supple.juicy.fruity

I could spin you a yarn and tell you how I discovered this wine in a bar in Pamplona, after taking part in the ‘Running of the Bulls’, and how the barman poured me a glass and spilled some on my copy of ‘The Sun Also Rises’. In truth, I discovered it while helping to clear up after our ‘bring-a-bottle’ street party and noticed that there was a little bit left in the bottle, so I took a sneaky swig before popping the empty into a bin bag and thought, “Aye up! That’s decent!”. The next day, I asked the shipper for a sample and the fact that you are reading about it in this tasting-note is enough of a spoiler to tell you that my initial impressions weren’t wrong.

It’s a riotously joyful blend of Tempranillo, Syrah and Bobal, loaded with thorny, brambly, dark forest berries, laced through with some toothsome woody spice and a really juicy sour cherry acidity that brings it to life. Wines at this price can feel a bit ‘commercial’ and removed from any sense of place or tradition, but this feels local, handmade and pleasingly rough around the edges, like my copy of ‘The Sun Also Rises’, which I was reading when I discovered this wine. 14% alc. Drink now-2029.

Organic. Vegan friendly.

John Lennon is reported to have said: “When I was 5 years old, my mother told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I told them I wanted to be happy. They told me that I didn’t understand the assignment. I told them that they didn’t understand life.” We like the uncomplicated Zen-like simplicity of that philosophy and we apply the same outlook to the wines we enjoy. Drink what makes you happy and at £11.95 a bottle, this juicy, crunchy Carmenere is a gleeful burst of fruity pleasure that demands nothing more than to be enjoyed. Sit back and give your glass a swirl: blackberries, blueberries, plus notes of raw padron peppers and Carmenere’s trademark leafiness giving the fruit some added lift. Don’t be surprised how moreish you find it. Drink now-2028.

'Metic' is a project by the enigmatic Luca Hodgkinson. Luca consults for many wineries around the country and sources grapes from sustainable or organic vineyards. Easy, breezy wines made with minimal intervention. The name was inspired by the famous song ‘Le Métèque’ by Georges Moustaki - a favourite of Luca's.

Organic farming/vineyards

I know, right? A Californian Pinot Noir for £13.95? It’s gotta be awful! Ha, ha! What kind of chump would buy Californian Pinot Noir for that sort of price? It’s probably made from grapes they picked off the ground! Ha ha! It’s probably got more sugar in it than a pot of jam! Ha ha! It’s probably made from formaldehyde and glue. Ha, ha! They must think I was born yesterday. I bet it doesn’t taste anything like Pinot Noir, I bet it’s jammy and sweet. I bet it turns to vinegar within a day of opening it. Ha, ha! These charlatans aren’t going to pull one over on me! 13.5% alc. Vegan. Drink now-2030.

Customer Comments:

“This is absolutely gorgeous. Not normally a Pinot guy and prefer a wine that delivers to the solar plexus but well…..stone me……” - Mr A.W

“It’s brilliant. I would say very Gevrey like.” - Mr. B. W.

“It’s as nice as some US or NZ I drink, but at half the price, so a great ‘cellar saver’!” - Mr. C. S.

“Just to let you know we are currently having a tasting of Odd Lot. You are right. Excellent value.” - Mrs. J. T.

“Delicious wine!” - Mr. A.P.

“The Odd Job {sic} Pinot is very nice.” - Mr L.B.

“How are you stocked for Odd Lot, any left? It went down a real storm.” - Mr D.C.

“It really is good. It’s not spectacular, but it’s undeniably a really good wine” - Mr N.S.

”It is everything you guys said it was. Astonishing for the price…” - Mr. W.G.

”Am much enjoying the Pinot ! Hope you haven't sold out, as I'll take another dozen, if available!” - Mr. J.P.

“We are enjoying the Odd Lot Pinot Noir an awful lot!! Do you have any left?” - Mr D.M.

”Just wanted to let you know that the Odd lot pinot is absolutely incredible for the price.” - Mr. I.S.

“The Odd Lot Pinot has lived up to everything you said about it” - Mr. A.W.

“Just to let you know that the Odd Lot Pinot Noir lived up to its promise. Such a bargain!” - Mr C.C.

