New BBX

In collaboration with Luke Edward Hall, a rising star of British design, we present our second limited-edition label for Good Ordinary Claret. Just 4,000 bottles featuring Hall’s Bacchanalian-inspired artwork have been produced.

Our best-selling wine for many decades, GOC, as it is known, brilliantly highlights the sheer drinkability of modern red Bordeaux. Bright, medium ruby in colour, with a siren-like nose of black cherries, bramble fruit and wood smoke, it is instantly appealing. The palate follows through with delicious, juicy, black fruit and a long, velvety finish. Equally at home with a weekday supper or a grand Sunday roast, it is the perfect wine for all occasions.

Syrah adds polish and floral lift to this outstanding
blend of Grenache and Carignan, its blue and red clay
terroir ideally suited to the generous vintage that was
2015. Here we enjoy ripe yet savoury notes, with a
backdrop of liquorice and, touched by star anise, the
wine is garlanded by Mediterranean flowers. Drink
2019-2023.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

The nose of this Trebbiano has notes of bitter almond and apricot kernel, layered with salty minerality. Clean, light-bodied and zesty, this is a fresh and simple wine that is perfect with seafood and salads.

A fraction paler than last year and lighter than one might expect of Bordeaux Rosé but this is very much fruit forward with spicy raspberry and strawberry flooding the palate. Generous in every sense.  Good acidity and so there’s plenty of freshness with some spice at the back of the palate.  Vibrant and easy to enjoy.  As ever I’m unshakeable in my belief that a wonderful Spring and Summer awaits, this 2016 will go down very well indeed.
Martyn Rolph, Private Account Sales Manager.

I am somewhat biased as I was fortunate to taste this at Maison Francois Perrin whilst looking out over the Provençale landscape. Pale salmon in colour, the nose is wonderfully fresh with aromas of wild strawberry and hints of fennel and orange peel. Crisp and dry across the palate with gentle flavours of red currants, strawberry, and a touch of savouriness comes through at the back with flicks of spice. Detailed and precise with a moreish finish; the Perrin's have excelled again here with a delicious rose wine truly representative of the regions finest. Drink and enjoy without thinking, ideally this summer once available.
Chris Lamb - Private Account Manager

I described the 2015 release as ‘dangerously drinkable and probably the perfect Provence rose’ and this continues a theme! Very pale, with wild strawberry and fennel on the nose. Excellent freshness on the palate, with a seam of red fruit and saline tang on the finish. As effortlessly enjoyable as always and sure to become a staple of picnics, BBQs and sunny summer evenings.
Fergus Stewart - Private Account Manager

One-third Gamay, two-thirds Pinot, this has a brilliant dark colour with purple rim, a hedonistic, seductive nose: yes, please. Very pretty fruit that marries the two grapes perfectly; it’s absolutely beautiful. Drink 2018-2021.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

With prices in Burgundy still rising, even if often for understandable reasons, the appellations Bourgogne Blanc and Bourgogne Rouge are great places to look for affordable wines. You get the opportunity to drink wine from a top winemaker, from vines which are adjacent to the famous villages, and which will be accessible earlier. The 2005 Bourgognes Rouges are still delicious and youthful more than 10 years later, but most wines have been drinking well for a few years now. 

Displaying a relatively light colour for Bordeaux Rosé, and much lighter than the 2014 this looks utterly quaffable from the get go. Impressing with elegant yet zippy strawberry sherbet on the palate and a more substantial Scottish raspberry notes underneath. This offers more interest and presence than say a Provençale Rosé but without the excess weight and lumber of Rhone styles. The finish is spicy yet creamy with great whip and freshness. Far too easy to drink and bound to impress throughout 2016.
Gary Owen - Private Account Manager

