WINE LIST

Spring into Summer 2008
Wine review

During the Winter we have renovated the vaulted Goldstone cellar so that we can lay more fine wine down. We have now started to collect fine wines that will mature and develop over the years to come but they are ready to drink now. This has allowed us to create a section, The Private Collection. Theses wines are in the cellar and will need a little time to
open up. They will be worth the wait.

In this review the main factor is the strengthening of the Euro against the pound and greater stability against the dollar. This means that the New World wines will have an increasing price advantage over Europe particularly after the effects of the Darling wine tax hike. French wines will have gone up by towards £2 per bottle whereas for the South
America and South African wines have virtually stayed the same price.

We have improved our Pinot Grigio offering with Chilean Lurton and the New Zealand Kumeu which is stunning, they are much better value than their Italian forebear because of
the strength of the Euro.

These will reward as you wander in the garden and see how the Oak Pavilion is growing.

Enjoy yourselves.

Cheers

PS Corked wines

This is a boring nuisance but unfortunately it happens. Basically a fungus hides in the cork at bottling and gets busy on the wines. We can’t spot it until the wine is opened and the poor wine smells fusty and is spoilt. Please, this is not a hassle. Don’t drink it or hope it will get better. Sorry, it won’t. It is terminal and has to go down the plughole. There is nothing to be done but to open another bottle. We’ll change the glasses and let’s have another go.

PPS Screw top.

The number of wines with screw top closure grows and grows, led by the New Zealanders and Cloudy Bay. The traditionalist French are swapping over too. The great benefit is that it reduces the chance of ‘corked wine’ which is a real pain in the neck. There is no question that for younger fresher white and rosé wines, the screw top ensures the wine is served to you as the wine maker wanted. The jury is still out on red but again this is all about cellar aging profiles of very fine and rare wine. Ultimately you would think that reducing the chance of spoilage of wine that has been cellared for a decade or more has a certain attraction.

Spring into Summer 2008

WHITE Cost Glass
Bin No. Bottle 175ml 250ml
1 Cépage Colombard, VdP des Côtes de Gascogne, £14.95 £3.80 £5.00
Producteurs Plaimont 2007 France
Zippy, zingy white - not for sipping a gulper.

2 Rémi & Jérôme Chardonnay, VdP d’Oc 2006 France £15.95 £4.00 £5.35
A ripe and balanced Chardonnay with lemony flavours and a light
touch of oak to give weight and richness.
Good body and freshness.

3 Wide River Viognier, Robertson 2006 South Africa £16.50 £4.15 £5.50
Long aromatic nose of apricot, peaches and lemon with
orange peel on the palate, which has good weight and freshness.
An excellent example of this popular grape variety.

4 Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC, Azienda Due Torri 2006 Italy £19.50 £4.90 £6.50
A crisp, dry, white with delicious honeyed fruit and a lovely finish.

5 C J Pask Sauvignon Blanc, Hawke’s Bay 2007 New Zealand £19.65 £4.95 £6.55
Fresh, nettly grassy. Kate Radburnd has really lifted the reputation of
this north island wine

RED
6 Rémi & Jérôme Merlot VdP d’Oc 2006 France £15.60 £3.90 £5.20
Soft fruity red very typical Merlot

7 Alto Pampas Pinot Noir, Mendoza 2007 Argentina £15.75 £4.00 £5.25
Raspberry Pinot Noir fruit fills the nose & is mirrored on the palate.
The tannins are soft & well integrated with no harshness.

8 Marius Reserva, Almansa DO, Bodegas Piqueras 2004 Spain £16.95 £4.20 £5.60
This red is a Tempranillo which is the grape of the Rioja.
Oak aged and fruity with a touch of vanilla.

ROSÉ
9 Château Miaudoux, Bergerac Rosé 2007 France £16.70 £4.20 £5.60
Gerard and Nathalie Cuisset acquired Miaudoux in 1986 and have succeeded
with this delightful strawberry and white currant rosé. 100% Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes give a light clairette style, with subtle tannins and juicy acidity.

