Just Great Wine, in response to customer demand have launched a new delivery service in that single bottles can now be ordered from their on line wine shop at www.justgreatwine.co.uk.

The service has been prompted by the following scenario: You are trying to order one bottle of fine wine only to find the minimum delivery is 12 bottles or more. Does the purchaser want to buy 12 bottles of wine they have never tasted before?

Now you can do it for £4.99 including VAT, delivery for a single bottle. You can try before you buy without having to buy 12 bottles.

You won’t find Just Great Wine wines on the shelves of large supermarket or liquor store chains therefore delivering a unique tasting experience for those wishing to try out some new good value wines.

The company has a great story to tell following the excellent selection of wines from former London Maitre D’ for Le Gavroche, Silvano Giraldin and fellow Director Martin Rimmer, a graduate in Vinification and Viticulture from the well known Lycee Viticole de Beaune, Burgundy, France.

The company has grown rapidly over the last five years to become one of the most respected and notable wine merchants in the UK, supplying over 60 restaurants and bars on behalf of over 35 vineyards and wine producers worldwide. The smaller wine producers worldwide that they have approached show winemakers with a passionate, skilled, professional, and committed aim to preserve the character and flavour that can only be found if wine is made in smaller quantities – too small for the mass selling that supermarkets and other chains require. Just Great Wine supplies restaurants, wine bars and pubs and customers include The Fat Duck and The Waterside Inn.

Now that these fine wines and reasonable delivery costs are in place for single bottles, it’s a no-brainer when it comes to trying out single bottles and fulfilling a unique wine tasting experience.

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As featured  in the Vino Police blog a kind review of one of our wines The Monte Toro, Toro Crianza 2007

Like any good wine enthusiast free wine is one of my favourite kinds so naturally I was excited to win Just Great Wine’s online competition recently.

I was delighted when my bottle of Monte Toro 2007 arrived at the door and I promised Martin and Andrew a review, well…

Spanish red wine review Monte Toro Crianza 2007

Monte Toro, Toro Crianza 2007
This is a powerful tempranillo from the Castilla y León region of Spain. It was surprisingly lively on the nose with spicy fruit and liquorice aromas. On the palate it was quite tannic up front with a smokiness that carried through. I picked up abundant black cherry and coffee notes. The fruit was bright and there was an almost prickly sensation on the tongue. There was also a distinctly herbaceous, medicinal streak running through this redolent a hot climate. This wine has the strength of character to match robust cooking with red meat seeming the obvious match. Thank you guys! – Martin Naylor “

Since the Grands Crus Classés classification of 1855, attempts to identify the best Bordeaux wines have run foul of the demands of tradition. The original Cru Bourgeois came into being in 1932 because the Grand Crus had changed only once in the previous 76 years, and was widely regarded as having some overlaps in quality with the more traditional classification. The lessons of history are seldom learned easily, however, and the Cru Bourgeois, like its older sister, was left untampered with for 61 years. In 2003 though, changes were made, which almost halved the size of the list, and promoted a few wines to “Superieurs” and others to the still higher ranking of “Exceptionelle” igniting fierce protests from those excluded from the list. So fierce, in fact, were these protests that they went all the way to court, and the revision was nullified in 2007 on the basis of a conflict of interest as some of the owners of selected vineyards were themselves involved in the selection.

Since then, all the original vineyards have been re-designated ‘Cru Bourgeois’ whilst behind the scenes further wrangling produced the current listing. Lessons have been learned from the bloody past of these listings, however, and the Cru Bourgeois will now be a more democratic listing. It will now be decided by paid wine professionals with none of the château owners involved, and without the divisive multi level system of the 2003 revision. The aim is to set a bar or minimum standard for wine to reach in order to be included in the Cru Bourgeois, which will mean that the number of châteaux featured will vary depending on the quality of the vintage.

How long this new approach will last, however, is already in doubt, as many of the estates who produce more expensive wines feel that a hierarchy should once again be instated. Indeed, a group of the former “Exceptionelles” has already withdrawn from the listing to start their own group, prompting talk of a vote for all member châteaux on producing a new hierarchical ranking. It can only be hoped that this will not be just another chapter in a history of own goals in the wine industry. Many believe that the hierarchical ranking has always been confusing for the consumer but the demands of the vineyards have always played a key role in such decisions.

