Wines £20 - £30

Grapes grown from some of the most choice land in the surrounding region of La Motte en Provence, consisting primarily of Grenache, Cinsault and Vermentino

Classic Provence rosé, expressive and aromatic, blending fresh cherries and floral notes alongside more exotic fruits then finishing with a soft round palate packed with peach and raspberry.

I have just tasted the very first bottle of 2020 Whispering Angel Rose and it is sensational. The haunting canteloupe-tinged aroma, silky texture and bracingly dry finish mark this as a stunning balanced vintage. Chapeau! - Matthew Jukes

Caves D'Esclans

Dark plum, leather and delicate violet aromas, plus notes of woodsmoke and brown spice. A full, firm and ripe red with rich, powerful flavours. All balanced by ripe tannins, complex savoury notes and a long finish.

Araldica

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.

On release, it is a lemon-straw. There are plentiful aromas and flavours that are reminiscent of citrus fruits, honeydew melon, pawpaw and tropical spices. It expands on the palate to become broad shouldered, mouth filling and rich but retains a spine of sinuous acidity and minerality that help draw out a lingering hint of freshly crushed root ginger. It can be expected to develop a range of other fascinating nuances with careful cellaring.

This is a marriage made in heaven! It is made from a field blend of Argentina’s most iconic and widely planted varietals. Though these grapes mature at different times, the Malbec three weeks before the Bonarda, we harvest both together (the Malbec ten days later than typical, the Bonarda ten days early). Planted in alternating rows, the Malbec brings luscious sweetness while the Bonarda provides firm acidity. This 1946 vineyard blend was designed with this in mind, even though it took us many years before we realized what our predecessors were aiming to achieve.

Smoke, blueberries and deep structured fruits fill the nose. The palate is full bodied with crunchy black cherry, currants and toasty oak flavours.

Outstanding Sancerre from Bourgeois; intensely flavoured with a bone-dry finish.

Famille Bourgeois Sancerre

Wonderfully aromatic and pungent Sauvignon Blanc. From just outside the Sancerre region. Crisp and dry with a distinctive flavour of gooseberries and asparagus.

Vignobles Bertier

A limited harvest of 5-7 tons per hectare from this excellent site for Saperavi, Kisiskhevi. Whole bunches are hand selected before being placed into underground qvevri, where fermentation takes place for 7-9 days with selected yeasts - being underground, the qvevri maintains the perfect temeperature at all times. Due to the size of the qvevri, production is limited to 6500 bottles only. Once fermentation is complete, the grape skins are removed and the wine spends further time maturing in the qvevri before bottling.

Kisiskhevi is a superb terroir within the wider Kakheti region, particularly for Saperavi. The best grapes are selected for fermentation in Qvevri, resulting in a deep coloured and structured wine that is still remarkably approachable due to its vibrant primary fruit and roasted nut aromas.

Teliani Valley

The wine is made from the traditional Kisi grape grown in the villages of Akhmeta district. Whole bunches are fermented in underground qvevri, lending the wine it’s amber colour, distinctive flavour and mildly tannic structure.

Kisi is a native Georgian grape with sweet spice notes and great acidity, perfect for maintaining freshness. Fermentation in Qvevries adds great complexity and texture.

Teliani Valley

This rich and complex wine emphasises the smoky notes and dark fruits that lead you in it as soon as you open the bottle. The moderate acidity and well inegrated tannins shows a freshness that belies its age with real elegance.

Tangible proof of elegance, balance and constancy characteristic of the Marques de Murrieta Winery and its surrounding vineyards situated in the Ygay Estate, it is a red Reserva wine with a balanced aging of two years in new and partly new American oak barrels and a year and a half in bottle. The result is an elegant wine that combines complexity and fineness, summing up the best attributes of our identity and actuality. Marqués de Murrieta is more than a brand in the international market, it represents age-old wisdom expressed in one of the most recognized wines of Spain. With our daily work, respect and love for our land, the selection of the best grapes and the attention to detail throughout its almost four years of production, Marqués de Murrieta is a safe and constant value of the best quality.

The freshness of the fruit prevails in the nose of this Marqués de Murrieta Reserva 2016; aromas of strawberry, cherry, floral hints, eucaliptus tree, thyme and fine cabinetry.

In the mouth the wine is harmonious, fresh and it has polished tannins that provides the wine with a pleasant texture. Its fruity long finish keeps an extraordinary freshness.

