Malbec Reserve, Domaine Bousquet, Mendoza, Argentina
The Bousquet family hail from the city of Carcassonne, in the South of France and are 4th generation winemakers. In 1990, they began to explore the idea of leaving behind their vineyard in France to travel and explore opportunities further afield. On one particular trip to Argentina, they fell in love with Mendoza, intrigued by combination of soil variation, altitude and terroir on offer.
In 1997, they took the decision to permanently relocate, buying a parcel of land in the Gualtallary Valley in Tupungato, in the foothills of the Andes. The site is defined by its altitude, with the majority of the vines at around 1,200 metres!
The key objective of the Bousquet family was to unite their tradition of European wine with these unique conditions and produce wines that speak of their terroirs.
Pinot Noir, Iona, Mr P, Elgin
At 420m above sea-level, set high above the picturesque Elgin Valley Andrew Gunn founded Iona. It is here overlooking the Atlantic ocean that he has secured some of the coolest vineyards in the Cape.
In a country where cool climate vineyards are like gold dust, these vineyards are veritable nuggets. There is an extremely long growing season, allowing Andrew to create wines with complex flavours and a fresh, elegant style. The approach is hands off and the land is farmed according to organic and biodynamic practices with a particular focus on ensuring the health of the soils whilst pests are kept under control by the resident flock of geese that roam the vineyards.
Mr P, is a “Pinot for the people”, showing all the characteristics of classic, high quality Pinot Noir at an affordable price, making use of younger vines and older barrels with careful and dedicated wine making.
Syrah Solevari Reserve, Viile Timisului, Romania
The Cramele Recas Estate, owned by Englishman, Philip Cox and his Romanian wife Elvira, have put in a huge amount of work into transforming their slice of grape growing history into a contemporary winemaking haven.
The immaculate vineyards are a combination of evolved plantings from 1447 and much more recent plantings too. With recent investments into modernising and improving their winery, they regularly host world class flying winemakers, vintage to vintage, to work with their team. This enables them to create top quality wines and constantly challenge themselves push innovations and approach winemaking with an open mind.
Cotes du Rhone, Domaine Roche-Audran, Southern Rhone, France
Vincent Rochette comes from a long line of grape growers rather than winemakers. In 1998, he bucked that trend by investing in a cellar and the necessary equipment to allow him to vinify his own grapes, which for five generations had been sold to other winemakers in the area. Vincent is an ardent believer in the benefits of biodynamics, fully converting his estate to follow that philosophy in 2006. He uses only natural products in the vineyard and carries out all his work in keeping with the cosmic cycles of the earth, not only among the vines but also in the cellar
Montsablé Pinot Noir, IGP d’Oc
Wines inspired by the spirit of place – ‘L’esprit de lieu’. The wines of Terres Fidèles are created in the Roussillon and surrounding regions, a place of remarkable stories where layers of history and cultures are embedded in the raw and wild landscape. Authentic, crafted small batch wines. Wines of the wilds. Old vine Grenache, Carignan, Malbec, Cinsault, Viognier and more. Wines to share…, some of which, namely Felicette, Mont Rocher and Montsablé we have been proudly producing for some time.
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.
Secateurs, Shiraz
One often hears wine merchants saying that winemakers like to let the wines speak for themselves. Well, Adi’s wines would be lucky to get a word in edgeways! He is a fast-talking, quick-witted, warm-hearted kind of guy who aims to produce wines with bags of personality. If you want to drink wines with soul that were made using gut feel rather than technical recipes, then this is definitely where you should be focusing your attention.
Today, Swartland is among the most exciting up-and-coming wine regions in the world – it’s extremely old bush vines attracting the attention of some of South Africa’s most pioneering winemakers. Adi took over this ancient winery in the Paardeberg district, utilising his 35 hectares of mature, dryfarmed bush vines to produce a range of grapes.
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cartlidge & Browne, North Coast USA
In 1980, the same year Ronald Reagan came to power and JR was shot in ‘Dallas’, with no money to buy vineyards and seeing no reason to, Tony Cartlidge started his winery in an undistinguished Napa Valley garage.
Possibly the original Californian ‘garagiste’ he set out to source the best possible grapes to handcraft his wines in this unassuming home. Nearly 40 years later, still sourcing from vineyards as wide ranging as Sonoma to the Sierra foothills, continuing to produce high quality wines, Cartlidge & Browne has become a byword for varietally pure Californian wines, whilst sticking to their garagiste roots of taking a different path.
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.