SWEET FRUITY WHITE WINE
10 Moselleland Riesling Kabinett 2006 Germany £16.10 £4.00 £5.40
Peach fruit, refreshing, well made.

SPARKLING
11 Tanners Cava Brut,. Traditional method Spain £18.35 £4.60
Really great fizz nearly up to Champagne quality. Have a bottle before dinner

12 Bird in Hand sparkling Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hill 2007 Australia £22.70 £5.70
A softer style of fizz with aromas of strawberries and a colour that
varies from pink to almost white. Creamy fine mousse, a light elegant finish.

13 André Clouet Grande Réserve, grand cru à Bouzy France £32.00 £8.00
Great elegance and lovely rich concentrated fruit.

WHITES
Chardonnay

“God I love Chardonnay. No, I mean I really love Chardonnay”. “The flavours are usually so immediate, generous and downright delicious, easy to understand. User friendly. I want to find, lemon, green apples and grapefruit in unwooded or lightly wooded styles, through melon, peach and cashew in medium bodied wines to toast, butter, fig and honey in the bigger, barrel fermented and barrel aged styles. Then I’m happy”.

Here, eight ways to be happy.

2 Rémi & Jérôme Chardonnay, VdP d’Oc 2006 France £15.95
A ripe and balanced Chardonnay with lemony flavours and a light
touch of oak to give weight and richness.
Good body and freshness.

14 Chablis, Domaine des Valéry, Jean Durup, 2006 France £21.35
Clean, fresh, steely, fruity, no oak.

15 Montagny 1er cru, “Les Loges” Vieilles Vignes Caves de Buxy 2004 France£21.70
Made from old vines which give more concentration and depth.
Good body and really elegant.

16 Jackson Estate unoaked Chardonnay Marlborough 2003 New Zealand £25.00
Neighbours to the illustrious Cloudy Bay this Chardonnay is full of ripe
tropical and stone fruits with a creamy rich texture.
A rich mineral character comes through on the palate.

17 Kumeu River Chardonnay Auckland 2005 New Zealand £32.00
This Chardonnay is fermented in oak barrels as is full wine with peach
and hazelnut aromas. The palate is richly textured.
Wine maker Michael Braikovich is a master of wine.

18 Chablis 1er cru Côte de Léchet, Daniel Etienne Defaix 1999 France £34.80
Wonderful, biscuity, waxy flavours achieved by the highly unusual practice
of stirring up the lees into the wine over an eighteen month period.

19 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er cru La Truffière,Vincent Giardin 2005 France £48.00
Fresh, almost zippy fruit that is very long in the mouth and has a lemony
and mineral notes. The texture is silky with real power here. A superb wine.

20 Puligny-Montrachet 1er cru Les Perrières, Etienne Sauzet 2003 France £60.00
Well positioned in the heart of the commune, with deep, stoney, calcareous
soils. This is a great wine with racy and floral character, as well as depth.
Supreme balance between richness and acidity.

Sauvignon Blanc

“Eeurgh! What the bloody hell is this?”
“That’s a glass of good Sauvignon Blanc”
“Yuk! It smells like some mangy old cat just pi**ed on a tomato bush”
“Yeah. Wonderful, isn’t it?”

“Good Sauvignon Blanc should be a most refreshingly juicy wine with crisp acidity and tongue tingling liveliness and manage to combine intense fruit with pebbly dryness”.

5 C J Pask Sauvignon Blanc, Hawke’s Bay 2007 New Zealand £19.65
Fresh, nettly grassy. Kate Radburnd has really lifted the reputation of
this north island wine

21 Sancerre, Cuvée CM, Jean-Max Roger 2006 France £21.85
Off 28 hectare, bone dry, concentrated and aromatic.

22 Mud House Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough 2007 New Zealand £22.40
Heavenly gooseberry fool.

23 Kumeu River Sauvignon Blanc Auckland 2007 New Zealand £23.00
A French style Sauvignon Blanc, very much in the mould of Sancerre.
The perfect balance of structure and fruit makes it ideal with food.

