This week I ‘ave been mostly drinking…

Clive Holroyd, Database Manager

You may be surprised to hear that (whisper it quietly) there is a downside to working here at Exel Wines.  I have unwittingly become a wine selector for my family and friends, a role for which I am woefully under-qualified. Sensing that my vastly more knowledgeable colleagues might be tired of my endless requests for recommendations I thought I would just go for it this week. In the good old days before I acquired my unjustified advisory status I chose wines on the basis of a price that worked for me and a grape I trusted. Applying this approach to our stock I came up with Primo Sangiovese/Merlot Italy 2010. I'm sorry to report that my reputation remains untarnished as everyone enjoyed the wine and presumed it was far more expensive than the £7.06 that we're selling it for. Lots of lovely, mouth filling, red fruit flavours and very moreish. We had it with a Mediterranean herb roasted chicken but I think it could have easily held its own against a more strongly flavoured red meat dish.

Dianne Barrie, Company Administrator

I’ve not had a great deal of time for drinking this week…hard to believe I know, but what with hospital radio, dancing and the Lucy Normile Racing Open Day on Sunday, it’s been all go! Having said that, I did have time to enjoy a small glass of Biscardo Soave Classico 2010 with our delicious salmon en croute, new potatoes and garden peas on Sunday evening. There is nothing overpowering about this Soave – it’s a lovely, smooth medium-bodied white and it was the ideal choice to accompany food as it is a wine to be savoured and enjoyed – and a wine of true quality.

Susan Ross, Logistics Manager

Wine production in the UK has made leaps and bounds in terms of growing, production and quality in recent years and there is a good number of English wineries out there which we should all support by sampling and buying their product on a regular basis.  However, it is the English Sparkling market which has really captivated us in recent years with the likes of Nyetimber, who go from strength to strength.  For those of you not in the know, Nyetimber has been established in West Sussex for over 20 years and with a single aim to produce the finest English Sparkling wine, good enough to compete the world over, including Champagne.  It was the very first producer in England to produce a sparkling wine from the “big 3” grape varieties used in Champagne:  Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Meunier, compared to other sparkly houses in England which were sticking to the more favoured German grape varieties for our cool climate here in the UK. 

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2008 is indeed as good as (in some cases, depending on your taste buds’ preference, better than) Champagne.  Now presented in their fairly new and very smart packaging (the perfect gift!), Nyetimber Classic Cuvee has a citrusy and fresh style, lemony but with that lovely biscuity nose which comes through on the palate.  This is light and fresh and a great alternative to Champagne, for those of you inclined to support our home-grown talent, this is a must. 

Ally Moir, Shop Assistant

Ever since we holidayed in Sorrento 5 years ago I’ve been a fan of the Fiano grape and we've now got some in the shop – and guess what?  – its superb. Wonderfully clean and refreshing with quite a bit of depth to it as well. O sole mio.......

So that was Saturday, Sunday it was roast lamb with new potatoes from my own garden mmm – and just to make things even yummier a bottle of Miopasso Primitivo. Just bursting with berries and so velvety smooth. Wow what a weekend!!

This week I ‘ave been mostly drinking…

Dianne Barrie, Company Administrator 

Well, I was working in our shop again on Saturday, and as customary every Saturday we open a couple of bottles of wine for tasting between 12-4. This gives our customers an opportunity to try the various wines that we sell, and it allows us to get a feel for what our customers are looking for when they come in to our shop. This week, we opened a bottle of Chardonnay Viura and a bottle of Malbec from our Infinitus range from Spain. So, first to the Infinitus Chardonnay Viura – this is fresh and clean on the palate with a very soft almost creamy finish, and is a fantastic bottle of wine for the price of ONLY £7.79! The softness of the chardonnay really cuts through the crispness of the viura leaving a smooth and silky finish. This is a wine that would go particularly well with pasta, especially spaghetti carbonara, spinach and ricotta cannelloni or mushroom ravioli. Okay, enough with the food! Next to try was the Infinitus Malbec. Packing a punch, this red is full to the brim with black berry fruitiness, but again has a lovely softness on the finish. A great accompaniment to have with a hearty stew or simply to enjoy with some mature cheddar and oatcakes! So my advice would be to stock up, this is an amazing wine at £8.16 a bottle right now.

Russell Wallace, General Manager

This week I ave been mostly drinking Prosecco cocktails! Mmmm indeed, while visiting the family back home in Northern Ireland it is always a time when I get to enjoy the fruits of my mothers labours.  She has a wonderful big kitchen garden where they grow veggies to delight, but she is also great at foraging the hedgerows for berries and other things that nature provides us all free of charge.  For this particular drinking delight it was elder-flower. Now of course you can pop down to the local shop (independent deli’s preferred!) and pick up a bottle of ready made, but why? when you can enjoy a walk, collect some elder flowers on your way and make these into a simple but delicious cordial (recipes are instantly Google able).

 So this particular cocktail was a rather simple concoction of home-made elder-flower cordial dashed atop a nice but not overly expensive Prosecco.  I could give you a top tip for our favorites (if I did it would be La Farra’s Valdobbiaddene), but when it comes to cocktail making we are less fussed about high end wine and more concerned with a good base that is quite dry (the cordial adds quick enough sweetness).  That is it, simple but just to die for.  We did not on this occasion, but try adding a twist of lime or orange or maybe even a little diced apple to spruce this up to the next level.

