Pinot Noir
Prices:
H/Bottle
£9.50
H/Bottle 12 x 37.5cl10cs
Bottle
£17.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl248cs
Bursting with juicy black cherry, blackcurrant and plum, complemented by notes of liquorice and spice; this is an elegant unoaked wine with a lovely concentration of fruit. “Umore Nero” refers to the dark skins of the Pinot Nero (Pinot Noir) grape, but also to the “dark mood” of winemaker Giovanella Fugazza when cultivating it – it is a challenging grape to work with, but one that delivers exciting results.
Bottle
£14.35
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£14.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl7cs
Pure Pinot Noir, the wine has 10 grams residual sugar, giving a subtle roundness to the palate. Wild strawberries, lemon and grapefruit aromas bounce out of the glass. The 2015 vintage was good for Luzzano, as is clearly displayed in the concentration of flavours.
Bottle
£15.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Bottle
£15.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl12cs
Bottle
£16.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl552cs
Bottle
£16.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl336cs
Bottle
£17.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl26cs
Bottle
£17.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
Will Heslop - Buyer
Bottle
£17.65
Bottle 6 x 75cl1cs
Bottle
£17.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl3cs
Bottle
£19.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl39cs
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.
Bottle
£19.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl14cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
The domaine is now in organic conversion, which Jean-Yves says has reduced the amount of disease in the vineyard. Rully and Beaune were spared the worst of the hail, but his Volnay and Hautes Côtes vineyards were the worst hit, and he was not able to source his usual Chassagne-Montrachet grapes. So, there are short rations, but as it turns out, excellent quality. During vinification the reds developed wonderful colours without any need for extraction and the two Rullys are absolutely delicious this year.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl5cs
Bottle 12 x 75cl1cs
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.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl8cs
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl21cs
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl68cs
Jasper Morris MW, Berrys' Burgundy Director This is an exciting new discovery for us: David Moreau has taken over part of his grandfather’s domaine in Santenay and has produced wines there since the 2009 vintage. Prior to that, he had worked with Olivier Lamy and Domaine de la Romanée Conti, as well as doing a stage in New Zealand at Neudorf. David made significant changes in both viticulture and vinification compared to the ancien regime. The vineyards were almost all planted in the 1960s so he has old vines to work with. They are mostly pruned by cordon royat to minimise vigour, and the land is either ploughed or left with grass depending on the circumstance of a given plot.
Bottle
£19.95
Bottle 12 x 75cl11cs
Despite the ravages of hail over the last few vintages, Jean-Yves has successfully converted his vineyards to organic, and is certified from the 2014 vintage. Though Meursault, Beaune and Volnay suffered once again from the weather, Rully saw a respectable harvest. Jean-Yves reports healthy fruit, with not especially high sugar levels. The reds remind him of 2010, while there is more flesh to the 2014 whites than popular vintages such as 2004 or 2007.
Bottle
£21.00
Bottle 12 x 75cl24cs
Bottle
£21.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl13cs
Bottle
£21.95
Bottle 6 x 75cl9cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
After lengthy negotiations, we have secured a good allocation of these top class 2013s from Jérôme Castagnier. We fell just as much in love with the generic wines as with those further up the scale. Jérôme began on 1st October, taking pains to verify the ripeness of each vineyard before deciding the picking date. The grapes were all de-stemmed.
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl3cs
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl70cs
Anne McHale MW - Wine Education Specialist
Bottle
£22.00
Bottle 6 x 75cl29cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Virgile went through the vineyards 15 days before harvest, removing the leaves on the south side and taking away anything that was rotten. This kept his crop in good condition so he could afford to wait for full ripeness, not starting until 11th October. He then practised very gentle extraction to keep the tannins supple. He compares 2013 to 2008 but with greater richness of fruit. The crop is 15-to-20% up on 2012 but still well below normal.
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl9cs
Jasper Morris, MW - Wine Buyer
Laurent reports a difficult start to the season, with mildew pressure, while the flowering went better in the late sectors than the earlier ones. A good, healthy crop though, so Laurent was able to use some whole bunch fermentation. Rich fruit but high acidity is the hallmark of the year, he thinks. The harvest began with Clos du Chapitre on 4th October and finished by the 12th.
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl19cs
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 6 x 75cl7cs
Jasper Morris MW, Burgundy Wine Director
One of the brightest talents in the northern Côte de Nuits is Laurent Fournier who runs the estate which carries his father’s name, as well as being the man in charge of the dossier for defining some Premier Cru vineyards in Marsannay. We have been hugely impressed with his wines for several years and are now offering them En Primeur for the first time. There is a quality of fruit here which fully reflects the joys of the Côte de Nuits, yet at rather more affordable prices.
Bottle
£22.50
Bottle 12 x 75cl2cs
Pinot Noir is probably the most frustrating, and at times infuriating, wine grape in the world. However when it is successful, it can produce some of the most sublime wines known to man. This thin-skinned grape which grows in small, tight bunches performs well on well-drained, deepish limestone based subsoils as are found on Burgundy's Côte d'Or.
Pinot Noir is more susceptible than other varieties to over cropping - concentration and varietal character disappear rapidly if yields are excessive and yields as little as 25hl/ha are the norm for some climats of the Côte d`Or.
Because of the thinness of the skins, Pinot Noir wines are lighter in colour, body and tannins. However the best wines have grip, complexity and an intensity of fruit seldom found in wine from other grapes. Young Pinot Noir can smell almost sweet, redolent with freshly crushed raspberries, cherries and redcurrants. When mature, the best wines develop a sensuous, silky mouth feel with the fruit flavours deepening and gamey "sous-bois" nuances emerging.
The best examples are still found in Burgundy, although Pinot Noir`s key role in Champagne should not be forgotten. It is grown throughout the world with notable success in the Carneros and Russian River Valley districts of California, and the Martinborough and Central Otago regions of New Zealand.