We are always on the look out for new wines and tend to do a lot of travelling at the beginning of the year. The best way to source a new wine is to do the research at home and then make contact with the wineries and go out and visit the area thereby getting a better understanding of the area before picking an individual producer. We would tend to cram a lot into our 2-3 day trips and try and visit as many producers as possible. The taste is the biggest factor but we also like to see healthy vineyards and a clean winery.

What are we looking for in a wine? A clean, fresh aroma that makes you want to go on and taste the wine. We always taste without food so as nothing masks the wine, there is a lot of slurping and spitting. The slurping is to aerate the wine in the mouth so as to get maximum flavour and we always spit, it can be a long day when you start tasting at 9 in the morning and finish at 7 at night. We are looking for fruit, tannin and acid in the mouth, it does not matter if you are looking for a wine for immediate drinking such as Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Umani Ronchi or a wine to lay down you still need all three components to be balanced. The wines for laying down such as Bordeaux 2009’s tend to be very unapproachable when taken out of the cask and will have bigger tannins and acid and fruit on the palate. The final ingredient when buying a wine is the finish/length of the wine. This is when you have spat the wine out and can still taste the wine. Does it finish short ie is the experience over as soon as you spit or does the taste linger? If it lingers, is the wine balanced? One of the most important factors is will this wine sell, not do I like it but will it appeal to the average consumer whether at home or in a restaurant. Finally, if the wine is appealing and we feel it will sell we need to find out the price. This can be tricky when you explain to a producer that their pride and joy is a wine which we feel is a good everyday/house style and therefore should be at a different price point.

The travelling all around the world and meeting people you share a passion with is one of the most positive aspects of the wine trade. It is a constantly evolving world and consumer trends do keep changing which definitely keeps the wine buyers on their toes. There is nothing more satisfying than finding a wine that is good and then importing it and seeing people buying it and coming back for more and seeing it on restaurant lists. A recent example of this would be the Barrista Coffee Pinotage from South Africa which has had fantastic success for James Nicholson Wine Merchant.

Averil's Value Choices
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We were fortunate enough to welcome Olivier Humbrecht to Crossgar at the start of June for a tasting of just some of the Zind Humbrecht wines we have in stock. This was the first time I have met the man widely acknowledged to be the king of Alsace winemaking, as well as my first opportunity to taste so many of the Zind wines in one sitting - and what a stunning line-up.

Alsace wines tend to be underrated and can be quite a hard sell, largely I think because of what is perceived to be complicated labelling; this is a shame as the wines possess a real sense of regional character and present something a bit different, an interesting alternative to the often brand-saturated and formulaic supermarket offerings of "international" varietals these days.

Four things really struck me listening to Olivier that evening:

His vast scientific knowledge of viticulture together with his profound belief in biodynamic farming and in employing ecologically sustainable agricultural practices, and the effect these have on the quality of wine.

Winemakers in Alsace seem to have more than their fair share of bureaucratic red tape to grapple with – frankly it’s amazing that they manage to produce wine that complies with the legal vagaries at all. In spite of this, Olivier is passionate about Alsace as a wine producing region and about raising its profile. He conveyed very clearly that he makes his wines simply to be enjoyed – by “ordinary” people and not just for a niche market or wine buffs.

Just how food friendly the Zind wines are; I was surprised at the acidity levels, belied by the honeyed sweeter notes on the nose. The Gewurztraminer Wintzenheim 2006 stood out as a particularly stunning match for Asian dishes.

The prices of Zind Humbrecht may seem high. But given the quality of the wines I tasted, the level of expertise employed in producing the wines and their ageing potential together with what must amount to substantial production costs, I really believe the prices are actually justified.

My favourite wine of the tasting was:

2004 Pinot Gris Clos Jebsal Vendanges Tardives, Domaine Zind Humbrecht, Unbelievably rich with amazing length; honey, melon and nutty notes on the palate. Despite the huge sugar content, the wine is not remotely cloying or sickly, just incredibly well balanced and elegant. Olivier told us that the locals would typically drink this with rustic terrines and foie gras – absolutely delicious.

Zind Humbrecht Wines

There is a lot of interest in wine investment at the moment. With banks offering low interest rates on savings and uncertainty in the world markets, people are looking to find alternative places to put their money. Wine has preformed especially well in recent years and even with experiencing a correction in late 2008, it has shown good growth since then, with many wines higher now than before. Much of this has been driven by new wine-consuming markets, with China leading the charge. Demand has increased but the supply has remained constant.

The Liv-ex 100 Fine Wine Index is the industry’s leading benchmark. It represents the price movement of 100 of the most sought-after fine wines for which there is a strong secondary market and is calculated monthly. The majority of the index consists of Bordeaux wines – a reflection of the overall market – although wines from Burgundy, the Rhone, Champagne and Italy are also included. The index is calculated using Liv-ex Mid Prices and is then weighted to account for original production levels and increasing scarcity as the wine ages. As such, the index is designed to give each wine a weighting that corresponds with its impact on the overall market. The value of the index as of 31st May 2010 was 293.55, a rise of 4.4% on the previous month. The index is up 37.15% year-on-year and 23.8% year-to-date.

(taken from www.liv-ex.com).

Wine investments are exposed to risk like any other investment, with the value potentially going up or down, but the single greatest attraction for wine investment is the fact that Fine Wine profits are exempt from Capital Gain Tax - up to a point. If you are fortunate enough to have a rather large cellar and the value of it exceeds £250,000 you will have to pay Capital Gain Tax. However, it would be my recommendation that attention is paid to the law on this as the parameters may change.

