Growers and Winemakers

In the old-fashioned European model, the owner, grower and winemaker is usually the same man or woman. By contrast a  big New World estate will be owned by a corporation, the vines may be looked after by a viticulturist, the winemaker will be a highly trained specialist (some of these guys...

“Demi-Gods Inevitably a short list: these are folk who usually own top vineyards and have demonstrated an absolute determination to make great wine and an ability to do it consistently: but beyond...”

Examples: Fourrier, Grivot, Helmut Dönnhoff, Kientzler, and Paul Draper at Ridge

Mader

Young Jerôme Mader is extremely talented and growing in confidence with each vintage at the estate his father founded after leaving the co-op in the tiny village of Hunawihr. We always admire the value at this small - under 9 hectares - domaine, and prices remain fair. The land is in conversion to...

“The vineyards of Alsace run in a long, thin north-south strip protected by the Vosges Mountains; here the multitude of soil types produce a fascinating selection of wines. The range of grape...”

Badenhorst Family Wines

It was only just over a year ago that we shipped for the first time from Adi Badenhorst - he of the interesting facial hair, top parrot-breeder and winemaker of rare genius - after he gave up his post as the head winemaker at Rustenberg. Alongside his family-owned vineyards at Kalmoesfontein farm...

“What is his secret? Well, he is crafting wines in a very traditional, minimal interventionist manner, using concrete fermentation tanks and old oak, often big old barrels which give no wood tannins...”

The rosé is a new arrival and we are the only UK shippers to date. We tasted a tank in the spring and found this blend, from Adi’s younger vines...

Les Vignerons d’Estézargues

Every time we visit this tiny co-operative, in a small village in the Gard, just west of Avignon, we bless the research in French wine guides which led us here. We taste about a dozen wines here and the problem, a nice one admittedly, is just working out which of the wines in any given vintage has...

“From the land of just ten vignerons winemaker Denis Deschamps crafts wines from shared grapes - such as the great value Côtes du Rhône listed below - and also makes wines for the different,...”

We always stock Les Galets, a cheerful blend of Grenache, Cinsaut and Syrah, which makes a really honest, daily drinking wine. The Terra Vitis Côtes...

Etienne Le Riche

Formerly the winemaker at Rustenberg, in 1996 Etienne Le Riche rented a house and unused cellar at Leef-op-Hoop (literally Living on Hope) in the Jonkershoek Valley to start his own winery. Etienne is hugely admired in the Cape, not least by top winemakers almost a generation younger who are fellow...

“Etienne makes a tiny production of Chardonnay, from fruit sourced from an estate well-known for its Chardonnay, a barrel-fermented wine of great balance and vivacity: Etienne chooses not to allow...”

Château Pierre-Bise

The modest and deep thinking Claude Papin is a master of Chenin Blanc in all its guises from bone dry to lusciously sweet. His focus is to produce wines which truly reflect their individual origins alongside their varietal character. Claude's two sons René and Christophe, are taking more...

Cederberg

Ever since we first started shipping from the Cape we have prized our friendship with David Niewoudt, one of the kindest, big-hearted, amusing and passionate winemakers we know.  In April 2009 I again enjoyed his tour of this remarkable estate, which David took over in 1997, wondering at...

“The vineyards here are 1100-1150 metres up in the Cederberg mountains. Good natural rainfall, around 550-600mm, cool temperatures and occasionally snow-bound winters, with plenty of wind, mean that...”

As if David didn’t have enough to do at Cederberg, has bought land in Elim on slate and granitic soils. He has branded his wines from there Ghost...

Quatre Tours

One of our best discoveries of 2008 was the superior rosé of Quatre Tours, which was praised by Jancis Robinson, MW in the Financial Times as “very attractive and good value” . We had found a bargain in Provence, a notoriously difficult thing to do in this perennially fashionable region.

“The group of producers working under the Quatre Tours banner farm around 270 hectares of land around the villages and towns of Venelles, Puyricard, Puy Ste Reparade and Aix en Provence, the...”

The Signature rosé is a blend of 45% each of Grenache and Syrah, with 10% Cabernet Sauvignon. Gentle handling and low temperature fermentation,...

Vondeling

Vondeling (literally the “foundling”) is a long established farm producing grapes sold to KWV, Boland and, recently, Rustenberg. Hampshire man Julian Johnson took over in 2000, and with new investment, and, from the 2007 vintage, a really capable, well-travelled winemaker in young Matthew...

“We offer two blends here: the latest vintage of the Petit Blanc, from about 50% Chenin Blanc, 30% Viognier and 20% Chardonnay, made with seven months lees contact to lend some weight; and the Petit...”

Saint Daumary

When I (Simon Taylor) visited the Languedoc and Roussillon in February 09, the single best tasting at any grower was with Julien Chapel at Saint Daumary. Julien is a short, neat man, with a little cellar in Valflaunès. His vineyards are nearby on the flanks of the plateau of Hortus, just to the...

“We have really found a star in this modest and amiable young man, who has taken over part of his father’s land and converted to organic cultivation: he is now in the process of becoming certified....”

First up is his elegant and refined white, La Boca Loca, 80% Roussanne with Grenache Blanc, about a third of which is lightly oaked. His red Pic St....