When is a wine ready to drink?
We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.
Not ready
These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.
Ready - youthful
These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.
Ready - at best
These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.
Ready - mature
These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.
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Description
Do a little extra good when you purchase our charity mixed case. For every case sold, we are donating £25 to the NHS Charities Together Covid-19 Urgent Appeal. You’ll also save £24.50 on the normal retail price of the wines.
Inside you’ll find two bottles each of six wine rack staples. For the whites, we’ve chosen a superb white Burgundy from Olivier Merlin, a rich yet refreshing Gavi from Roberto Sarotto, and an aromatic Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc from our friends at Dog Point. Reds come in the form of Claret – a 2016 St Emilion from the team at Fonbel and La Nerthe’s exquisite Côtes du Rhône. Last but not least is Palacios Remondo’s supremely juicy La Montesa Rioja.
Contains two bottles (75cl) of each of the following:
2017 Mâcon La Roche-Vineuse, Olivier Merlin, Burgundy
2018 Gavi di Gavi, Bric Sassi, Roberto Sarotto, Piedmont, Italy
2019 Dog Point, Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand
2016 Berry Bros. & Rudd St Emilion by Château de Fonbel, Bordeaux
2018 Les Cassagnes de la Nerthe, Côtes du Rhône Villages, Château la Nerthe, Rhône
2015 La Montesa, Crianza, Palacios Remondo, Rioja, Spain
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