Five Bottles I've Been Loving Recently

In recent weeks I have been sat in many a London garden sipping beautiful bottles of wine (not a crime last time I checked). I thought I would share a few of my favourites here...

Peltier Ravineau - Le Peu 2024

After my recent trip to Cheverny, I'm a bit obsessed with the wines from this part of the Loire. New kids on the block, Peltier Ravineau are producing really exciting wines at the moment and finding that balance of precision and rusticity perfectly, in my opinion. This is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay made from their best red grapes and it provides exactly I'm looking for. Acidity, fresh fruit, savoury elements and a fresh, mineral finish. We bought a whole heap at a special price so have passed that discount on to you!

Mont de Marie - Puech Coucou 2024

If you love your reds light and fresh but still bursting with energy and concentration, you need this bottle from Domaine Monet de Marie in your life. Thierry and Marie-Noëlle Forestier have been crafting incredible, low-intervention wines in the Languedoc since 2004, inspired by the legendary Eric Pfifferling of Domaine L'Anglore. A blend of organic Cinsault and Oeillade, this undergoes a whole-bunch ferment in concrete tanks and is bottled with zero added sulphur. It is pure, bright, and incredibly fluid, delivering a beautiful hit of wild red berries and an elegant floral lift. Insane quality for the price and one of the best hidden gems out there. I'm going to say it...it's my wine of the Summer! Also available in magnum.

Jean-Pierre Rietsch - La Nef des Fou NV

When the wines of Alsace legend Jean-Pierre Rietsch arrive, I always like to give them time to settle before delving in. This multi-vintage Riesling arrived well over a year ago and now it is really beginning to shine. Named "The Ship of Fools," this cuvée blends organic grapes from across four contrasting years, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, all harvested by hand from the esteemed Zotzenberg Grand Cru vineyard. By letting the different vintages balance each other out, Jean-Pierre has crafted an absolute masterpiece. It's dry, intensely mineral, and layered with bright lemon, pink grapefruit, and peach, rounded out by a subtle, buttery, flinty complexity. Utterly alive and endlessly expressive, this will age wonderfully but if more than ready to go now.

Chekura - Mingaco Transicion Naranjo 2022

Chekura / Mingaco make tiny amounts of natural wine in Chile's Itata Valley and we have been pouring this recent arrival by the glass in the bar. Made from organic, ungrafted Moscatel de Alejandria grapes from 100-year-old vines (!), it spends a serious 8 months macerating on its skins before resting for another 15 months. The result is a bone-dry, deeply complex orange wine with a beautiful, silky texture. It's absolutely packed with bright citrus, stone fruits, and gorgeous floral notes. For a bottle with this much age, depth, and character, it is an absolute steal.

La Ferme des Sept Lunes - Tubular Bulles 2025

For those who got to meet Jean Delobre and his daughter Aurore when they took over our Wine Club recently, you already know about the magic they are working in Saint Joseph. For everyone else, this bottle is a great introduction to La Ferme des Sept Lunes. Made from Dureza, a rare Northern Rhône variety that is a genetic parent to Syrah, this is a sparkling rosé crafted using the ancestral pet nat method. It is direct-pressed, fermented with wild yeasts, and bottled completely unfiltered with zero added sulphur. Clocking in at a wonderfully low 9.5% ABV, it’s remarkably refreshing, bursting with bright raspberry, fresh red cherry, and a clean, crisp mineral finish. An absolute bargain of a sparkling wine that is built for warm summer evenings.

Plenty of enjoy...

Happy drinking!