22 minute read
trophy winners
Our trophy winners for 2021
This year’s Wine Merchant Top 100 saw a record number of entries of 924 wines from all over the world, in countless varieties and styles and at all price points.
Advertisement
The Top 100 supplement, featuring the winners and all 386 highly commended wines, will be published and sent out with the July issue of The Wine Merchant.
Meanwhile here are the trophy winners for this year. Congratulations to them all.
Best Sparkling Trophy Devaux D Rosé Aged 5 Years, Côte des Bar, Champagne (£72.99, Liberty Wines)
Best Dry White Trophy Bouchard Beaune Clos St Landry 1er Cru Monpole 2015 (£66.99, Fells) Best Sweet White Klein Constantia Vin de Constance, Constantia, Western Cape 2017 (£60, Mentzendorff)
Best Rosé Trophy Domaine Lafran Bandol Rosé, Provence 2019 (£20.99, Boutinot)
Best Red Trophy Marco Abella Mas Mallola, Priorat 2018 (£27.50, Vindependents)
Best Fortified Trophy Sandeman 40 Year Old Tawny (£156, Liberty Wines)
Best Value Sparkling Trophy Champagne Taittinger Nocturne Sec, Champagne NV (£44.15, Hatch Mansfield) Best Value Dry White Trophy Bodegas Manzanos Finca Manzanos Tempranillo Blanco, Rioja 2020 (£10.99, Alliance Wine)
Best Value Sweet White Trophy De Bortoli Deen Vat 5 Botrytis, Riverina 2017 (£9.29, North South Wines)
Best Value Rosé Trophy Adega Ponte Lima Rosé, Vinho Verde 2020 (£8.99, Ehrmanns)
Best Value Red Trophy Domaine du Pré Baron Touraine Gamay, Loire 2019 (£10.99, Boutinot)
Best Value Fortified Trophy Gonzalez Byass Leonor Palo Cortado, Jerez NV (£18.50, Gonzalez Byass UK)
Thanks to this year’s judges
• Patrick Rohde, Stuart Smith, Kirsty McEwan, Aitken Wines, Dundee • Kenneth and Henry Vannan, Villeneuve Wines, Peebles & Edinburgh • Alexis Teillay, Cellar Door, House of Townend, Hull • Duncan McLean, Kirkness & Gorie, Orkney • Steve Tattam & Whilmari Swift, Winyl, Essex • Michael Boniface, No 2 Pound Street, Wendover, Buckinghamshire • Marc Hough & Jodie Pollitt, Cork of The North, Manchester • Graeme Woodward & Michael Jelley, Grape Minds, Oxford • Alastair & Teresa Wighton, Alteus Wines, Crowborough • Alex Griem, Chilled & Tannin, Cardiff • Alan Wright, The Clifton Cellars, Bristol • Julia Jenkins, Flagship Wines, St Albans • Simon Evans, The Naked Grape, Hampshire • Polly Gibson, GrapeSmith, Hungerford • Noel Young, Noel Young Wines, Cambridge • Maxwell Graham-Wood, Satchells of Burnham Market, Norfolk • Daniel Grigg, Museum Wines, Dorset • Tom Martin, The Wine Library, London • Marty Grant, Corkage, Bath • Mike Oldfield, M&M Vintners, Evesham • Rob Hoult, Hoults, Huddersfield • Richard Everton, Bottles Wine Bar & Merchants, Worcester • Bruce Evans, Grape & Grain, Devon • Jefferson Boss, Barry Starmore, Sarah Hatton, Virginia Myers, Hannah Ford, Starmore Boss, Sheffield • Francis & Patricia Peel, Harry Baines, Mark Motley, Whitebridge Wines, Stone, Staffs • Anne Harrison, Wine Down, Isle of Man • Hannah & Sadie Wilkins, Vineyards of Sherborne, Dorset • Philip Amps, Amps Wine Merchants, Oundle • Louisa Fitzpatrick, Old Chapel Cellars, Truro • Shumana Palit, Ultracomida, Aberystwyth • Kiki Evans & Laura Ward, Unwined in Tooting, London • Jane Taylor, Dronfield Wine World, Dronfield • Phoebe Weller, Valhalla’s Goat, Glasgow • Grant Berry, Yapp Brothers, Warminster • Paul Morgan, Fourth & Church, Brighton • Ted Sandbach & Emily Silva, The Oxford Wine Company, Oxford • Louise Peverall & Bruno Etienne, La Cave de Bruno, London • John Barnes, The Flying Cork, Bedford • Tom Flint, Jug & Bottle Dept, Worthing
Six Spanish wines for summer
David Williams selected some personal favourites that were recently sampled by indies in a Wine Merchant webinar
Spain’s pronounced regional differences were in the spotlight in a virtual masterclass hosted by our own David Williams in conjunction with Wines From Spain.