However, caution must be exercised when purchasing wine for investment purposes. Only a tiny proportion of the wines available have the longevity to show growth and have a strong resale market. Usually the wines must be in case quantity and remain in their original case. Provenance is key; wines that have been stored anywhere but a recognised storage facility, usually a wine merchant’s cellars, is ultimately going to be less attractive to the purchaser and therefore command a lower price. Also, any fine wine should be stored under bond - paying your vat and duty only restricts the resale possibilities. Vigilance must be applied as the wine industry is not exempt from fraud and unscrupulous merchants. Recently we were singled out as one of Jancis Robinson’s recommended merchants for the purchase of wine futures, the best way to obtain value in fine wine.

http://www.jancisrobinson.com/articles/a201004162.html
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Having recently done a whirl wind tour of some of our producers in Languedoc Roussilon I continue to be amazed by the passion of many of our producers. I have chosen Clos des Fées to highlight this passion and the complete lack of glamour in producing wine.

Former sommelier, caviste and wine journalist Hervé Bizeuil set up his 7ha in Vingrau in the Roussillon in 1998. Hervé started with no money and the grapes were brought in and the wines produced out of the back of a friend’s cellar. Hervé’s day started when his friend’s day finished as he was borrowing his facilities bar the four tiny resin tanks he had purchased. In 1999 he converted his garage into a small winery which is where he continues to make his wines today.

He has gradually acquired many more hectares and his estate is now 30 ha and he has a team of eight people. The vines span across a number of differing terroirs including old vines (up to 100 years old in some sectors) the steepness of the terrain dictates hand picking. Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris make up the majority of the plantings. The wines are aged in oak barriques for at least a year and are bottled without filtration. Hervé has succeeded in establishing these as some of the most sought-after wines in Southern France, offering his first en primeur in 1999 which gave him the means to continue. In 2005 Le Revue de Vin de France named Clos des Fées as the number one estate in Roussillon. He has continued to produce wines which gain accolades and certainly this estate played a large part in putting Roussillon on the map for fine wines.

In 2007 Hervé adds 40 hectares of Olive trees to his estate and in 2008 started their first harvest of olives and their first press of olive oil. Which we are delighted to sell along with his fantastic wines.

Clos des Fées - Amazing Olives

View the wines & Olive oils of Clos des Fées

The highlight of a recent trip to the Languedoc was a visit to Domaine Le Roc des Anges. This was the last visit after a long day of driving the length and breadth of the Languedoc and tasting over 80 wines; we arrived late for our appointment feeling hot, tired and, if the truth be known, more than ready for a cold beer!

However, all hankerings for cold beers quickly evaporated as Marjorie Gallet, the young woman at the helm at Domaine Le Roc des Anges, warmly welcomed us into her new home which sits directly above her newly restored winery and cellar in the centre of Montner. We were treated to a fascinating tour of her winery and various vineyard sites before tasting back at the house.

We don’t come across many female winemakers on the whole; when you meet Marjorie it is hard to imagine how this fine, slip of a girl copes with the physical demands of working a vineyard. Rarely do you meet such an idealist either, who so manifestly loves what they do; she told us that she and her husband Stephane are finally living the dream they had planned for years in this idyllic corner of southern France.

After studying winemaking, she initially persuaded friends of her parents invest in vineyards which she had found and fallen in love close to the border with Spain. Today, the vineyards now comprise nearly 50 parcels of land on the local mountain, Forca Real, and include some old Carignan vines planted up to 90 years ago. Her vineyards are farmed organically and respect for the environment is paramount – the stark contrast between her vines and a neighbour’s (non organic) was visually striking as we walked across the hill with her. She believes that the vines should be allowed to fine their “autonomie” in order to truly express their terroir. We have stocked her wines for a couple of years now, but there is a sense that the 2008s really have stepped up a gear. “Without a doubt, 2008 (which yielded a “generous” – by estate standards –17 hectolier per hectare) will be a watershed vintage at Le Roc des Anges, with whites of startling, shimmering clarity and palate-staining, energetic reds.” Robert Parker

The Gallets have recently acquired a tiny new Domaine, Les Terres de Fagayra, giving Marjorie’s husband Stephane a chance to utilise the special talents for Maury that he honed as winemaker while at nearby Mas Amiel. For those not familiar with Maury, these are fortified wines made in a similar style to Port, seeing twelve months in wood before bottling. This little known appellation, until now championed by a single producer (Mas Amiel), yields wines of great structure and flavour. Red Maury is one of the few wines that can complement chocolate desserts – though it is equally delicious with a big slab of one of those nutty hard cheeses from the Pyrenees. Parker is enthusiastic in his reviews of the Gallet’s Maury too: “their three inaugural 2008 cuvees will turn heads.” They have already turned our heads – we have almost sold out of the red and are currently begging Marjorie for more.

Languedoc Panorama

That evening, Marjorie joined us for a memorable dinner in the local hostellerie (200 yards away from the Gallet’s home) whose chef had prepared a menu to match the various wines Marjorie has selected for us to taste – a veritable gastronomic feast and a rare opportunity to taste her wines matched with local dishes. That evening, the 2003 vintage of her “1903” (100% Carignan from her vineyards planted in 1903) stood out – an absolute show stopper – chunky and powerful but deliciously velvety and ripe with intense dark fruit flavours. The 8 course extravaganza finished up with a glass of the 2008 Fagayra Blanc perfectly matched with the most exquisite dessert. At £28.95 a bottle, not cheap for a dessert wine – but so worth it.

All in all, an unforgettable visit. I left feeling slightly in awe of this inspiring and thoroughly engaging woman, who manages to juggle doubtless never-ending work in her vineyards producing exceptional wines, while raising 2 young boys.