For the time being, however, the Bordeaux region can celebrate the return to prominence of a valued institution.

Such is the popularity of Apple’s iPhone and iPad that every month new and interesting applications or ‘apps’ become available.

I’ve been checking out some of the popular wine apps that are now available for download and I’m very impressed with what is on offer. There might be occasions when it is really helpful to have a wine iPhone, iPad or Android App that gives you wine information instantly, making it  available in the palm of your hand, and helping to choose the right wine at a restaurant or in a shop.

Here are some wine apps which caught my eye which you might like to try out:

Vintage Chart Plus by Wine Spectator (free)

‘Vintage Chart Plus’ is the first App from Wine Spectator, the widely read and respected wine magazine. It is intended to help you make an educated decision about the quality and character of unfamiliar wines. For example, if you were deciding between two Napa Cabernets, a 2003 and a 2004, consulting Vintage Chart Plus would reveal that 2004 was generally a much better year. It also automatically updates the most popular wine regions in the world and includes scores relating to drinkability and recommendations.

Wine Snob (£1.19)

This app boasts that it is the most sophisticated ‘wine logging tool’ available. As well as providing the full background on tasting notes, price, vintage, varietal and location, it also helps you understand wine and food pairings. Like many other apps, it includes map locations with GPS, and all logged wines can be viewed with Google maps and GPS, and any links can be emailed to friends or posted on Facebook and Twitter. Its data is written by an expert sommelier.

Wine Enthusiast Guide (£2.99)

You can quickly look up the definitions of over 1,400 terms that cover all aspects of wine appreciation with this application. It says it updated 13,555 new wine reviews in August 2010 – and that thousands of reviews are added each month.

With over 20 years and 86,000 authoritative reviews written by Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s expert team, this app also includes 20 illustrated tutorials that have been specially designed to help unlock the secrets of wine. Each lesson has integrated links to online content so you can further explore hundreds of wine topics.

Berry’s Wine List (free)

Berry Bros & Rudd is Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, having traded from the same shop in London’s St James’s for over 311 years. They are reputed to be one of the world’s largest purchasers of wine, and this app enables you to browse through their list of over 2,000 fine wines and view tasting notes and maturity guides.

It also has a “Virtual Wine School”, offering valuable tasting techniques as well as wine matching tips and serving advice.

WINEfindr (£2.99)

WINEfindr (pronounced Wine Finder) is billed by the authors as  ”the revolutionary new iPhone App”. It enables price comparison of wine using Visual Search. The visual search enables you to take photographs of wine labels which it then compares to its own online database of wine labels, and returns details of where you can buy the wine and how much it costs. It’s great for dinner party’s where you can sneak a photo of the hosts wine bottle and find out where they got the wine from and how much it cost! You can listen to a review of WINEfindr by BBC2 presenter Jilly Goolden on The Business Hub

Wine has been made in the former Soviet Union for as long as any of the other classic wine growing regions and in such a vast area it’s hardly surprising that some excellent growing conditions exist. During the Soviet era, however, although large production volumes were encouraged quality was not considered a high priority. Wines from the iron curtain countries in general, and from Russia in particular, tended to be rather bland poor quality products distinguished principally by being cheap to buy.

In the cold war era, for example, part of Russia’s anti-capitalist propaganda campaign was to boast that in Russia every worker could drink champagne unlike in the west where champagne was something only the bourgeois could afford! Although this was partly true, if you have ever tasted Russian champagne, as I have, then you will know that there is absolutely no comparison to quality champagne, cheap champagne or even Cava!

Since the fall of communism, however, the wine industry in Russia is having something of a renaissance, although the progress is not coming without a price. A few years ago, the average Russian winery was fifty years behind the rest of Europe in technological terms, but with the trade walls coming down, they have been playing catch-up very quickly.

Making good wine is only half the battle though; as well as the wine making equipment being a long way behind the rest of the world, the reputation of Russian wine is still further behind. In fact, so bad is the perception of Russian wine that even in Russia, customers will pay a considerable premium for imported wines from France, Italy, and even Moldova.

Still, there is something of a reprieve for the Russian producers in the continued absence from the domestic market of wines from Georgia. Considerably further south than Russia, Georgia has fantastic growing conditions and their wines are extremely popular in Russia itself. Since Russia intervened on behalf of the province of South Ossetia in a revolution, relations between the two countries have been very poor, and Russia has banned imports of Georgian goods.

