Latest wine news from Surf4Wine

Buy wine online - take our survey for 10% off all wines

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:19:00 +0000

Do you buy wine online? I'm guessing you might at least be interested as you are visiting this blog now!

In which case, how would you feel about helping us improve our services by taking part in an online survey? Acting as a sounding board for some possible new ideas in the future, and generally being one of the first people to hear about our plans, new wines and producers that we are working with?

We're thinking of calling this new brains trust our 'Inner Cellar'.(Ideas for a better title also welcome!)

The plan is that we will eventually transform this group into a full on wine club with lots of interesting offers, tastings (mostly in the Oxfordshire/Hampshire/Berkshire area of UK to begin with - but possibly further afield if demand is there) and even some money-off coupons. Well, everyone loves a good deal!

As an added incentive, once you complete the survey we'll send you a voucher code for 10% off any purchase you might like to make via Surf4Wine this month (March 2010. Discount on wine only, not cost of delivery).

So, to take the survey and sign-up for the 'Inner Cellar' please follow the link for the Surf4Wine buy wine online survey.

Wine of the Week: Chablis 2007, Christian Moreau

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

Reading the the first report from our buying team in Burgundy gave me a bit of a thirst for a good bottle of Burgundy.

Unfortunately the tasting budget didn't run to a bottle of Bachelet Monnot Puligny Montrachet, which I've had my eye on even before the team left for Burgundy (note:for the value concious amongst us, or those just looking for a very good every day white, Bachelet Monnot Bourgogne Blanc is, to all intents and purposes, a baby Puligny)

So my sights swung north to Chablis (OK, I suppose not 'technically Burgundy, it being a region on its own in fact. But most people group it in with Burgundy - so we will too, for the purposes of this blog)

Six generations of the Moreau family have made wine at this domain - so plenty of history and experience! 47 year old vines and a near perfect aspect combine with that experience to provide the building blocks for extraordinary Chablis. All have a wonderful minerality - almost as if the kimmeridgien calcareous clay that the vines are gown on has somehow imbued the wine with some of their character. Terroir and soil composition are something that many talk about in terms of their contribution towards how a wine tastes; Jamie Goode talks a lot of sense about terroir in this article on his web site.

Anyway, for tonight's supper I was making chicken stir-fry, so wasn't sure how well wine and food would match each other. Normally I think of Chablis is one of the most food-friendly wines possible. In the end I decided to open the wine while cooking and catching up on the days news with Alison.

Chablis, Christian Moreau 2007:From the first sip I was won over. Smells sea-fresh; like a bracing walk along the shore-line mid-winter as the salty fresh air asails your nostrils! Sappy and tart and fresh - like ripe green fruit - with an almost saline quality to the taste. Precise, chiselled almost energetic in its nervous energy. The mineral quality really comes through, inter-woven with white fruits and even a spice element. A wine that really builds in the glass - and drinks all too quickly!

Given how much I loved this wine, and that we are currently enjoying something of a Burgundy-centric week, the Moreau Chablis seems like the perfect choice for this weeks Wine of the Week...

Order 12 bottles or more of this weeks WoW and get 10% off!

Now, what to drink with that stir-fry....

Burgundy: Day 1

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:13:03 +0000

We're gearing up for a rather special Burgundy offer later this spring (if Spring ever arrives, given the amount of snow we've had recently). Watch this space for a 2008 vintage special later. So it's perfect that we're now working with Caviste in Hampshire to select some amazing wines from some incredible producers for you. What Mr Caviste doesn't know about Burgundy isn't worth knowing.

Yesterday, a three-strong buying team left the UK by EuroStar for a two-day tasting tour of the region. They've just sent me their first update, and already I'm jealous of some of the wines they've been tasting! Especially as it's just been announced that this is officially our coldest winter since 1978, so a good hot cuppa seems rather more appropriate! Although it's funny how life always seems better after a glass of a stunning Mersault or Montrachet.

Mr Caviste, though, insists that they're working hard to sniff out the best wines at the keenest prices. Here's his first update, sent by one of the team from the back of a moving car driven by a grinning and very happy Mr. Caviste...

Earlier this morning we were treated to a showing of the wines from Bruno Colin. Bruno's wines demonstrate an incredible purity of fruit and are so elegant. The whites have a real mouth tingling acidity and are wonderfully fresh. The Chassagne Rouge 2008 was the pick of the reds for me with lovely ripe fruit and an alluring smoky, vegetal nose.

