Here’s the recipe for a memorable wine experience: to one lovely venue/location (this can be anything really, from a picnic blanket on sunny day with a fabulous view to a nice restaurant or even your own kitchen) add some good food (again, the options here are virtually limitless, just make it tasty), some lovely wine (suited to aforementioned food) and stir together with liberal helpings of good humour and witty stories.  Guaranteed good times.

Welcome to the stage Bernard Repolt of Remoissenet Père et Fils.  We met Bernard at a Burgundy dinner at Ox restaurant in Belfast where he followed the formula to perfection.  We had a glass of his white Rully 2010 with a scallop and cured salmon starter – a delicious match.  The Rully was lovely, white Burgundy as it should be.  It was round and satisfying with a subtle richness that matched the scallop and salmon perfectly.  Later on, we had a red Givry with sea trout.  The Givry was lovely and fresh and bright with ripe red fruit and a hint of chocolate.  At the end of the meal, Bernard pulled out a magnum of 1978 Beaune Rouge – the pièce de résistance!  It was amazingly fresh and vibrant and a real treat to try something so mature.  Bernard was serving the wine himself, charming everyone present with his wit and somewhat irreverent sense of humour.  Result? A room full of happy people who won’t forget him in a hurry.

The next day, Bernard and his charming wife Céline came to Crossgar to taste more of the wines with us and tell us about what Remoissenet is all about.  Bernard is an ex-president of Louis Jadot where he worked with his wife.  He told us that she fired him so he got the job with Remoissenet (not many of his witty stories are printable).  It’s an old domaine but after M. Remoissenet retired, it was sold and given something of a facelift.  Bernard plays a pivotal role in the revitalisation of the business; he oversees the winemaking and all the business processes.  He’s also in charge of their incredible cellar of older wines which is really unique and very exciting.  Very few people have access to such a rich resource and he plans on releasing them in small quantities over time.

The wines are really tasty and have that drinkability factor that sometimes eludes even very well made wines.  The reds are picked late to ensure the grapes are totally ripe and there are no green or bitter flavours in the wine.  The JN selection of Remoissenet reds includes:

Remoissenet Santenay Grand Clos Rousseau 2010

Remoissenet Givry Rouge 'Roi Henri' 2011

Remoissenet Gevrey Chambertin 2010

The whites all have a freshness and elegance about them – they’re subtle with very little oak flavour but they have lovely texture and ripe stone fruit flavour.  Some are showing signs of maturity with complex, earthy notes.  The JN selection of Remoissenet whites includes:

Remoissenet Givry Blanc 2010

Remoissenet Chablis Premier Cru Fourchaume 2010

Remoissenet Rully Blanc 2010

Remoissenet Saint Romain Blanc 2009

Remoissenet Chass. Montrachet Vergers 2010

These are fantastic food wines so we suggest you get a bottle or two in and invite some of the people you love round for dinner.  Because that, let’s face it, is what it’s all about.

Date: Thursday 30 May 2013
Time: 7.30 - 9.30pm
Cost: £30 per person
Venue: JN, Crossgar

Wine, women and...well no, we'll not promise any songs!! Just a great night's celebration of the feminine side of wine. The evening will be hosted by Jane Boyce MW, Fine wine manager here at JN Wine and the only female Master of Wine in Ireland. After a welcoming glass of bubbly we will taste a carefully selected range of wines made by some of our favourite female winemakers. These will include wines from Celine Chauvet, Gigondas in the Rhone, Judy Finn from Neudorf in New Zealand, Sophia Berquist's Quinta de la Rosa estate in Portugal, Angela Martin from Castro Martin in North West Spain, Berenice Lurton from Chateau Climens, Ximena Pacheco of Vina Casablanca in Chile and Elisabetta Foradori from the Dolomites in Italy. There will be prizes to be won and a delicious selection of canapés will be served alongside the wines. Women only please!!

Tickets must be purchased in advance from James Nicholson Wine Merchant. Places are limited.

Get tickets here

Saturday 27th April 2013
3pm-4pm
The Tasting Room, Crossgar
Tickets £10.00 for Two

There is no better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than with one of South Africa's most charismatic and passionate winemakers. Adi Badenhorst from A.A Badenhorst wines will be bringing his native warmth and humour to our tasting room in Crossgar. He will be filling us in on life as a winemaker in Swartland, the joys of Chenin Blanc, blending reds, leading revolutions, and of course we will be doing some tasting too.