Catalunya resident Williams took participants on a tour that started in his adopted region, moving on the lesser-known corners of Galicia and the Canary Islands before alighting on more familiar terrain in Jerez and Rioja.
All are connected by strong cultural traditions that are played out in varied approaches to cultivating grapes and making wine.
“The story of Spanish wine in the last 20 years has been a rediscovering of pride in local traditions,” says Williams, “with producers embracing their own terroir and grape varieties and really starting to make wines that express and reflect that.” The tour kicked off in Lanzarote where El Grifo Malvasía Seco Colección harks back to the Canary Islands’s fortified sack wines of the 15th and 16th century. “There was no phylloxera there, so you find very old vines and an unusual mix of grape varieties that you won’t get anywhere else,” Williams says.
“This is a blend from three vineyards planted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1990s. It’s sourced from 300 growers from 600 sites, so we’re talking micro-plots.
“The vineyards are covered in black volcanic ash. It’s only 60 or 70 miles from the coast of Morocco, so it’s a very humid, hot area, but the vineyards tend to be planted at high altitude which allows some sort of balance. “You can get wilder, more exotic wines from Lanzarote, but I like it as an introduction to the nervy acidity which I love about wines from there.”
Next stop was a geographic leap to the far north east and Galicia where there is, says Williams, “a whole cluster of trends and grape varieties that is a completely different culture”.
Manuel Formiga Teira X is a blend built on Treixadura from the Ribeiro DO which bears comparison with Vinho Verde.
“It’s got a lovely rich, almost exotic, fruit quality, with just hints of herbiness, and a bay leaf character, a twist of fleshy fruit, great length and silky texture,” Williams says. “It’s a seriously lovely wine.
“In the last 10 years we’re seeing some really fascinating wines being made,” he adds. “Serious winemakers are coming in and really making the most of the terroir, local grape varieties and making wines on a much more sensitive, expressive level.”
Celler del Roure in the Valencia DO in south eastern Spain is, says Williams, “one of my favourite producers in the whole country and one of the best-value fine wine estates in the world”. Celler del Roure winemaker Pablo Calatayud is key figure in the local Bobal renaissance. His Celler del Roure Safrà (Alliance Wine) is made from the little-known Mando grape and described by Calatayud as an example of “modern ancient” winemaking.
Williams adds: “It’s modern techniques of very limited, handsoff viticulture and winemaking, and the use of clay vessels. He’s just making these very distinctive but beautifully fluent wines that really stand out.
“There’s a little pleasing seasoning of pepper and just enough tannins to keep you interested, but they’re a little bit dusty, chalky, which makes it great with food.”
Up the coast in Catalunya is where some of the better known emergent Spanish regions of recent years are to be found, such as Priorat and Montsant. Empordá has flown more under the radar and is where former El Bulli sommelier David Seijas Vila and architect and business partner Guillem Sanz make their Gallina de Piel wines, including Roca del Crit (Liberty Wines).
“They go round looking for parcels of interesting grapes to make really great wines,” says Williams. “They’ve got wines in Penedès, Galicia, Calatayud in Aragón, and this from Empordá.
“It’s a blend of grapes from two sites, one of which is a youngish Garnacha vineyard, blended with wine from an 80-year-old Cariñena vineyard. It’s a lovely wine.”
