LOWMEL04
£18.20
The Mellot family’s wine trade pedigree extends as far back as 1513 and their name has been associated with Sancerre since Cesar Mellot was appointed Louis XIV’s “wine counsellor, presumably a pretty good gig to have back in the 17th century – probably less so 100 years later. Suffice to say that the family survived the wrath of Madame Guillotine and are now one of the Loire Valley’s most respected players. Some 50 miles to the west of Sancerre, Reuilly is classic Loire Sauvignon country, its wines mineral and mouthwatering and providing the perfect foil to seafood or goat’s cheese.
£37.30
Modest and passionate about his vineyards, Abel and his wife Maite have been making understated wines in San Vicente since 1988.
Lying in the shadow of the Sierra Cantabria, Abel has vineyards in the finest parts of the Alavesa. His knowledge and understanding of the soils is enthralling and to taste in his cellar can be an education on the effects different soils have in different years. He wants only to express the fruit and the soil and unlike many Riojans, he leaves it more or less at that. He does not want to stamp the wines with any particular style or mark of his own other than his respect for the very natural quality of the grapes and for the magical places that they were grown.
Straw yellow. Intense aromas, floral, very perfumed, with good fruit expression in the foreground, and well integrated wood notes of balsamic and dried grass. In the mouth it has superb acidity with a bright, smooth, silky and pleasant finish.
£16.75
Straw yellow in colour, the nose shows aromatic white flowers mixed with citrus notes as well as pear and pineapple. Dry on the palate this is fresh and mineral like.
£14.29
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