“Pretty darned good” says my tasting note and that’s probably the most enthusiastic review I have ever given a Roble from Spain. Roble is the name given to a red wine that has been lightly oaked, typically around 6 months, so it sits between a Joven and a Crianza. I usually find they are neither one thing nor another, a bit like brunch or drizzle, but this one has tons of flare and panache, as well as good looks. It spent 7 months in new oak - 40% American, and 60% French, with varying levels of toast - and is dark and sweet-fruited and spicy, displaying black cherries, red plums, baking spices and gentle floral notes. The fruit is so ripe and concentrated that any oak flavours are drowned within it. I think I prefer this to their Crianza, which spent 18 months in oak, as the balance here allows the succulence of the fruit to shine. Perfect with lamb chops or indeed anything with a bit of charred fat on the outside (and I’m not referring to me on a sun-lounger). Outstanding value! 14% alc. Drink now-2029.

Press review:

JancisRobinson.com (previous vintage): "Smoky definition framing the deep dark fruit. The oak is present, but not overwhelming, and showcases the fruit. Approachable and layered nose. Deep, ripe, sweet-fruited on entry but plenty of chalky tannins as it heads to the finish – vanilla, spice and black-fruit finish. Bold and rich, but with fresh, balancing acidity. Plenty of complexity at this price. GV (OC). Drink now-2028." 16 points

“The Vinum series represents amazing quality for the price.” - Jamie Goode

A wonderfully juicy Stellenbosch red made from Gamay, the Beaujolais grape. The word ‘juicy’ can sometimes be used as a euphemism to mean ‘eye-wateringly acidic’, just like ‘powerful’ can mean borderline flammable or ‘flinty’ can mean the fruit has left the building, but I’m using ‘juicy’ in its rightful sense here, to mean succulently tangy. There’s a whole punnet of strawberries in this wine, a little smoky cherry and the moreish quality of tangerines (I don’t know about you, but I can get through a string bag full of them in a single sitting). This is a great wine for parties, picnics and barbecues, with its soft tannins and a relatively low alcohol content of 12.5% abv. Screwcap. Organic. Drink now-2030.

Press reviews:

JancisRobinson.com: “Mid, vibrant crimson. Totally inviting aroma of tangy, vibrant dark-red fruit, very slightly herbal, even a touch floral, while perfectly ripe. Deep, generous and mouth-wateringly fresh, pure Gamay fruit. super-fine tannins – and a million miles away from a fly-by-night nouveau style. Succulent, juicy, perfectly balanced and refreshing. You could drink this now, with or without food, but there’s no rush thanks to the impeccable balance between structure and fruit. (JH)” 17 points

Jamie Goode: “So fresh and direct with red cherry, raspberry and black pepper, and even some redcurrant. There’s a really creamy, smooth mid-palate with ripe fruit and then a nice focused finish. Subtle green hints here. Beautiful. ” 94 points

A deceptively good wine, in that it feels quite simple in some ways, with its perky, crunchy red berry fruit and hints of satsuma peel and purple flowers, but there’s an undertow of more powerful Garnacha below the surface, giving it a sense of flow and plenty. Outwardly, it’s not wholly dissimilar to a young Beaujolais or a young Bourgogne Rouge, but then it deepens, with the granite soil bringing a mineral aspect to the finish. ‘Vi del Mas’ is Catalan for ‘house wine’, which cheekily understates the quality here and we were delighted to see that Jancis Robinson saw the value too and picked it out as her ‘Wine of the Week’. 13.5% alc. Drink now-2028.

Jancis Robinson MW: “Pale garnet. Very pale rim. Nose of warm strawberries and delightful freshness on the palate with a little fine minerality on the very end. This is not a furrowed-brow, serious wine but it could not be more direct in its appeal. Low tannin, lots of sweet, honest fruit on entry and pure, appetising tingle at the end. A bit lighter than the 2021 but a very satisfying clean, medium-length finish.” 16.5 points and ‘Wine of the Week’!

Charlotte Kristensen (You Magazine): “Playful and delicious Spanish red, a lesser-known gem boasting wild strawberry notes and a hint of white pepper. Serve slightly chilled.”

I wish it to be known that I loved this wine before realising that I had been to the domaine many years ago, otherwise you might accuse me of confirmation bias, because it was the first vineyard I ever visited with my daughter and she still has the sunflower seeds that she harvested in a little keepsake box. So, this is not the product of golden summer memories, but of rigorous, dispassionate, sterile research.

Beautiful tangy cassis, balanced by the sweetness of black cherry, which gives the wine a fleshy core, with underlying notes of pencil lead and sandalwood. The texture is soft, thanks to the sweet tannins, allowing for joyful early drinking. It shares the aromas and flavours of a really good Saint Emilion, but the supple structure and the joyful ripeness give the wine a sun-drenched feel. 13% alc. A blend of Malbec, Tannat, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and  Cabernet Sauvignon. Drink now-2030. Certified organic and biodynamic.

