 We began offering olive oil for sale back in 2014. Over 500 bottles of Fontodi and Capezzana would sell throughout the year. Most would sell within a few weeks of arriving. One London customer, who shall not be named, must have bathed in the viscous liquid as he always purchased 36-48 bottles upon release. Our ’14 price for the Capezzana was £25.95 – now it’s almost forty-quid. Prices increase however, allocations have decreased year-on-year. Last year we only received 60-bottles which sold within 48-hours. I am sure most of us baulk at the price of oils available in the supermarket / delis. Even the rubbish will set you back about a tenner… From the Frankland River (a few hours’ drive from the Margaret River) our first, Extra Virgin Olive Oil is being prepared for shipment. Cold pressed, of course, which preserves the natural aroma and flavours of the olives. This beauty certainly packs a peppery and grassy punch. Glorious colour too… We are shipping 300 (500ml) bottles along with 30, 3-litre tins. That should fill a bath or two and keep one of our customers forever glossy and slippery. Pricing, as you come to expect from The Vinorium, is excellent. The quality is sensational (I’ve been enjoying a bottle at home). We shall launch the EVOO as soon as they arrive at our HQ warehouse (circa September / October). On the same shipment are the new wines from Aylesbury Estate. We have topped-up on the ’22 Pater Chardonnay, which was a runaway hit along with the new, Pater Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay and Arneis – all drinking superbly.  On the subject of new wines – a set of super-exciting samples are en route to us. I have been a huge fan of the winery for years and believe these to be some of the most exciting and individually brilliant wines available today. La Petite Mort is the name and Andrew Scott is the winemaker who weaves textural magic with ancient techniques as his inspiration. Andrew crafts wines using alternative varieties including, Tempranillo, Saperavi, Marsanne, Roussanne, Nebbiolo along with the classics – Pinot Noir, Syrah and Chardonnay…Extended skin contact for both reds and whites and fermentation and maturation in amphora, buried in the ground, provide layer-upon-layer of gripping texture which I adore… Andrew says, “My wines are often referred to as alternative and/or experimental, and I suppose they are definitely outside the mainstream. But interestingly, most of my so-called experimental wines are based on styles and techniques that are rooted in history as opposed to being ground-breaking or pioneering. I hope to bring attention back to some of the old ways of winemaking. I still see much validity in some of these styles which have stood the test of hundreds if not thousands of years. I have, as far as I’m aware the only garden of authentic Georgian Qvevris buried on a knoll in the traditional manner, outside and between our two vineyards. The terracotta and super-extended skin contact are definitely the main speaking points in terms of the techniques that define my winemaking.” Previously, the team and I fell in love with his most symbolic wine – the ‘VMR’ (Viognier, Marsanne and Roussanne) which I could drink everyday and for the rest of my living days. This best sums up Andrew’s philosophy: “It is an orange wine. It is a cloudy wine. It is an amphora wine. It is a minimal intervention wine (unfined, unfiltered, sulphur addition only). But most importantly, it is a clean wine and is free from winemaking faults. And this is what I’m all about – old-school, funky, alternative wines are fun and exciting and interesting and educational to make and to drink but none of this is an excuse for poor winemaking.” Other beauties to mention… Saperavi Qvevri is the ultimate expression of old-school winemaking. The Georgian republic in the Caucuses quite possibly has the longest continuous history of winemaking in the world.. and Saperavi is their noble grape. It’s also one of about 5 grape varieties in the world that have red juice as well as red skins. Their Saperavi is produced as closely as possible to the old-ways with whole berries fermented in earthenware pots and then left in contact with its skins and seeds for a whopping 180+ days, which and outside of LPM, is unheard of. During this time, it’s strictly hands off - the wine is produced with absolute minimal handling or additions. After pressing the wine to separate it from its skins, it is clarified by settling (no filtration) and bottled with only a small SO2 addition to ensure stability. Generally, I find little satisfaction with Rosé wines, save for two exceptions: Tache Pinot Noir from Eastern Peake and this 2021 Nebbiolo which enjoys extended pre-ferment maceration on skins. This provides a much deeper colour but also, and most importantly, a more flavoursome and fuller-bodied wine rather than a blush-pink, limp drink. There’s a Marsanne that has been biologically aged under surface yeast (their funky take on a vin jaune). What is flor? It’s something that grows on the surface of wine: a film of yeasts that