Why We Like It

Champagne Lamiable saved our honeymoon... well, one day of it at least. Whilst we had a few visits in the diary, we left a couple of afternoons free to pop-in to some producers on-the-fly. Little did we know that the Champenoise don’t really do on-the-fly. Cue a few hours hopelessly driving around the Montagne-de-Reims trying to find someone who would pour us a glass of the good stuff.

This is where Lamiable came in. We pulled up to the traditionally charming farmhouse in Tours-sure-Marne, ‘Degustation s'il vous plaît’ we said in our finest GCSE French. To cut a long story short, in the space of half an hour we had tasted wonderful wine, met winemakers Ophelie and Arnaud and even wished Pierre, Ophelie’s father who planted the vines back in the 50s, a bon anniversarie! This is real Grower Champagne.

What To Expect

Having a party? This is the joyous pour of pink that you need. Elegant red fruits backed up with that clean minerality on the palate. As with the Souffle d’Etoiles, we have a Pinot Noir dominant (60%) blend, 10% of which is red wine, to give us the delicate pink colour. 40% of the wine comes from the perpetual reserve and it’s completed with a low dosage of 4.3g/ltr. Another case-and-point example of growers providing an excellent wine for far less than the big boys.

Chardonnay, Pinot Noir / 12.5% / Tours-sur-Marne, Champagne, France / 75cl

Why We Like It

Interesting story coming soon…

What To Expect

It’s great! 

Proper tasting note coming soon… 

Muscat of Alexandria, Doradilla / 13% / Malaga, Spain / 75cl

Why We Like It

Usually we try to write everything in these blurbs ourselves, but Craven themselves sum it up so succinctly; ‘Honest, pure wines from single sites’. Tasting their 2022 Chardonnay was a bit of an epiphany of us. Such precision and purity at an ABV of 11.5% was not something we had experienced before. On that basis, we ordered across the board.

It’s also very important that we say here, these are not your typical big, bold, oaked Stellenbosch wines. The name of the game here is expression of fruit and site. Winemaking is hands off; no cultured yeast, fining agents or enzymes get anywhere near Mick and Jeanine’s wines.

We implore you to give them a go, you’ll see a side to Stellenbosch you might not have experienced before.

What To Expect

With this wine… quite literally, the unexpected. A skin-contact Pinot Gris with a gorgeous rich pinky orange colour. It’s a textural experience backed up by ripe citrus, orange peel and nectarine. Chill it down as an aperitif, or let it warm up a bit with food. It’s a curiosity that is immensely moorish.

Pinot Gris / 12% / Stellenbosch, South Africa / 75cl

Why We Like It

It was in an otherwise unremarkable Angers restaurant many years ago that we had one of a few pivotal moments in our wine journey. Laura’s dad ordered a couple of local bottles, ‘you’ll like this’ he said…. and that was it. Cabernet Franc in all its crunchy fruited, pencil lead, bell pepper glory with it’s wondrously waxy, golden apple filled sister Chenin Blanc had us hooked.

Chateau Yvonne is one of the most well regarded producers in the famous appellation of Saumur Champigny, just down from where we sipped those two formative bottles. It is also one of the most historic, dating back to the 16th Century. Organic since it’s reawakening in 1997 and now fully biodynamic since 2012, everything here is done by hand and it’s that attention to detail that makes the wines so special.

What To Expect

Pineau D’Aunis is the Loire’s forgotten red red grape. Traditionally this light, peppery, aromatic grape is made into rosé, but adventurous winemakers such as Mathieu Vallée at Chateau Yvonne are harnessing warmer temperatures and old vines to make delicate and captivating red wines. Bay Rouge is Mathieu’s example of this and is well worth a try is you’re a fan of a lighter, savoury red.

Pineau D'Aunis / 11.5% / Loire, France / 75cl