Calvados, Cabernet Merlot, Che...

Known more as a cutting-edge cider maker, Eric Bordelet was a top sommelier at Arpege in Paris, before returning home to Normandy in 1992 to take over the family business. He biodynamically grows more than 20 apple varieties and 15 pear varieties. JASON WILSON, Vinous

Eric Bordelet approaches Cider-making with the same intensity as a passionate oenologist brings to winemaking. Bordelet worked as sommelier in the leading 3 star Parisian restaurant, ‘Arpege’ where he became deeply familiar with the top winemakers and wineries of France. In 1992 he took over the tiny patch of family farmed orchards in Charchigné, in the heart of Normandy’s premium Cider producing area. Since then he has set about rescuing the ancient ‘heirloom’ varieties of pears and apples that produce tiny quantities and amazing flavour.

Produced from pear trees estimated to be about 300 years old. Poiré Granit has 25-80 grams of sugar per liter, yet it doesn't taste particularly sweet.  This is due to the tannin and acidity, which Bordelet says is twice as high as the apple! Stunning as aperitif or with cheese or desserts. With just 4% alc/vol this can be enjoyed any time. Cider simply doesn't get better than this !!

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Domaine Huet reigns supreme in Vouvray. They make some of the world's most pure dry wines and piquant sweet styles from the racy and multifaceted Chenin Blanc. But you'll need patience, these powerhouses need around a decade to start revealing their inherent complexities.

Le Haut Lieu is the original vineyard,  purchased by founder Gaston Huet in 1928. It's based on heavy clay and chalk in the topsoil means these wines tend to be the most approachable in youth, though they age beautifully.

The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Sec is a lithe, reductive style with floral character and talcum powder. Full of phenolic, lip-smacking texture woven through its core, lending a sense of satisfying grunt to this dry yet balanced style. Clarity, precision and harmony are keywords in this wine's execution. A little more fleeting on the finish than ideal. (5.5g/L) REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2021 Montlouis-sur-Loire Demi-Sec Les Borderies is easygoing, open and ripe-fruited. A lick of sweetness comes from the 145g/l residual sugar, with bright acidity and a line of phenolic tension giving this cleansing balance. The 2021 is pure and relatively simple but harmonious. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

From a single vineyard of 50+ year old vines on sand and silex (with pure limesonte just below).
Borderies is often the first vineyard to be harvested from slightly raisened fruit. Notes of jasmine, apple pie and crushed rocks on the nose lead into a subtle sweetness without heaviness. On the palate orchard fruits join in, signing off chalky minerality and a stream of quince-like phenolics which bring balance and punctuate the flow of sweetness. This is a delectable off-dry wine which could be served with cheese or richer seafood dishes. GABRIELLE POY



A little flint and white flowers with just picked anjou pear and a touch of pineapple and a little hint of bees wax. Fine and elegant with pure white fruits and a chalky mineral streak. Crystal clear and clean. Very pure. MYLES THOMSON, PWS

This is a wonderful second wine, and a real success in a vintage where second wines are often punching below their weight. It's rich, plump, floral-edged and above all extremely drinkable. It has a juicy frame and it delivers. A 2% pinch of Petit Verdot adds spice (and is added only after the press wine, the absolute final step to add depth, if needed). They used no secondary fruit at all. This should be good to go in five to six years. Tasted several times. DECANTER

The 2017 Reserve de la Comtesse is a blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 36% Merlot, 2% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc. Medium to deep garnet-purple colored, it strolls out of the glass with nonchalant notions of preserved red plums, black cherries, kirsch and black raspberries with wafts of wilted roses, cinnamon toast, fallen leaves and tilled soil. Medium-bodied, the palate is very pretty, with delicately played tannins and bags of freshness, finishing wonderfully fragrant. LISA PERROTTI-BROWN, The Wine Advocate

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2021 Montlouis-sur-Loire Le Grand Clos has generosity and a come-hither side to its personality. However, the natural acidity of this later-ripening, clay-based parcel, 91-year-old vines and the 2021 vintage means that there's a vivid line of acidity that trips through the wine, providing direction and energy. Fully dry, it leaves the drinker with a sense of uprightness. It has some richness from barrel-aging (500-liter barrels, 30% new), which lends a sweet, creamy aspect. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

From a 0.8 ha plot ‘Le Grand Poirier’ planted in 1950.  This has about 50% botrytis and aged in older barrels. RS 85 g/l
Smells so very strongly of fresh sage and honey and pineapple and medjool dates soaked in warm water. Lovely earthiness. Linden leaf. Saffron. An unusual nuttiness. Pineapple syrup and pressed sage on the palate. The sweetness fills the mouth but this is a wine that needs your silence, your listening, your waiting. If you give it time, sit back, find a nook in the garden or tucked into your old armchair, it's a wine that gives so much more than sweetness. It hands you memories of rain on earth, of bruised clover underneath the ripening grapes, of bees, blue skies, black skies, pink-blazed-morning skies, mist-draped dawns. You can taste yeast, old wood, black coffee, a slowly melting fingertip of dark chocolate on your tongue, ginger-biscuit crumbs. It's something, this wine. TAMLYN CURRIN, Jancis Robinson

Aged in small apple brandy casks for over 12 months, this rich and generous liqueur is a result of blending pressed French and British heirloom apple varieties with our apple spirit.

