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| Beer and Wine |
Wine between £8.00 and £12.00 per bottle
Sentiero Riesling 2005 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.If you like refreshing whites, you'll love this pristine, high-altitude Riesling from the Flessati family. Sentiero is named after the spiral footpath that snakes its way through the vineyard, visible from the road running from Verona to Trento. With warm days and cool nights, the vineyards are ideal for creating crisp, aromatic white wines. Invigorating mountain air helps give this dry Riesling a fresh mouthwatering appeal. Bright and appetising with crisp flavours of green apple, a touch of lime and tongue-tingling freshness. Like all great Riesling, classic petrol edges lie in wait to develop. Enjoy as an aperitif, or serve with streamed fresh asparagus or grilled fish with a light herb sauce.
Pascal Bouchard Les Ouvrees 2005 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Recommended by France's wine-buying bible, Le Guide Hachette, this superb white Burgundy is very much in a Chablis mould. Pascal uses Chardonnay grapes sourced exclusively from his vineyards in Auxerre just west of Chablis. The town of Auxerre is steeped in history - there were vineyards running up to the wall of the town as long ago as AD680! Today the Cotes d'Auxerre has seen a revival, although its principle market remains Paris. Pale straw colour with generous aromas of peach, apple and a hint of hay. Minerally, citrus flavours balance broader peach and butter notes.
Falaises de Cucugnan 2002 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Here's your chance to enjoy the magnificent fruits of a special 'project' from the Sichel family of Chateau Palmer. Their quality-obsessed #70-a-bottle winemaking standards put them on a par with Latour, Lafite and Mouton Rothschild (rigorous fruit selection, the best toasted oak barrels and an ancient understanding of wine and the land). The deep, rich grapes of the vineyards of the remote hills of Corbieres have long been sought after to add flavour and body to lighter wines. In the excellent 2001 vintage there was even more depth of flavour and colour to delight the Palmer winemakers. The result is a seductive, expensive-tasting wine with rich ruby colour and intense aromas of warm spices and plums. Refined red fruit flavours lead to a very long length. Will drink perfectly on its own now or as a partner to wild boar or rich lamb dishes - sophistication and sun in one bottle!
Laithwaite Syrah 2002 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Here's a red we've been patiently ageing for four years, waiting for its rich, dark plum and blackcurrant flavours to develop. One sip and you'll be glad we did! It's a classic French Syrah, with all the refinement and elegance of ageing, but with none of the mouth-puckering tannins ... just oodles of soft, dark and well-developed fruit. To do this we enlisted the talents of trophy-winning winemaker Celine Rousseau. Warming mouthfuls of rich, sweet spice and jammy black fruit are the order of the day here. Well-structured and very mellow, this is a fine choice for dinner parties. Top-end Syrah, cellared for you, and ready for drinking!
Castillo de Jumilla Reserva 2002 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Concentrated and Mediterranean in character, Castillo de Jumilla Reserva is made from 100% Monastrell grapes - a variety indigenous to the region and perfectly adapted to the climate. With very little humidity, the generally disease-free vines flourish, giving berries with very high sugar concentrations in relation to the water content ... full, fruity wines are the delicious result. Ripe red and black berry flavours, with a smooth, slightly spicy finish. Perfect with chorizo sausage or firm cheeses.
Palacio de Valdeinfante 1997 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Nowhere else in the world will you encounter glorious, mature reds with such affordable price tags. Spain really in unique. But to find these venerable old bottles you have to put in the miles. One reason why few other wine merchants offer them. You will be absolutely bowled over by this 10 year-old beauty (dozens of international wine judges were!) and so we recommend you purchase by the case. Crafted from the fruit of ancient vines in the wild west of Spain by the Portuguese border, this magnificent red has laid undisturbed in cool underground cellars for years. Over that time it has acquired rare complexity, incomparable smoothness and mellowness of flavour you would normally have pay dearly to experience. Rich berry fruit swathed in luxury vanilla oak with hints of tobacco, plums and cloves. It's surprisingly versatile too. Try it with mixed charcuterie and fresh crusty bread or reserve for formal dishes such as roast leg of lamb or pigeon breast. Either way, don't miss it.
Monasterio de Tentudia 1997 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Made in the ancient enclave of Extremadura, down near the border with Portugal ... where the Iglesias Schlegel family see to it that tradition and quality thrive side by side. Isolated from the cut and thrust of the modern wine trade - there are rich rewards to be had for those who put in the miles. Though remote this phenomenally well-accoladed estate is famous throughout Spain, yet the family's Rioja-rivalling quality remains an insider's secret in the UK. Ageing is a house speciality, this tiny volume, private reserve is matured in barrels for 18 months followed by a long siesta in bottle. Brilliant ruby-red colour with aromas of dark fruit, spices and coffee. Ample mouthfuls of mellow blackcurrant and smooth vanilla flavours. Elegant and expressive. Great with duck and lamb.
Colucci Riserva 2003 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Here's the deliciously smooth, velvety proof that expertly crafted Italian reds are among the world's finest. Less than one bottle in 100 achieves superior Riserva status - and this rare gem has wowed some of the fussiest palates in the world, bagging two top medals at international shows, including Italy's premier wine fair! The San Martino winery sits on rocky hills in Italy's sun-drenched south. And Colucci Riserva is the pick of the lot - hand-harvested, 100% Negroamaro grapes crafted with 70 years of family know-how, in the outstanding 2003 vintage, and patiently aged in premium oak barrels ... the results are magnificent! ''Wonderfully rich flavours of black cherry and blackcurrant with smooth vanilla oak notes. Great with Italian classics like pasta bolognese.''
