Fine Wine Club Archive
Explore your previous cases here in The Archive, with downloadable tasting notes from the winemakers behind your bottles. Plus catch up on live tastings.
Your case & tasting notes - December 2021
We buy our fine wines to order for club members so sometimes there's only enough for one bottle per person. Shop our in stock bottles here.
Ramon do Casar Nobre 2020
Tasting notes:
This is a clean, bright and thirst quenchingly rich drop. An alluring lemony yellow, it's ultra aromatic with smooth flavours of ripe, juicy fruit and just a touch of buttery nutmeg richness.
Country
Spain
Region
Ribeiro
Grape
Treixadura
Market Price
£18.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Ramon do Casar Nobre 2020
By Javier GonzalezTasting notes: This is a clean, bright and thirst quenchingly rich drop. An alluring lemony yellow, it's ultra aromatic with smooth flavours of ripe, juicy fruit and just a touch of buttery nutmeg richness.
Serving suggestions: Best served chilled at 12-14°C
Food pairing: Delicious with fish - perhaps a salmon tartare
Drinking window: Drink now to 2024
Each and every one of us decides where to store our dreams. Don Ramón and his family decided to do it in a winery that has been conceived to protect and praise the nobility of the wines that are made in it.
This is how Ramón do Casar was born; the fruit of a dream that began in 1955 when Don Ramón, a young Galician who, like so many others, emigrated to Venezuela in search of a better life.
It was not easy to get a job but Ramón managed to survive. He carried out many varied tasks until he was finally offered a partnership in a small bakery. Fast forward many years of toil and Ramón was able to acquire some land back home, in the area where he grew up. This idea was caused by the “morriña” or homesickness, a nostalgic feeling that was a particular hallmark for Ramón and all emigrants from Galicia.
When Ramón eventually decided to retire, he left the bakery to his two oldest sons, Ramón and Etelvino. At that time his youngest son, Javier, was working as an industrial engineer in Spain but with the return of their father to his hometown in 2000, his sons decided to begin the first stage of Ramón's dream, cultivating native grape varieties such as Treixadura, Godello and Albariño.
In 2013, Ramón and his sons moved to the second stage of Ramón’s dream - a winemaking facility, designed in accordance with the local typology, beautifully integrated into the privileged environment in which it is located, on a hillside on the banks of the Miño river.
A very important member of this small family business is the winemaker Pablo Estevez, of Galician origins, who joined the project in the first stage to supervise the vineyards and, since the birth of the winery, he has been the creator and mastermind of their wines.
The winery only produces white wines as that’s what Ramón enjoyed the most. It handles 17 hectares of vineyards and produces 5 brands of wines and following work processes that take advantage of all the natural properties of its fruits, the result is wines of excellent quality.
One of these wines is Ramón do Casar Nobre. Partially fermented in French barrels and with a slight aging of 2-3 months. Estévez defines this as the wine that has made the great challenge that he has been pursuing for years a reality - “Pay tribute to the Treixadura, the most noble variety of the Ribeiro, taking its great power to the top”.
Ramón do Casar Nobre was created as a tribute to the two fundamental pillars on which the winery is based from the moment of its foundation: Ramón, whose efforts and sacrifices have inspired the project that is now being developed by his three children, and Treixadura, the queen grape of the Ribeiro area.
Its essential feature is determined by the interaction between soil (essentially granite with sandy textures and a low capacity to retain water) the microclimate (benefitted by natural barriers and its southerly location in Galicia, with very warm summers and cold winters), and the vines.
The Treixadura, with its medium acidity and ability to ripen well, endows our wines with long lasting aromas, excellent structure, personality and remarkable persistence on the palate.
Ramón do Casar Nobre Treixadura is the culmination of the aspirations of Ramón, his sons and Pablo Estévez, who rose to the challenge of producing the very best wine possible from a meticulous selection of Treixadura grapes grown on terroirs which bring out the variety’s very best expression.
Richard's Elgin Pivotal Chardonnay Reserve 2020
Tasting notes:
The wine in the bottle displays bright aromatics of peach blossom, lemon cream biscuit, and oat bran. An expressive palate with some richness. balanced by bracing acidity. The result is a pithy, mineral edge that cuts through richly layered fruit: clementine segments, lemon buttercream, pine nuts and shortbread. There is a long clean finish with a saline impression that encourages another sip.
