Welcome to the new year and a very exciting one in the world of wine .

The 2008 burgundies are beginning to emerge and there are some good efforts from a challenging vintage. The whites are generally better and we have tasted some fresh zingy styles with good fruit concentration and crisp acidities. You don’t have to spend too much to find good quality. Some of the best values are the village and 1er crus from Chablis, Rully and Beaune. We will have an offer out shortly on these and a few of the fuller fruity reds from the better growers.

The 2009 Bordeaux prices will be released in the spring. We will taste these in late March and early reports suggest a classic year with good depth of fruit and balance close to 2005 in quality. Our notes will be out in April before the prices are released and journalist scores. If you have a few purchases in mind let us know as we will be offering the choice of the crop.

Our current list represents a fine selection from  the classic regions  with some attractive wines on sale. We have some wonderful grand crus acquired from private cellars, chateaux and domaines.  Outside of France, some glorious wines have arrived from Italy, Spain, South Africa and Portugal.  The great 2007s are here and this is ‘must have’ vintage Port year. They are exceptionally fine but structured for the long haul.

Meanwhile sip away the winter with some classic back vintages we can offer from Graham, Warre , Fonseca amongst others. If these are too rich we have a beautiful dessert wine from Switzerland called Mitis or a few Sauternes.