I confess to feeling a trifle delicate when tasting the dozen or so wines from FromVineyardsDirect for this offer. A late night at the Academy Club had turned into early morning at the Experimental Cocktail Club and neither Mrs Ray nor I were at our best. Indeed, Mrs R decided it was all too much and retired to bed blaming me for everything while also inquiring as to when I might be planning to grow up. It was a strange question that I refused to dignify with an answer.
Anyway, the point is that I was not in the best of health when I first sampled the wines, yet I still managed to like them. When I tried them again later, I absolutely loved them and would be surprised if you don’t too.
I absolutely loved this selection from FromVineyardsDirect, and would be surprised if you don’t too
The 2022 Domaine Bellevue Sauvignon de Touraine (1) is a great favourite, as fine as ever and still excellent value. Produced by fourth-generation vigneron Patrick Vauvy in the heart of the Loire Valley, it’s full and concentrated and far more swanky than its price suggests. Chuck it in an ice bucket with a carefully arranged linen napkin around it and your guests won’t know that it isn’t fine Sancerre. £10.75 down from £11.95.
The 2020 Mas Carlot ‘Générations’ (2), from the Costières de Nîmes, is a blend of three of my go-to grapes – Roussanne, Marsanne and Viognier – and it makes for a very successful marriage or, rather, ménage à trois. With notes of almonds, honeysuckle, peach ’n’ apricot and with a deliciously creamy texture, it’s right up my alley: perfect with summery salads or warm roast chicken served with puréed, stock-rich cannellini beans and crusty baguette. £11.75 down from £12.95.
I can’t think of any other wine we’ve offered over so many vintages as the 2021 Domaine du Bicheron Mâcon-Péronne (3). It’s FVD’s best-selling white Burgundy by miles and rightly revered by readers. Made from the handpicked fruit of 80-year-old vines, it’s full, rounded and succulent with lovely sweet, fresh and baked apple and citrus in the mouth. Until I remembered what I was tasting I thought it was a fine Alsace Pinot Gris, so rich and satisfying is it, but then the typical Burgundian Chardonnay notes flooded through on its long, dry finish. £14.95 down from £15.95.
The 2019 Ch. Courac (4), from the hillside village of Tresques not far from Orange and famous for its medieval tour de guet, is a wonderful example of Laudun Côtes du Rhône Villages. A perfectly-judged Syrah-based blend, it’s full of intense, concentrated blackberry fruit, herbs and spice complete with a meaty core and soft tannins. It’s a very big wine at a very small price. £12.75 down from £13.95.
The 2021 Ch. de Fleurie (5) is another old favourite of which I never tire. Maison Jean Loron has been producing fine Beaujolais for more than 300 years and their wines have never been better. Indeed, the wines of Beaujolais as a whole have never been better and if you’re yet to discover the delights of classy Cru Beaujolais Gamay, here’s the perfect place to start. Fresh, lively and crammed with succulent hedgerow fruit, it’s a wonderful summer red. £15.75 down from £16.95.
Finally, the 2015 Ch. Ramafort (6), a glorious Cru Bourgeois Bordeaux from a first-rate vintage. This is how claret should be: fully mature – well, almost – rich, complex, concentrated, soft, supple, spicy and with plenty of blackberry/blackcurrant fruit and those inimitable cedarwood/cigar box/pencil shavings notes, and all yours for less than £20. This is where Bordeaux really sings – not at the bottom end (too lean and sharp) and not at the top (too bloody pricey), but here in the middle. It’s a remarkably well-made wine at a very fair price that you can serve with real pride. £18.50 down from £19.95.
The mixed case has two bottles of each wine and delivery, as ever, is free.
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