Country
South Africa
Region
Western Cape
Grape
Chardonnay
Market Price
£35.99
Angel Price
£19.99
Richard's Elgin Pivotal Chardonnay Reserve 2020
By Richard KershawTasting notes: The wine in the bottle displays bright aromatics of peach blossom, lemon cream biscuit, and oat bran. An expressive palate with some richness. balanced by bracing acidity. The result is a pithy, mineral edge that cuts through richly layered fruit: clementine segments, lemon buttercream, pine nuts and shortbread. There is a long clean finish with a saline impression that encourages another sip.
Serving suggestions: Open at 12°C, so at a little more than fridge temperature. Use a wide bowl-shaped glass to encapsulate all the delicate flavours.
Food pairing: Delicious paired with poached salmon, braised fennel and new potatoes; seared scallops; Dijon chicken with mustard, tarragon and crème fraiche or butternut, ricotta and rocket bruschetta.
Drinking window: Drink now, or lay down to drink between 2023-2027
For those who know me and my wines, Chardonnay holds an exceptional place in my heart. Before the season and during our winter, I spend time scouring the Cape south coast vineyards of the Hemel-en-Aarde, Lower Duivenhoks, Elandskloof, Elim, and of course, Elgin. This year we also looked at the southern Stellenbosch area, where some exciting new projects have started.
In Elgin, it is usually a huge challenge to find extra Chardonnay (or Pinot Noir for that matter). Virtually all the best parcels have been taken – and there are few second-rate parcels to be located. If grapes are not making a profit, other varieties of grapes will be planted or, more drastically, other crops – primarily apples and some pears. So trying to find exciting blocks in the Elgin Valley is like finding hen's teeth… rare!
I am lucky that I have many contacts in the valley, either through current or previous purchases, or through the business's consulting side. I also live in the beautiful Elgin Valley; news of grape sales tends to be pretty fast!
Early plantings in Elgin historically focussed on Sauvignon Blanc. However, joining with a few other producers and as my role as an ambassador to our annual event, the Chardonnay Colloquium, we have heavily promoted the planting of Chardonnay. As a result, several new sites have been planted, turning the tide of new plantings in Chardonnay’s favour.
To date, we have taken from a number of these new plantings, and the Pivotal Chardonnay is one such site, planted back in 2014, that we took the fruit from for the first time in 2020. The farm itself was one that I consulted back in 2014 to take out their Merlot and replant with Chardonnay. Through various pre-negotiated contracts on his other grapes, he hadn't been able to sell me any of the grapes…until now. Although the vines are only six years old, I felt they have tremendous potential and in 2020, I got the chance to vinify 5 tons.
The parcel itself is in central Elgin and lies on west-facing slopes that lie in a shaded amphitheatre. Typical to many central Elgin Valley sites, it is planted on soils that are some of the richest and most complex. This site is composed of a thick layer of gravel over a clay subsoil. The richer soils allow the taproot to penetrate down into the clay layer, assisting the water moisture retention in feeding the vine. However, the steep west-facing slope means excess water runs off and reduces vigour in the vine. The impact of the gravel soils add tension to the Chardonnay whilst the clay base adds elegance, freshness and aromatics whilst also supplementing structure to the mid-palate.
Having secured the grapes, we monitored them over the growing season. My initial summation was that I would use the grapes for a Smuggler's Boot or Cutler Chardonnay. However, as we tasted the grapes post-veraison, I noticed the fruit flavour was intense and started to show better and better as 4 the ripening progressed. At this juncture, I needed to decide what to invest in this block in the cellar. Should I risk buying more new oak to support the extra fruit but raise the costs of production?
As it turned out, the fruit was exceptional! And it looked destined to go into some of my Kershaw wines and the Richard's Elgin as we had no spot to put it anywhere else. After discussion between myself and the Naked Wines team, we quickly decided to bottle this for the Fine Wine Club as a "reserve" style of the Richard's Elgin Chardonnay. This single block has clones CY95 and CY76, with a touch of CY548 in it as well.
The winemaking approach to this block was to handpick all the grapes into shallow trays and tip them directly into our new Willmes Sigma 5 press. A gentle whole-bunch pressing yielded a juice recovery of only 620 litres per ton with the softest of handlings to avoid any unwanted phenolics. The unclarified juice was sent to the barrel via gravity without settling, and we didn't add any enzymes or acid. The juice then underwent a completely natural or spontaneous fermentation until dry and we discouraged the malolactic conversion to retain the natural Malic acid. I left it to rest in oak barrels for two months before tasting and judicious sulphuring. In 2020, the wine matured in barrel for a total of 11 months before racking, blending and bottling.