Williams says the high concentration of world class restaurants in Catalunya has focused many producers on wines to complement top-drawer contemporary cuisine.
“You can see with this that they are people who have come at it from a food angle because the acidity is so good. It’s a warm climate Mediterranean wine but it has a lovely balance: full of flavour, very evocative, but not weighty or tiring.”
The Rioja narrative of recent years has been about a battle between tradition and modernism.
Marqués de Murrieta Reserva (Maisons Marques et Domaines), Williams says, has a “real perfect harmony of the classic Rioja Reserva bodega recipe model with some really beautiful integrated fruit”.
He adds: “There are so many different styles in Rioja now. You can get wines that are really juicy, young and fresh but you can certainly get wines of similar style to Del Crit. You’ll get wines made purely from Garnacha which have a more silky, red fruited style, almost Pinot Noir-like – but there’s still place for the more traditional style. When it’s done well you realise making wine with oak is an art.”
Williams notes that the pace of change is “slightly slower for sherry than Rioja”. He adds: “It still has to get over that perception that fortified wines are heavy or difficult.”
Domecq Manzanilla NV is from the huge Gonzalez Byass stable. “Their sherry portfolio is incredible in terms of the styles and quality they maintain, even on big brands like Tio Pepe. This is a nice style of Manzanilla: saline, almonds, a nice fresh style, quite light – exactly what you want from a sherry on a warm evening.”
The 2021 Wines from Spain Annual Tasting programme has included a series of digital tasting events. All webinars and masterclass videos, including this one with The Wine Merchant, are available online at foodswinesfromspain.com/annual-tasting-2021.
A live tasting will take place at One Great George Street on Tuesday, June 22 and Wednesday, June 23 (sit-down tasting format). Registration enquiries: winesfromspain@otaria.co.uk.
In association with
Favourite Things
Hayley Steward
Caviste, Hampshire
Favourite wine on my list I am currently enjoying a fabulously vibrant Pinot Noir from Quinta de Sant’Ana in Lisboa. Crunchy red cherry, wild strawberries, orange blossom and subtle notes of toffee and spice; fine tannins with the perfect acidity to balance.
Favourite wine and food match I would say that you can’t beat a slightly aged Albariño from Rías Baixas that has spent time on the lees, and perhaps a lick of old oak, with a crab linguine finished off with a touch of cream.
Favourite wine trip One that stands out was a recent (2019!) trip to Chablis. A fascinating experience to truly understand the region, beyond the books and 2-D maps, and all the nuances between the 1er and Grand Cru sites.
Favourite wine trade person Graham Wharmby from Third Floor Wines, and Rebecca Ford from Boutinot – and really Boutinot as a whole, because they consistently have the right wines, at the right prices, with the right processes and ease of service.
Favourite wine shop Eight Stony Street in Frome, Somerset. It is great to see a thriving wine shop in my home town after years of not having a place to go to find niche quality wines from small independent growers and producers. Every time you go you’ll find something different to taste and experience. Good job, Kent Barker!
UK braced for wine and lobster tariffs
Wine, chocolate and lobsters imported into Britain from the US could face new tariffs under proposals from the British government to rebalance the list of goods it targets as part of an ongoing trade conflict around steel and aluminium.
Customs data show Britain imported 133,512 tonnes of wine from the United States last year, worth £224m (US$316.6m). Britain currently imports more lobsters from the United States than
it exports.
Reuters, May 24
On the menu for US trade discussions
Market stall ‘will attract wine thieves’
An Italian wine merchant is facing a backlash from the police over his application to sell alcohol from a market stall in High Wycombe, because they fear the venue will be an “easy target” for thieves.
Riccardo Amabile, of Durnsford Road, in Bounds Green, London, has applied for a review of a premises licence for his wine-selling business, Amabile Since 1901, operating under the Guildhall arches, on
Magpie
the high street.
But Thames Valley Police have objected to his application on grounds that “itinerants and some of the ‘others’” in the town will steal from him “if they get the slightest chance”.
