One of Le Chai's most prized whites, La Voûte is the team work of winemaker Mark Hoddy and a meticulous grower in the Limoux, Bruno Bouché. Mark's aim with this wine is to make a rich, yet mineral-fresh Burgundy-style wine at an affordable price.
He knows exactly where to source the best grapes each vintage – Bruno Bouché's Astruc vineyard in Limoux Océanique, where the vines, planted at 300 metres, benefit from both the cooling Atlantic and the warmth of the Med. It results in intense ripe fruit with excellent freshness. After careful pressing the juice is put into new barrels to ferment slowly. A further year’s ageing in oak, with lees stirring, lends a creamy texture to the peachy lemon fruit. Serve cool with creamy sauced chicken.
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You couldn’t hope to find Sauvignon of this quality for the price in any of the Loire’s more famous regions, like Sancerre or Pouilly. Blended from the year’s tastiest vats, this wine is as subtle and complex as it is refreshing and zingy. It’s made exclusively for us by our trusted friend Franck Chatelain at Noël Bougrier’s renowned cellar in the Touraine. The original Abbesse was one Louise de Bourbon of the nearby Abbaye de Fontevraud and a major figure in Loire history. This delicious expression of the region’s reigning grape, Sauvignon Blanc, is a fitting tribute to her. With its appealing, crisp, lemony fruit and zippy freshness, it’s delicious on its own any time and goes ever so well with goat’s cheese and lighter fish dishes.
For a bright, fresh Bordeaux Sauvignon, you won't beat this eight-Golds 2020 from Jean Gueridon. It's old vines with meticulous care, that give it such intensity and freshness, with a light floral touch to the citrusy fruit.
Jean Gueridon is the proud owner and winemaker of Château Les Moutins in the beautiful rolling hills of Bordeaux's Entre-Deux-Mers. Jean bought the estate in 1995 and has been upping the quality every year since. On his extensive vineyards of clay and limestone, he grows mostly Sauvignon Blanc, with a touch of Sémillon, on vines that are mostly 40 years old.
No wonder, then, the concentration in the wine is so good. It certainly bowled over judges in eight competitions, winning Gold every time. With three months ageing on its lees, the wine has lovely texture and roundness, with a creamy note to the bright citrus and grassy fruit and lift of blossom. Chilled down, it's a cracker on its own, or with seafood or goat's cheese soufflé.
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Le XV is known to thousands as our ‘King of the Big Reds’. It owes its intensity to Grenache from vines, some over 100 years old, that grow on the rocky slopes of the Pyrenean foothills in the Montagne Noire and yield only tiny quantities of grapes. Le XV also benefits from the painstaking care of self-confessed southern French wine aficionado Mark Hoddy, whose draconian selection process sees him earmark in advance every vineyard he intends to harvest and micro-manage every stage of the winemaking. This takes time, but you can taste the result in every delicious glass!
Richly textured, with layers of ripe bramble fruit kept smooth by warming alcohol and soft, ripe tannins, this is a red to enjoy with roast lamb, steak or a hearty stew.
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