A Taste of the Vinorium #125

Issue #125, August 2020

 
 
 

33 Wines have sold out

 

Bestseller:
The Standish collection

 
 
 

 May we please highlight the following key points.

1.  All wines are offered on a first-come-first-served basis.

2.  Please place your order on-line as we will not be able to hold, reserve or process your email requests in a timely manner.

3.  All orders placed from HQ, duty paid stock will be delivered without charge to the mainland UK (excluding the Highlands), subject to purchasing the minimum value of £100.00. £6.95 is levied on orders below £100.00

4.  All orders placed from our under-bond stock will, regardless of value, attract a delivery charge. The cost is displayed during the check-out process.

 
 
 

Our Sale closes
12:00pm Monday 10 August

 
 
 

Sale Highlights

 
 

Huge savings to be made
on Standish 2017s & 2018s

 
 
 

Our Standish offer closes
9:00am Friday 7 August

 

The Standish Shiraz
2017 98+ to 99 Points / 2018 100 Points

The Relic Shiraz/Viognier
2017 97 Points / 2018 100 Points

Lamella Shiraz
2017 99-100 Points / 2018 99 Points

The Schubert Theorem Shiraz
2017 99-100 Points / 2018 99-100 Points

 
 
 
 

Decanter World Wine Awards Gold 2019

Grant Burge Meshach Shiraz 2012

98 Points - James Halliday "The 22nd release of Meshach celebrates the great '12 Barossa Valley vintage. The colour is still deep crimson-purple, setting the pattern for the bouquet and palate to follow. A wine of the highest quality in the Olympian class of Barossa Valley shiraz, seamless, calmly powerful and perfectly balanced. Black fruits dominate, but this is no one-dimensional power play, with hints of licorice, bitter chocolate and graphite. The tannins and oak contributions are perfectly placed and paced."

*Every purchase of 6 bottles will include the original wooden case

Buy from our HQ stock

Was £51.95 per bottle
Now £41.95 per bottle

Buy from our Bond

Was £286.00 per 6 In Bond
Now £196.35 per 6 In Bond

 
 

The Sublime duo from one of Tasmania's finest producers: Domaine Simha

Domaine Simha Rao Chardonnay 2017

99 Points Stuart McCloskey “Grand Cru Burgundy in its structure, complexity and certainly, one of the most intense Australian Chardonnays I have tasted. The bouquet is heavenly scented with buttered citrus, sweet pastry, buttered popcorn, lemon oil, beeswax and wafts of sea spray. Just incredible. The palate is full-bodied, powerful, texturally perfect with a depth beyond the fathoms - Montrachet in all its magnificence. Clearly, a wine which offers a degree of indulgence, but the acidity provides the perfect frame. The finish is super-long, luxurious with wonderful hints of minerals and a touch of saltiness. Totally exquisite. Served with Zalto Bordeaux glassware. Decant for 20 minutes, this is drinking divinely now and will continue to do so for a further 8-10 years.”

Buy from our HQ stock

Was £44.50 per bottle
Now £38.50 per bottle

Buy from our Bond

Was £209.10 per 6 In Bond
Now £179.10 per 6 In Bond

 
 

Domaine Simha Rama Pinot Noir 2017

98++ Points - Stuart McCloskey “The bouquet is both intoxicating and beguiling ranging from petrichor (that wonderful earthy scent when rain falls on dry, hot ground) brambles, hedgerow fruits, orange rind and floral notes to pencil. Certainly, edging towards a more savoury side. The palate is broad, expansive and keeps giving – far from being a nervous Pinot Noir. The tannins are svelte and melt into a heady mix of wild berries. The lavish texture is impossible to ignore – Satin and structurally perfect. The deep core of fruit is impressive as is the bottomless finish. Simply magical and a highlight in our portfolio. I cannot wait to see how this wine ages over the coming 6-10 years. Served with Zalto Burgundy glassware (as important as the wine itself)”

