Grand Vin Wine Merchants UK | Blog

  We are delighted to bring you the new 2021 vintage of New Zealand's iconic  Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc . This is really perfumed, with fresh guava, grass, papaya and bitter-lemon aromas - Always attractive.    - 92 pts James Suckling Cloudy Bay was established in 1985 by the award winning winemaker David Hohnen, founder of Cape Mentelle in Australia's Margaret River. Settling in the Wairau Valley, he was one of the first five wine makers to venture into Marlborough. At the time, it was almost an unimaginable place to set-up a vineyard. However, he was convinced of its potential to produce great wine and invested in the best land of the region. Since then, Marlborough has risen to become New Zealand’s leading wine region, as well as one of the world's best known regions for producing Sauvignon Blanc. This is the iconic Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, and the 2021 vintage has already received great reviews. An essential staple - order your cases now! Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2021  

  We are delighted to offer the new release of one of our favourite white wines... Michel Chapoutier’s superb white Hermitage; his 2018 ‘Chante-Alouette’.   The Hermitage Hill is most famous for its red wines, however the whites are genuinely brilliant but still remain somewhat under the radar.    'it’s an incredible white Hermitage that’s not far from the famed single vineyard releases' Jeb Dunnuck     This beauty is made from 100% Marsanne grapes that are hand-harvested from three different vineyards: Le Méal, Les Murets and Chante-Alouette.  Michel Chapoutier chooses not to use Roussanne in the blend believing it

The 2019 vintage from Chateau Rieussec in Sauternes has just been released. Rieussec, whose vineyards border those of Yquem, is owned by Domaines Barons de Rothschild-Lafite. The Rothschilds are positioning this release, already outside of the traditional  en primeur  system, as ' L’Art de La Métamorphose ', with a positive drive towards greater sustainability with environmentally friendly packaging. A brilliant Rieussec with so much personality Jane Anson, Decanter “ The time had come for Rieussec to reinvent itself... Devising an original bottle, one that you want to keep when it’s finished, is part of this same philosophy. ”  - Saskia de Rothschild They are releasing the wine in recycled glass bottles, that might be re-used when empty. The bottle is designed with a re-usable cork, which can be kept in the fridge so that you can enjoy the wine over a couple of weeks - even the label is easily removable - and the bottles are packaged in eco-friendly cardboard boxes of 4. This

  The charming and ebullient Michel Chapoutier, the legendary  Rhône producer, has just released his 2020  Sélections Parcellaires , his single vineyard wines , and we were very privileged to attend a tasting with him in London this week. At the risk of sounding clichéd, both the reds and whites were amazing! Chapoutier is incredibly enthusiastic, and loves to talk in great depth about a great many things when it comes to his wines and wine making techniques. His opening gambit was that he doesn't try to make the best wine possible, but instead to reflect the best expression of his terroir! He moved on to say that 2020, a dry, warm vintage, had very similar conditions to those of 2003, a vintage which he freely admitted was pretty awful, with short, bitter wines. However, we were regaled with a lengthy and technical discourse on how his vines have adapted to the changing climate in the intervening years, due largely to the enormous efforts made in biodynamics and non-interventioni