Finding a bottle of wine that you really like can feel like a bit of a lottery at times. There are so many countries, appellations, sub-regions, winemakers, grape varieties, vintages, brands and styles of wine available it’s sometimes hard to match what you’re looking for with the key words on the label that will point to what you want. It’s little wonder that people find something they like and stick to it – who needs to waste money on bottles of wine that might turn out to be not what you’re looking for at all?

So what do you do when you enjoy wine, but don’t have the time, money or inclination to attend endless tastings or study the subject (without studying for your WSET (Wine and Spirit Educational Trust) qualifications like we do, how are you supposed to know a Minervois from a Menetou Salon??) One way of making sense of the chaos is to think of wine in terms of style. A large proportion of wine can be broadly classified in terms of flavour profile or style. Once you identify the style you like, it’s just a matter of adding colour and detail with the more subtle differences between individual wines. It’s also really helpful when matching wine with food or finding wines to suit a particular occasion. We’ve created some mixed cases based on exactly this concept in the hope of smoothing the path to discovering new and interesting wines that suit your individual taste / mood or when buying gifts for someone else.

We have 4 styles of wine in these mixed cases. The first is light and fruity. These wines are not oaked, they are fruity, zesty and fresh rather than rich or creamy. Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Grigio would fit into this style category.

Light and Fruity Whites x6
Light and Fruity Whites x12

The second is Sumptuous Whites. These are different in that they are richer, opulent and weightier. If you love Chardonnay or a good glass of something full and flavoursome to go with food these wines should fit the bill.

Sumptuous Whites x6
Sumptuous Whites x12

The third selection is soft and fruity reds – brimming with plenty of ripe fruit and not too much tannin or weight. These can be enjoyed on their own, without food , and are very easy drinking and charming. If you like Pinot Noir or Chilean Merlot these could be just the thing for you.

Soft and Fruity Reds x 6
Soft and Fruity Reds x 12

Last but not least are our full bodied reds. These wines are rich and robust with big flavours and plenty of body. If you love Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon these wines are similar in style. If you are looking for wines to complement food these are very versatile and have plenty of flavour of their own so they don’t get overpowered by full flavoured food.

Full Bodied Reds x 6
Full Bodided Reds x 12

View all our Spring Case Selections

Please let us know what you think.

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Pinot Grigio is a classic Italian white wine. It's delicate, light and dry and doesn't have a strong flavour so it's easy to like. So if you feel like trying something new what about one of these...?

Safe Options:

Soave E.g. Soave Classico Pra, Gavi E.g. Mauro Sebaste Gavi, Pinot Gris E.g. Forrest Pinot Gris or Bott Geyl Pinot D'Alsace Metiss.

Why...

Another light dry and delicate wine.

Goes With...

Salads, fish, lemon pasta or ofcourse on their own.

Domaine Bott Geyl, Beblenheim

Or for something more adventurous...

Chenin Blanc E.g. Secateurs Blanc - It's still light and fresh but with more texture and a little more floral or honeyed flavours. Goes with salads, shellfish, chicken.

Vioginer E.g. Cline Viognier or Condrieu - Still light and fresh but much more aromatic. Wines often have peachy or floral character. Goes with Chicken, roast pork, SE Asian food.

Gewurztraminer E.g Zind Humbrecht  Again the wine is unoaked and fresh but this one has the volume turned up. Really exotic nose of Turkish delight and lychees. Goes with Curries and spicy foods. Brilliant with Thai dishes.

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Probably my favourite thing about working in the wine industry is the people I get to meet. I love meeting winemakers and grape growers and hearing their stories and philosophies and discovering their passion for their craft. For exactly these reasons, it was a treat to meet Johan Reyneke at our Merchant Tasting in March. Johan comes across as a gentle, quiet man but with warmth and charm and definitely a man of substance and evidently pretty philosophical.

Johan Reyneke at our May Tasting in the Merchant

Reyneke is the only certified biodynamic winery in South Africa. Biodynamics is based on the principles of Rudolf Steiner and is too complex to go into in great detail here but it looks at the vineyard as an ecosystem in itself. It’s all about creating the healthiest environment possible for your crops to maximise their resistance to the challenges that nature may throw at them. Being biodynamic is a step too far for some winemakers who like to have an arsenal of weaponry at their disposal to fight against the nasties mother nature can fire at growers. Not only that, but all that talk of moon cycles and cow horns is a bit ‘unscientific’ for some. Whatever your thoughts on biodynamics, it definitely requires a respect and care for the environment - not to mention courage and commitment. For Reyneke, it’s all about the wine. The farming methods are his way of getting the product he wants.

Not only is Johan concerned with the physical environment he is farming, but he invests in his workers. Cornerstone is his most well known red wine and is named in honour of the farm workers – the people he considers to be the cornerstone of his business. This wine pays for houses for the vineyard workers and will enable them to send the first girl off to university next year too.