Bucks Free Press, May 25
Next wine trend? I don’t Bolivia
At last, a celebrity launches rosé wine
Bolivian wine-growers in Tarija are continuing a centuries-old tradition in a bid to join the world stage with their wines.
They have been growing grapes there since Jesuit missionaries started the tradition in the 17th century.
The wine production is mostly concentrated at an altitude of 1,600 metres to 2,000 metres. However, in hot Andean regions there are some crops as high as 3,000 metres.
The well-known Muscat of Alexandria grape, used in 70% of Bolivia’s wine crops, produces “sweet wines that are quite aromatic”, according to Carla Molina Garcia, an independent sommelier.
Euronews, May 25
Post Malone has launched a rosé wine in time for the great British summer.
Malone, a Grammy Award-nominated artist, collaborated with music manager Dre London and James Morrissey of Global Brand Equities to come up with the pale pink wine, which was perfected by Provence winemaker Alexis Cornu.
The Independent, May 27
Pesquera founder Fernandez dies
One of the towering figures of Spanish wine has gone, with the death of Alejandro Fernandez, the founder of Ribera del Duero’s Tinto Pesquera.
Pesquera was an important pioneer in the region and, alongside its neighbour Vega Sicilia, it helped cement the region’s reputation as a source of some of Spain’s finest wines, winning plaudits and critical acclaim the world over. Robert Parker once referred to the estate as “the Pétrus of the Duero”.
wine-searcher.com, May 26
Napoleon wine fetches £21,000
An intense bidding session saw a single bottle of Grand Constance 1821 sell for £21,000, said the organisers of the Cape Fine & Rare Wine Auction.
“It’s a true unicorn wine,” said Charlie Foley, an auctioneer at Christie’s who presided over the auction.
Organisers said a UK-based Christie’s client bought the bottle, which is “perhaps one of only 12 remaining in the world”.
It was once part of a case of the rare, sought-after sweet wine destined to keep Napoleon company on his island prison of St Helena in the middle of the South Atlantic ocean.
But Napoleon died on May 5, 1821, as that year’s harvest was still ripening in the vineyard.
Decanter, May 24
• A bottle of French wine that orbited the earth for more than a year has been put up for sale. The bottle of Pétrus 2000 spent 14 months in orbit as part of a study. Christies estimates a sale price of £720,000.
BBC News, May 5
?THE BURNING QUESTION
How seriously do you take your window displays?
�They are hugely important because they entice people in. We normally theme them seasonally, so if it’s summer there’ll be a picnic theme with blankets and bunting. Easter will have bunnies and eggs, and we go all-out at Christmas. We feature some of the seasonal products that we want to sell alongside a range of props that we’ve bought over time.”
Iain Allcott The Twisted Cellar, Bishop’s Stortford
�We change our window display according to what the next occasion is, so at the moment I have focused on Father’s Day. The suppliers have helped us in the past with props and POS. Raymond Reynolds are good at sending stuff, the big Niepoort cards in particular. ”
Kelli Coxhead The Wine Tasting Shop, Winscombe
�We tend to change them about six times a year. Usually I ask one of our more artistic members of staff to do the window but I was really proud of my last Christmas display, which I did on my own. I created a bit of a bit of a winter wonderland with trees, snow, the sleigh, bottles of Champagne and all our gift packs. I’m not normally great at that kind of thing, but it was outstanding! I had loads of comments about it.”
Kieran O’Brien Three Pillars Wine, Eccleshall
�To encourage footfall we normally have some good-value wines in the window. Tourists see you are a specialist and automatically think you are going to be pricey, so they might walk across the road to M&S. If we’ve got an A-board outside and local products and reasonably priced wines in the window, they will be more likely to pay us a visit. We don’t put anything too expensive in the window because we get a lot of sun and stock from the window is generally spoilt, so one of our accounts takes it as cooking wine.” Simon Smith H Champagne winner H
The Solent Cellar, Lymington
Champagne Gosset The oldest wine house in Champagne: Äy 1584
Duncan Sime and partner Ola Dabrowska changed their way of working quite drastically over lockdown. Now, to accommodate their flourishing Huddersfield business, they are moving to bigger premises and raising the funds via Crowdfunder.