Susan Ross, Logistics Manager

This week I ‘ave mostly been drinking Chakana Malbec2011 

What a fantastic wine... beautiful purple colour with a perfumey nose of violets and black berry fruit.... a pretty complex wine, loads of fruit, a bit of savoury and excellent depth and length... fantastic!  Even more fantastic is the price – you get exceptional value for this wine and it will drink well for another 3-4 years.  A great wine to share with friends over dinner.... or the last of our summer barbie’s?

This week I ‘ave been mostly drinking…

Russell Wallace, General Manager

This week I ‘ave been mostly drinking...gin. Now, if I am honest, when it comes to gin I am usually very easy to please with one of the usual store cupboard favourites. However, sometime ago I stumbled upon Williams Extra Dry, Great British Gin. Williams Chase Distillery like to be a little different. They started off by distilling potatoes to make their premium vodka. Once they perfected this, they felt that the resulting spirit was just too full of flavour and would overpower the botanicals that are added to make their gin. So, they went back to the drawing board and came up with a wonderful apple based gin.  Now a bit of background and clarification for you.  When making gin you first make a basic spirit, essentially vodka, which is then re-distilled with added spices and flavour enhancing loveliness (juniper being the best known) to create gin.  So when making a mass market gin more often than not this base spirit is bought in en-masse (and ‘en-the-cheap’) and simply re-distilled into gin. Williams Chase are, however, quality farmers at heart and their aim in what they do is to produce the finest spirits possible all from their own single estate ingredients. So good was the base for their gin, that they have now even started to sell this as the naked apple vodka (not tried here at Exel Wines but most definitely available to purchase upon request). But why the Extra Dry and not the Williams Chase Crisp and Elegant? Well, that is simple really. They are both fabulous gins, and if I wanted to just look at the bottle I would pick the Williams Chase Crisp and Elegant. At Exel Wines however, we prefer to bring in a good dose of value for money - with this factored in to the equation at £6.50 per bottle cheaper, and with Williams Extra Dry, Great British Gin being on special offer this week, you can’t really refuse, can you?

Susan Ross, Logistics Manager

This week I ‘ave mostly been drinking...Trapezio Tinto 2008.

A short and sweet post from me this week, but one not to be missed. This is a blended wine from Malbec, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon and produces a modern, friendly style with a deep fruit like perfume. It is youthful, powerful with great structure, designed to be smooth and elegant. With a fresh style and complex character this will be a hit with all taste buds and perfect for any occasion, any time of the year.

Dianne Barrie, Company Administrator

Well, as I had a few days off this week I took the opportunity to relax and recharge the batteries. I find cooking a relaxing pastime, however during the week I find it difficult to make anything elaborate or exciting so when given the opportunity I like nothing more that to take time to prepare food that’s not so haphazard and rushed. Of course, wine is an important part of the enjoyment of any meal, and it’s an opportunity to taste wines that I perhaps wouldn't be inclined to try otherwise. So, to the first wine which was Heredad Ugarte Viura 2012 from Spain. This is a fresh, florally wine yet soft with only a slight dryness and very little acidity. This wine went particularly well with the lovely flavours of the smoked haddock and leek tart we had for lunch on a fine summer’s afternoon. The next wine we indulged in was a red from Italy; Camillo De Lellis Biferno Rosso Riserva Doc 2009. A lovely blend of Montepulciano, Trebbiano, Toscano and Aglianico grape varieties. This is not a heavy overpowering red, it’s a more subtle wine with a pleasant dryness which went perfectly with our rich supper of home-made lasagne, garlic bread and salad. All-in-all a very enjoyable and relaxing long weekend…well, we all need to indulge a little from time-to-time!

Mark Powrie, Orders Team

This week I was working in the shop and had the chance to try Brockman’s Premium Gin. Now I am not really a gin man, however, it has always intrigued me. Brockman’s Gin smells very fresh, summery and crisp. The first sip, I could imagine sitting out in the garden on a nice summers day, plenty of ice in the drink and topping up my tan quite happily. I could also imagine sitting with a group of friends and trying out all the potential cocktails that could be made from this interesting, very different gin. This is definitely something special, and if you are a gin drinker then this is one for you.

Clive Holroyd, Database Manager

I realise you're probably getting tired of hearing about my love affair with a certain South African Red, so thought I'd better try something different from our warehouse this week. I was planning on cooking a Spanish style Chicken and Chorizo bake over the weekend so I thought something Latin might go down quite well. The Carmenere grape is a recent discovery for me, and one that has quickly become a favourite with its soft fruity flavour. I noticed that we had a few bottles of the Falernia Carmenere Syrah Reserva Chile 2009 left so I snapped one up. The complex social lives of teenage sons meant that the planned menu disappeared out of the window, but no matter, the wine was delicious on its own with smooth black cherry and blueberry flavours, and the hint of paprika on the nose suggested it would have gone very well with the non-existent chicken and chorizo.