alters the flavour of the wine in so many, fascinating ways. Sherry wouldn’t be Sherry without flor… As you can tell – we are bristling with excitement and will report back in the coming weeks (post sampling). There are more wines too… I am so pleased that many of you have jumped onto the superb 2021 Teusner Albert. Like me, I hope you were surprised by how good this wine is – epic and so damn deicious. Truly so. Gobsmacking value too. Alas, I believe we are down to a handful of bottles. Grab one or two if you missed out as this is certainly one of the best wines of the year. Ditto for the sensational Fire Gully Chardonnay, we're down to our last few bottles. Interestingly, we’ve spent much of this week immersed in new, Aussie samples. Most are mid-priced, and most were mildly notable. Some were downright ugly which made me consider what on earth the winemaker was thinking. Why would you produce a wine that is a poor representation of the varietal? Perhaps, cost implications? Then again, surely you will alienate repeat customers? I am baffled and would hate to produce wines are that are uninspiring… We’ve sampled a few surprises and scooped them up. These will also be on the same vessel along with our oil and Aylesbury wines… Without stating the obvious – the past 18-months have been difficult (we are not alone). I also predict the next 12-months will be equally testing however, I am conscious that our wine offerings are starting to look rather limited, which concerns me greatly. Accordingly, but carefully, we will be adding new wines on a regular basis. ‘Slowly, slowly, catchy monkey’ will be our buying mantra. Some we will shout about and some, will simply be added to our New Arrivals. Where possible, we will also purchase further stocks of wines which were enthusiastically received and quickly sold-out. Again, these will be added to the New Arrivals section – the 98-point 2015 Peter Lehmann Riesling has just been added (stocks arriving on Wednesday). Watch that space as it will be changing regularly. This week, keen eyed customers have scooped a mix of bin-ends and odds and sods. More beauties added today… Right, I am off to sample the new collection from Margaret River producer, House of Cards. Enjoy the sunshine and time spent in your garden. Cheers,  New Tasting Note: Morialta Pinot Noir "Texturally, this is spot on – luxurious, caressing, fine lacy tannins... Memorable and always deeply enjoyable."  JC's Own Morialta Pinot Noir 2020 Stuart McCloskey - Tasted 21 June 2024 "Our final 36-bottles which is sad as it’s been immensely satisfying over the years. A good, autumnal friend and I have also found favour with a little dip into iced water for those hotter days, which is exactly what I plan to do today. Soused cherries and dense raspberry on the nose along with telltale blood orange. Cinnamon, dried rose, sweet spice, white toast – savoury too. The palate is dripping with succulent, ripe fruits. Texturally, this is spot on – luxurious, caressing, fine lacy tannins with a tang of blood orange acidity to bring everything together. The flavours are long, broad and they keep flowing – there’s no end in sight. Spiced and soused fruits (cherry, plum, cranberry along with raspberry). There’s sweet spice, rosehip, along with an adult hit of Campari and orange zest bitters which adds wonderful freshness. Memorable and always deeply enjoyable. Drink now to 2030. Wherever you choose to serve her – she will never fail to impress. " £26.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £22.91 per bottle Last 36 bottles "Superb wine, incredibly controlled, tremendously complex."  JC's Own Morialta Chardonnay 2020 Stuart McCloskey - “The bouquet is glorious and flows to a rich and moreish tune of stonefruit, spiced, poached apple & pear, honey, pineapple, oatmeal, almond, confit lemon and lime leaf. Glimmers of flint / minerals along with the faintest whiff of struck match. The palate opens to ripe citrus and cooling stone fruits. Minerality and freshness aplenty along with textural grip from chalk and flint. There’s a briny edge which I really like. Wonderfully mouth filling, unctuous, whilst cleansing at the same time. Superb wine, incredibly controlled, tremendously complex, but and very much like the man behind the wine, in a quiet way. A brilliant, top drawer release. Drinking now (decant for 30 mins) to 2030. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware.” £27.