Bonfire Hill Extreme Vinyards, Western Cape, South Africa
Winemaker Trizanne Barnard has years of international winemaking experience. Her passion lies in the Western Cape, making wines sourced from the most extreme vineyards and blending them to perfection.
Trizanne seeks out grapes from wind-ravaged vineyards in Elim, the old expanses of the Overberg Highlands, from dryland bush vines in the warm Swartland and from the high slopes of the Piekernierskloof. They then all come together under Trizanne’s watchful eye to create wines full of flavour, tannin and texture.
Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, ERA, Veneto, Italy
From the winemaking team at Cantine Volpi comes this delicious range of organic cuvées called ‘ERA’, which we believe are a fantastic addition to our Italian portfolio. From their 5 distinct regional bases (Veneto, Marche, Abruzzo, Apulia and Sicily), the Volpi team cultivate a wide range of grape varietals that are fashioned into fresh, food-friendly wines.
The Opportunist Shiraz, Wild & Wilder, Langhorne Creek
Wild & Wilder is all about good clean fun. Working hand in hand with their merry (in a good season) band of growers, they craft wines of supreme quality but don’t take it all too seriously.
Great fruit, grown by great people and made with a lot of love by people that know that wine is all about the good times, delicious food and creating great memories. Founded by Giles Cooke MW & Fergal Tynan MW, who also make the Thistledown wines, the mundane is just not in their DNA. Being involved in every stage of the winemaking process from bud burst to bottle means that every bottle from Wild & Wilder is an experience you’ll want to try again.
Viognier Le Paradou, Chateau Pesquie, Ventoux, France
This family run domaine came to being in the early 1970s, when Odette and René Bastide spotted the potential of the Ventoux region and took over an area of rundown vineyards. In 1985 Edith and Paul Chaudière took control and created one of the first independent wineries of the AOC, in an area which had previously been dominated by cooperatives. In 2003, Paul and Edith handed over the running of the estate to their two sons, Alexandre and Frédéric, who have since set about converting the domaine to organic farming. They are blessed with vineyards in an enviable location, ideally situated at the crossroads between the Alpine and Mediterranean worlds. An average altitude of the vineyards of more than 300 metres and the wide variation of temperatures between days and nights create an excellent physiological balance in the vines, adding colour, concentration and balance to their wines.
Coteaux du Layon, Domaine des Baumards, Loire Valley, France
One of the Loire’s most lauded producers, Florent Baumard has courted controversy by pursuing his own ideas and challenging the status quo.
In a deeply traditional region, Florent’s early adoption of screwcaps and different vine trellising systems marked him out as the enfant terrible of Savennières. His mantra now encompasses a belief in the individuality of each vintage, believing it should be made with minimal intervention to allow the wine to reflect its vintage and unique character. His Savennières from the famous vineyards of Clos St Yves and Clos du Papillon are rich, yet with a balance and elegance that are unrivalled. His top cuvée of ‘Trie Speciale’ is only made in very exceptional vintages when grape quality is optimal. It is a wine full of paradox, honeyed and yet dry, rounded and yet firm. The rich fruit, tremendous weight and concentration ensure that it is a thoroughly memorable experience.
Muscadet sur Lie, Domaine des Herbauges, Cotes de Grandlieu, Loire valley, France
This family estate has been in production since 1864 and is now the largest single estate in the region.
The vineyards benefit from an exceptional microclimate; the warmth of the Atlantic brings spring early, while the huge Lac de Grandlieu acts like a giant storage heater through growing season. Fourth generation winemaker, Jérôme is committed to the sustainability of the vineyards as well as to the health of the vineyard workers he has even grassed over 100% of the vineyards to reduce the vigour of the vines and to soak up rain at harvest. Each terroir of Domaine des Herbauges expresses its own subtle nuances, and reveals specific particularities and characteristics of the AOC Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu Sur Lie appellation.
Cabernet Sauvignon Odfjell Armador, Maipo, Chile
Founded by Norwegian Dan Odfjell this pre-dominantly red wine producer creates wines of elegance and poise.
Odfjell are fully committed to biodynamics with cover crops and beehives populating the vineyards while small Fjord horses work the land. Odfjell produces wonderful wines that few in Chile can match, with their Carignans, which come from rescued 80 year old vines, proving to be of particular note.
Torrontes, Manos Negras, Salta, Argentina
Alejandro Sejanovich is arguably Argentina’s most knowledgeable viticulturist, working as vineyard director for Bodega Catena Zapata for 16 years, he pioneered high altitude vineyard planting and conducted ground breaking research on Mendoza Malbec clones.
Manos Negras focuses on latitude winemaking, planting Torrontes in the northern stretches of Cadayate in Salta, Pinot Noir in the southern-most region of Neuquen in Patagonia and cultivates 50 year old Malbec vines in the prized Altamira appellation in the Uco Valley.
Rose de Touraine, Domaine Patrick Vauvy, Loire Valley, France
Patrick Vauvy manages 30 hectares of vines, the majority planted with Sauvignon Blanc.
The Domaine has been the hands of the Vauvy family for generations, Patrick took over and has brought new vision and an experimental style to the Domaine. He is often the last of his neighbours to harvest. Located above the banks of the Cher River, the soil is predominantly sand based giving the wines a fruit driven, immediately appealing style.
Rioja, Bodegas Manzanos, Finca Manzanos Crianza, DOCa, Spain
On the border between Rioja and Navarra, Victor Manzanos carries on the work of the four generations before him.
With over 250ha of owned vineyards at his disposal, including some of the oldest vines in Rioja, Bodegas Manzanos is fortunately placed to put both the sub-region of Rioja Oriental and the name Manzanos firmly on the map as one of the most important areas and producers in Rioja. This range of wines is a modern take on the traditional landscape of Rioja, championing the native grape varieties, Tempranillo, Viura and Garnacha. The team is the youngest in the region, a talented a group of people with the sole purpose of making wines that people will enjoy.
Beaujolais, Domaine de la Couvette, Rouge
Gautier Marion is the fifth generation of the family to manage Domaine de la Couvette, tucked into the gently undulating countryside of Southern Beaujolais. If you could picture what a quintessentially small french producer should look like then Gautier’s property would come very close. He takes great pride in making wines in the traditional carbonic macerated style using his trusty, old concrete vats, which he uses to age the wines as well. Respecting not only the winemaking traditions, but also their 11 hectares of land and the vines that are up to 50 years old, they demonstrate their commitment by making a fully organic Beaujolais – which is full of ripe red fruit, spicy, earthy notes and a lovely smooth minerality.
Godello, Lagar do Xestosa, Galicia, Spain
In 2002 Adegas Pazo do Mar was created. It was born of a 30-year family vocation, which respects and admires the age-old Ribeiro wine- making traditions, but has a fresh spirit and vision for the future.
Adegas Pazo do Mar is dedicated to the production of native varietals, including Godello. They are in pursuit of the perfect balance between traditional and modern methods to achieve characterful wines with distinctive freshness. Their commitment to quality led to Pazo do Mar recently investing in the very best of oenological technology.
Traditionally each generation of our family had used this historic site as their initial launching pad as each embarked on its particular quality crusade; but when it was our turn, in the early 2000s, we decided on a totally fresh start not just philosophically (our tenets to respect nature and go back to the old ways) but in a location of our own – with Alejandra running exports and communications, Marco the viticulturist, and Richard the oenologist.