Get the shopping done early and reward yourself with some good-humoured, informal, quality wine time.  You never know - you might discover your new favourite wine.  

New to JN, Tasty Tastings, this is the first in a series of informal winemaker tastings due to take place on Saturday afternoons.

Get tickets here

There isn’t a great deal of glamour to be found in your average winery.  Wellington boots or steel capped work shoes, endless cleaning, hosing and mopping, wine stained clothes and a general lack of grooming are all pretty much de rigeur.  The glamorous part sometimes happens when all the work is done and it’s time to open the bottles.  Jim and Chris were at Domaine Gayda in the South of France a couple of months ago and they had a pretty good glamorous wine tale to tell.

Gayda have recently launched 2 new wines; Freestyle Rouge and Freestyle Blanc.  And at what glamorous occasion were these wines being opened?  A wine dinner?  A press launch?  A tasting at a fancy hotel?  Not exactly.  At the Skyfall Premiere.  Yes, the Skyfall Premiere.  James Bond, Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Javier Bardem, red carpets, the world’s media, the whole shebang.  Cool.  Or Dench as the kids say.

The labels feature a chap parachuting out of the sky.  Apparently they’re not in cahoots with Danny Boyle or the Royal Family – it’s pure coincidence and the label is designed to reflect Gayda’s liberated and unconstrained philosophy of winemaking.

What about the contents I hear you ask?  Is this stuff worth drinking?  Well, come down to Crossgar and see for yourself.  The wines will be open tomorrow and Saturday for tasting.  The only thing we still need to figure out is how to get Daniel Craig helicoptered over here for the full effect….

Freestyle Blanc 2011

Tasting Note:

Deep gold colour, very aromatic, with hints of stonefruit and honeysuckle. A rich full bodied wine with real depth, weight and concentration and a hint of oak to add further complexity. A lot of personality. Drinkable now but will continue to develop and improve over the next 5 years.

Press Reviews:

“Slightly smoky. Good, racy stuff.” - Jancis Robinson
"Crisp and fruity with plenty of peach and Fuji apple flavours, accented by rich, spicy notes. Rich, creamy notes fill the finish." - Wine Spectator

Freestyle Rouge 2011

Tasting Note:

Ruby red with some purple highlights. Vibrant, expressive nose of red and black fruits, pepper, spice and “garrigue”. A full bodied wine, with an expansive mouthfeel, integrated tannins and a long, silky finish.

Press Reviews:

“Deep crimson. Rich and herby. Well balanced. Spicy and sweet.” - Jancis Robinson
“Good structure and length, nice dark fruit, firm tannins with a good potential.” - Andreas Larsson
"...lots of garriguey southern briar fruits, vigorous depth and natural acidity... very well made" - Stephen Spurrier

Two new wines from the foot of the Montagne Noire and the Saint Jean de Minervois Plateau in the little commune of Agel. The white is a blend of Maccabeu,Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, Vermentino and Muscat which produces a deliciously elegant, fruity and rich wine. The red is a blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah and the end result is an intense, chocolatey full bodied glass of wine.

Above - Winemaker & head of the cellars Jean Francois Bernabeu with Robin Budowski, one of the owners at Château D'Agel.

Chateau d’Agel Les Bonnes AOC Rouge 2010

This wine form Minervois is new to JN (April 2012). The vineyard is sited at the foot of La Montagne Noire (black mountain) on the limestone plateau of Saint Jean de Minervois in the tiny commune of Agel. Following a tasting, we just couldn't resist this fresh, succulent red, made from Carignan, Grenache and Syrah grapes. Gentle vinification follows manual harvesting of the grapes resulting in supple tannins and fruit-filled aromas and flavours. Grilled meats would make ideal culinary companions for this great-value wine. Ideally, serve at about 15°C.

Chateau D'Agel Les Bonnes Blanc 2010

A new wine to JN from Minervois. The vineyard is sited at the foot of La Montagne Noire (black mountain) on the limestone plateau of Saint Jean de Minervois in the tiny commune of Agel. The wine is a blend of Maccabeu, Roussanne, Vementino and Grenache Blanc grapes, some of which are sourced from vines of over 50 years of age. The grapes are harvested by hand and vinified under temperature controlled conditions.The result is a fresh wine with enticing floral aromas. Drink at 10 - 12°C with grilled fish or shellfish.

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