Grüner Veltliner

The Austrians attempted commercial suicide by getting caught sweetening and improving the body of their wine with anti freeze. The upshot is that to survive the proper wine makers have had to improve quality and cut prices – an opportunity for the great value at the table. This is good wine.

24 Grüner Veltliner Kamptaler Terrassen, Willi Bründlmayer 2006 Austria £22.95
Willi Bründlmayer is one of the finest winemakers in Austria producing
this deeply complex wine that is aged in Acacia wood.
Elegant acidity with hints of quince, honey & spice

Riesling

“Don’t read this bit. You might be tempted to try a bottle of good Riesling and you might get a taste for it, that’s the last thing we need because the wine makers will start charging more for it and that would be a disaster”. This is what to expect “Dryness for a start, lime, floral, packed with aromatic fruit and lively, juicy flavours but dry. Never oaked it is the most delicious and rewarding white wine. But don’t tell anyone – or they will want some”.

10 Moselleland Riesling Kabinett 2006 Germany £16.10
Peach fruit, refreshing, well made.

25 Mitchell Watervale Riesling, Clare Valley 2006 Australia £19.50
Riesling is an excellent & complex grape. With extra ripe fruit form Australia
flavours of honey, flowers, tropical fruit & petrol pour from the glass.

Chenin Blanc

“A blistering hot day. What are you going to drink? An old red? Nah. A big oaky Chardonnay? Uh uh. Lots of cold, fruity, uncomplicated, refreshing, un wooded, white wine? Yes please”. Here you are.

26 Franschoek Cellar Chenin Blanc. Franschoek South Africa £16.95
Brilliant value. Full ripe apple fruit mingles with tropical flavours leading
to a clean dry finish.

Pinot Grigio

The drinking wine of Italian café society.

27 Lurton Pinot Gris Mendoza 2007 Argentina £17.70
Rich complex flavours of peaches, apricots and raisins, dry and full.

4 Pinot Grigio, Trentino DOC, Azienda Due Torri 2006 Italy £19.50
A crisp, dry, white with delicious honeyed fruit and a lovely finish.

28 Tokay-Pinot Gris, Bruno Sorg 2004 France £21.20
Slightly spicy but delicate. Rarely offered outside Paris

29 Kumeu River Pinot Gris, Auckland 2006 New Zealand £23.25
the fruit aromas of this wine are very floral and like roses. The palate is a
rich texture making it good with food.
The finish has a little more citrus fruit giving freshness and elegance

Colombard

Gluggable, fruity, crisp, white. That’s a good idea to me.

1 Cépage Colombard, VdP des Côtes de Gascogne, Producteurs Plaimont £14.95
2007 France
Zippy, zingy white - not for sipping a gulper.

Viognier

“In the northern Rhone, Viognier produces the most hedonistic white wines that reek of ripe apricots, grilled nuts and spice and other goodies that are hugely powerful in the mouth, are rich, seductive and oily. Hideously expensive too” exported to South Africa to give this sensibly priced example.

3 Wide River Viognier, Robertson 2006 South Africa £16.50
Long aromatic nose of apricot, peaches and lemon with orange peel on the
palate, which has good weight and freshness. An excellent example.

Rosé Wines

9 Château Miaudoux, Bergerac Rosé 2007 France £16.70
Gerard and Nathalie Cuisset acquired Miaudoux in 1986 and have
succeeded with this delightful strawberry and white currant rosé.
100% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes give a light clairette style, with
subtle tannins and juicy acidity.

30 Margan Shiraz Saignée Rosé, Hunter Valley 2006 Australia £20.00
Dry rosé 100% Shiraz. Strawberry on the nose & the palate.

Champagne

13 André Clouet Grande Réserve, grand cru à Bouzy France £32.00
Great elegance and lovely rich concentrated fruit.

32 Veuve Clicquot Brut Yellow Label France £43.30
Soft toasty nose with a long lasting flavour.

33 Moët et Chandon Brut Impérial Rosé, France £48.90
Lively and expressive with a rich palate of lovely fruit.
Creamy, toasty, hugely complex

34 Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut France £62.30
Fruity but with fullness of body and elegance.

