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What's in store at our first portfolio tastings of 2020

Don’t forget that our Portfolio tastings are on for the next two weeks. For the Indies – 4th (Manchester) & 6th (London) February. For the On-Trade – 11th (London) & 13th (Manchester) February. See you there!

Portfolio season is upon us and, as ever, we’re looking forward to welcoming our on- and off-trade customers to one of our four tastings over the next two weeks. With over 350 wines at each tasting, it can be tricky to get to it all especially when you each your own ‘hit-lists’ and agendas for the day. So, we’ve taken the liberty of pointing out five things to look out for, that we don’t think you’ll want to miss!

 

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Bodegas Borsao


Borsao aren’t exactly unknown to you lot. They’ve long been experts in producing great value wines out from Spain, with a real specialism for Garnacha. But, we recently had the team from Borsao over to Boutinot HQ and learned a few extra gems of info that are worth pointing out. Winemaking superstar Chris Ringland (once of Rockford Wines and now Chris Ringland Wines) has stepped in to produce two wines with Borsao that are well worth tasting if you can. The Borsao Zarihs and Cabriola (new) are both available to taste at Portfolios, so don’t miss that one.

 

Organics


We’re all constantly aware of the importance of ‘sustainable winemaking’. We’ve produced multiple pieces on the subject over the last year, and it’s a trend that isn’t going away. For that reason, make sure you get round and taste the best of the organic wines in our portfolio, as they’re becoming an essential part of all wine programs. We’ll be showing plenty of them, but keep an eye out for the less obvious choices such as Cave de Turkheim’s Pinot Blanc as well as Sepp Moser’s Pinot Blanc – an underappreciated grape variety that ticks boxes for esoterica and sustainability. Win, win.

 

Small Town Vineyards


The artist formerly known as ‘Magpie Estates’. The same wines you know and love, the same stand-out labels, just now under a different name. The joint venture between Rolph Binder and Noel Young is still going strong so don’t let the unfamiliar name prevent you from stopping by. Particular mention here has to go to the ‘Good Luck Club Cabernet Sauvignon’. Since having picked up the IWSC Gold award towards the end of last year, interest in the wine has really peaked and it’s easy to see why: a cassis bomb, with a dollop of vanilla and cream, it’s a crowd-pleaser that’s ‘an absolute bloody marvel’.*

*our tasting note, not the IWSC’s….

 

Georgian Wine


If you’re after ‘new-ness’ then keep your eyes peeled for this one. We don’t want to say too much about them at this stage as no doubt there’ll be an in-depth piece for the website on this coming soon. But they’re out of this world interesting and, depending on what you’re expecting… they’re not at all as you might expect! The words ‘Teliani Valley’ are what you need to be looking out for – we’ll say no more, just taste them.

 

Boutinot Homes


Boutinot’s a wine distributor. We know. It’s also a winemaker. Yep. That means it has it’s own wineries too! You’ve told us!

But genuinely, it’s a really exciting time for Boutinot’s homes. It’s our 10th anniversary at our home in the Rhône, Domaine Boutinot, and the wines are as good as ever. We’ve had another decent year at Henners and the breath-taking ‘Native Grace’ range is always worth a look. You’ve seen the Wildeberg wines already, but we’ve got some new additions to that range which, having tasted the samples, are a nailed on must-see. And, also keep an eye out for the GENETIE labels, our most recent project in St-Véran, and a place we’re really excited to keep developing over the next couple of year.

Yes, this is a shameless plug for our own wines, but our winemaking teams around the world are doing an incredible job and we’re so proud to be able to share their work with you.

Don’t forget that our Portfolio tastings are on for the next two weeks. For the Indies – 4th (Manchester) & 6th (London) February. For the On-Trade – 11th (London) & 13th (Manchester) February. See you there!

Tasting Time