The source of all the oak used for maturation is France's centre (COF), and we use artisanal coopers based in Burgundy. We are keen for the barrel toasting to reflect the grapes that the cooper intended the barrel to be utilised for, i.e. Chardonnay The Pivotal Chardonnay was matured in only 228 Litre oak barrels. The amount of new oak used on the Pivotal is around 38%, with the remainder split between 2nd and 3rd fill barrels. The basis of this selection is determined by an algorithm that we have created over the last 8-10 years. Each barrel we fill is tasted and scored every six weeks to assess its progress and what subsequent action is required. In conjunction, each barrel is fully analysed to have a complete data set of technical information to support our thoughts whilst tasting. By building a spreadsheet of tasting notes and scores over the season and cross-checking it against previous seasons, one can build a picture of where each barrel sits. These notes enable us to make bespoke decisions based on each barrel's assessment rather than the more common blanket decisions made via a formula or recipe. Such decisions vary between racking the barrel (moving the wine between different barrels), stirring it either via bâtonnage or other methods like racking. This allows us to allocate coopers and toasting's to specific soils and clones.
From a personal perspective, I was super excited to taste through the barrels in the cellar, watching it develop into an incredible Chardonnay that I can present as the Richard's Elgin Pivotal Chardonnay
The wine in the bottle displays bright aromatics of peach blossom, lemon cream biscuit, oat bran and chopped stone. An expressive palate with a savoury edge and some richness if balanced by bracing acidity. The result is a pithy, mineral edge that cuts through richly layered fruit: clementine segments, lemon buttercream, pine nuts and shortbread. There is a long clean finish with a saline impression that encourages another sip.
Plaisir de Siaurac Lalande de Pomerol 2019
Tasting notes:
A lovely deep ruby colour in the glass. Beautifully lush and smooth, packed full of ripe dark and red fruits, with a hint of spice.
Country
France
Region
Bordeaux
Grape
Merlot Blend
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£19.99
Sorry, this wine is available exclusively to the Angels who helped make it happen. To find out more about becoming an Angel, click here.
Plaisir de Siaurac Lalande de Pomerol 2019
By Naked MarketplaceTasting notes: A lovely deep ruby colour in the glass. Beautifully lush and smooth, packed full of ripe dark and red fruits, with a hint of spice.
Serving suggestions: Serve at 14-15°C
Food pairing: This is a wine to share with your friends around a charcuterie and cheese platter on
Saturday evening. It will raise the mood and happiness of those sharing it together!
Drinking window: Drink now. The concept of this is to offer a ‘ready-to-drink’ wine.
A brilliant and attractive ruby colour, the wine exhibits a nose of fresh red fruits (currant, raspberry, wild strawberry). The mouth, very harmonious and persistent, reveals a beautiful freshness and soft tannins, along with aromas of little red fruits, enhanced with blackcurrant.
Château Siaurac is located on the plateau of the village of Néac in the Lalande de Pomerol appellation, and is only separated from the Pomerol appellation by a small river, La Barbanne. This is a rather small appellation with just 1130Ha and Château Siaurac is the largest estate in it, with 46Ha.
The terroir is made up of clay, gravels and sands which is the perfect blend for the best possible expression of Merlot, and it covers 80% of the appellation. The grape varieties at Château Siaurac are 75% Merlot, 17% Cabernet Franc and 8% Malbec. The Merlot is bringing finesse and roundness, with
a fruity character. The Cabernet Franc is bringing structure and the backbone of the wine and the Malbec, that was replanted in 2008, delivers spicy flavours and deep colour.
The History of Chateau Siaurac goes back to 1832, when it was a vast cereal crop and livestock farming area. Benjamin Brisson, the heir of the domain, then decided to plant a vineyard, while also creating a beautiful and unusual wooded park, designed by famous landscaper Louis-Bernard Fischer, and is today classified as a Jardin Remarquable, a ‘remarkable garden’. Brisson’s son, Joseph, was a Deputy and the Mayor of the village for 48 years, and one of the founders of the Lalande-de-Pomerol appellation. His daughter, Madeleine, married the Baron Guichard and became a Baroness and their son, Olivier Guichard, was a distinguished diplomat, and the Head of Cabinet for General de Gaulle. Olivier completed the transformation of the vineyard and the
technical installations in the 90s.
François Pinault, the owner of Château Latour, became a shareholder in 2013, and later the owner and since last year, Château Siaurac is owned and managed by 3rd Growth Château Calon-Ségur, who can share their know-how, experience and technology. The Technical Manager for the Château
is Penelope Godefroy who, before joining the team to make the wine, was the Research and Development Director at Château Latour.