If nothing else good comes of such a situation, it is at least a chance for Russian wineries to establish their higher quality products whilst a big slice of the competition is missing. For those of us in the rest of the world, Russian wines might still be something of a mystery but now that they have embraced new technology and shifted the focus from quantity to quality Russian wine might well be the next big thing – so watch this space!

The Mosel valley in Germany is justly proud the quality of its wines for which the area is famous. Some of the best Riesling vineyards in the world can be found here which have been tended by hand since Roman times.

The geography of the valley, the climate and the local water supply all combine to produce exceptional wines that have a very unique flavour.

Today though, wine critics are angered by plans to build one of Germany’s biggest bridges and a four-lane motorway through the middle of the historic Riesling vineyards of the Mosel valley. Already over 10,000 people have signed a petition asking the government to scrap the project which not only would be a vast eyesore in a beautiful scenic location but could also affect the water supply dynamics of the valley and thus affect the quality of the wine.

Supporters of the proposal and the local authorities say that the motorway and bridge would significantly cut travel times between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands thus improving transport and encouraging tourism. The new bridge would be higher than a lot of the surrounding hills and completely dominate the valley so the debate has become very heated.

For me the words ‘delicate balance’ spring to mind. Firstly because getting the economic and travel benefits right is a delicate financial balance but equally there is always a delicate environmental balance that determines which areas and vineyards produce the best wines.

Yes, the motorway might shorten travel times and yes it might also bring in more tourists but if the knock-on effect means that the quality of some of the world’s greatest wines are compromised than the environmental costs and damage to the reputation of the vineyards might outweigh the perceived benefits.

And personally I’d rather sip a good Riesling looking out over a historic natural landscape than a four lane concrete monstrosity.

Riesling is possibly one of the best of all white wine grapes with worldwide popularity. Dating back to the 15th century the Riesling grape was originally grown in the Rhine region of Germany. The array of wines that the noble Riesling grape creates ranges all the way from dry to dessert sweet and is one of the worlds top three white wines grapes that is still grown extensively in Germany. Riesling is a ‘terroir- expressive’ wine meaning ‘distinctive to the place of origin’. Riesling grapes also produce wines with excellent cellar longevity.

Riesling grapes are seldom blended giving the wines a fresh and invigorating flavour. Also, the grapes are generally very frost resistant and cope well in cooler climates. Winemakers in Austria, France and Canada have followed Germany’s lead and now also produce some superb wines.

Riesling is a delicate grape suited to sandy clay soils and slate. The grapes usually ripen in the autumn between the end of September and the end of November and extreme care is taken during harvesting to preserve the skin, as any damage can cause the leaking of tannin into the juice which can detrimentally affect the taste.

Well informed wine connoisseurs recognise that Riesling grapes produce some of the finest wines on the market. Young wines are crisp with a fruity and aromatic taste underpinned with an aroma ranging from honey and rose blossom to apples, grapefruit and peach. Equally appealing is the high sugar content making it a quality aged wine with preservation periods ranging from 5 to upwards of 30 years!

Germany produces exceptional sweet Riesling wine using a process called ‘noble rot’ which involves leaving the grapes on the vines longer than usual and beyond the normal harvesting period. The grapes are left until the ‘noble rot’ sets in caused by the Botrytis fungus. Damp autumn mist usually helps the process and the grapes are picked one by one as each one reaches the right level of rot. It can be expensive to harvest the grapes this way as sometimes as many as seven circuits of the vineyard is required to check and pick the grapes.

For Riesling wine known as “Ice wine” the process is slightly different. Here the berries are not left to go rotten but they are left to await the winter frosts. This freezes the water in the grapes but not the sugars, so that when the frozen grapes are pressed the resulting liquid, known as ‘must’, is much more concentrated as the ice crystals are left in the skins – which increases sweetness.

Riesling is widely grown in Austria where it can produce powerfully flavoured, full-bodied, dry wines with irresistible aromas. Alsace in France also has a long history of growing Riesling dating back to the 15th century. Like Austrian Riesling, these wines are dry, intense and are best drunk after a period of aging.

The planting of the grape is now becoming popular in other parts of the world including Australia, New Zealand and the USA although it still trails behind Chardonnay. However, as wine drinkers and buyers continually seek new tasting experiences – and wine makers continue to push the boundaries – this interesting grape could soon raise its level of popularity.

