What to drink in January

Each year I use December as a time to drink some of the big bottles that I have been stashing away all year. As I wrote on this very blog in January 2024, these wines rarely live up to the heightened expectation. But sometimes they really do! On New Year's Eve we drank a bottle of Maison Valette's Mâcon-Chaintré and it really blew my socks off! Wines from Burgundy are amongst the biggest offenders when it comes to not living up to the price tag or falling short of the region's reputation but not this. Everything was dialled up to 11! This is a big, alcoholic (14.5%!) Chardonnay but the balance was impeccable. Rich and round but with great acidity, it really was singing. I'm now very much looking forward to trying Philippe's Pouilly-Fuisse 2018. Oh, when will I learn about expectations! 

Anyway, January is not exactly the time for expensive bottles. It's a month when we can get back to basics and enjoy life's subtler offerings. I'm excited to try new arrivals from the much celebrated Hodgson family in the Loire. Two new cuvées labelled under different designs to reflect their divergent styles have just landed at a slightly more affordable price that the usual wines. Luchini Blanc is made with Chenin Blanc grapes from the Faia vineyard across two different vintages whilst Luchini Rouge is a new iteration of the O Galarneau red wine in a lighter style. Something to look forward to!

We also have a couple of absolute bargains in our January sale that are tasting beautiful right now. Jean Pierre Rietsch's skin contact Pinot Gris, Quand Le Chat N'Est Pas La 2022 which drinks like a very light, mineral driven red is available at an amazing price. We opened some bottles in the bar on our 9th birthday party last week and everyone went wild for it. Don't miss out! Equally, La Derniere Goutte's La Baleine Ivre 2020 is showing brilliantly after a few years in the bottle. Deep and complex Gamay from Beaujolais that was quite wild on release but is now so precise and elegant, Yet another example of how almost all wine is better after a few years of age. 

If you are abstaining, cutting back or just fancy something to drink at breakfast, we have a new non-alcoholic wine from Romain des Grottes, also in Beaujolais. Antilope 2024 is sparkling white, unfermented, Malvasia grape juice and follows up on his hugely successful l'Antidote 2024 sparkling red. Get on board!

A reminder that you get 10% off when you buy any 3 bottles in January...

Happy drinking!