Buy from our HQ stock

Was £44.50 per bottle
Now £38.50 per bottle

Buy from our Bond

Was £209.10 per 6 In Bond
Now £179.10 per 6 In Bond

 

Domaine Simha Sublime Duo

1 x Rao Chardonnay 2017
1 x Rama Pinot 2017

Was £89.00 per pack
Now £77.00 per pack

 
 
 
 

Sailor Seeks Horse Pinot Noir 2017

98+ Points Stuart McCloskey "The aromas waft from the glass with consummate ease… Touches of smoked, grilled meat, redcurrant, liquorice, dried orange rind, blood orange, spice (black pepper & cinnamon) and rose hip. Very Burgundian. The palate is medium bodied with tannins as long and fine as one could imagine. As with their Chardonnay – This wine shows an amazing level of control. Not a millimetre is out of place. The fruit conveys a cool-climate, saline elegance which is far from sparing. Unfurling, charming, precise and certainly built for the cellar (5-10 years). There are two Aussie Pinot Noirs which I go to and this is one… Such is the brilliance, Paul & Gilli should pay Burgundy a tutelage visit. For now, I award 98+ points but I believe this will increase over the coming years. This is a fantastic Pinot Noir and a benchmark against which other Aussie wines should be measured. Decant for one hour and serve using Zalto Burgundy glassware"

Was £44.50 per bottle
Now £36.75 per bottle

 
 

Domaine Naturaliste Floris Chardonnay 2017

96+ Points - Stuart McCloskey “Floris is my midweek favourite and the ‘best’ value Chardonnay in our collection. Decant, pour into good glassware and your guests will believe you are sharing a thirty-quid bottle of wine with them – I kid you not. The aromatics leap from the glass in a wave of anise / fennel, confit pear, fresh ginger, oh so floral and finishes with a zip of lime acidity. The fruits are powerful and the palate saturated with minerality. Glossy with a super-long zesty finish. Simply, an excellent wine. Served with Zalto Bordeaux glassware. Do not overchill"

Was £19.95 per bottle
Now £16.85 per bottle

 
 

Flowstone Queen of the Earth Chardonnay 2015

97 Points - James Halliday "The 'lucky' 7th vintage, whole-bunch pressed, fermented in French barriques (50% new), 100% mlf, matured for 18 months. The brilliant straw-green hue says there's something special here, for it's incredibly detailed, precise and balanced, the three spears of perfect varietal fruit, high quality oak and acidity all unsheathed, but not required to be thrown. Only 88 dozen made."

Was £27.95 per bottle
Now £22.95 per bottle

 

"If you ever want to show someone just how glorious the riesling grape can be, serve them a glass of this."

 

Hutton Vale Riesling 2017

95 Points - James Halliday "If you ever want to show someone just how glorious the riesling grape can be, serve them a glass of this. It's agenda-free riesling, fundamentally delicious, intense with flavour but not cutting, gorgeous at every turn, cellarworthy if you so desire but in no way is patience a prerequisite. Lime, orange blossom, a gently candied aspect, a slip of pure lemon. It's bold and it's beautiful."

Was £17.95 per bottle
Now £13.95 per bottle

 
 

Wild Duck Creek Roussanne 2017

Magda Sienkiewicz "I was extremely excited to see Wild Duck’s expansion on to Southern Rhône varietals, which personally I would love to see more of in Australia. Simultaneously, I quickly became to worry that my increasing anticipation of receiving and sampling their pure Roussanne will raise the bar a tad too high. Absolute nonsense! Wonderful perfume of honeysuckle, stone fruit, fennel and gentle wild flowers pouring out of the glass put an instant smile on my face. The flavours are beautifully knitted together with bracing white nectarine and fresh apricots, giving a wonderful balance of acidity and ripeness. No hard edges, no disproportions, but a seamless flow of creamy and well-rounded textures. The overall sense of harmony is superb and every sip brings plenty of joy."