35 Krug Grande Cuvée NV France £129.00
A myriad of flavours, fresh, creamy, toasty, hugely complex and elegant

Sparkling
Cost
Bin No. Bottle 175cl glass
11 Tanners Cava Brut, Traditional Method Spain £18.35 £4.60
Really great fizz nearly up to Champagne quality.
Have a bottle before dinner.

36 Green Point by Chandon Vintage 1999 New Zealand £20.00
We have a small parcel of the excellent New Zealand sparkling wine
which is made by Moët & Chandon.

12 Bird in Hand sparkling Pinot Noir, Adelaide Hill, 2006 Australia £22.70 £5.70
A softer style of fizz with aromas of strawberries and a colour that
varies from pink to almost white. Creamy fine mousse, light finish.

REDS
Cabernet Sauvignon

Now the red wine thing starts to get very complicated. Cabernet Sauvignon is the major component of the great clarets of Bordeaux. It will age, has lots of colour, lots of potentially complex flavours and generous tannin. Almost too good a thing so usually it is blended with Cabernet Franc or Merlot. The Cabernet Franc is a perfumed delicate grape. Watch in wonderment as the two merge into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

37 Château Chicane, Graves 2001 France £21.00
A stylish, luscious fruity Graves that has great concentration of ripe plum and
Cherry fruits with fine ripe tannins on the finish.
A good forward, well made, modern style wine

38 Cousiño Macul Antiguas Reservas, Cabernet Sauvignon, Maipo 2005 Chile £21.10
This comes from a beautiful estate on the outskirts of Santiago and is aged
for one year in French oak with further ageing in bottle.
Excellent Blackcurrant flavours.

39 Mitchell Cabernet Sauvignon, Sevenhill Vineyard,Clare Valley 2001 Australia £21.40
An intensely fruity Cabernet Sauvignon, displaying mint and blackcurrant
aromas and flavours that are well rounded out with a touch of oak.

40 Château d’ Angludet, Margaux 2000 France £45.00
Typical Margaux elegance & excellence.
(This wine will be decanted for you)

41 Château Grand-Puy Ducasse, 5me cru Pauillac 1996 France £54.60
A classic Pauillac with cassis and damson fruit, cedar and pencil lead
undertones and good structure.
(This wine will be decanted for you)

Merlot

“If only all red grapes could make wines that were as downright cuddly as Merlot. Not that Merlot can’t produce big, serious, stern wines that benefit from spending decades in a cool dark place like St Emilion and Pomerol where Merlot made its name. But there’s an inherent suppleness and roundness to Merlot that you will enjoy”.

42 CJ Pask Merlot, Hawke's Bay 2005 New Zealand £21.70
A delicious soft fruity red wine with lovely concentrated plumy fruit
and an elegant structure.
A real example of the excellent reds now coming from New Zealand.

PC2 Château Teyssier, grand cru Saint-Emilion 2004 £29.20
(This wine will be decanted for you)

43 Meerlust Merlot, Stellenbosch 2004 South Africa £30.00
Made by a rare and talented wine maker, very Claret like.

Shiraz or Syrah

“Roll the word Shiraz on your tongue for a while. Lovely, isn’t it?
Play with it on your tongue and it can conjure up images of spice, bazaars and hermits on steep rocky hills. The Shiraz vine loves the Rhone valley, creating rich dark seductive wine, inky black, full of rich ripe blackberry fruit, spicy and peppery”.

44 Mitchell Peppertree Vineyard Shiraz, Clare Valley 2004 Australia £21.50
This is the best Australian Shiraz we’ve tasted, very concentrated,
lots of blackberry flavours but balanced with acidity is not all fat and
one flavour from top to bottom of the bottle.

45 Crozes-Hermitage, Domaine Mucyn 2005 France £21.65
This is a very soft & elegant wine which has smooth tannin & very
pure, ripe cherry fruit overlaid with a hint of sweet liquorice.