Bodegas Marqués de Murrieta

Precise and pure Cabernet Sauvignon fruit delivering a fantastic blend of cassis and dark berry flavours.

Redman Wines

Aromatic, spicy, mature forest fruits, notes of ripe plum and damson on the nose. Velvety and sumptuous on the palate - plum, rich vanilla and sour cherry give way to a fine, long, structured finish with ripe tannins. A full-bodied wine which exudes elegance.

Tenute Cisa Asinari Dei Marchesi Di Gresy

Ripe, warm and generous on the nose with abundant plum and cherry aromas, roasted coffee beans and hints of dried fruits. Full bodied and richly flavoured with berry and plum fruit, wild cherry acidity and a hint of dark chocolate. Supple tannins lead to a spicy finish, with the characteristic dry bite of good Amarone.

Montressor

Weingut Pfluger

A classic dry sparkling wine with elegance and poise. The colour is pale straw with a steady stream of minute bubbles. It has enticing aromas of freshly baked brioche, honeyed oats, biscuit and nougat. On the palate it has a creamy mousse with ripe quince, baked apple and a hint of pear frangipane. There is a seamless integration of yeasty complexity plus balance and freshness. The finish is crisp, dry and very moreish.

Something very different to the mass produced Sekt which makes up the bulk of production. Instead of the cheap and cheerful, Liebfraumilch in a SodaStream®, tank method fizz you see at the bottom end of the market this is something sophisticated, complex and deeply delicious.

This is methode traditionelle Rheingau Riesling, barrel fermented and with three years on the lees, making it a pretty rare beast. It's a wine with fantastic depth of flavour. It has all the elegance and complexity you would expect from big-name Champagnes, but the use of Riesling rather than the traditional French varities has left it with a character all of its own

Since 2008, this vineyard has been cultivated according to biodynamic guidelines, with the final conversion taking place with the 2011 harvest. This Wiener Gemischter Satz consists of 9 grape varieties - Weissburgunder, Neuburger, Welschriesling, Grüner Veltliner, Sylvaner, Zierfandler, Rotgipfler, Traminer and Riesling - which were picked by hand and processed together following the careful elimination of any botrytised grapes. Gentle pressing with a pneumatic winepress followed a 4-hour maceration period. Fermentation took place to about 75% in cooled steel tanks and another 25% in large old oak barrels. After maturing the wine for 10 months on the fine lees, the different tanks and barrels were put together and the wine was bottled in September 2017

The wine exudes very complex aromas of citrus fruit, yellow blossoms, pineapples and sweet herbs plus multi-layered tones of spicy and minerally fruit. The palate is lively with beautiful acidity, plenty of power and presence as well as good length.

Weingut Wieninger

Amongst the first Chilean blends to champion Carmenere. Rich sumptuous intense black cherries, mulberries and more berries! Vanilla, sweet spice with herbal and savoury tones together with a hint of mint. The palate contains the same berry intensity plus a wonderful warm dusty character, reminiscent of its location. It is a well-balanced and complex wine with soft, round tannins and a long finish that shows both character and personality.

Emiliana

Characterful and complex with a fine biscuity nose and a lively palate expressing clean, fresh citrus and subtle ripe peach.

Immediate nose of beetroot juice poured over graphite shavings sets you up for quite a journey. The palate shares the same dense minerality and graphite texture as the nose with a quiet but growing presence of forest floor and frozen berries. On opening, this fruit thaws to release fresh summer pudding and cream served in a pencil case. Bonkers!

Alpha Box & Dice

This wine has a sparkling, crystalline, youthful and concentrated colour with pale green, pale lemon yellow and spring foliage coloured highlights. The legs are dense, sophisticated and smooth. It has a superb and open, expressive, scented aromatic and fruity nose. Hints of rose, jasmine, Reseda, acacia blossom, mango, citron, orange, lychee, passion fruit and freesia. It has a refined yet youthful lightness of being. On the palate it has that same sensation of captivating harmony.

Hugel

Concentrated and well-balanced, this wine offers an authentic and fleshy Sauvignon Blanc, showing an ageing with a surprising subtlety.

The delicate tropical fruit aromas (a proof of ripe Sauvignon grapes) and clean mineral and fruity palate testify to Le MD's pedigree as an exceptional wine from one of the finest slopes in the Sancerre appellation.