Was £23.95 per bottle
Now £21.15 per bottle

 
 

Devotus Pinot Noir 2016

97+ Points - Stuart McCloskey "A stupendous Pinot Noir from Devotus, which is getting better and better with each passing week. Wonderful aromatics of plums, spice, sour cherry, petal, cedar and warm earth. The palate is medium-bodied, tensile, layered, incredibly balanced with fine, grained tannins. The sweet entry is adorable which would lead most to the wrong conclusion; this is a regal, fine-boned Pinot Noir executed perfectly by a supremely skilled winemaker. Furthermore, a wine which happily outshines any Burgundy at this price level. My advice is that fans seeking energy, quality, and a laser-like focus should flock to this fabulous wine.  Only 2,502 bottles produced. Served using Zalto Burgundy glassware."

Was £36.95 per bottle
Now £30.75 per bottle

 
 

Château Blanc de Doisy Daene 2014

The Doisy-Daëne Blanc Sec 2014 has a pleasant, refined bouquet with scents of green apple intermingling with lime and granitic scents. The palate is taut and fresh with a sharpline of acidity and a penetrating malic finish that leaves the palate feeling totally refreshed and asking for more. Very fine.

Was £18.50 per bottle
Now £15.50 per bottle

 
 

Planta Circa Ancestor Vine Cabernet Sauvignon 2017

98 Points - James Halliday "From a single vineyard owned by the Zerk family, planted 1880 to 1890, making it one of the oldest cabernet vineyards in Australia (and the world). Wild yeast-open fermented, hand-plunged, 8 days on skins, pressed to French hogsheads (44% new), on lees 17 months. This is pure and simple cabernet, elegant, long and finely structured. A great cabernet vintage for this great vineyard."

Was £42.95 per bottle
Now £38.95 per bottle

 
 

Hoddles Creek Estate Chardonnay 2017

96 Points - Stuart McCloskey “Certainly, one of the best value Chardonnays in our portfolio as the flavours and structure command a much higher price. The nose opens with grapefruit, an orchard full of ripe, yellow stoned fruits, quartz and a lovely undercurrent of spice. Similarly, the palate offers grapefruit and yellow stoned fruits. Complexity comes via wild fennel and lip-smacking salinity which I love - lots of minerality too. Impeccable balance, refreshing, focused, full of energy and not a step out of place. Just a joy… Served using Zalto Bordeaux glassware. Do not overchill!”

Was £17.50 per bottle
Now £15.95 per bottle

 

JC's Own Greenock Shiraz 2017

Mike Bennie (The Wine Front) "Jaysen Collins from Massena, well, he is his own man, but that’s his day job, doing a side project here. Or is Massena the side project? No matter. Some great wines emerging from this label, reminiscent of Standish in some respects, power but elegance, shaped by tannins, and the like, but wholly its own thing too. The last JC’s shiraz wine reviewed here was 2016 and from Stonewall, this from Greenock and 2017. Bold, brash, assertive red of booze-soaked stewed berries, sweet spice, earthy savouriness, brined black olives with a match between the fog of scent and wall of flavour. A freight train through the palate but finds graphite-licked tannin plumes and good shape with a surprisingly fresh and buoyant finish. Yes, a big red, but finds a groove, indeed, carves one out and leaves a lingering train of autumnal but sweet flavours. It’s a pretty darn epic wine here."

Was £36.50 per bottle
Now £31.25 per bottle

JC's Own Greenock Shiraz 2018

Jaysen Collins (winemaker)  "I cut my winemaking teeth in the heavy red soils of the north west of the Barossa, where Greenock is the jewel of the crown in my opinion. My winery is here, the pub does a good burger and by chance there's some pretty good shiraz vineyards knocking about. A few vintages ago I came across a vineyard just on the north of the Greenock township that hides behind some big gum trees. It runs down a small hill facing east, with lean soils, cooler afternoons, tiny yields, small berries - how asleep had I been to drive past this vineyard for several years? But I'm definitely alert now! I like Shiraz that is big on fruit intensity but is more supple and svelt on the palate, powerful yet, velvety, structured but sensual - I could go on but I think I've conveyed my point. So this is a rare single site treat from my part of the world and a true connection to my beginnings in making wine." 