During the pandemic Kwas adapted to become a grocery store while continuing to specialise in natural wines, craft beers and ciders.
The ban on hospitality meant there was enough room for the additional produce but now more space is needed. As Sime points out, “we don’t have the space to bring the bar back in the current unit”.
Luckily the pair don’t have to move far from their home under the railway arches as they have secured the adjacent unit, which offers all the space they need.
To raise the capital required they have launched a crowdfunding campaign. The couple have been pleasantly surprised by the enthusiastic response that has meant they achieved 70% of their £15,000 target within the first week of going live. “I thought we’d be edging towards five grand in a week,” Sime says. “I never expected this.
“It has reached a plateau now but to keep up the momentum we have been advised to tweet regularly, update our Instagram stories and keep adding new rewards to keep people interested. It’s quite relentless but there is no other way of doing it, really.”
Sime explains that the business came up with a small number of very high-end rewards quite speculatively, but it’s paid off as the “mega party” for £1,000 and the private hire for £500 were both immediately snapped up.
“The mega party was taken by another local bar and it’s for their staff Christmas party, so they’ll take that in December. Some regular customers have said they wanted some rewards that have sold out so we’re putting together bespoke packages for them.”
With Crowdfunder there is the option to set up the fund to collect pledges regardless of whether the target is reached but Sime says they had been told it was “better to do the all-or-nothing option”.
So is there a contingency plan in place, just in case the fund falls short?
“We don’t get the money unless it reaches £15,000, so yes, there are a couple of people lined up to take it over the limit,” he says. “The full cost of the expansion is £25,000 and we have £10,000 already. Also, a customer has offered to invest the full £15,000 if the Crowdfunder doesn’t work, so that is on the back burner. “It’s definitely happening, Crowdfunder or not. But people want to be a part of it. Selling vouchers and rewards brings people into the space to redeem them, so these 100-plus supporters are future returning customers. It’s a good platform and people really want to buy into that.”
Kwas Two will open at the end of July and the extra space will allow for a bigger seating area than before as well as a permanent addition of the grocery store offering organic fruit and veg. Sime says they will also be able to expand their KeyKeg offering to at least three or four reds and whites on refill. The shop will also sell fresh bread and have a zero-waste refill station and a deli selection with food to eat in or take away.
THE WESTERN FRONT
Winemaker Jacopo Dalli Cani’s roots may be in northern Italy but it’s Australia’s Margaret River region that he calls home. He presented six wines from the acclaimed McHenry Hohnen range, all available through Louis Latour Agencies, for a group of UK wine merchants
cHenry Hohnen’s head winemaker
MJacopo Dalli Cani has a confession. “Margaret River Chardonnay stole my heart,” he says of his adopted region and the white varietal on which it has established an international reputation for outstanding quality.
But the producer’s approach – making tiny quantities of single-vineyard wines from small plots – shows that Margaret River Chardonnay is far from a single entity.
Wine Merchant readers were able to taste the differences between its Calgardup Brook Chardonnay 2017, Burnside Chardonnay 2017 and Hazel’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2015 (all RRP £28-£30) in a Zoom event with Dalli Cani, known to his Aussie mates as Japo.
Calgardup Brook is a limestone site with compacted sand on top, only a couple of kilometres away from the Indian Ocean.
“It’s a small vineyard of less than two hectares and a Dijon clone, where you see larger and smaller berries on the same branch,” he says. “That gives you a peachy flavour on one hand and tight acid on the other.
“A distinctive character for Calgardup is its salinity, which is partly from the proximity to the ocean but also the soil type.
“The winemaking is quite simple. It’s really in getting the grapes to ripeness that all the effort goes. We handpick the grapes, whole-bunch press it and all the solids go straight into the barrel with the juice.
“It’s important to take all those solids to make a wine that is a true representation of the vineyard.”
Dalli Cani says the Burnside Chardonnay is “a step-up from Calgardup in terms of texture”.