We've just finished a tasting at Bachelet Monnot where the brothers (see picture) have been producing exceptional quality Burgundy for the past 6 years. These young guys are incredible: their wines improve with every vintage and we were all blown away by their 2008's. Across the board their whites are rich, very concentrated wines with layer upon layer of rich, buttery almost tropical fruit characters. They also have a terrific acidity which gives them a streak of lemony freshness.

We all love these wines and are looking forward to showing them off to all our customers later this year.

Next up are Rene Lequin Colin and Vincent Bouzereau. Then a dinner in Puligny Montrachet tonight with many of the growers we met today.

We're focussing more on red Burgundy from the Cotes de Nuit tomorrow...

When is Pinot Noir not Pinot Noir?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Why, when it's made from audulterated wine sold to look like Pinot Noir by fraudseters in the Languedoc wine region of France to major Californian producer Gallo!

I first got tipped off about this story by Alison when it appeared on the news wires while she was at work. It wasn't every long before it made the likes of Decanter online and the Guardian newspaper and even Radio 5 Live - thanks for the early tip Ali!

With such illustrious news content providers as those above i'm not going to comment much about the story itself. I'll leave that to Decanter editor Guy Woodward who labelled the episode a 'comedy' saying that this was Gallo's 'clumsy attempt to ride the post-Sideways Pinot Noir craze by peddling Red Bicyclette as an authentic French Pinot.'

'The world's biggest single wine producer being hoodwinked by a group of errant French vignerons is funny and depressing at the same time.'

'It doesn't say much for Gallo's professionalism that its buyers couldn't tell the different between Pinot, Merlot and Shiraz,' he said.

But it did make me think a bit about Pinot Noir. This is a grape variety that is very yield and site sensitive. To get the best out of it costs money in time and effort. Red Burgundy is the epitome of great Pinot Noir for most wine drinkers. Sure, the New World is fast catching up in many ways. In particular New Zealand Pinot Noir I think offers the best value Pinot Noir experience in the £15-20 bracket, but Burgundy is definitely where the heart is

In Burgundy especially it is the producer that is all important. Vintage matters, but even in so called 'off vintages' the good guys will make interesting wines.

Which is why we like to have people on the ground to taste the latest releases for ourselves, searching out the very best wines to offer to you here on Surf4Wine. We are just about to despatch our Burgundy buying team to check out latest release from some of our favourite producers - the likes of Christian Moreau in Chablis, Vigile Lignier in Morey Saint Denis, Vincent Bouzereau in Meursault, Bruno Colin in Chassagne Montrachet, Rene Lequin-Colin in Santenay and Bachelet-Monnot in Dezize les Maranges.

We'll try and post reports here direct from the vineyards, and then they'll be a full report on their return.

Meantime, look out for wobbly red Bicycles! ;)

Mixing it up on Facebook

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:20:57 +0000

In these economically challenging times everyone loves a good deal.

At Surf4Wine we constantly strive to find the best value possible for our customers - searching out new wines and the best deals possible. Our selection of Wines under a Tenner is a great place to look for really good value, imaginative wines offering tremendous value for money. But then the eternal dilemma... which wines to choose?

To help solve this dilemma we've developed two mixed cases of some of our favourites from the Under a Tenner range. One six bottle and one twelve bottle case.

Even better, if you've signed up to our Facebook page to follow us then we will email you coupon codes to get 10% of both cases. Bargain! There will also be more offers via Facebook over coming months, plus lots of news on tastings, events, and special offers. Definitely worth signing up for...

Plus don't forget, our blog updates over on Facebook too. So, if you are signed up to our page there you'll always be up to date with what's going on AND our save money on latest offer! Maybe you should tell your friends too? They sure to love you for the tip off!

Wines of the Week: Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc & Rusden Full Circle Mataro

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:00:04 +0000

Not one but two wines this week - we wanted to make up for not doing a 'Wine of the Week' last week. Yesterday was Valentine's Day and these two make a lovely couple...an Antipodean match made in heaven?

Actually, they are two very different wines - apart from the obvious difference of one being a white and the other red!

The Greywacke Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is the epitome of bright, vivacious New Zealand Sauvignon from Marlborough - a full in-your-face blast of ripe gooseberries and green peppers on the nose. A nice mineral edge to support those intense varietal characters whose flavours develop in the glass as the wine gets a little air. This stylish example of Kiwi Sauvignon bears testament to great quality of fruit from the vineyard, and the experience of its creator Kevin Judd, ex-winemaker of the famed Cloudy Bay.