46 Gigondas, Domaine Les Pallières 2004 France £27.70
Good concentrated wine from vineyard now owned by the Brunier
family of Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine de Vieux Télégraphe fame.

Pinot Noir

“You know those old Tex Avery cartoons where the sleazy dog is sitting at a table in a wild west town and the impossibly curvaceous singer comes on, the dog’s eyes pop out across the room and his jaw thumps to the floor and steam comes out of his ears? Wine made from the pinot noir can have a similar effect”.

7 Alto Pampas Pinot Noir, Mendoza 2007 Argentina £15.75
Raspberry Pinot Noir fruit fills the nose & is mirrored on the palate.
The tannins are soft & well integrated with no harsh elements.

47 Churton Pinot Noir Marlborough 2006 New Zealand £26.70
Ripe Pinot Noir, black cherries, raspberries, spicy lovely complexity
and a good finish.

48 Beaune 1er cru, “Bastion”, Domaine Chanson 2002 France £31.10
Drawn from several 1er cru holdings that belong to Chanson, this is plumy
with a ripe, slightly spicy pinot character.

49 Felton Road Pinot Noir, Central Otago 2006 New Zealand £34.00
Spicy character with deep brooding cherry fruit

50 Morey-Saint-Denis 1er cru Clos de la Bussière, Georges Roumier £46.70
2004 France
World class wine.

Tempranillo

Intense berry fruit of Cabernet with the generosity of Shiraz and the earthiness of Sauvignon. Obviously the next big thing.

8 Marius Reserva, Almansa DO, Bodegas Piqueras 2004 Spain £16.95
This red is a Tempranillo which is the grape of the Rioja.
Oak aged and fruity with a touch of vanilla.

51 Viña Salceda, Rioja 2004 Spain £19.10
A superb example of red Rioja, aged first in oak casks which develops the
bouquet and gives softness, and then in bottle to bring the wine to its peak.

52 Viña Real Reserva, Rioja CVNE 2001 Spain £25.00
Rich & complex aromas of anise, mint, liquorice & vanilla.
Wonderful powerful wine

Barbera

53 Norton Barbera, Mendoza 2006 Argentina £16.95
Very ripe cherry flavours. Barbera is an Italian grape variety that
does well in Argentina, hints of plum and prune also.

54 Brown Brothers Barbera, King Valley 2005 Australia £18.95
A full flavoured wine with delicious berry fruit and well balanced
acidity and oak

Gamay

Less complex than pinot noir. Up front strawberry, cherry, raspberry fruit when young and develops spicy, earthy character. The grape of Beaujolais.

55 Regnié, Château Chassantour, M Perroud 2005 France £18.90
Regnié is the newest Beaujolais cru. Succulent raspberry fruit.

56 Fleurie, André Colonge 2005 France £21.70
Fleurie is fragrant and floral and Monsieur Colonge adds body and depth
to the style.

Mourvèdre

57 Cépage Mourvèdre, Domaine La Condamine l’Evêque, £15.95
VdP des Côtes de Thongues 2006 France
Lots of interesting flavours reminiscent of evenings sitting on the veranda
as the Mediterranean sun sets.

Halves

You can’t quite justify another full bottle or one of you wants red and the other white. Nowadays wine makers acknowledge the need for decent wine in half bottles. Here’s a few I have tasted and enjoyed.

WHITE ½ bottle
58 Mâcon-Lugny, Les Genièvres, Louis Latour 2005 France £10.50

59 Chablis, Domaine des Valery, Jean Durup 2006 France £11.10

60 Pouilly-Fumé Domaine Thibault, André Dezat 2006 France £11.70

61 Sancerre, André Dezat et Fils 2006 France £11.70

RED
62 Tanners Claret, Bordeaux France £9.05

63 Marqués de Cáceres Tinto Crianza, Rioja 2004 Spain £9.70

64 Fleurie, Domaine de Viroglette 2006 France £10.45

Port
Bottle
65 Taylors Late Bottled Vintage Port 2002 Portugal £24.50
Decanted this will pass rounded splendidly.