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £23.76 per bottle Unquestionably, some of the best sparkling wine you will ever try… English sparkling wine by the UK’s leading Aussie specialist – Odd, some may say... Actually, our second outing with Digby Fine English launched before Christmas – the first being when their 2010 Vintage Brut received an acclaim that will go down in English vinous history. The late Steven Spurrier, the man who put Napa wine on the world map in 1976, held a blind tasting pitting the top English wines against their French rivals. The result was unbelievable – the 2010 Vintage Brut came top with 2009 Dom Pérignon and Krug Grande Cuvée NV (to name a few) picking up lower honours. Rightly so, the English winemakers loved sticking their fingers up to the French who, and for many years, scoffed at the thought of sparkling wine across the channel. Now, they’re buying-up prized land… More recently, Digby has continued their success with a catalogue of honours winning Supreme Champion along with Top Sparkling and Best Vintage Cuvée category at WineGB Awards 2023 (The most important awards in the UK). There were 346 wines entered with 48 Gold medals, 145 Silver medals and 120 Bronze medals awarded, which shows the breadth and depth of English wine. Moreover, it shows how good Digby wines are… We selected two wines (both from the 2013 vintage) which blew our socks off in a recent tasting. Exquisitely made and both displaying their hallmark richness of flavour and texture (particularly the ’13 Vintage Reserve Brut). Unquestionably, some of the best sparkling wine you will ever try… "Perfectly balanced. Flawless. Gastronomic. Remarkable breadth and depth. Prodigious, in fact."  Digby Vintage Reserve Brut 2013 Stuart McCloskey "A truly glorious bouquet that unfurls to brioche, spiced, baked apples, poached pears, honey, confit lemon, lemon balm, chamomile along with a smidgeon of fresh ginger. Sea salt and oyster shell develop with more aeration. The flavour spectrum is outstanding. Butter-poached orchard fruits, fresh white toast, honey, sweet spice, buttery pastry (mum’s apple pie) – confit lemon provides lift without detracting from the luxurious flow. The symbiotic relationship between the nose and palate is a masterstroke. Perfectly balanced. Flawless. Gastronomic. Remarkable breadth and depth. Prodigious, in fact. Served using Zalto Universal glassware." £40.00 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £36.80 per bottle  Digby Blanc De Blancs Brut 2013 Stuart McCloskey "The bouquet is wonderfully fresh – almost minty. Honeyed orchard fruits, confit lemon, white flowers, fresh bread, oyster shell along with saline unfurl in the glass (almond croissant with more aeration). This is a serious wine that would be the perfect partner for a gastronomic feast (this is not a quaffer). The palate is tightly structured, layered, tensile and could go for another decade or more. Such incisive penetration. Super-clean, chiselled, immensely long, intensely saline, lots of chalk – the mousse provides pillowy comfort. Remarkably youthful and vivacious - greater things will emerge, although this delivers plenty of pleasure. Skilfully crafted and a wine that shows soul… Beautiful. Served using Zalto Universal glassware. *avoid flutes." £59.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £53.95 per bottle Last ten bottles   Lange Estate Providence Road Riesling 2021 Erin Larkin "Fermented in stainless steel in the pursuit of purity, and left on fine lees prior to filtration and bottling in July. The acidity is coiled and taut and brilliant, necessary in fact, in order to mitigate the musk-stick florals through the finish. A lovely wine with plenty of flesh and tension: that good ol' Great Southern austerity will back this in for years to come." £17.50 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £14.88 per bottle "Slippery on the palate which creates a seductive, textural edge..."  Lange Estate Providence Road Chardonnay 2021 Stuart McCloskey "An ever-improving Chardonnay which is drinking much better than in November ’22. I doff my cap to the sheer quality - this oozes complexity and varietal purity. £17.50 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £14.88 per bottle "Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll if you please..." "Pure, precise, detailed and simply, darn right delicious."  Nocturne Wines Sub Regional Chardonnay 2021 Stuart McCloskey "From An Ugly Duckling Into A Swan: I struggled with this when she first arrived – too tight, too mean and if I dare say, far too ordinary. By chance or mistake I recently opened a bottle at home and was genuinely gobsmacked by the transformation, the shape, the form, and most importantly, the flavour… 5 Star Customer Review "Absolute beauty. Having very, very good entry level wines is the thing that sets Vinorium apart from other wine specialists. This is just great chardonnay; refined, intense with beautiful acidity." £24.00 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £20.40 per bottle  Nocturne Wines Single Vineyard Chardonnay 2021 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com "The 2021 Single Vineyard Chardonnay hails from the Forrest Vineyard and has all the glassy, sleek characteristics that the 2021 season had to offer. Subtly spiced on the nose (roasted curry leaf, fennel seeds), this quickly gives way to the flow of powerful, crystalline fruit in the mouth. Acid is prodigious, as usual with this cuvée, but in 2021, it only serves to further accentuate the crushed pistachio/rosewater, white peach and Golden Delicious apples in the mouth. Classy. I recently opened a bottle of the 2020, and with a couple of extra years in glass, it was epic. If you can, my suggestion would be to hold this for several years. Your patience will be amply rewarded. 13% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." £33.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £28.86 per bottle  Nocturne Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2021 Julian Langworthy "Ladies and gentlemen, drum roll if you please. Cabernet is back, you know it, you can’t deny it… Suggesting Cabernet is tannic and unyielding while sculling three-year-old Nebbiolo always left me a little bemused. The long and the short of it is that Cabernet, AKA the greatest grape, is a vinous dream and makes some of the world’s best, most accessible wines. Tannin? It’s a thing and a wonderful, cerebral thing at that. Something to be celebrated and embraced. If ya wanna drink cordial, find some overpriced Pinot and marvel at its lack of complexity. 2021, I’d be lying if I said it was easy, I lost hair, and the hair I had left went grey but we got there in the end… Due almost entirely to the inherent quality of the Sheoak vineyard. Inheritably elegant is how this ‘21 Cabernet Sauvignon should be described: resolved, gentle tannins with lovely, lightly framed red fruits and great length. We started picking Sheoak Cabernet on 7th April. Underwhelming at first, it’s a wine that’s grown in charm but possibly not stature from the start. Instantly perfumed but lightly framed, the wine spent 12 days on skins with a peak fermentation temperature around 28ËšC. The wine was pressed to tank and settled briefly, before being transferred to a combination of new (30%) and two and three-year-old barrels to undergo malolactic fermentation. The wine was only racked once in this time and, after 16 months in oak, was emptied from barrel." £33.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £28.86 per bottle Dip its toes into an ice bath for 10 minutes and enjoy with sunglasses and a freshly mown lawn…  Glaetzer-Dixon Avance Pinot Noir 2021 Stuart McCloskey "A complete contrast from the previous two releases. Less savoury and more energy, succulence, freshness and fruit. The nose unfurls to ripe cherry, pomegranate, cranberry, fresh mint, brined olive and graphite together with a wonderful floral lift. A smidgeon of wood and undergrowth on the finish. The rosehip aromas from an empty glass are fabulous. The palate is incredibly juicy and ‘alive’ with crunchy, red fruit, cranberry tartness, sweet spice and anise… This is an impressive, detailed release and by far my favourite. It’s tight, controlled, youthful, yet delivers a little slap of exuberance. Tannins are light and fine but do provide a touch of grip. Super length with a dusting of white pepper. Very enjoyable indeed. Drink now to 2030. Served using Zalto Bordeaux glassware.” £24.50 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £22.05 per bottle The Essential Summer Chardonnay Last Ten Bottles  Fire Gully Chardonnay 2023 Stuart McCloskey "The first thing that hits you is how bloody delicious this Chardonnay is. This wine centres around three characteristics. Outright flavour, texture and unequivocal enjoyment, which is rare for such a young wine. The bouquet provides scents of confit lemon, lemon sherbet, fresh pear and apple, lemon oil, wafts of salinity and chalky minerality. There’s a lovely creamy texture which wraps the fruit wonderfully. Broad shoulders for such a youngster – pleasure-seeking fans should take advantage as this over-delivers (as has every vintage we’ve offered). This is built for pure pleasure and with bountiful lip-smacking enjoyment in mind. Citrus and orchard fruits wrapped in quartz minerality overlayed with confit lemon. This is not an ‘acidic’ wine – far from it. The Vinorium team are all cooing. Simply, delicious and an absolute belter. Highly recommended. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware. Drink now – drink it all as it’s so, so, good…" £22.95 per bottle Buy 6 and pay £21.57 per bottle SOLD OUT A wonderful Pinot Noir. One to marry and cherish Last 18 bottles. We already asked - there's none left!  Pyramid Valley Pinot Noir 2019 Stuart McCloskey "What a perfume – you’re hooked after the first sniff. Where to start? Sour cherry, red currant, cranberry, pomegranate, plum, mint, cola, rose hip, clove, orange, along with evolving beef consommé and mushroom notes, which will take more control over the coming years. Equally, the palate is a cornucopia of flavour. Such succulence and brims with vitality yet feels ethereal. Mountain herbs and rosemary tumble into ripe, hedgerow fruits which are tinged with minerality. There’s a hint of bergamot tea which adds a subtle bite whilst lifting the palate… This is rich and juicy – moreish and everything feels like it’s wrapped in a cooling, silk handkerchief. A brooding beauty of immaculate balance. As my glass empties, I am genuinely left with a sad feeling. Such a wonderful Pinot Noir. One to marry and to cherish… Drink now to 2028+. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware." Was £31.95 per bottle Now £28.95 per bottle SOLD OUT |