Kevin is not only a super-talented winemaker, but a first rate photographer of vineyards and all things wine-related. The name Greywacke refers to the sandstone/mudstone rock found in New Zealand.

If the Greywacke '09 is all fruit and youthful vigour, the Rusden Full Circle Mataro 2005 is a much more laid back, mature wine. 5 years of bottle age have begun to soften the tannins, but still leave plenty of grip to provide structure to the complex, savoury flavours that are layered throughout this intense yet balanced Barossa valley red.

Perfect with roast red meats - especially lamb with garlic and thyme. However, it worked equally well with the garlic and lemon roast chicken Mrs C and I enjoyed for a quiet Valentine's Sunday supper yesterday. No love in the air with all that garlic though!

Try either (or both!) of this weeks 'Wines of the Week' and get 10% off when buying 12 bottles.

Update 01.03.10: New stock just arrived, plus price of Greywacke now reduced to £11.89 per bottle.

It's no longer our wine of the week - but it's cheaper now than when it was!

Rieslings to be cheerful

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:45:31 +0000

A post in honour of our very own Mr. Riesling, Stephan Mohr.

I just had a wonderful chat with Stephan just a few moments ago on the merits of blogging, or not in his case - he's just signed up for Facebook but can't be persuaded onto Twitter and is no more likely to start a blog as become vegetarian.

I've known Stephan for years, almost ten of them in fact. He's a wine merchant too. We first met on one of the highly enjoyable Australian WineFlight trips arranged by the then head of Wine Australia in Europe, Hazel Murph y. In fact Hazel is in Australia right now with a reunion of some of the folks I went to Australia with all those years ago. I was scheduled to go, but a bunch of reasons prevented me. We do however have a man 'on the inside' who I hope will be filing a few reports for us.

Stephan and I have become such good friends that Stephan was best man at my wedding, and his wedding gift to Alison and I was honeymoon in Germany as his guests. Good food, great company and stunning Riesling. But also some good Bordeaux and Burgundy - a man of good taste is our Stephan.

So, back to Riesling and Stephan. Most of what I know and understand about Riesling is down to visits with Stephan over the years - we've visited vineyards and producers together, visited Austria as guests of Austria wine for VieVinum, and shared lots of good bottles. We have similar tastes - for example, in Stephan's eyes Riesling should only develop the oft-mentioned petrol aroma many tasters and commentators associate with it once it's matured. (And certainly not in its youth as far too many from the New Worlds seem to.) This is a view shared by many winemakers in Germany too I think. Who wants to drink petrol anyway?

With Riesling in mind, we come to today's Wine for the Weekend...

Rolly Gassmann Riesling 2004. Not from Germany (we do need a better selection please Stephan!), but from Alsace. Higher alcohol than many Riesling wines from Germany (although not all) and pretty much bone dry - just a hint of ripeness/sweetness on the end of the palate. Bright, steely acidity shines through the core of the wine. Grapefruit zest, pith even, hints of tangerine too. But zest not juice. A final twist of spice. Perfect for Chinese food really - and with Chinese New Year tomorrow, highly recommended. Anyone for Crispy Duck?

Local pub, or Michelin stars? Either way, one Goose has been cooked

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:00:00 +0000

I've been following this story because the pub in question's quite near to where I live, and I've enjoyed a couple of really good meals there. Long story short: village pub gets Michelin star, loses it. Village pub regains Michelin star under new chef, chef then walks taking most of kitchen and waiting staff with him when owner apparently asks him to make food 'that locals would enjoy', like burger and chips. According to one newspaper, the owner was keen not to disparage the locals' tastebuds, but said the chef hadn't quite got the measure of their palates. It's the eternal quandary isn't it? Quantity or quality?

It's the same in the wine trade. Everyone knows wine snobs who insist on telling everyone around them - usually quite loudly - that what they like are the 'right' wines and everyone else is a pleb. Other wine merchants have told me about people who buy wine they don't like, just because it's expensive or is the 'in' thing to drink - purely to impress people. What's the point?! Here at Surf4Wine we've got your expensive wines, sure. But we've also got some wonderful wines under a tenner. I'd never tell my customers what they should be drinking - or paying.

Coming back to the Goose at Britwell Salome, I think the point is that it's one of only two Michelin-starred pubs in Oxfordshire (the other's the Nut Tree in Murcott). It's choice, surely? I can go to the nearest chain restaurant or choose a gastro pub, my village local with bangers and mash or find a Michelin-starred establishment. There's something for everyone.