Complex and well-structured with baked apple and spice, balanced with firm tannins and cask influence.

Our take on the traditional aperitif from North-West France – enjoy as such or serve with blue cheese or dessert. WILLIE SMITH

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Cartology is a vinous exploration of Cape heritage. It’s intended to be a picture of the Cape seen through the lens of her old vineyards in a given vintage. The cuveé is composed of rare and extraordinary parcels of mature dryland bushvines, of heritage grapes, namely Chenin Blanc and Sémillon. These grapes have been planted in the Cape for centuries. Cartology has become our staple offering. It serves as a poster child for the project, and also seems to have become a flag bearer for Cape heritage wine in general.

The grapes were hand sorted and whole bunch pressed. The juice was very lightly settled (we like very cloudy raw juice) with no additions to the raw juice, wild fermentation took place in cements eggs, clay pots, foudres, and old barrels (various sizes). Fermentation of various parcels lasted anywhere between 3 weeks and 11 months. The wine was kept on lees for around 12 months, then rested in tank on fine lees without fining for a further five months prior to bottling. Very simple, careful winemaking.

The nose shows citrus oil and pear, with some subtle floral/honey tones. The palate is very well proportioned, with firm mid-palate structure, medium rich mouth feel, and long carry. Flavour persists and even intensifies throughout its length. The wine finishes dry and saline, refreshing the palate. This vintage has a sappy, thirst-quenching quality about it.

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The 2016 Sérilhan has a wonderful, quite high-toned and generous bouquet with ample blackberry and raspberry scents laced with violet and hints of iodine. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip in the mouth, quite symmetrical and focused with impressive precision on the finish. This feels dialed back in terms of power to the benefit of this elegant Saint-Estèphe. Tasted at the Cru Bourgeois tasting in London (92) NEAL MARTIN

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The 2023 Vouvray Sec Le Haut-Lieu is a pure, refined, seamless style with pear, pineapple and nectarine flavors. It boasts excellent clarity and refinement, with lovely freshness hailing from calibrated acidity that bursts through this blossoming wine. Considering this was only bottled three weeks before tasting, I'm very encouraged by the results. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous


This stunning dry Vouvray has such an exciting energy on the simultaneously focused and creamy medium-bodied palate. I love the juicy core, then the way the wet stone character builds to an impressive intensity in the long, precise finish. Still really youthful and with great aging potential.
STUART PIGOTT, JamesSuckling.com

Again this moelleux cuvée has a very gentle residual sugar, with just 25 g/l. Unsurprisingly it feels very pure and fresh on the nose, with a very focused style, with scents of peach leaf and some lightly honeyed orchard fruit. The palate is pure, fresh and bright, mixing a pithy substance of both orchard and citrus fruits, fresh and pure, with a very fine acid backbone. This is quite striking in the finish, where it is long and cleansed with wonderful vibrancy. Very good potential here but it needs time.”
CHRIS KISSACK, thewinedoctor.com

Chidaine does not release a Moelleux from his Vouvray vineyards every year—the balance has to be just so—and so you can be sure that when he does it is worth seeking out. It's drawn from the clay-limestone vineyards (of Le Bouchet, L’Espagnole, L’Homme, La Chatterie et al.) and made in the same fashion as Les Tuffeaux. As we have seen chez Huet, 2018 was a stunning year for sweeter styles of Chenin Blanc and here the song remains the same.

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The 2022 Le Haut-Lieu Demi-Sec is juicy, though never generous, but still a comforting Vouvray that remains focused; there's sufficient tension from the acidity despite the season's warmth. Welcoming and friendly from the off, there's fine fruit here with a pretty talc note. It has a sense of persistence and presence that elevates this wine from purely a fruity Chenin. Really charming. REBECCA GIBB MW

The 2020 Roche aux Moines is a full bodied, round shouldered style with supple texture and a reassuring sense of grip from a combination of acid, phenolics and the schistous/sandstone soils of this famous vineyard. It's a wine that takes its 14% alcohol with ease and glides along, providing long, long length. Having spent 18 months on lees in barrel, there is an integrated nutty oak and pastry-like character within the wine's core. Mouth-watering acidity makes you want more. REBECCA GIBB MW, Vinous