66 Taylors Quinta de Vargellas 1998 Portugal £44.00
Delicious & very good value

67 Taylors 1970 Potugal £130.00
A great year.

Dessert Wine
½ bottle
68 Muscat de St Jean de Minervois A.C France £10.10
Deliciously sweet with a clean finish and wonderful aromas.

69 Tokaji Aszú 5 Puttonyos. Hungary £15.85/25cl
Royal Tokaji Wine Company 2000 Blue Label

These small bottles enough for two glasses give you the opportunity to taste Hungarian Tokaji, a delicious sweet dessert wine that has been made for centuries. It is very rich honeyed and has an almost marmalade character.

Private Collection

We have recently renovated the ancient Goldstone cellars which are brick vaulted and date back to the 1760’s. This has provided us with a new cellarage area where we can lay down fine and long living wines. This will enable us to build up a stock of fine wines which we will be able to offer at sensible prices. All wines listed below are drinking well now and will lay down for years to come.

Cost
Bin No. CLARET Bottle
PC1 Château La Prade, Bordeaux Côtes-de-Franc 2004 £26.40
(Decanted)
PC2 Château Teyssier, grand cru Saint-Emilion 2004 £29.20
(Decanted)
PC3 Château d’Angludet, Margaux 1997 £45.00
(Decanted)
This wine is massively underrated and represents extraordinary value considering it
has already been laid down for 11 years.

PC4 Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Pauillac 2004 £33.70

RED RHONE

PC5 Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Vieux Mas des Papes,La Vieux Télégraphe 1998 £27.40
The Domaine Vieux Telegraphe success story is quiet extraordinary with
Prices heading to the stratosphere. The Vieux Mas des Papes is the second
wine but Robert Parker recently rated it higher than their 1st label.

RED BURGUNDY

PC6 Bourgogne Rouge, Méo-Camuzet 2004 £30.40
Méo is a serious and sort after wine maker with his Clos Vougeot realizing
about £160 per bottle. This is good Pinot Noir

VINTAGE 2005

The vintage 2005 is the greatest current vintage of all time. These wines are drinking now and will lay down for years. Prices will keep moving up.

BURGUNDY

PC7 Santenay l er cru Les Gravières Rouge, Vincent Girardin 2005 £34.25
PC8 Pernand-Vergelesses Rouge l er cru Fichots, Rémi Rollin 2005 £34.50

DOMAINE RENÉ ENGEL VOSNÉ – ROMANÉE

We now move into very serious wine. Philippe Engel took over the family domaine in 1981 who as an extremely talented wine maker bigger denser wines with great concentration and fruit and his Clos Vougeot was rated as one of the best of the appellation. Tragically he was killed in 2005 and the estate had to be sold. Château latour bought it and has pushed their prices skyward. Theses wines were bought before this disaster and represent extraordinary value.

PC9 Vosne – Romanée René Engel 2003 £55.00
PC10 Clos de Vougeot grand cru, René Engel 2001 £74.00
PC11 Clos de Vougeot grand cru, René Engel 2003 £78.00

NONE FRENCH GREAT WINES

PC12 Cornish Point Vineyard,Pinot Noir Central Otago New Zealand 2006 £35.00
Biodynamic wine, deep colour from individually cared for vineyard
of Felton Road Estate

PC13 Rockford Basket Press Shiraz, Barossa Valley 2003 Australia £40.00
Made by Rocky Callahan, this crocodile Dundee character makes tremendous
wine after slaying a few crocs.

PC14 Barolo DOCG. Eugenio Bocchino 2003 Italy £45.00
A wonderful Barolo off a tiny vineyard. Fascinating flavours of plums,
cinnamon and vanilla follow a typical tar and roses Barolo. Full bodied
(Decanted)

WHITE

CHARDONNAY

PC15 Meursault vieilles vignes Nicholas Potel 2005 France £34.00
Soft with gentle honey flavours. Soft round and big with white flowers and lime.