Love is in the air

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 19:24:59 +0000

Isn't love grand? A little bit of love goes a long way. It certainly did for my wife Alison and I this morning, courtesy of JackFM the radio station where Alison works under her 'professional' name Ali Booker.

Jack's Morning Glory were chatting about the interesting way people propose to one another. I couldn't resist tweeting in to let them know how Alison proposed to me - and it wasn't even a leap year!

Andrew gets a shock. And he's never looked back!

Brings back great memories - and all the more pertinent this year as back in 2006 when Alison and I got married it was against the back-ground of a pretty bad diagnosis for Terminal Cancer. Four years on and Alison beating the odds and is in amazing health, all things considered - working every day and safe to say, enjoying every minute! Radio is Alison's passion, and every day she gets to live that passion with her friends at JackFM.

Now, if that's not cause for a glass of your favourite wine, well I'm not sure what is!

By the way, if Blog's are your thing and you fancy reading Alison's, well here's the link to Ali Booker's Blog. I think Ali writes with wit, wisdom and honesty. Not to mention a great deal of talent - but then I'm biased. But what the heck, take a look anyway!

Wine of the Week: Chateau la Tour de By 2004

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:49:27 +0000

Quite the prettiest location in Bordeaux, Chateau la Tour de By lies in the Northern Médoc where the vineyards are overlooked by the impressive folly - at the top of which you can survey a great stretch of the Gironde estuary.

When we visited Bordeaux in November '09 (see our current Bordeaux offer) we decided the 2004 was too good to leave behind, exhibiting as it does bold well structured currant and light mint flavours - making it the perfect accompaniment to the Sunday lunch lover who dreams of nothing better than a few slices of prime rare, roast beef (preferably fore-rib!) and a dollop of creamy horseradish sauce.

In fact, that's just what we did this last Sunday - and it's when the picture to the left was taken. So, Sunday lunch lovers everywhere, get your luncheon Claret here.

iPhones, iPads, apps and snow

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:12:00 +0000

I'd almost forgotten about this post that I had saved as a draft back at the beginning of January - I think I was waiting to write up with wines tasted while snowed in at home, but that somehow didn't happen. Never ever enough time!

Last night, while catching up on all the furore of the new iPad I downloaded some new apps for my iPhone, including the very nifty PhotoShop Mobile. Found lots of other less useful but highly enjoyable ones too - like Real Racing GTI (this free version sponsored by VM) and ZenBound. But it was the PhotoShop one that had me doffing my cap in admiration for those programming geniuses that develop these clever little apps - so much functionality in such a tiny little bit of software. I just had to share it with you here! Oh, and I definitely can't wait to get me one of those iPad thingy's either - perfect for surfing for wine from the comfort of your sofa

The first pic just shows a very snowy house and garden. The second one is using the PhotoShop application from the app store, working in sketch mode on that same tree you see on the left. Interesting effects with a few deft touches of the pointy figure.

Oh, and the wine was very good too - the recently arrived Crozes Hermitage Georges Reynaud from Domaine de Bruyeres. perfect with that evening's meal of rib-eye steak and garlic butter. Well, we had to keep warm somehow!

Binomio - gonna make you an offer you can't refuse!

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:36 +0000

Binomio - it sounds like a character from the Godfather movie trilogy, doesn't it?

But actually it is rather stunning Montepulciano d'Abruzzo that we got to try today when Michael Palij MW, it's UK importer, popped into the office to show us some wines and discuss some upcoming promotions.

I'm not going to try and put into words what the winery can do best itself:

'Binomio is the brainchild of two old friends: Stefano Inama from Azienda Agricola Inama in the Veneto and Sabatino Di Properzio from Fattoria la Valentina. The idea was simple and born from their conviction that Montepulciano is a native Italian grape of extraordinary potential. High yields and sloppy vinification had robbed it of character in much the same way as Garganega’s talents had been squandered in Soave. The Binomio vineyard – a stunning plot of old vine Montepulciano planted exclusively with the low-yielding ‘Africa’ clone in 1971 – was purchased in 1999. 2002 marked the completion of the Binomio cellars complete with the latest steel fermentors and a spacious, climate-controlled barrel room. Binomio 2001 was hailed by Wine Spectator as the greatest Montepulciano made and awarded 95 point; vintage 2002 was hailed 91 point. The unique combination of mountainous terroir, old vines, and a strict selection have allowed us to produce a wine which, displays the concentration and complexity for which Montepulciano is famous.''

