Partly because I know I will be up to my eyes in Bordeaux 2012s in Southwold this week and partly because the email below is just so delightful, instead of publishing a wine of the week today, I am publishing what Purple Pager Andy MacFaul sent us recently. I hope you will forgive this blowing of our own trumpet.
Happy New Year, Tam and the team.
Just to follow up on the last email, in 2015 I bought 14 of the wines that the team recommended as wines of the week: Trinity Hill's Gimblett, Sanchez Romate Fino Perdido; Wynns Cab Sauv (but not the 2010 Waitrose 'sold' me – maybe you could stick the boot into them one of these days; many of us are not happy with them); Tanners Super Claret; Clonakilla Hilltops; Dom Begude Pinot; Dom de Vedilhan Serica Viognier; Acústic Blanc Monsant, Claudie Jobard Les Cloux Rully; Edoardo Miroglio Soli Pinot Noir; Ermita del Conde Albillo; Clos des Fous Locura Chardonnay; and Alpha Hedgehog Xinomavro 2010. Also tried to get the Ch Reynon Cadillac 2010 but it had all gone.
I perhaps slightly hijacked the 'what I was drinking on Christmas Day' thread to highlight some of the other wines you recommended that I've enjoyed recently but my musings were trumped by the tasting note on the Cheval Blanc 1990 – sadly not a wine I'm ever likely to taste! But I can't emphasise strongly enough how much importance I attach to your tasting notes and recommendations when deciding what wines to buy. Almost of all my purchases seem to have GV, VGV or VVGV somewhere in the tasting note. It all goes to prove that there is now so much good quality wine from around the world and you don't have to break the bank to get them either. And I wouldn't know about any of them were it not for the indispensable intelligence provided by Purple Pages!
Regards
Andy
PS On New Year's Day it was the turn of my wife and I to host a family gathering and with the turkey we greatly enjoyed our last bottle of Patrick Javillier's Cuvée Oligocène 2010 and a bottle of Julien Sunier's 2011 Fleurie, both bought because of your recommendations. Both were drinking superbly well – wish I had more of the Javillier!
The picture above was kindly provided by Andy, showing some of his collection – or what remains of it!