Description
Happy February! We hope January didn’t feel too long for you & the winter storms are now behind us!
This month’s pack was designed as a way to encourage you to wage war on the cold with fortifying tagines, hearty stews & comforting vegetable soups. Try roast venison with kale or fish pies boasting fresh clams & mussels. Finish things off with rhubarb crumble & custard. All ingredients that are coming into season this month! We picked this pack with a selection of 4 brand new wines inside featuring a Pink Fizz for Valentines potentially!
Whether your plans for Valentines involve romance or a friends night out – these wines will make for a great evening.
We chose wines that reminded us of sunnier days or from regions drenched in sunshine to help keep out the chill. These are wines that will match with the ingredients in season right now & also go along with the kinds of dishes we feel like cooking in this weather.
Garcia de la Jara (Italy) – A wine that’s flavoured by the sea, it combines detailed blackberry and blackcurrant notes with some spicy white pepper notes and a salty, saline mineral character on the finish The two-hectare vineyard is less than 100 meters from the La Jara beach near Sanlúcar. Being so close to the sea, the soils are sandy and there is a microclimate of cooler fresher air. One hectare of vines was grafted to Cadiz varietal Tintilla de Rota and Tannat about 15 years ago. The remaining hectare was planted with Petit Verdot about ten years ago. Farming has always been practicing organic, and they are in the process of gaining certification. The vineyard is home to a lot of local wildlife including Grapes are handpicked at night. The Petit Verdot comes in first, normally followed a week or two later by the other varietals. Grapes are hand sorted and destemmed, then macerated in tanks for a few days prior to fermentation. Fermentation is with natural yeasts. After malolactic fermentation they blend the various varietals. The wine is then transferred to fourth use Bordeaux barrels where it rests for 3-5 months to smooth out some of the grape tannins, before going back into tanks prior to bottling without fining or filtration. The wine is kept in bottle for a few months before release.
Vialetto Grecanico (Sicily) – A delicately floral Italian white with notes of apple blossom and citrus peel. Fresh and lively to taste, showing crisp orchard fruits intermingle with riper peach flavours, and subtle almond notes add depth to the finish. This is a much loved wine here at the shop, showcasing a typical Sicilian grape variety Grecanico.
Les Saisons Blanc (France) – A brand new white to our shelves this is a dry and fresh wine with zesty aromatics, tropical fruits, ripe peaches with crunchy green apples, and a lovely creamy mouth feel. Wonderful depth of flavour with a zippy finish. This blend of Southern French grapes makes a great every day drinking wine Colombard 75%, Ugni Blanc 25%.
Le Moss Rose (Italy) – Le Moss Rosato or “Rosé” (in the Treviso dialect “le moss” means fizzy) is a lightly sparkling organic wine made with selected red grapes, no added sugar and selected yeasts. Its production method, called ancestral (same as Pet Nat) , does not include filtration. The yeasts, once fermetation is finished, remain on the bottom of the bottle, and this is where the Italian expression “col fondo” or the French “sur lie” (on the yeasts) come from. Notes of rose, fresh berries and wild strawberries. It’s super easy drinking and carries lots of charming, unique flavours and is lots of fun to drink. we have shown this at lots of tastings and it always goes down a storm! Pop a bottle for Valentines as an aperitif!
Pictorial Cabernet (France) – This brand new Cabernet Sauvignon from the Côtes de Thau region in Southern France offers a fresh and approachable take on this classic grape variety, known for its bold flavours and structure. Medium-bodied with smooth tannins and balanced acidity. The palate reveals ripe black fruit flavours like blackcurrant and blackberry, with a touch of cherry. Herbal notes of green pepper and thyme add complexity, alongside a slight earthy, mineral undertone. A hint of vanilla and spice comes through from the oak ageing.
Chateau Beauregard-Mirouze Campana Rouge Corbieres (France)
Rich in aromas, ripe black fruits. Notes of pepper, liquorice, thyme and notes of garrigue. A smooth velvety red made for a winters evening.
Nicolas and his wife Karine farm 25 hectares of vines in Corbières, not far from the Mediterranean sea in the South of France. Having previously sold the grapes off to local negociants, Nicolas took over his family Domaine in 2000, beginning a painstaking conversion to organic and biodynamic viticulture.