The process of wine production, from preparing the vines all the way through to opening and enjoying a good wine, is something few of us really stop to consider.

However, the quality of the final product has a lot to do with the way that the grapes have been handled and processed, from harvesting through to bottling as well as corking or sealing, transportation, storage and retailing.

If you enjoy good wine then you will want to ensure that it is stored correctly – so that there is no deterioration in the quality by the time you choose to open a bottle. If you are lucky enough to have a cellar within your premises then this can be the ideal solution for the storage of wine. For most people though a cellar is a luxury, so making sure that your wine is stored in the best way possible is very important.

A good wine cellar should have a solid door with a strong lock. It should be free from odours, noise, vibration and light. A relative humidity of around 90% and a constant temperature-as near as possible to 10 – 11 degrees Centigrade is also desirable. A wine cellar needs to remain cool as if a cellar is too warm it will accelerate ageing and therefore deprive the wine of some, if not all, of its quality.

If you have purchased a large number of bottles then it is a good idea to keep a register of all of your wines so that you are aware of how they are maturing and when they are ready for drinking. The wines should also be laid down horizontally and clearly labelled.

Even if you do not have a cellar the same broad principles apply for storing wine because the more care that is taken about storage, the better the wine will mature, and better it will ultimately taste.

From time to time I’m going to be recommending a ‘Wine of the Month’ which will always be a particular favourite of mine

This month what better way to start than by introducing you to something rather special.

My wine this month is ‘Font Jillarde’ an exceptionally fine white Chateauneuf du Pape from the vineyards of renowned wine maker Michel Mourier. Lovers of Chateauneuf might be surprised to find that one of their favourite reds also comes in a white variety but if so, it’s a surprise worth waiting for. The wine is produced near Avignon in vineyards terraced above the river Rhone from vines grown in a soil of red clay with pebbles.

The grape varieties used in the production are white Grenache, white Clairette Bourboulenc and Roussane.

Like all Chateauneuf it carries the distinctive and traditional cross keys emblem embossed on the bottle. Its alcohol content is 13 to 14 percent and it can be laid down for up to five years.

The character of the wine is aromatic and fresh with a fine floral bouquet. It has a delicate pale straw and lemon colour in the glass and an explosion of flavours in the mouth particularly greengage and lemon peel with an elegant lingering finish.

It is a wine that can be drunk easily by itself but also goes very well with fish or cheese. It also makes an excellent aperitif.

>To order one of these wonderful wines simply log onto our website by clicking on this link<

Great wines are made from great grapes – and of all the great grape varieties that have migrated around the world none seem to excite wine producers and wine connoisseurs as much as Pinot Noir.

It seems that such is the passion for these particular grapes that most wine producers confess that they would love to produce wine from this wonderful grape at some stage in their career.

Pinot Noir is the only grape permitted in the great majority of red Burgundy and is therefore at the pinnacle of the Pinot pyramid of the Grand Cru’s that offer sumptuous richness, but at a price.

Although the Pinot Noir grape is capable of producing some of the world’s greatest wines it can also be extremely frustrating to produce. This is because, for a number of reasons, it doesn’t seem to travel well and rarely seems to produce the same quality of wine when removed from its native Burgundy.

The Burgundy area itself is cool and wet and prone to spring frosts and even hailstones. This micro climate in combination with the limestone rich soil conditions seems to suit the Pinot Noir grape whereas in other parts of the world this almost intangible series of elements seem to be missing. In the USA, Australia and New Zealand many attempts have been made to emulate the wonderful wines from Burgundy but to date few have managed to attain the quality and status of their French counterparts. In recent years though, a dedicated hard-core of growers in the USA have started to reap some success.

When conditions are perfect however, this thin-skinned grape is capable of producing outstanding wine. The taste of a good Burgundy can be a memorable experience at six or seven years old, though the best will continue to improve substantially longer. Pinot Noir also plays an important part in the production of champagne and other sparkling wines where it adds depth and longevity. When it is young it displays an aroma of crushed fruit which evolves over time to a meatier and a more ‘game like’ type of aroma.

Generally, the Pinot Noir grape does not blend well with other grapes as its finesse is sometimes lost in the process and many purists prefer it unblended. For many connoisseurs therefore, the Burgundy grown Pinot Noir represents one of the finest wines on the planet.