Puy de Val VdP D'Oc 2006 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Officially opened in the early Summer of 2007, Le Chai au Quai (pronounced 'Shay OK') is a wonderful old warehouse on the quayside at Castillon, Bordeaux, where we make and age exclusive parcels of wine in order to be able to offer them to Laithwaites customers at not-so-exclusive prices! Englishman Mark Hoddy is famed for producing full-throttle reds at his top Roussillon estate. His fans include Jancis Robinson MW and his neighbour Michel Chapoutier, maker of the world's most famous Syrah ... so it's a real coup to have him on board at the Chai! Having also worked wonders with Syrah (Shiraz) in Australia's McLaren Vale, Mark knows just how to maximise the grape's natural power. Puy de Val is everything Mark is about - inky black Syrah (so rich in flavour) from ancient, high-grown Roussillon vines. He has used all his local knowledge to scout out parcels of the best 2006 fruit and all his skill to carefully oak-age the wine at the Chai. Amazing for the price! ''Inky black with intense aromas of cassis, liquorice and smoky vanilla. Powerful, smooth, not a rough edge in sight. Very long. This is terrific.''
Forbes Estate Viognier 2006 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Scottish pioneers, the Forbes family arrived in Australia's Riverland region in 1911. Creating a thriving farming estate, they spent 80 years supplying grapes to many of the big names. In 1999, they decided to 'go it alone' with medal-winning success. ''Classic apricot aromas and filled with gently spice, tropical fruit flavours. Serve chilled with salads, poultry and creamy pasta.''
JMS Sauvignon 2006 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Medal-bedecked Laithwaite Sauvignon is your favourite French white and the wine that first made Jean-Marc's reputation 10 years ago. Well, JMS recently visited the Loire winemaking genius Didier Dagueneau of Pouilly-Fume. Inspired, he has since been experimenting with tiny amounts of various barrel-fermented 'super Sauvignons' ... and this one is reserved for the Chai. Not so explosively aromatic and jazzy, it gives you deeper, longer Sauvignon flavours ... add that touch of barrel-fermentation and you'll find cream, vanilla, depth and length. Superb stuff - but only four barrels made!
Chateau Tonnelle de Grillet 2005 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.''Cotes de Blaye ... good wines at excellent prices'' (Clive Coates MW) - this 'best-ever' 2005 is a real step up in flavour concentration and finesse. Delicious! The Cotes de Blaye, on Bordeaux's 'right bank is separated from heart of the Medoc by a two mile stretch of water - the mouth of the Gironde. Chateau Tonnelle de Grillet has belonged to the Glemet family for 200 years and has an impressive cellar with 200 barrels. The 2005 is a rich blend of 80% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon with a dash of Cabernet Franc and Malbec adding spice and depth. The vines are quite old - between 30 and 45 years and mainly harvested by hand. The vineyards are located on steep slopes which lead down to the Garonne estuary from where you can look across to Chateau Margaux.
Westend Estate Premium Shiraz Petit Verdot 2005 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Australia's top red gets a turbocharge ... and leaves the big brands trailing in its wake! Aussie wine writer Stuart Gregor lists Westend Estate a top tip too, stating ''Riverina is where you should go for some of the best value wines in the country''. Winemaker Bill Calabria is an old-fashioned Aussie who has been sharing wines with us since we helped him out of a pickle back in 1995. In return, you're front of the queue for every vintage. Succulent blackcurrant and cherry flavour, with toasty oak and soft tannin. Petit Verdot gives great colour and a long-lasting finish - it's a grape that used to boost Grand Vins in Bordeaux. Superb with beef and venison. Drink to 2011.
Calabria Estate Shiraz Viognier 2006 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.Forever on the look-out for ways to improve their already superb and widely appreciated Shiraz wines, top Aussie winemakers like Bill Calabria have taken a leaf out of the northern Rhone wine recipe book and tried adding a drop of Viognier. Now adding white wine to red might seem an odd idea on the surface but in the world's greatest examples of Syrah - Cote Rotie and the like - it's been the norm for a century or more. What Viognier brings - and we're talking about no more than 5% here - is a more open, attractive, floral bouquet to an otherwise tightly furled wine. In the case of Calabria Esate Shiraz Viognier 2006 it's a great success. Classic bramble and black pepper-scented Shiraz with a refreshing twist of burnt orange and violets. Full and rounded in the mouth with smooth tannins padded by rich, ripe fruit flavours.
Alta Tierra Sangiovese Syrah 2006 - £8.29Price on 16-Jun-08 from Laithwaites.The isolated Elqui Valley lies some 470 kilometres north of Santiago, on the very border of the Atacama Desert. Despite the arid nature of the area, the vineyards enjoy almost perfect growing conditions, with crystal clear, sunny days (indeed, some of the world's most important observatories are stationed up here), cool nights and plenty of snowmelt from the Andes available for irrigation. Despite being so suited for growing top quality grapes, up until very recently the vineyards were mainly used for the production of Pisco (pronounced as you'd think!) - a local brandy that is used to make the wonderfully refreshing Pisco Sour cocktail. But when our buyers visited the area, they found fledgling wineries, among them the Alta Tierra estate, crafting simply amazing wines ... superbly concentrated reds that are already racking up the top awards both in Chile and abroad. Beautifully concentrated, this rich, velvety red wine simply bursts with ripe cherry and blackberry fruit flavours, that merge seamlessly with subtle cinnamon and vanilla spice. Smooth and long on the finish, this exceptional red shows just how Chile is ''producing wines of real sophistication and value.'' (Jancis Robinson)
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