Now, clearly all this conscientiousness is ultimately irrelevant if the wines are no good. Nothing to worry about here. The wines are lovely; elegant and flavoursome with good balance and concentration. All are good food wines, all will age, and all have enough depth and complexity to allow for a certain amount of savouring and contemplating while you enjoy them. They don’t taste the same as every other South African Chenin or Sauvignon Blanc - they’re a little bit different. I suppose they reflect Reyneke’s personality. How nice to drink wine that’s good for you, good for the environment, and good for the people who help make it!

Reyneke Wines

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One of the best holidays I have ever had was a few years ago touring around New Zealand with my best friend in our hired camper van. Brilliant! I lived out there at the time and my friend came to visit so we decided to make the most out of our time and pack as much into those 2 weeks as possible. And pack it in we did! We caught up with friends in Auckland and did the touristy thing in Rotorua the highlight of which was a highly amusing Maori cultural evening involving learning the rudiments of the hakka and dinner from a hangi – not a culinary highlight but fun. There were wineries in Hawkes Bay, a bit of culture in Wellington, whale watching in Kaikoura, a wander through the devastatingly beautiful Abel Tasman National Park,(above) more wineries in Marlborough, getting drenched in Norn Irish style horizontal rain at Pancake Rocks and the Glaciers and after a few more wineries in Otago, getting the adrenalin pumping whilst jet boating in Queenstown. It was hectic and we covered a lot of miles but even that was really pleasurable because every time we turned a corner another picture perfect landscape opened up in front of us. The only downside was not having enough time to do everything we wanted (oh yes, and emptying the camper van loo).

Being both professional wineos, visiting wineries featured unsurprisingly highly on our to-do list. There is nothing quite like meeting the people behind the wines, seeing the vineyards where the grapes are grown, and sitting outside in the beautiful sunshine having a glass of something delicious and tucking into a platter of lunchtime nibbles. Wine nerd heaven. It never ceases to amaze me how different wineries are and how their philosophy and attitude to wine pervades everything from the physical building to the set up of their cellar door. The New Zealanders have really caught on to wine tourism and are all geared up for people visiting their country and touring around the wineries. I was sometimes the girl they talked to at the cellar door at my winery. My favourites were the people on the bike tour who would turn up red-faced, wobbly-legged and gasping for water as we were the last stop. A sip of Sauvignon Blanc usually sorted them out. If wine is your thing, it’s hard to pass up the opportunity to visit a winery or two when you travel. What a lovely way to learn a thing or two about the world.

Dog Point Vineyard, Blenheim, New Zealand

Here at JN Wine we do our best to bring the vineyards and the winemakers to our customers as it is somewhat impractical to bring customers to the vineyards. This weekend we are lucky to have Matt Sutherland from the fabulous Dog Point winery in NZ coming online to chat with our customers in Crossgar. Matt will be talking through the wines and we will have them open for tasting to create as close an experience to visiting the cellar door as we can muster. Please come and join us in the shop from 3-4 this Saturday.

Join us on Saturday 25th June 3pm - 4pm , James Nicholson Wine Merchant Crossgar

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I would love to tour around California in an open top car, visiting beautiful vineyards, tasting delicious wines, eating great food, soaking up the sunshine, camping on the beach and (why not?) having a go at surfing. Sunshine is a marvellous thing. I think it makes people more relaxed, the world appear more beautiful and grapes taste sweeter!

Wines from California can be extremely charming and attractive with bright, ripe fruit, fine tannins and a supple texture. They’re the beautiful people of the wine world if you like. They are also a little more user friendly than the great French wines. There’s not so much knowledge required about the intricacies of each vintage, drinking windows and ‘going through a closed phase’ business that can make French wine so frustrating.

That’s not to say that all wines that come from the Golden State are fantastic. Making great wine takes just as much effort in California as it does anywhere else in the world and we need look no further than Ridge winery for an example. Winemaker Paul Draper has crafted over 40 vintages of Ridge wines and has earned his rightful place in the winemaking hall of fame. Ridge wines are exceptionally good and highly sought after; particularly after their success at the Judgement of Paris tasting in 1976 and ultimately coming top in the 2006 re-match with their 1971 Monte Bello Cabernet Sauvignon.

View from the top of the Ridge Vineyards

Making wine this good takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Ridge are blessed with fantastic old vines that give great fruit and of course the climate is pretty good too. Draper refers to his winemaking approach as ‘pre-industrial’ – his approach is more akin to craftsmanship. They use the best traditional pre-Prohibition techniques in synthesis with the least intrusive modern technology. They taste, taste and taste again to make their blends and selections and use minimal intervention in the cellars to make wines that are fresh, complex, have a sense of place and that develop with age. The wines are seriously good quality and are most importantly absolutely delicious.

At a tasting in Dublin earlier this year, the Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend stood head and shoulders above its Californian counterparts. Amazingly for such a cult status Californian wine it’s not absurdly expensive either. Ridge Lytton Springs and Geyserville wines are very good value as are the Santa Cruz wines which are similar to the Monte Bello labels but are at their best when young. Ridge wines combine the polished beauty and seductiveness of California with the age worthiness and class of great French wines. A treat by anyone’s standards.

View our Ridge Range

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