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2019 Lafon-Rochet is every bit as compelling today as it was from barrel. There is a feeling of elegance to the 2019 that is so striking. Sweet dark cherry, plum new leather, tobacco, licorice, spice and rose petal all grace the 2019 as it unwinds to its long finish. Lafon-Rochet is not huge nor obvious, as some Saint-Estèphes are, but it is absolutely compelling. ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2019 Lafon-Rochet, which was picked from 25 September to 5 October, requires a little coaxing from the glass, eventually unfurling with blackberry, bilberry, violet and light crushed stone/clayey scents that is quintessential Saint-Estèphe. The palate is medium-bodied with fine-boned tannins, fresh and saline in the mouth, old school in the best sense of that expression. No, it is not the most flamboyant Lafon-Rochet, but it is imbued with a sense of nobility and classicism that I much admire. Tasted three times with consistent notes. NEAL MARTIN

Brilliant stuff, the 2019 Château Lafon-Rochet shows the best of the vintage with its pure, precise, elegant, yet at the same time concentrated style. Showing lots of ripe currant, plum, tobacco, Asian spice, and cedar pencil aromatics, it's medium to full-bodied, has nicely integrated acidity, and just seamless tannins. It's beautifully done and well worth seeking out. It's going to evolve for 20-25+ years. JEB DUNNUCK

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2020 Lafon-Rochet represents the essence of classicism in Bordeaux. Medium in body and finely-cut, Lafon-Rochet is one of the classiest, more refined Saint-Estèphes readers will come across. Dark fruit, earthiness, lavender, licorice, menthol and cloves add nuance, but it is the wine's balance and vibrancy that impress most. Give the tannins a few years to melt away. Superb. ANTONIO GALLONI

I loved the 2020 Château Lafon-Rochet, a rich, powerful, concentrated Saint-Estèphe that stays beautifully balanced and elegant. Lots of pure cassis and darker currant fruits as well as tobacco, chocolate, and damp herb notes define the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with plenty of mid-palate depth, building tannins, and a great finish. It's going to take 7-8 years to hit the early stages of maturity, but it's a brilliant wine. The blend is 61% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot, and the rest Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, with an alcohol of 13.5 and a pH of 3.68. Tasted twice. JEB DUNNUCK

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

An explosion of all manner of black berries with discreet, toasty and smoky oak, makes this a joyful St.-Estèphe. Then the great balance of ripeness, lively acidity and velvety tannins come together beautifully at the elegant finish to make this the best wine from this producer in modern times. Needs two or three years to soften. Try in 2022. JAMES SUCKLING

A sleeper in this vintage, the 2016 Lafon-Rochet is positively stellar. Bright, translucent and super-expressive, the 2016 has so much to offer. Lavender, tobacco, cedar, mint and dried herbs give the 2016 striking aromatic top notes to play off the darker fruit flavors. The 2016 is pure class. Don't miss it. ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2016 Lafon-Rochet has a very engaging bouquet, a mixture of red and black fruit laced with pencil shavings and loamy scents. In fact, the more you nose this wine, the more its complexity becomes apparent. The palate is medium-bodied with supple tannins and a fine line of acidity, ripe and generous yet maintaining outstanding tension and revealing a judicious touch of peppercorns on the finish, which fans out gloriously. This is a fabulous Lafon-Rochet NEAL MARTIN

All the success of St-Estèphe in 2016 can be seen in Lafon- Rochet this year, where the 30mm of rain on 13th September and 13mm on 8th October, with nothing in between, allowed the clay, limestone and gravel soils to fully ripen the grapes. Owner Basile Tesseron says he had never seen such maturity in his Cabernet Sauvignons, and certainly we have hugely intense aromatics from the first nose. The palate features finessed and fleshed out mouthwatering black fruits making it hard not to love this. Tasted three times in total, and every time it stood out. JANE ANSON, Decanter

One of the potential sleepers of the vintage, Basil Tesseron's 2015 Lafon-Rochet is a total knock-out. Explosive, deep and powerful, the 2015 possesses remarkable richness and intensity. A host of black cherry, smoke, gravel, menthol, tar and licorice notes abound. I tasted the 2015 four times over two weeks. During that time, the wine seemed to acquire more and more freshness as well as finesse. There is little question Lafon-Rochet is one of the stars of Saint-Estèphe in 2015. The blend is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and 4% Petit Verdot ANTONIO GALLONI

A gem from Saint-Estèphe is the 2015 Château Lafon-Rochet and it's certainly one of the top wines from this appellation in 2015. Elegant, medium to full-bodied, beautifully pure and refined, it offers impressive notes of sweet dark fruits, crème de cassis, classy oak and a kiss of minerality. It's the finesse and quality of tannin, as well as its solid mid-palate, that sets this beauty apart. This wine is 54% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc and the rest Petit Verdot, and it's hidden little gem worth tracking down! JEB DUNNUCK

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There are only a select few, perfect locations, to grow great wine on this big blue orb of ours and those are between 30 and 50 degrees north and south latitudes. Those regions need to provide just the right temperature, humidity, heat and climate to grow high quality grapes. We are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to the northern reaches with the whole of Europe at our disposal, but travel further south and things are a little different.

