Year: 2017

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Christmas Whirly wine mixed case offer & Smoked salmon from the Weald smokery, East Sussex….come in and order before the 7th December…..

 

 

Mr Whirly’s Christmas cases, chosen to match classic Christmas fare!

Half dozen

Amboise Tourraine, Bonnigal Vignerons, Limeray, Loire: richer than most Sauvignons from Tourraine since its been left on the lees for 5 months. Great match with smoked salmon.

Chateau Domaine de Viaud, Cote de Bourg, 2010, Bordeaux: soft tannins elegant Merlot based Bordeaux from Blaye, a mile across the Gironde from St Estephe. Wonderful with beef and cheese as well as most festive red meats and cheese

Azienda Marzuco, Syrah 2016, Castelvetrano, Sicily: Light, elegant Syrah, only 12.5 alc vol so very unusual indeed, normally Syrah is 14-15% alc vol. Wonderful wine with ham on Boxing day, it would take a little spice, if the ham has been baked in this way. Fruit led, red cherries with some soft black pepper.

Azienda Marzuco, Vermentino 2016, Castelvetrano, Sicily: The grape is from Sardinia but this is made in Sicily. Linear clean white wine with some mediterranean salt on the palate with ripe melon. Great with shellfish,  fish or even Turkey.

Mas Rous, Muscat 2012, Cotes Catalane: dry Muscat, firm and grippy with some lovely orange zest on the finish. Great with goats cheese, Pecorino and Monchego.

Velenosi, Visciole NV, Marche, Italy: Old traditional way of making pudding wines in Marche, italy. They pick cherries in late Spring and make a syrup from the grapes then add grape juice from La Crima and Rosso Piceno grapes in September. Great freshness and acidity, you can really taste the red cherries. Perfect with Black forest Gateau ( the wine matches perfectly with chocolate)

Total: £92.50

Dozen

Domaine Robert, Limoux NV: cracking, crisp dry sparkling from Limoux near Carcassone, S. France,

made from Mauzac and a little Chenin. Great alternative to Champagne, made in the same way and not quite so expensive.

Azienda Marzuco, Vermentino 2016, Castelvetrano, Sicily: The grape is from Sardinia but this is made in Sicily. Linear clean white wine with some mediterranean salt on the palate with ripe melon. Great with shellfish,  fish or even Turkey.

Amboise Tourraine, Bonnigal Vignerons, Limeray, Loire: richer than most Sauvignons from Tourraine since its been left on the lees for 5 months. Great match with smoked salmon on Christmas day morning as the lunch is prepared.

Graziano Chenin Blanc 2011, Mendocino, California: top end Chenin, not from the Loure, its home but from cool climate Mendocino in Northern California. Vanilla and cream bounce out of the glass. This wine is drinking beautifully for a 7 year old wine from California and shows that wines of this age can be made to last and develop in the bottle over this sort of time. Wonderful alternative to old Chardonnay.

Stefano Lubiana, Chardonnay 2016, “ Primavera” : another elegant wine from Lubiana, in the south of the apple isle, Tasmania, near Hobart. Oaked gently, cool climate Chardonnay of delight and wonder. Pick some quiet evening over Christmas and sit down and enjoy.

Willespie, Margaret river white 2011, WA: a blend Of chardonnay,Verdelho, Riesling and Semillon from one of the top wine regions of Australia: takes Pork ands spicy dishes oh so well.

Chateau Domaine de Viaud, Cote de Bourg, 2010, Bordeaux: soft tannins elegant Merlot based Bordeaux from Blaye, a mile across the Gironde from St Estephe. Wonderful with beef and cheese as well as most festive red meats and cheese

Stefano Lubiana Pinot Noir 2013, “ Primavera”: elegant, fruit forward Pinot from Tasmania, one of the most exciting new world destinations for this elegant grape. Cool climate country down here. Strawberry and summer fruit notes with some spice and

Azienda Marzuco, Syrah 2016, Castelvetrano, Sicily: Light, elegant Syrah, only 12.5 alc vol so very unusual indeed, normally Syrah is 14-15% alc vol. Wonderful wine with ham on Boxing day, it would take a little spice, if the ham has been baked in this way. Fruit led, red cherries with some soft black pepper.

Mas Rous, Muscat 2012, Cotes Catalane: dry Muscat, firm and grippy with some lovely orange zest on the finish. Great with goats cheese and Monchego.

Lillypilly Noble Blend 2006: Noble rot, blend of Semillon, Gewurtz, pineapple with orange blossom. Perfect sticky with a steamed ginger pudding or something similar.