The thing that struck me most about this huge, intense, brooding red wine was its stunning balance - if this were a new world wine you can imagine many making an over-extracted,massivley alcholic monster. This is super food-freindly and with impeccable balance. It's a fairly new idea, so no real ideas on longevity - but I suspect that it will age magnificently for a good ten years. Or more. Bravo!

Have you tasted this wine? What do you think? Why not rate it on Snooth? Then we can all read about it. Or better still, rate it on Snooth and comment here too!

Who knows where the time goes...

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:11:57 +0000

Can't believe where the time goes! (Blog title in honour of a beautiful song by Fairpoint Convention - and title of Sony award-winning documentary my lovely wife co-produced with the irrepressible Bob Harris last year. An award that was one of the high-lights from the last year for us.)

So, another New Year is here already, and snow again. 2009 ended with lots of the white stuff, hampering real life (and at just the time when we needed it least, trying as we were to get Christmas wine and gift deliveries out in time for the festive season!)

Last year ended with us (well, more correctly, ME!) being pretty poor on the blogging front - but no excuses this year! Just need to be more organised and make better use of technology (just invested in extra iPhone batteries and chargers so we can keep everyone updated on all this years excitement, wherever we are)

So, first offer of the New Year: Bordeaux. I don't normally think of Bordeaux as natural Surf4Wine territory as I've always considered that others in the UK wine trade are better placed than us, doing it bigger and better. But bigger isn't always better, and with some new connections and introductions since our move to new offices and warehouse in Hampshire, I've had my head turned.

There are some stunning wines from good to very good recent vintages that just aren't about in the main-stream wine retailers, and which Surf4Wine is ideally placed to introduce you to. So, In November we sent a buying team to Bordeaux to unearth some of them and bring them back for us to introduce to you here. Plus, in April this year we'll be travelling to Bordeaux to be right in the heart of the action as this years Bordeaux en primeur campaign for the 2009 wines kick off - and we'll be telling you all about it right here!

One of my wine predictions for 2010 is that the Bordeaux '09 campaign will be huge, even within the context of a world economy struggling to come out of recession without slipping back into another one - and Surf4Wine will be helping you to get the best wine bangs for your buck throughout 2010 - so stay tuned!

In fact, although Surf4Wine is often perceived as a very new-world orientated wine business, my wine back-ground is very much rooted in the traditional wines of France. I was last in Bordeaux in 1991, lucky enough to spend a week travelling around, tasting and meeting people while based at the beautiful Chateau Loudenne. All part of spending 7 very happy years tasting and drinking some of the finest Bordeaux wines possible while working for one of Oxford University's ancient College's.

Therefore, a fitting title for our first offer of 2010 is very definitely Back to Bordeaux - the best place to get your Bordeaux taste-buds wet ready for the coming 2009 excitement later thus year.

We're Game if you are...

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:49:53 +0000

A long day of writing producer profiles, adding new products and catching up on blogs - plus following the goings on at the start of the European Wine Bloggers Conference via Twitter.

Suddenly realised that I hadn't eaten all day, and given that the fridge was empty a quick dash into Overton to forage for food was in order. We are lucky to have such great foodie havens as Laverstoke Park, Manydown and Newlyns farm Shop (location of Caviste Odiham) right on our doorstep, but in the village itself we also have one of those rarities of the modern high street, a good butchers shop. They sell spell-bindingly good (well, I thought I'd better get a Halloween reference in somewhere!) Game Pies. So lunch was a large slice of this, some amazingly tasty tomatoes (given the time of the year) and a glass of the Chamonix Rouge 2007 that we had open for customer tasting.

'Classic Bordeaux-blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot. Cassis and wafts of cedar and cigar smoke lead to a ripe, rich palate with soft tannins and a tasty finish.

I think it is wines like this that really do show what good independent wine merchants are all about - good value, good wines and great advice.

Authentic wine writing, not psychic wine tasting please!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 16:57:41 +0000

Today is the start of the European Wine Bloggers Conference in Lisbon - even if you are not a wine blogger and just enjoy finding out more about the wines you drink, it is definitely worth taking a look at the various live feeds, tweets and videos (look under EWBC). These guys are looking at the very latest ways to get information from wineries and retailers out to you the wine drinking public with blogs, videos, Twitter and all sorts of other exciting and innovative communications forums.

One of the most important points in this kind of PR is authenticity - be true to yourself and your 'brand'.

Which made for a very special kind of irony when I was sent this link earlier today. Two types of communications on the same day. Couldn't be more different. One a win, one a fail. I leave you to decide which works best...