The Wine Merchant's Blog

Congratulations to all at Domaine Gayda; 94/100 for their ‘Chemin de Moscou’ 2008! Voted 4th best Red wine in the Languedoc Roussillon and 37th best in France in the SIAL 2010 Best Buy Awards. The JN Taste Team visited Domaine Gayda back in March 2010; welcomed warmly by Gayda’s charismatic wine maker, Vincent Chansault. We […]

Woe is me. I have just spent a busy morning’s work tasting Louis Roederer Champagne followed by Ramos Pinto Tawny Ports with MW Mark Bingley as our entertaining personal sommelier. Prior to the tasting I couldn’t claim to be the world’s most educated port drinker, I tend to stick to pudding wines for that after-dinner […]

When we were visiting Château de Beauregard, Bértrand showed us the small part of their cellar where they keep a library of past vintages. These bottles are reserved for periodic tastings to chart the maturation and development of the wines. The ageing of wines is a really interesting subject, and in true oenological style, quite […]

Founded in Riems in 1776, the same year that saw the birth of the United States of America, Louis Roederer is still an independent family-owned business. Although best known for the iconic Cristal, synonymous with indulgence and hype, courtesy of the likes of Jay Z, P Diddy and Posh and Becks, the big seller with […]

A couple of years ago I was flush enough to buy a case of Coudoulet de Beaucastel en primeur (an arrangement where you buy wine before it is bottled and postpone Vat and Duty payment until you receive the wine). The 2007 vintage in the Rhône had been widely flagged as exceptional, being described by […]

Louis Roederer Champagne, Value for Money I am just back from 24 hours in Champagne and have to say I am now a believer that champagne is actually good value for money. Did you know most of the Champagne houses have to buy in their grapes? This year the price is €6.00 per kilo.. Louis […]

On our recent visit to Burgundy we had the pleasure of meeting Patrick Javillier and his daughter Marion at their winery in Meursault. The Javilliers are very charming people who make very charming wines. Amongst others, Patrick makes 2 Bourgogne Blanc wines – Cuvée des Forgets and Cuvée Oligocène as well as a Meursault called […]

Share Share our press reviews James Nicholson, the straight talking award-winning owner of JN Wines and chairman of Down Royal Racecourse, is a self-confessed horse racing fanatic, but wine is his greatest passion and it shows… Co Down Wine Merchant James Nicholson is a refreshingly straight-talking man. There’s no wilfully precious wine speak, no refrences […]

“Every wine has it’s time; you just need to make sure you drink it when it’s ready.” On a recent trip to Burgundy I think I had something of an epiphany. In the past, I will admit, I have found red Burgundies difficult to get to grips with. It seemed to me that being able […]

It never ceases to amaze me how many people fill their wine glass to the top. This is not a rant just an observation that is a shame not to be able to swirl the wine in the glass and enjoy the aromas of the wine as the smell is 90% of the taste. The […]

Now we are coming into the season for winter fires, robust wines and game which work perfectly with pinot and syrah/shiraz. Even better if the wines have a few years’ bottle age and whose bright youthful fruit flavours have been replaced by subtle more mellow flavours and sometimes the farmyard aromas of Pinot Noir is […]

A few lucky members of the JN taste team are just back from a whirl wind trip in Burgundy. It was a great chance to catch up with suppliers all be it briefly as they were just commencing the harvest. Burgundy is one of the most picturesque parts of France, small villages with numerous tiny […]