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For investment or future pleasure, The Great Western Wine Fine Wine Service provides in-depth personal advice on stocking a wine cellar for investment or for future drinking. A specialist wine brokering service offers professional knowledge of the international market, to ensure value on the sale and purchase of mature wines.
For details of our current exciting offers, do email Fine Wine Specialist Tom King on kingt@greatwesternwine.co.uk, or call him on 01225 322805.
January 2010
We've been surprised and very impressed by the 2008 vintage Burgundies that we've tasted so far. Despite reports of a rainy summer, a dry north wind in September promoted ripening and concentration of the crop while retaining great balancing acidity. At its best, 2008 provides exactly what Burgundy is all about: fruit ripened to the 'crunchy' stage - not overripeness - makes the wines crisp and appetising, and infused with the personalities of the individual vineyard sites from which they come.
Whites have intense fruit and opulent textures, balanced by beautiful freshness. Reds are more variable between producers, but the best are excellent: most emphasise pure fruit with soft tannins and will provide delicious drinking over the next 5 years. However, a few vineyards have produced wines that will be capable of ageing for a decade or more.
In our opinion, the best 2008 Burgundies are too good to pass over. Visit our Burgundy 2008 page for more information and to view the offer.
July 2009
All the major Port houses have declared 2007 a vintage year - quality is considered to be so high that this is the biggest Vintage Port declaration ever.
Following four hot, dry summers, 2007 benefited from early-winter rain that replenished the region's water reserves, followed by a long, temperate growing season with ideal conditions in the run up to harvest. The resultant wines have beautiful balance, vibrant fruit flavours and wonderful texture. Their intense fruit and succulent tannins make them delicious in their youth as well as capable of ageing for many years.
Leading Port expert, James Suckling, writes in The Wine Spectator (July 2009):
"To my mind, 2007 may be comparable to 1977 or 1955. The weather in 2007 was like that of 1977: sunny yet cool for most of the growing season and then hot and beautiful in September and October ... The top 1977 Vintage Ports are still youthful and reserved in style. They are not big, fat juicy Ports — they never have been — but they impress with their length, freshness and power. They are subtle and refined, and I think the 2007s are the same ... I rate 2007 at 98 points overall. It's better than 1977 or 1955 ... [and] the same as 2003. It's a much more refined and racy vintage than the big, ripe, blockbuster 2003."
Not only is 2007 considered to be as good as some of the finest vintages of the 20th Century (1945 and 1963 were also rated 98/100); the character of the wines makes it ideal to purchase for your own enjoyment in the near or distant future, or to lay down for children, godchildren or even children's children.
Our 2007 Port offer has now closed, although we do still have some availability of some of the best wines. Please email Tom King for more information about any of these wines.
January 2009
"Throughout the southern Rhone, 2007 is the greatest vintage I have tasted in my thirty years working in that region. ....Nearly every producer has attained largely unprecedented levels of quality. Moreover, the vintage is remarkably consistent from top to bottom. .... It is the vintage of my lifetime for this region, and I don't say that lightly. These 2007s will also be very long-lived given their extraordinary balance."
Everything that Parker wrote in his recent review was confirmed by our recent tastings in the Rhône Valley. 2007 is indeed a vintage to be excited about. While Châteauneuf, Gigondas, et al in the south may take the glory, we also tasted magnificent wines from Côte Rôtie, Cornas, Crozes-Hermitage and St Joseph in the north.
A cool yet dry summer and three weeks of sunny, windy, Mistral-dominated weather in September produced a crop of grapes with outstanding concentration, bright fruitiness and wonderful overall balance. This is a vintage with something for everyone, offering wines pleasurable over the next 2-5 years as well as intense, structured examples that will keep for your children, godchildren or grandchildren.
Our 2007 Rhône offer has now closed, although we do still have some availability of some of the best wines. Please click here for more information kingt@greatwesternwine.co.uk
© 2010 The Great Western Wine Company Ltd
Wells Road, Bath, BA2 3AP