A step back from the savoury depths of last year, this is a return to a classic Bordeaux rosé style and shows off the quality of the 2015 vintage with a quaffable ease – medium bodied with glorious strawberry/raspberry freshness upfront laced with warming herb notes of thyme and fennel to the finish. This is a bright and intriguing rosé with enough body to accompany a plethora of light summer dishes. Definitely one to stock up on for the coming months.
Peter Newton - Private Account Manager

A mixture of 70 percent concrete-matured Grenache
and 30 percent wood-matured Syrah make up this less
than entirely felicitously named wine. The quality of
the liquid is hard to resist however, with purity born of
altitude and exceptional length. The Rasteau microclimate
lends warmth and power. Drink 2019-2023. Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer

The fruit for this comes from two plots, one of which is in fact Premier Cru on Jurassic limestone, the other on a mixed soil with sandstone, planted in 1947 and 1943 respectively. Good, bright, dark red fruit on the nose is followed by very dense black and red fruit behind. The wine has impressive intensity, everything in balance in concentrated format. This is always a good cuvée. Drink 2020-2025.
Jasper Morris MW, Wine Buyer

David Moreau is very happy with his 2015s, describing it as a vintage without stress. The grapes, picked from 7th September, were ripe but with acidity in balance and with an adequate yield for once. For the vinification, David used slightly more stems this year in the interest of structure and freshness, with a slightly shorter length of time in the fermentation vats. Very encouraging wines.

The nose is layered with citrus, white peach and blood orange, with just a suggestion of toasty oak in the background. It has a medium body, direct and linear mouth-feel, with a core of freshening acidity that keeps everything in perfect harmony. With attractive richness and plenty of finesse, this is a lovely, crowd-pleasing Chardonnay.
Stuart Rae - Fine Wine Team

Honeyed, roasted meats, with vanilla pod, peppercorn and creme brulee. Layers of dark, sweet fruits on the palate, with a hickory finish. Fresh acidity and nice, chalky, rounded tannins wrap it up.
Fine Wine Team

At first a very shy and reticent nose; with time and gentle coaxing we get hints of Damson, Blueberry, hints of mint leaf and graphite. The medium palate is full of black morello cherry, juicy and yet tightly wound with fine grained tannins, and great tension created by the well balanced acidity. This is a classy wine, more similarities to the Old World style than New World.  Deserves at least another 2 to3 plus years in bottle and will effortlessly move into the 2020s. The nearest to a Bordeaux wine you’ll get in the Cape.
Stuart Rae - Private Account Manager     
The 2011 Anwilka has an intense, pure blackcurrant nose and immediately feels like a top-notch, modern South African wine. Layers and layers of blackberries with red bramble fruits and even more blackcurrants wash over the palate. The intensity of fruit lends a mouth-coating texture to the wine. This is supported by plentiful tannins, which have a corduroy feel, giving an overall impression of smoothness. A gentle vanilla note and a twist of cedar spice lifts the finish and the long length just rolls on and on. Made from 67% Syrah, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon and 2% Petit Verdot, this is another great wine from Anwilka.
Catriona Felstead MW, New World Buyer

Often the middle children, and in the case of Madeira we are talking about Boal and Verdelho rather than Malvasia and Sercial…..tend to be overlooked or at least under-estimated. Yet in the case of mature and serious Madeira, it’s often these two grapes which really excel. Herewith a case in point, the astonishing 1973 Verdelho. Richly coloured, the wine’s aromatic power seduces from afar…but with notes of verbena, eucalypt and freshly shaved ginger, the seduction is subtle and measured. Coco Chanel would approve. The palate is equally subtle, with smoky notes and hints of iodine and apricot, and backdrop of cloves and white chocolate underwriting inherent complexity.
Simon Field MW - Wine Buyer

 

Situated in Rittersturz on blue, yellow-brown to blue-black slate on southeast-south facing slopes, with an average vine age of 55 years. 2.9ha. The minerals err more towards flint and smoke in this wine. The palate is strong, toned and deeply concentrated, supported by fruit that is reminiscent of yellow peach and orange zest. This is a serious wine and needs time.
David Berry Green