Famille Bourgeois Sancerre

Following in the footsteps of the previous vintages, the 2016 is a beautiful deep ruby red colour with deep purple tints. Its expressive, intense bouquet is one of ripe fruits, vanilla and spices with just the right degree of toastiness. The fatty, fruity tannins on attack fill out on the mid-palate, displaying balance and great length - another triumph for this cru, which confirms its status as one of the elites of the appellation.

A delicate and complex Sancerre with great depth of fruit; the boisterous green aromatics often found in Sauvignon Blanc have been skilfully restrained, allowing fruity layers of green apples and lemons to show through.

Rich ruby-red color, juicy cherry, raspberry and spicy aromas with hints of Mediterranean herbs and floral notes on the nose. Medium bodied with soft and juicy tannins on the palate and a fresh and velvet finish. Excellently suited to Tuscan appetizers and Charcuterie as well as to all variations of pasta.

Nittardi

Purple red color. Intense red and black fruit character – ripe cherries and blackberries dominate, with interesting notes of exotic spices and well integrated oak notes. The palate has a beautifully juicy and elegant structure with an important tannic backbone that gives length to the wine and will make it age gracefully.

Nittardi

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.

Cherry red, purple and traces of violet. Subtle notes of cocoa, liquorice, and balsamic. It enters the mouth dry and structured.

Deep intensity and very dark colour with purple hints. The nose is very open and complex with smooth oak aromas and notes of ripe fruits. On the palate, the attack is silky and fresh. The tannins evolution is very nice giving a full bodied wine with a round feel. The fruity aromas along with some light oaky notes are very elegant and increase the beautiful aromatic length of the wine.

Chateau Beaumont

• Nose. intensive, lasting and engaging, complex combination of fruit nuances and delicate oak.
• Mouth. powerful and complex. The taste impresses with its velvety softness and warmth.
• Tannins. woody tannins, very well structured.
• Aftertaste. Excellent with a long finish.

Domaine Bessa Valley

An extraordinary barrel-fermented wine from ancient, pre-phylloxera vines.

Intense aromatics of ripe melon and pears balanced by leesy, yeasty notes. The palate is soft and textural with well-integrated, toasty oak characters, kiwi and grapefruit acidity and impecable balance. A deliciously bitter twist on the finish maintains the interest right though to the next sip.

A Chardonnay based sparkler form the Jura area of North-East France. Bottled fermented as in Champagne with rich floral notes and a fine mousse.

Here we have Bibo Runge's fantastic Sekt blended with a splash of red wine to create this delicious, red-rose stained sparkler. We have no idea what it's blended with. After tasting it, every suggestion we came up with was greated by a shake of the head and an enigmatic smile from Markus Bonsels of Bibo Runge. Apparently it's a closely guarded trade secret. All we know is that the perfectly judged "splash" brings just the right amount our sweet, red summer fruits to the party without masking the quality of the Sekt it's based on.

Iona winery uses organic practices in the cultivation of their wines. Minimal intervention whilst the grapes are growing with hand harvesting to select only the best grapes for the wines.

Succulent black cherry aroma, bright but delicate and hints of forest floor, with underlying floral and spicy notes. On the palate, the wine is powerful, with silk-textured length.

Iona

Mouthwatering stone fruit, lemon, herbs, a hint of passion fruit and subtle notes of gooseberry. The grapes chosen for this wine are from Oliver's oldest and finest vines.

Weingut Oliver Zeter

Yellow honey gold in colour with winey and full aromas. On the palate it gives white stone fruits bolstered by a fine acidity and a balance between creamy and bold. Altogether fresh, with a full-bodied consistency that holds together.

From an obscure site capable of producing some very interesting wine due to its extreme climate. 15min inland from Port Campbell, home of the 12 apostles, is Newton’s Ridge Vineyard. It is a very small site planted from cuttings in 1998 to the MV6 clone of Pinot Noir, on brown and grey fertile loam soils over limestone bedrock. 2017 was a cold one, a return to vintages of 15 years ago, and true to form this cold site with high rainfall was marginal – and was only saved from mildews and botrytis by a neat window of warm weather right at the tail of harvest. a week later and it would have been toast. The wine is very delicate, but glossy, washy and very varietal. Vineyard character is undeniable, strawberry, pippy fruit and spice spice. It was matured without racking in a mix of older French puncheons and barriques, for 9 months. Unfined and unfiltered, but unfortunately the last Pinot Noir the Story will release from this site as much of the vineyard has been pulled out to meet the changing needs of the owners. a great shame, but we know how hard it is growing grapes!

The Story Wines