Sauv.Blanc & Sémillon
Prices:
Bottle
£9.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl35cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl13cs
The warmth of the year is evident in the ripe peach and melon aromas on the nose. On the palate, the fruit is unusually rounded and complete. Here, preserved lemon gives way to riper, tropical fruit flavours, but the finish is as bone dry and refreshing as ever. This clean, crisp wine can be enjoyed on its own, with seafood and even with richer chicken dishes.
Bottle
£13.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl122cs
McHenry Hohnen is a collaborative venture between ex-fine wine retailer and grape grower, Murray McHenry, and David Hohnen, renowned founder of Margaret River’s Cape Mentelle and, later, New Zealand’s Cloudy Bay. The aim is to make wines which reflect their terroir and which receive minimal intervention with new oak used only sparingly.
Catriona Felstead MW, Wine Buyer
Bottle
£14.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl36cs
Ch. Coutet is really pretty in 2013. It is rather light and more floral than many from this vintage and shows lots of engaging acidity. Focused, showing signs of dried apricots and even a little mango, this is very tasty wine indeed.
Case price (H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl42cs
H/Bottle
£17.00
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl8cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl100cs
Bottle
£16.75
Bottle
£18.50
Simon Staples - Sales Director
Bottle
£16.75
Bottle 6 x 75cl56cs
Ch. Coutet’s 1996 is drinking beautifully at the moment. Spice and vanilla are integrated with ripe, honeyed and even candied fruit flavours on the nose. Time has lent a caramelised, toffee-apple edge. The palate is unctuous, intense, but still has a rush of acidity to balance the sweetness. Truly delicious.
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl2cs
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl5cs
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl2cs
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl14cs
Philip Moulin - Wine Buyer
Couloumey Blanc is one of the rarest wines in Bordeaux –it is usually kept by the owner for friends and family. Fermentation is in stainless steel, but unusually the wine is left in old acacia wood barrels for six to nine months. The very tight grain means that oxidation is kept to a minimum, while complexity is gained from lees contact.
Bottle
£18.45
Bottle 6 x 75cl6cs
Philip Moulin - Wine Buyer, January 2017
A perennial overachiever, Ch. Baret is one of the most consistent properties in Pessac. Lovingly tended, and in family hands for over 200 years, the vineyards certainly benefit from their relative proximity to the outskirts of Bordeaux. The temperate climate means the fruit ripens early and evenly, and the harvest here is rarely affected by late summer rain.
Bottle
£19.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl5cs
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl4cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl30cs
The freshness was there; the heft and volume on the tongue were comforting and complex, owing to ageing in French oak and frequent lees’ stirring. That delightful nose of citrus acidity is matched on the palate, chased by fragrant white flowers. Lilac and acacia dance, and give way to a flourish of pineapple and mango. Good Graves always flows easily, and this is drinking excellently now. Have a second bottle to hand; it will be needed!
Bottle
£21.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl10cs
This has a very elegant, enticing nose, but on the palate the flavours explode with exuberance. The power is never allowed to become clumsy here, with multiple layers of citrus fruit, marmalade and plump, ripe peaches ascending to an extremely long finish supported by zesty acidity. This wonderful Sauternes has a great future ahead of it.
H/Bottle
£22.00
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl11cs
H/Bottle
£22.00
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl7cs
Case price (H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl)
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl4cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
H/Bottle 24 x 37.5cl1cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£25.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl8cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
The finish is long and balanced and the overall impression is of a deeply rewarding wine. Still, one can feel a great sense of freshness, which seems to me to becoming one of the hallmarks, and a very attractive one, too, of this vintage in Sauternes.
H/Bottle
£28.00
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl4cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl1cs
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl1cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl2cs
Neal Martin - The Wine Advocate, 28th Oct 2016
Bottle
£28.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl59cs
Bottle
£29.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl46cs
Bottle
£29.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Case price (Bottle 12 x 75cl)
Bottle 12 x 75cl5cs
Neal Martin - Wine Advocate - April 2010
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl6cs
Case price (Bottle 6 x 75cl)
Bottle 6 x 75cl15cs
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
The blend used for White Graves and Sauternes and rarely encountered outside France. In the great dry whites of Graves, Sauvignon Blanc tends to predominate in the blend, although properties such as Smith Haut Lafite use 100% Sauvignon Blanc while others such as Laville Haut Brion have as much as 60% Sémillon in their final blends. Sauvignon Blanc wines can lose their freshness and fruit after a couple of years in bottle - if blended with Sémillon, then the latter bolsters the wine when the initial fruit from the Sauvignon fades. Ultimately Sauvignon Blanc gives the wine its aroma and raciness while Sémillon gives it backbone and longevity.
In Sauternes, Sémillon is dominant, with Sauvignon Blanc playing a supporting role - it is generally harvested about 10 days before Sémillon and the botrytis concentrates its sweetness and dampens Sauvignon Blanc`s naturally pungent aroma. It contributes acidity, zip and freshness to Sauternes and is an important component of the blend.