Was £36.50 per bottle
Now £31.95 per bottle

 

100 Points

"this is one of the world’s most remarkable dessert wines, and is worth every effort to latch on to a half bottle or so."

Robert Parker

Chambers Rosewood Vineyards
Rare Muscadelle NV Half

100 Points - Robert Parker "My notes essentially read the same every year, even though the bottlings are non-vintage and I taste the most recent releases. Consistency and greatness are the norm at this Rutherglen winery. The average age is 7-10 years for the regular cuvees, about 70 years for the grand cuvees, and the ancient rare cuvees date back to soleras from 1890. The Muscadelle (Tokay) reveals caramel, toffee, fig, prune, raisiny notes, an incredible, unctuous texture, and amazing zesty acidity which keeps it from being cloying. It is redundant to keep repeating the same tasting notes, so readers will have to take my word for it ... this is one of the world’s most remarkable dessert wines, and is worth every effort to latch on to a half bottle or so."

Was £275.00 per half bottle
Now £155.00 per half bottle

 
 
 

Great savings on the entire range

Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2018 (6x75cl)

Estate Carmenere 2017 (6x75cl)

Estate Chardonnay 2019 (6x75cl)

Estate Merlot (6x75cl)

Now only £8.30 per bottle

 

De Martino Legado Chardonnay 2017

Julia Harding (Jancisrobinson.com) "Intense and mixed fruit aromas: apple, melon, pear and stone fruit. No oak flavour but the firm and gently creamy texture and light spice suggests this has had some old oak influence. (I found out later that it was fermented in older oak with indigenous yeasts and only 10% went through malo.) Well-balanced acidity, giving a serious Chardonnay with impressive range of flavours and length for the price. Not quite as edgy as some De Martino wines, but deep and persistent with quite a savoury, lees finish. Good Value"

Was £13.50 per bottle
NOW £11.95 per bottle

 
 

De Martino Legado Pinot Noir 2018

Luis Gutiérrez (Robertparker.com) "They managed to get some fruit from the Talinay vineyard to use in the 2018 Legado Pinot Noir, and the 2019 is 100% from that limestone-rich vineyard in Limarí. I had not tasted this wine since the 2015 vintage, and the wine feels quite different, with more freshness and a chalky sensation on the palate, moderate alcohol and balanced acidity. It matured in used barriques for 11 months, and the oak is virtually imperceptible. 16,416 bottles produced."

Was £14.50 per bottle
NOW £12.95 per bottle

 
 

"2018 has to be the finest
vintage to date for this wine."

Luis Gutiérrez

 

De Martino Viejas Tinajas Cinsault 2018

Luis Gutiérrez (Robertparker.com) "This is precise, expressive and fresh, with a wild character, very different from the other Cinsaults. It has a brothy, meaty touch on the palate that makes it very tasty. Clean and precise, with very good grip, 2018 has to be the finest vintage to date for this wine. They expect to fill some 12,100 bottles in September 2018."

Was £17.95 per bottle
NOW £16.50 per bottle

 
 

De Martino  Vigno Old Vine Carignan 2016

97 Points - Luis Gutiérrez (Robertparker.com) "Single Vineyard la Aguada is no longer mentioned on the label of the 2016 Vigno, which is also part of the Old Vines series. This wine is nothing short of spectacular, with a complex nose intermixing aromas of smoked bacon, wild flowers and berries, earth and tree bark, in a rare combination of power and elegance that takes them to a completely different profile than the rest of the Vigno association. Other than the intoxicating nose, the palate also reveals strong minerality and the austere and serious tannins from the granite soils. This is not only among the best Vigno bottlings, it's also one of the finest wines from Chile. This Carignan-based field blend matured in 5,000-liter oak foudres for 24 months. It has to be the finest year for the De Martino Vigno, very varietal, pure, precise, elegant and powerful. 6,439 bottles were filled in April 2018."

Was £33.50 per bottle
NOW £27.50 per bottle

 
 
 

Most popular producers on sale