During a recent isolation wine tasting with Elliot Awin, one of the questions that was asked was: ‘What’s the difference between filtered and unfiltered wines?’ And we thought we’d pick this thread up and run with it. Wine is a liquid in limbo – a step on the slippery slope that runs from grape juice […]
Do you know about these common (and not so common) wine additives? Winemaking, in theory, is such an easy process – you pick grapes, crush them and let the naturally present yeast work its magic. Using the sugar from the grapes, the yeast turns the resulting liquid from grape juice into wine. But life isn’t […]
If you’ve ever heard the term Méthode Traditionelle and wondered what it means, you aren’t alone. It’s not a phrase heard regularly in common parlance, instead, it’s a wine word associated with the process developed in the Champagne region of France, to produce bottle-fermented sparkling wines. While the phrase Méthode Traditionelle (or the Traditional Method) […]
‘Being allegedly the only two (literate) students to Graduate Healesville High School in ’97, we were always destined to work together’. Behn (the Payten) drove his first Tractor at the age of 5. Troy (the Jones) was talking by the age of 1 and hasn’t shut up since. “Naturally we fell in with the wrong […]
There is a topic on the lips of oenophiles the world over – fermentation. In particular, wild fermentation. Wild fermentation is synonymous with natural wine. Industrial fermentation is what the rest of the wine-producing world does. Now, wine doesn’t require any additional yeasts or additives to get it to ferment and produce that wondrous liquid […]
Just last week I was presented with the opportunity to stock these remarkable wines from an even more remarkable person – Frank Cornelissen. These natural wines from Mount Etna are incredibly hard to get your hands on and are produced in very small quantities, which presented us with a very attractive offer, especially when you […]
You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but can you judge a wine by its label? Not really, but Gut Oggau, which is produced by Eduard Tscheppe & Stephanie Tscheppe Eselböck by Lake Neusiedl in Austria’s Burgenland province, possibly comes closest to making this true. Before starting the winery, Eduard made conventional wine with his […]
Elisabetta Foradori – Serious Natural Wines From Italy’s Trentino Near San Michele all’Adige, on the right bank of the Adige River, a wide plain unfolds beneath the mountains: its name is Campo Rotaliano. This is where the Teroldego, one of the country’s best grapes, thrives. It is no coincidence that this striking landscape marks the […]
We recently interviewed a leading nutritional therapist – Eve Kalinik. A natural wine lover and author of Be Good to your Gut and we are delighted to share her thoughts here below. What prompted you to go down the nutritional therapy route? It sounds like such a cliché but it was really personal health […]
In the last year, we’ve seen various wacky trends in the wine industry. From the continuous love for Rosé to the rise in the popularity of sustainably produced wines. The majority of wine consumers are now millennials, and as result, they’re shaping the future of the wine industry. We can officially say that 2019 will […]
Craig Hawkins the winemaker at Testalonga is in a pretty brilliant place right now, he’s just released his new vintage to the world!! He and (wife) Carla are now ensconced in Bandits Kloof in Piketberg, the northern reaches of the Swartland; He finally has a dedicated winery with plenty of space and a steady supply […]
As we concentrate on the sustainable, environmental and health segment of the wine market, January is the perfect time to be thinking about drinking consciously rather than in quantity like over Christmas. So let’s focus on the lower alcohol, lower tannin & sulphates and more sustainably produced wines. If you’re like me, and you love overindulging at Christmas, […]
A recent article in the press reports that consumers are drinking less wine now than ever before and that 2018 has been a challenging year for the wine trade. Mainstream wine sales might be down, but organic wine sales are on the rise. Consumers are beginning to be more conscious about what they are drinking, […]
I understand that you might be like, does this guy really drink at breakfast….? My answer to that is, rather than the word ‘drink’, I use the word ‘enjoy’. Just like a Bellini, having a glass of low alcohol wine at breakfast, on a nice relaxing weekend is just perfect! After all the weekend is […]
A producer that we have grown very fond of recently – Bodegas Menade – Produced in Rueda – Enjoyed in the UK! Bodegas Menade began back in 1820 when their ancestors tended vineyards in a wide variety of sites that today form part of DO Rueda. The wine-making was produced in an underground facility in La Seca, […]
Sustainable winemaking is the catch-all term for several winemaking practices that minimise damage to the environment and, as a result, the end consumer. In most cases, this means that the winemaker will use only organic products and pesticides in their vineyards eschewing the use of chemical solutions. But whilst organic winemaking is the top […]
Biodynamic Farming is all about the complete sustainability package. For biodynamic farmers, agriculture is a sacred endeavour and the foundation for all well-being. The roots are ecological, ethical, social and spiritual. The aim is to regenerate the health and vitality of the soils, gardens and land; the integrity of our food; and the health and wholeness of the […]
Supermarket wine is a bit like Coca-Cola – the same taste, every year, at the same price. Everywhere. It is the opposite to the wine our customers buy from this platform. Our wine is small production, natural and sustainable. It is wine. Unlike commercially manufactured wine products, which are sometimes diluted from concentrate, our wine is what you […]
Five summer wines you’ve never heard of, but should almost certainly try! A lot of wine-lovers these days tend to walk into a shop, or buy online what they already know, so that’s where we come in – our job is to help you navigate through the maze of sustainable wine, and trust me even […]
For one of the oldest wine producing wine regions in the world, the wines of Greece haven’t risen quickly. Greece has been known for producing wines that don’t necessarily give it a good name – to name one; Retsina…Retsina is a uniquely flavoured wine to say the very least! A wine that is made using pine […]
These days there are many more people out there that are conscious about their health, and who are also conscious about what’s in the glass, what’s on the label, and what additives etc are actually added in the making of that given wine. ‘Wines that are suitable for vegans’ is in a basic term, alcohol […]
We are experiencing one of the most glorious summers in decades. Weeks on end of blue skies and delightful sunshine. Some Londoners have even forgotten what rain looks like. A result of global warming, weather patterns are predicted to be more volatile, hotter summers and colder winters. So we better prepare ourselves and adapt to […]
The video this week is about three new wines, a Rosé from Provence (Cru Classè estate), a new Orange wine, and a cracking Spanish Red. Subscribe to our channel here.
That question you are probably asking yourself every Monday night – ‘Which Wines Are The Best For Your Health‘? These health benefits should inspire you to pour a glass of our sustainable wine tonight. You may have heard that wine offers health benefits… Some of what you hear may be wishful thinking or the exaggerated […]