Velenosi, Visciole, NV, Marche, Italy: Old traditional way of making pudding wines in Marche, italy. They pick cherries in late Spring and make a syrup from the grapes then add grape juice from La Crima and Rosso Piceno grapes in September. Great freshness and acidity, you can really taste the red cherries. Perfect with Black forest Gateau ( the wine matches perfectly with chocolate)

Total: £242.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weald Salmon, Flimwell, East Sussex

Whole side of Salmon unsliced: £45.00

Sliced side of smoked salmon: £48.00

Premier grade Gravadlax, whole side ; £52.50

Packs of 200 grams salmon: £12-14

Packs of 400 grams Salmon: £20-24

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Wines of the Month: November 2017

November wines of the Month…..

Its an all italian affair but from opposite ends of the country: Verona in the North east and Sicily in the South west.

Its all about simple wines that offer great value for money here in the wine shop. I have made a massive effort this year to curb my desire to buy lush, expensive premium wines since generally people want to have good wines at under £10.00 a bottle. So from Verona and Villa Aganoor some simple yet very drinkable wines that are only £8.75 a bottle.

Pinot Grigio 2016: Vibrant and weighty Grigio, not insipid and dull like some many of this varietal at the price point. Lemony fresh, clean yet with some fruit and weight.

Sauvignon Blanc 2016: lemon and limes on the palate and nose.  At this price point I just want people to have a glass then to want another one. I manage to achieve this with all these wines from this vineyard

Merlot 2016:  Fresh, young Merlot, not oak, soft tannins and fruit led. No gimmicks, does what it says on the can.

On the left in the picture below are the two wines from Azienda Marzuco in Castelvetrano, South West Sicily. So Far in the shop these wines have been a delight to sell to customers here on Ritherdon road. The Vermentino is not at all like the wine made in Sardinia, its home. Its not so fragrant and floral, its more linear and steely but with that lovely Mediterranean sea salt mouth feel blended with some ripe Melon. Its a great addition to the shelves here at Whirly wines and together with the 12.5% alc vol Syrah, soft white pepper, red cherry and blackberry lead wine, which really is very different since its so light and fresh so perfect with some wild pigeon or partridge just coming into season now in your butchers windows or farmers markets stalls. I love this wine. At £12.95 here in the whirly wine shop it rocks too. Great value and great quality wine and its by far the most popular wine in terms of sales for the last 8 weeks. Come on in soon and give it a whirl, if you are lucky there will be one open you can try before you buy!

 

Mr Whirly

 

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Wine tastings in Tooting with Whirly wines

Looking to book a wine tasting event this Autumn? Then look no further than book a night here at Whirly wines.

Throughout the Autumn you can book a wine tasting event for you and your friends here at the Whirly wine shop. Every Thursday I hold an event that you can join and these tastings are shown on the events page so do have a look there if you would like to join one of those group wine tastings. If however you would like to tailor make your own wine tasting for you and your friends then try to get 8 of you together if you can, thats the perfect number and let me know a date you would like to book. Usual tasting include 5 wines,  75 ml measures, snacks and 90 minutes of fun and a little learning too maybe: £25.00 per person.

email: [email protected]

 

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Wine tastings for the months ahead: new wines from Verona just in; Cider from Monmouthshire, Craft beer from Brixton and Kew Brewery, Kernels and Harvey’s: two shopping nights for the diary, 12th and 30th November.

Its already October and Autumn is very much in the air, the tree’s on Clapham Common today looked resplendent in the late afternoon sun. With this change of season brings new and exciting developments in the Whirly wine shop.

First of all on the Sunday 12th November  Whirly wines and all the shops on the street are hosting a Winter street fair with a difference. There will be an abundance of stalls on the street and I shall be teaming up with Brindisa outside and Mr whirly will match a wine with some of their food choices and will be making the most amazing mulled wine on the wood burner outside the front of the shop. Charity lucky dip, raffle with fantastic prizes, meet and make friends, local community event, Christmas tree, wreath and garland orders, gifts and accessories and complimentary wine and nibbles at Whirly Wines too!  On the Thursday 30th November we are hosting a Christmas shopping evening. Come in and taste some new craft beers from Brixton Brewery, some delicious wines from the Barrel from Sicily that you can fill up for only £8.25 for a bottle from the barrel, order your mixed case of Whirly wines for Christmas, geared to Christmas menu classics as well as order and taste Smoked salmon from the Weald Smokery in East Sussex. We shall also have a Christmas Charity raffle in association with Macmillan Cancer research.