Customer comments:

“Had a bottle of the Entras Rouge last night and loved it. Thought I had better get another case ready for the Christmas visitors.” - Mr K.T.

A featherweight red wine from Catalonia with a pale colour and imperceptible tannins, made from the local Trepat grape and showing high-toned aromas from the whole bunch fermentation and flavours of strawberry nectar, pumice stone and cold embers. Quirky and delicious! 12% alc. Drink now-2027.

Organic/ biodynamic

Gamay has spent years trying to convince people it's more than just frippery and Chateau des Vergers 'Aux Saules' 2022 is Exhibit A for the defence. While many Gamays are all about youthful exuberance, this is a wine with both charm and substance—a Beaujolais that has graduated from dancing on tables to hosting the dinner.

Now running her family’s 7-hectare estate near Morgon’s famed “Côte du Py,” Cosima Bassouls is at the forefront of Beaujolais’ new generation. The nose is wonderfully expressive, bursting with wild cherries, crushed raspberries and juicy redcurrants, but there's something deeper lurking beneath the fruit. Notes of violets, graphite, forest floor and a gentle peppery spice add layers of intrigue, while a distinctly stony minerality reminds you that these vines are rooted in the granitic soils of Lantignié. The palate is beautifully poised. Bright and energetic, yet with a surprising depth and seriousness, it combines Gamay's trademark freshness with the texture and persistence more commonly associated with Pinot Noir. Silky tannins glide across the tongue, carrying flavours of red berries, sour cherry and spice through to a long, savoury finish. This is Gamay wearing a tailored jacket rather than a Hawaiian shirt: still charming, still approachable, but with a quiet confidence that makes you sit up and pay attention. Organic (certified). 12.5% alc. Drink now - 2030.

Press Reviews:

Tamlyn Currin for JancisRobinson.com: “Nippy, perfumed red fruit that makes me think of hibiscus tea, sour plums (Chinese li hing mui) and hawthorn berries. Energetic tannins that scramble nimbly up and down the fruit as if it was a super-fun climbing wall, there to play with. Pellucid purity at its core. And then a delicious peppery cloud of five-spice on the finish, like a vinous fist pump. Bassouls really is a winemaker to watch. Drink now-2030.” 17 points

James Suckling: “This is a wild and delicious red with fragrant notes of strawberries, red plums, cola, chocolate, oranges and flowers. It’s medium-bodied, silky and supple, with a seamless and fresh finish. From organically grown grapes. Drink now or hold.” 92 points

“Marcel Lapierre is something of a hero to the natural wine movement and his Morgon has been called the ‘original natural wine’.“ - Decanter

Marcel Lapierre can reasonably be considered to be the godfather of ‘serious’ Beaujolais, as he spearheaded the famous Gang of Four, alongside Guy Breton, Jean-Paul Thévenet and Jean Foillard, who forever changed the landscape of the region, both physically and metaphorically, with their focus on preserving and nurturing old vines, eschewing herbicides and pesticides, harvesting late, adding minimal sulphur and avoiding chaptalisation. Sadly, Marcel passed away in 2010, but his son, Mathieu, and daughter, Camille have continued his legacy.

Their Morgon 2023 is made from 70 year-old vines and combines lightness of touch with richness of flavour. The lightness of touch can be attributed to their father’s belief in ‘minimalist intervention’ winemaking, while the richness of flavour comes from the aforementioned deep-rooted, old vines. Textbook Beaujolais flavours of red-fleshed plums, sour cherries and a touch of gravel bring energy and purity for current drinking pleasure, but it should really be tucked away for a couple of years, because its floral, mineral and subtle spice notes are still surrounded by petals waiting to unfold. 12.5% alc. Drink 2025-2036.

Curious to know how long this wine might age? At a recent tasting of ‘very old wines’, attended by the likes of Jancis Robinson MW and Neal Martin, the 1998 vintage of Lapierre’s Morgon received 18.5 points from Jancis and was a “candidate for wine of the night”.

Biodynamically farmed
Vegan-friendly

Press reviews:

Jamie Goode (previous vintage): “Lovely presence here. Fine and elegant with sweet cherries, plums and some strawberry richness. Nice fruit weight, and quite elegant, but it has some grippy structure, too. Has life, energy and nice purity.” 95 points

Jancis Robinson MW (previous vintage): “This wine is so pure and gorgeous! It's a great advertisement for minimal intervention and purity. Direct fruit and not a trace of oak. Long and reverberant. Already drinkable but there is no hurry whatsoever.” 18 points

“Oh, wow! You brought a bottle of the Tohu ‘One’ Pinot Noir, I love that wine!” said my host.