The previous owner decided to name the wine Plaisir de Siaurac (Pleasure of Siaurac) while he was having a walk in the beautiful park and gardens of the property then stopped to enjoy a glass of wine.
Pasamonte Organic 2019
Tasting notes:
Packed with lush black fruit flavours topped with subtle hints of coffee grounds, red fruits and a nice peppery spice.
Country
Spain
Region
Utiel-Requena
Grape
Garnacha Tintorera
Market Price
£26.99
Angel Price
£14.99
Pasamonte Organic 2019
By Rodolfo ValienteTasting notes: Packed with lush black fruit flavours topped with subtle hints of coffee grounds, red fruits and a nice peppery spice.
Serving suggestions: Serve at 15°C and use a Burgundy-style glass if you have one
Food pairing: Delicious with all sorts of meats and poultry, particularly duck, lamb, or even vegetables with rich, creamy potatoes. Or strong cheeses such as cured Manchego, Stilton or Comté.
Drinking window: Drink now until 2030.
Traditionally, Garnacha Tintorera was the grape variety used to give color and acidity to other wines, which due to the climate or the variety of grape used, lacked these essential attributes for red wines. It is the only variety that has a red pulp as well as the skin, so the anthocyanin concentration is very high.
It was an important challenge for me because this grape variety has always been underrated. When Garnacha Tintorera used to arrive at the winery and I saw that intense color in the must (unfermented grape juice) and a spicy aroma, I was willing to make a great wine of it. Everyone said it was good for blending, but my instinct told me we could achieve a balanced wine which manifests the essence of the variety with that incredibly intense color and acidity that would give the wine freshness. Especially in our climate which is Mediterranean, but with an important altitude – over 700m above sea level.
And so in 2019 I made a twist by doing two vintages and two vinifications. In order to achieve a balance in terms of acidity, pH and maturation, an early harvest is carried out from when the grapes have loaded all the sugar and we allow them to ripen for freshness. Later, another harvest from the same plot and same variety takes place, allowing approximately 10 days to get riper fruit and more sweetness. They are vinified separately and then blended after having finished the alcoholic
fermentation. The result is Pasamonte: a certified organic wine of a single plot and a single variety of Garnacha Tintorera turning the Cinderella into a Princess of our winery.
Pasamonte is the name of the place where the vineyard is located. Our Garnacha Tintorera is cultivated on a trellis system, in an enclave of 4 hectares located in the middle of pine forests, aromatic plants and other vineyard plots. Yields are an average of 3kg per vine. Wine-growing practices promote biodiversity and sustainability with the application of our own compost and working the vineyard with green pruning to regulate yields.
The soil of the Pasamonte plot is limestone, which results in a good sugar content and low acidity. They are also poor soils with little organic matter, which we supply with a compost made by ourselves from pruning remains, grape marc, stalks and the manure of sheep and goat that graze near the vineyards.
Pasamonte is a plot my family appreciates a lot because of the place where it is located. There are memories there of when we were children and played with an old stone construction that the farm workers built to protect themselves from the rains and strong winds.
The label shows the surroundings of Pasamonte. Just behind the hill (El Monte in Spanish) are the first Iberian wineries excavated in the limestone rock from the 7th century BC. These Iberian wineries "Las Pilillas" dating back 3000 years ago were where the Iberians made wine. It’s very probable that their grapes were collected from this magical vineyard.
Sebastian San Martin Buena Vida Single Vineyard Malbec 2020
Tasting notes:
An alluring, complex and pure aroma with distinguished ripe black and red fruit, currants, prune and floral characters. Aged in a mixture of French new barrels and used barrels brings aromas of vanilla, clove and tobacco. A long aftertaste with a delicate tannin texture.
Country
Argentina
Region
Mendoza
Grape
Malbec
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£16.99
Sebastian San Martin Buena Vida Single Vineyard Malbec 2020
By Sebastian San MartinTasting notes: An alluring, complex and pure aroma with distinguished ripe black and red fruit, currants, prune and floral characters. Aged in a mixture of French new barrels and used barrels brings aromas of vanilla, clove and tobacco. A long aftertaste with a delicate tannin texture.
Serving suggestions: Decant 1 hour before drinking
Food pairing: I would recommend this wine to pair with meats, pastas and mature cheeses.
Drinking window: Drink now up to 2027.
Malbec or Cot, as it’s commonly known in France, is a variety originally from Southwest France and is the primary grape of Cahors. The pre-phylloxera vines were introduced to Argentina by a French Agronomist in 1855 and after the phylloxera plague hit France, Argentina became the country with the largest population of pre–phylloxera vines of Malbec.
