Why Buy from Independent Wine Merchants?
Why buy from Independent Wine Merchants?
Vine Trail specialises in wines from niche producers, all French, many growing their grapes without using fertilisers or sprays, some even following ultra-organic ‘biodynamic’ principles in their vineyards. The results speak for themselves: vibrant, distinctive wines, almost all of which I’d happily recommend.
So, it’s difficult to pinpoint just one or two stars of the evening, but, if pressed, I’d pick Daniel Bouland’s intense, fruity Morgon. Morgon is often looked on as one of the more ‘serious’ villages of Beaujolais and this bottle showed all the typical richness of the best examples. It also proved, once again, just how good the 2009 vintage was in Beaujolais.
Among the whites, the Chateau du Champ des Treilles, from the unfashionable Sainte-Foy district of Bordeaux was a definite winner with its unusual blend of grapes – one third each of Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle – with, no doubt, the high proportion of the latter contributing to this wine’s really tangy, fresh taste.