“Actually, it’s not pronounced ‘One’,” I replied, “it’s pronounced ‘Oh-Neh’, as in the Maori word for soil or earth, as the vineyards sit on soils carried down from Mount Tapuae-o-Uenuku.”

“I see. Why don’t you sit next to Graham, he collects 19th century horse brasses, I’m sure you’ll get along well.”

This was our favourite Pinot Noir at the annual New Zealand trade tasting in London and, happily, it was far from the most expensive. It’s a really fabulous, single-vineyard Marlborough Pinot, but it feels more like a Central Otago expression, with its fuller body and its deep cherry and red plum fruit with gorgeous high tones of kola, sandalwood, blackcurrant pastilles, pomegranate molasses and candied orange rind. I can’t wait to drink it with slow-cooked beef brisket, especially the barbecued burnt ends. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2032.

Press Reviews:

Tamlyn Currin for JancisRobinson.com: “Fruit from a single vineyard called Whenua Awa Vineyard in the Awatere Valley. Hand-picked. Spontaneous fermentation. 13 months in French oak barrels. Unfined, unfiltered. If you tipped a spoon or two of Darjeeling tea leaves into a little tea pot, lifted it to your nose and breathed in deeply, then poured not-quite-boiling water over them, waited a little, lifted it to your nose and breathed in deeply, you’d be almost there. Put that lightly toasted slice of dark rye on your plate, lift it to your nose. Open the jar of homemade raspberry jam, smell it, spoon it on your toast. Pour your tea, no milk thanks. Tea-leaf tannins, tea leafiness; raspberries and redcurrants, tart and sweet; oak-toast and crunch. Such evocative aromas. Fine-boned but serious structure with tension rippling through the tannins. This would be beautiful with venison. Drink now-2031.” 17 points

Awarded a whopping 99 points by The Wine Advocate!

Derek Mossmann Knapp of Garage Wine Co. has just received the ‘Old Vine Hero’ Award 2024 for his overall impact in the field of ‘old vine’ restoration, thanks to his efforts working with local communities to revive historic vineyards in Maule, Chile and the fruits of his labour can be tasted here in his Carignan ‘Vigno’ 2018, which offers a wonderfully silky, glossy and deeply-coloured interpretation of this variety (plus a splash of Païs and Monastrell). As wine merchants, we are, quite rightly, forbidden from using the word ‘healthy’ to describe a wine, but I think it’s fair to say that the fruit itself must have been in the rudest of health when picked, as the wine is so pure in flavour, gleaming with ripe cassis and black cherry, with cashmere tannins and enough complexity (graphite, wood, baking spices) to keep you intrigued and keen for another sip. Delicious with roast pork and crackling or Peking duck. 13% alc. Drink now-2032.

Press review:

The Wine Advocate: “The 2018 Vigno comes from a creek where there's terrific drainage and thus low yields and concentration. It's Carignan with smidgens of País and Monastrell in the field blend, the grapes grown by a Maule farmer by hand and horse with traditional methods of dry-farming, uncertified organic for 75+ years. Like all the rest, it fermented in open-top vats with indigenous yeasts and matured in used barrels over two winters. None of these wines are about the process, they are about the place and the year. Drink now-2030.” 99 points

Derek Mossmann Knapp of Garage Wine Co. has just been awarded the ‘Old Vine Hero’ Special Award 2024 for his overall impact in the field of old vine restoration, thanks to his efforts working with local communities to revive old vines in Maule, Chile. Taste the fruit of his labours here…

The Wine Advocate: “After 20 harvests comes their first Cru, the 2018 Cru Truquilemu, which they describe as "Truqui with more stuffing." It comes from a small triangular section with a lower natural yield, with greater concentration and a darker, more brooding personality. It was fermented with more stems than the other Truquilemu and with a bit of Syrah, which adds weight, depth and texture. After fermenting pieces of the vineyard separately over many years, two distinct personalities emerged, and they have bottled them separately since 2018. Truquilemu has become more ethereal after the separation, and this is sturdier, with extra stuffing but more tension. The wine has less alcohol (12.8%, and 12.5% in 2019!!) higher acidity (7.43 grams measured in tartaric acid) and an incredible pH of 3.18, amazing parameters of freshness and restraint. This is not heavier, it just seems to have the same personality but with more layers. It was produced in a very simple and slow way, fermenting in open-top lagars with some full clusters and adding lignified stems to avoid carbonic maceration, with indigenous yeasts; malolactic took 11 months (!), and the aging in used and neutral barrel was extended over two winters. Drink now-2035.” 99 points