While New Zealand and Tasmania provide us with plenty of choices (and we would be remiss not to include them) the southern reaches sitting on and just below the 40 degrees latitude offer a up a wholy unique drinking experience.

While grapes like riesling, cabernet and pinot noir are familiar to us, a number of the wines in this months pack aren't seen so regularly on your local wines list or on the shelves of your corner wine store. From Malbec's in Argentina to the infamous Pinotage and the more classic varietals like Chenin in South Africa this is an exploration of all that is good in these great southern lands of ours.

Where do we start with such an awesome selection of interesting wine? It's hard to decide we might just do a quick run down by country.

South America is relatively new to the wine scene but has come along in leap and bounds. WE start with a couple of classics with the Finca Los Moras Malbec and the Santa Ana Cabernet. These are text book varietal wines with plenty to love in their up-front fruit and modern styling. For something a little different we through in the Bouchon pais. For those who do not know, Pais is an old variety that is Chile's answer to pinot noir. With a little more bite and a wild flourish this a great introduction to this fascinating wine.

Closer to home in New Zealand we have few classic drops with the Palliser Estate Pencarrow pinot. A wine you would be hard pressed to find with the structure, concentration and complexity at the same price. Off to Hawkes Bay for some stonking Chardonnay from Bilancia fame and some of the world most underrated syrah from stars Te Mata. What a treat!

Just in our backyard, Tassie continues to pump out some of the best wine in the country and while we would never miss out on showcasing another great pinot there is some real winners with pinot gris and riesling on the rise. The Moores Hill gris is a freat example of textural and vibrant gris from the Apple Isle with the Riversdale riesling hot on its tale.

And for something a little different we have got the latest release Willie Smiths Cider. This is an absolute belter, and we couldn't help but included it once we were told it had been released. Perfect timing! We will take that one!

Last, and something we don't see much in Aus is a cracking selection of wines from South Africa. Long-term customers may recognise some of these wines and as far as we are concerned, they are some of the best modern day Cape wines to make it over. The Bare Bones cinsault is a zippy red full of energy while the Winery of Good Hope pinotage is a juicy and fun take on this classic red variety,

And what would a selection of wine from South Africa be without a chenin blanc. The Secateurs is clean and crunchy with a plush fruit profile that is cleaned up by chenin's zippy acidity.
All in al a pretty awesome and exciting collection of stellar wines from the great south!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

2 BOTTLES AVAILABLE

Saint-Estèphe 2ème Cru Classé 
Extremely aromatic with currant, wild-herb and fresh-violet aromas. This is regal cabernet sauvignon at its finest. The palate has unwaveringly long and defined tannins that carry such fresh, piercingly pure, redcurrant and cassis flavors. A twin to the superb 2015? A blend of 76% cabernet sauvignon, 20% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 1% petit verdot.(97) JAMES SUCKLING

The 2017 Montrose is a very pretty, polished wine that speaks much more to finesse than power. Expressive floral and spices notes add an attractive inner sweetness to a Montrose that in 2017 leans more into the red fruit spectrum. Gracious yet deep, with terrific overall balance, the 2017 Montrose is a total winner. What impresses most about the 2017 is its freshness and sophistication. I won't be surprised if Montrose turns out to be even better than this note suggests further down the road. Graphite, licorice, menthol and sage lead to a finish with real grip and freshness. The 2017 is such a classy and promising wine. (95+) ANTONIO GALLONI

The 2017 Montrose was so impressive from barrel and now, bottled since July, it continues to put in a strong case for being one of the best Left Bank wines. It has a very pure and intoxicating bouquet with intense blackberry, light cassis, juniper and violet aromas, almost Margaux-like in terms of personality. Although there is a patina of new oak after bottling, it is in sync with the fruit. The palate is medium-bodied with gentle grip on the entry. Tightly wound at the moment but supremely well focused, this is a classic Montrose, "cool" and reserved, demonstrating impressive tension and precision towards the finish. It will require less time in bottle than the 2016 for example, so broach this superb Saint-Estèphe after five or six years and then it will give 25 to 30 years of drinking pleasure, and knowing Montrose, probably longer. Tasted twice with consistent notes. (95) NEAL MARTIN