SPRABE02
£43.80
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.
A very classy and compelling wine. Deeply coloured with a pure, intense bouquet of crushed fruits, spice and oak. Elegant oak aging enhances the wine’s complexity and class.
£29.95
A beautifully balanced and complex Chardonnay, fermented and matured for nine months in 3-year-old French oak barriques. Generous aromas of ripe orchard fruits, floral honey, and toasted nuts.
£29.95
The highlight of the Wine GB tasting, and indeed the day, was this Pinot Noir Precoce (an early riprning variant of Pinot Noir) from just outside Ledbury.
A good depth of garnet and a slight tone of terracotta in colour. Black cherry and sweet spice with hints of chocolate and smoke on the nose. A rich and almost full-bodied palate with silky tannins from time in barrel. Dark fruits, clove and vanilla spice are followed by earthy forest floor undertones on the finish
£4.79
Fresh and dry with a persistent with foam. Soft and approachable with red berry charaters on the nose and palate.
£30.00
The name of this unusual Bourgogne Pinot Noir refers to the latitude of Burgundy, and it is a blend of out best Bourgogne Rouge, Cote de Nuits Village, Marsannay and Vosne-Romanee.
Maison Marchand-Tawse