we visited Carr Taylor Vineyard outside Hastings only yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised. Some very nice wines, especially the Bacchus, and their champagne was very nice, the rose was lovely. Of course they can't call it 'champagne' but it was very good and produced in the traditional champagne way. Internet and door sales only. The Bacchus was £11.99 a bottle so not cheap but not particularly expensive.
Majestic is good and Waitrose do tend to have a good selection as well.
Taking clients for our annual thank you to them tomorrow, to Berry Bros. & Rudd in the West End. We take about 40 of them to their cellar and have a tasting, with great insight from the experts. They do some very expensive wines, but also a lot of really good and reasonably priced ones as well.
If you are looking for non supermarket I can recommend these shippers - all personally selected and can buy mixed cases. Most is in bond but you can look for the net price - they will deliver free for orders over three cases (I think) http://www.abvintners.co.uk/
or Davys in Greenwich is good too if you want to talk it through or try a couple
Naked Wines are good mail order, someone must have a voucher from them for a first time purchase which makes the price per bottle dirt cheap.
I'll give a big thumbs-up to Naked, really good quality stuff from them, and you'll find £40 vouchers easy to come by. (pm me if you can't...existing members can do a referral).
Watch out though, because you will find yourself signed up to a £20-a-month regular subscription (you can cancel any time, but you need to make the move). I was 'caught out', but liked the wine so much that I opted to keep it going. And if you let your £20 a month build up, it does mean that for Christmas you've paid for your wine already...
I like Laithwaites for black reds (waxed bat, Cabalié, Black Stump) but haven't yet found any whites of theirs I really like. And if you can find Crusher Pinot Noir (USA) buy it by the train load - it's gorgeous. Chilean/Argentinian Merlot and Malbec can be lovely too, especially at this time of year.
NZSB is largely lovely, but they do vary considerably. My favourites include Spy Valley, Villa Maria (benchmark - if it's better than this, you have a good one), and Woollaston, but Cloudy Bay is overpriced and good, but nothing particlarly special. As an alternative, a dry Aussie riesling is a little less acidic and can be more interesting. M&S also have some interesting options from unusual regions (Croatia, India, Lebanon), and may still be doing 25% off six or more too. Havent tried these though, so you're taking your chances there.
Last suggestion, if you like wine yourself, is to join the wine society. £40 one off joining fee, but that includes £20 off first orders, and they are frequenlty recommended in the papers. Their bottle prices are cheaper and delivery charge is only £5 is under £75. Range looks good. I bought membership for a mate who knows her wine, but she hasn't asked me over to try anything yet.
I've joined Naked Wines and ordered some stuff - found a £60 off voucher so seemed worthwhile. Massive waiting list to become an angel but I'll wait it out.
I like Laithwaites for black reds (waxed bat, Cabalié, Black Stump) but haven't yet found any whites of theirs I really like. And if you can find Crusher Pinto Noir (USA) buy it by the train load - it's gorgeous. Chilean/Argentinian Merlot and Malbec can be lovely too, especially at this time of year.
NZSB is largely lovely, but they do vary considerably. My favourites include Spy Valley, Villa Maria (benchmark - if it's better than this, you have a good one), and Woollaston, but Cloudy Bay is overpriced and good, but nothing particlarly special. As an alternative, a dry Aussie riesling is a little less acidic and can be more interesting. M&S also have some interesting options from unusual regions (Croatia, India, Lebanon), and may still be doing 25% off six or more too. Havent tried these though, so you're taking your chances there.
Last suggestion, if you like wine yourself, is to join the wine society. £40 one off joining fee, but that includes £20 off first orders, and they are frequenlty recommended in the papers. Their bottle prices are cheaper and delivery charge is only £5 is under £75. Range looks good. I bought membership for a mate who knows her wine, but she hasn't asked me over to try anything yet.
I've added the App for the Wine society so am planning to get to know it a bit more. About time I got a little more cultured on the plonk so will try a few of those recommended on here.
Tesco for me but it helps to know a bit about wine. But we like the Argentinian Malbecs, Torrontes and The Reach whites. So we wait for the special offers and splurge big time. Have had good advice from Majestic and LaithwItes as well.
Being a beer man I've not got a lot of advice except this little gem that I've learned: Always buy screw top wine (unless you're planning to lay it down for ages). In blind taste tests it does better than traditional corks, there's no risk of the wine being corked (cue the Basil Fawlty jokes) and it's more convenient. I also read somewhere that in blind tests LIDL and Aldi were coming top of the pile, but you might not want their logo on the label of a gift.
Comments
Thanks in advance for the case of Brunello di Montalcino, Steve
Taking clients for our annual thank you to them tomorrow, to Berry Bros. & Rudd in the West End. We take about 40 of them to their cellar and have a tasting, with great insight from the experts. They do some very expensive wines, but also a lot of really good and reasonably priced ones as well.
Both sites are similar - it really is down to your personal wine preferences as to which is cheaper and where the bargains are.
TBH I only tried it because it was your user name and I know you are a man of wealth and taste
http://www.abvintners.co.uk/
or Davys in Greenwich is good too if you want to talk it through or try a couple
http://www.davy.co.uk/winevaultsgreenwich
Cheers!
Lots of girl I know would drop their knickers after 1 glass of wine, let alone 12 bottles
Watch out though, because you will find yourself signed up to a £20-a-month regular subscription (you can cancel any time, but you need to make the move). I was 'caught out', but liked the wine so much that I opted to keep it going. And if you let your £20 a month build up, it does mean that for Christmas you've paid for your wine already...
http://www.jwwines.co.uk/
Genuinely never had a bad bottle from them.
NZSB is largely lovely, but they do vary considerably. My favourites include Spy Valley, Villa Maria (benchmark - if it's better than this, you have a good one), and Woollaston, but Cloudy Bay is overpriced and good, but nothing particlarly special. As an alternative, a dry Aussie riesling is a little less acidic and can be more interesting. M&S also have some interesting options from unusual regions (Croatia, India, Lebanon), and may still be doing 25% off six or more too. Havent tried these though, so you're taking your chances there.
Last suggestion, if you like wine yourself, is to join the wine society. £40 one off joining fee, but that includes £20 off first orders, and they are frequenlty recommended in the papers. Their bottle prices are cheaper and delivery charge is only £5 is under £75. Range looks good. I bought membership for a mate who knows her wine, but she hasn't asked me over to try anything yet.
Love it but only see it in France.