This variety has become popular and conquered the taste of drinkers all around the world, probably because of the nose characters of ripe fruits like raspberries, blackberries and plums and flowers like violets, and in the mouth, the ripe tannins, fleshy, sweetness and acidity makes the wine stand out. Malbec is a variety that stands out for its versatility and adaptability to many different terroirs, from the deep and heavy soils in Agrelo up to the stoney vineyards at very high altitudes of 1,500 metres
above sea level in the Uco Valley.
I discovered Finca Aurea in 2016 when I was looking for a vineyard under organic management philosophy. This vineyard is located in La Consulta Department at 900 metres above sea level and was planted in 2009 with the goal to make a biodynamic project with the advice of Alvaro Espinoza and Rene Piamonte, two important names in the biodynamic world. The 2016 harvest was a very challenging year due to the high level of rain. I was working with grapes from many origins for big wineries and it was a big surprise how healthily these grapes (under organic management) arrived at the winery, without signs of fungus disease and with an amazing color and tannin concentration. It was my first step into the amazing world of the biodynamic philosophy. I started feeling curious about this terroir because it is not so high in altitude, but the maturity was very slow and it was one of the later harvested grapes that year.
Mendoza is an area we could describe as absent of winds, but every time I was on this vineyard to taste the grapes, a very soft and fresh wind caressed the vines. When I opened the soil to explore the roots, in the first metre, I found a mixture of pebbles and a medium textured soil and going down further, the typical base of old river soil full of pebbles and sand. After years working with Malbec I believe this kind of soil is the perfect combination for this variety, because some areas of the roots are under an extremely stressed condition and others can access a water source at all times. These two environmental factors make the grapes soft but highly concentrated. The slow
maturity is probably the key to developing a complex pallet of scents.
The Single Vineyard of Finca Aurea was made in a concrete vat with a pre fermentative maceration of around 3 days and fermented with native yeasts. The tannins and colour skin extraction was made with pump overs made by hand with an intense extraction at the beginning and very gentle from the middle of the fermentation. Fermented between 28 and 30°C and with a total skin contact time of 14 days
Luis Louro Agil Reserva 2018
Tasting notes:
Enticing aromas of ripe fruit and oak spice. Full-bodied with ripe dark fruits and well integrated tannins, it shows lovely complexity and finishes with a long length.
Country
Portugal
Region
Alentejo
Grape
Alicante Bouschet Blend
Market Price
£22.99
Angel Price
£17.99
Sorry, this wine is available exclusively to the Angels who helped make it happen. To find out more about becoming an Angel, click here.
Luis Louro Agil Reserva 2018
By Luis LouroTasting notes: Enticing aromas of ripe fruit and oak spice. Full-bodied with ripe dark fruits and well integrated tannins, it shows lovely complexity and finishes with a long length.
Serving suggestions: 16-18°C, it improves if decanted or left to breathe for a while.
Food pairing: Lamb or other red meats, vegetable pasta or cheese.
Drinking window: Lay down to drink between 2022-2026.
I was born and raised in the Alentejo Region and from a young age developed an interest in wines, as my father became a wine producer when I was only 8 years old. Upon finishing a degree in winemaking in 2004, I decided to start my own project - Adega do Monte Branco
Alentejo is a big region in the south of Portugal, covering a third of the country, going from the Atlantic to the border of Spain, with more than 3000 hours of sun per year and a huge range of microclimates. Estremoz is located in the northern part of the region at more than 400 metres altitude and protected in the south by a chain of hills. This, and the fact that most of the subsoil is marble rock, makes this area not as warm as the rest of the region. The daily temperature difference
can range up to 20°C in summer and there is often a morning fog around this time of the year. These conditions allow us to find well ripened fruit, but at the same time good freshness and balanced wines.
The founding features of Adega do Monte Branco are simple: Portuguese grape varieties, authentic wines and respect for nature and history. Sustainability is now a major issue for us, and we are working on a process to become certified ‘sustainable’ in the first semester of 2022.
The Agil Reserva 2018 is a wine where we blend some of the most important local varietals - Aragonez, Alicante Bouschet, and Touriga Nacional, with a small percentage of the international Syrah. The grapes were manually harvested in some of our shale soil vineyards and fermentation was done in stainless steel tanks with temperature control and manual pumping. Most grapes were co-fermented, which means each tank has more than one grape varietal fermenting - this way we achieve better balance.
The wine is then aged in 300L French oak barrels (20% new) for 12 months. After the aging process, each barrel is tasted individually in order to achieve the best blend, which is a great pleasure to drink now but can also age for a while.