He adds: “It’s on a river bend and the soil is granitic with a clay deposit from the river that gives it a chocolate colour.
“It’s on a very steep slope, so we pick the top levels earlier than the bottom and then select from each part of the vineyard the
exceptional barrels.
“This vineyard gives a little bit more flintiness and a matchstick, sulphur character, like you get with some producers in Burgundy.
“It’s not something we chase; it’s all part of the philosophy of taking the nose to tail of the juice.
“With age it develops a slight nuttiness which is fascinating to see through the vintages.” Hazel’s Vineyard is a certified biodynamic site. “There are olive trees, chickens, ducks, bee hives, dogs … people,” he says.
“We see it more as a farm, full of biodiversity. The vines have an amazing ability to read that and translate it into wines that have an extra gear and are more expressive. What we’re aiming for is more about character than perfection. “This vineyard is 2-3˚C cooler than Burnside or Calgardup. We pick a little bit later and get very good acid retention. We are trying to capture that coolness and sea breeze on the nose and the palate. I don’t want to make Chardonnays that are fruit bombs.
“Chardonnay is a variety that doesn’t need a lot of winemaking. If you grow the grapes in the right way, there’s no need to have a heavy hand. The wine makes itself.”
azel’s Vineyard Zinfandel 2014
H(RRP £25-£27) was one of a trio of reds presented by Dalli Cani. The variety found a home in Margaret River when co-founder David Hohnen took some cuttings back after studying in California.
“We can’t make it the way California can,” Dalli Cani says. “We pick it a little bit earlier and retain a bit of acidity through it, which makes it age well.
“It’s a challenging variety to grow. You need to have a degree of shrivel in the bunch so it can be very hard to choose the right moment to pick.
“When a berry dehydrates it concentrates the sugar but it concentrates the acidity as well. A Margaret River take on Zinfandel is more medium-bodied than California with a beautiful acid line through it.”
Hazel’s Vineyard GSM 2018 (RRP £23£25) is a blend of at least 85% Grenache, with around 10% Syrah and the remainder Mataro.
“I love Grenache,” says Dalli Cani. “I really like that spice and berry character and that it is site-expressive in the same way as Cabernet Sauvignon or Chardonnay.
“We hand-pick the fruit and leave the grapes in whole clusters for almost the whole maceration process – and then age it in large [used oak] casks.
“When you put Grenache in new oak you lose the spice, the lift and the fragrance of the wine. It’s all about the spice with that grip that the whole-bunch press can give.”
Rolling Stone 2014 (RRP £50-£60) is a Bordeaux blend where Cabernet is always in the highest proportion, with Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec quantities varying from vintage to vintage.
“It has the hallmark character of Margaret River Cabernet. There’s a little bit of cassis and chocolate interaction, and you almost smell the gravel dust from the road through the vineyard.
“This is 40%-50% new oak and the fruit can definitely handle that. The fruit is starting to gain some nice complexity and there’s a bit of cigar box character coming from the oak.
“Cabernet is so versatile. People think it should be a big wine for long ageing but it’s such a pleasure to drink in its youth. Margaret River Cabernet has got good fruit and such a plush mouthfeel that it’s very enjoyable at any time.”
Feature sponsored by Louis Latour Agencies For more information visit louislatour.co.uk or mchenryhohnen.com.au
MERCHANT FEEDBACK
“All the wines were great – very elegant and astute use of oak in the Chardonnays, and lovely acidity.” – Charlotte Dean, Wined Up Here, Norbiton, south west London
“My favourite in the tasting was the GSM, though the quality of their Chardonnay always stands out.” – Julia Jenkins, Flagship Wines, St Albans
“Calgardup Brook was great, with a combination of the salinity, minerality, sweet spice and stone fruits. I found the oak very well balanced with the other elements. Red wine wise, the Rolling Stone stood out for me with its velvet texture and complexity, with tobacco, cocoa, floral and blackcurrant notes.” – Charlotte Shek, Shekleton Wines, Stamford, Lincolnshire
