weight in cork should have regular profiles of particularly exciting wines. You can find a collection of my favourite wines within this blog under the tag "Wine profiles".

Today, as the sun is here - if a little retreated this particular day - I must talk rose! In specific, this gorgeous Corsican rose, which currently ranks as the fifth best selling wine on the artisan & vine online shop, no small achievement!

On the magical island of Corsica, known in France as “Île de Beauté” (the Beauty Island”), the Domaine Comte Abbatucci extends over 100 ha of granitic sandy slopes, blending in with the wild but benevolent natural landscape.

Out of the estate’s 100 hectares, there are 20 ha of vines but also clementines, vegetables, olive trees, sheep… All farmed bio-dynamically since 2000. Jean-Charles strongly believes in Rudolph Steiner’s concept of a “farm unit”.

Being one of the oldest vineyard plantations in Corsica, the estate has been selected to study and experiment the reproduction of ancient vine varieties that are treasures of the Corsican viticulture. The estate grows a fascinating (and delicious) range of indigenous varieties: Vermentino, Niellucio, Sciaccarello and Barbarossa. Life on the estate is regulated by the rhythms of sun, moon and planets. The grapes harvested develop in health and harmony.

Today Jean-Charles’s wine quality is recognised by experts all over the world, wines that preserve the very particular and original flavours of the Corsican terroir. This wine is the ultimate rose experience. Light colour, displaying aromas of peach & apricot, red berries. A tender, subtle wine with outstanding freshness.

This is the wine to persuade those rose-doubters that the style is capable of greatness!

Naturally, it is available at artisan & vine wine bar, and on our online shop here.

Wild wine in Chobham Common

I like the idea of "wild" whatever it's format. There's an inference of "place" within the word: if something occurs "wild" then it is likely to be a natural product of a given "place". And we already know I'm obsessed with place.

Sunday was my day off and Andrew (who's day job is working for Natural England (http://www.naturalengland.gov.uk/) and I were both keen to go somewhere Wild, though it had to be somewhere close.

The wonderful conclusion is a stunning place called Chobham Common, just off the M3 it took us around 30minutes to drive there. It's an area of outstanding beauty, especially at this time of year when the heather is in full flower.

We set up picnic and watched the clouds roll over the heaths. Stunning.

What to drink? The warm day called for a refreshing drink so we opted for the Coteaux du Languedoc 2008 from my beloved Mas Nicot. The wine has fresh lime notes and is starting to develop that brilliant creamy finish that was so characteristic of the 2007 vintage. We sell Coteaux du Languedoc for £4.40/glass, or, you can buy it to take home for £14.50/bottle (and an additional 10% off when you buy 6 or more).

Image: fresh Coteaux du Languedoc from Mas Nicot in the gorgeous wild flowers of Chobham Common.