In this next week, 17th October are some very simple yet good wines from Verona and Villa Aganoor. Some Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot wines, priced at £8.50 a bottle. This will give whirly wines an offering of 12 wines under the £8.50 price point, vital these days when you the customer are looking for easy drinking wines at sensible prices that are made correctly.

From the 19th October we will stock a whole range of new drinks too! Small batch Cider making from Monmouthshire as well as Great bottled Craft beer from the smaller brewery, dotted around the South of London, from Kew in the west to Brixton and further north to Bermondsey. So together with a new array of beers from Harvey’s in Sussex, Whirly wines will offer you a fabulous choice of other drinks to enjoy from small, quality producers.

I have also detailed some really individual wines tastings on the events page throughout October and November, do have a look on there and book into one of them soon won’t you! This is a great way to taste some really top end and beautiful wines in a affordable way so do support these evenings since they are pretty special and unique for the local postcode of SW17, there aren’t many wine shops that offer this service, showcasing hand sourced wines from such quality producers.

More soon no Doubt

 

Mr Whirly

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Sicily wines arrive September 2nd 2017……

Mr Whirly is very excited to present you ten new wines from his recent trip to Sicily in May this year, from the small “Cantine Gulino” in Siracusa, where the boot of Sicily kicks the football of Sicily and the place where civilisation was born in 800BC, we have an abundance of grapes specific to this small wine region; then from Castelvetrano, famous for its olives as well as its vines  that are very close to Port Palo, an old destination for myself, Simon and Becky Thomas and Bob Parkinson ( Owns ” Food by Bob” in Cirencester) from a few decades ago, since it has a great beach and restaurant called ” Vittorio’s”, we have some delicious low alcohol wines that offer wonderful value for money for the 750ml bottled Vermentino and Syrah as well as “Bag in Box” Cattarato and Syrah-Nero D’Avola from only £8.25 a 750ml bottle.

Pictured at the bottom of this post, the very special “Moscato de Siracusa” wines ( ” Don Nuzzo” and ” Jaraya”)  from this vineyard, grapes that are specific to Siracusa, sun dried off and on the vine and pure deliciousness in a glass, full of fresh figs and apricots. Then we have the ” Pretiosa” label, 100% Albanello, another grape specific to this delightful town,  this wine had really interesting palate of ripe Melon and Mediterranean sea salt and would be perfect with Scallops or some other shellfish. “Cantine Gulino” are the only producer that make the Albanello grape in a single varietal wine. Its beautifully different, therefore a great ” Whirly wine”. The Next white is ” Fania” a gorgeous Aperitif style wine, blending Fiano from Napoli and the ” King of Grapes from Sicily”, Insolia, to make a summer flower wine perfect as an Aperitif wine and with a light lunches. On a recent wine tasting tour with restaurant clients in Scotland and Wales this wine was the most popular of the white wines we tasted. Two reds wrap up this array of wines, the ” Fanus” which is an un-oaked wine, Nero D’Avola and Syrah, very earthy and natural in its style, very much a wine that allows both grapes to express themselves as they are and the “Dru’s”, 100% Nero D’Avola, the main red grape of Sicily and again the home of which is here; 12 Months on oak and seriously big yet refined juice. The reason why I am writing about these wines is because of this wine, tasted in London in January and now imported to the UK 6 months later. Buy it and enjoy it. Needs a nice steak or possibly Grouse, now that they are in season.

From Castelvetrano and ” Azienda Marzuco” we have four more wines that also show themselves off in a sunset over Mendocino light, but at a price point of £8.25 & £11.95 a bottle. Their Vermentino, a grape originally from Sardinia, is a more linear and tight version of the mould found in the island a few hundreds miles north of Sicily, but with a little time once you pull the cork it really begins to open up and blossom, with honeysuckle and flowers on the palate and nose. Their Syrah is at £11.95,

another great find, since its extremely rare to find a Syrah at only 12.5% Alc vol. It has hints of white pepper spice, but the colour and taste is more like a richer Pinot Noir to be honest. It also had some lovely spiced berry fruit, cherries and blackberries and really expresses itself very brightly and happily. Then the find of all the wines at the moment in your local SW17 wine shop is the Nero D’Avola and Syrah from Cantina Gulino out of the ” Barrel”, another light wine in colour and alcohol at 12.5% alc vol, simply bright red cherries in a glass and quite the most deliciously drinkable wine you will find in London at the moment at £8.25 a bottle. Their Cattarato- Trebbiano out of the barrel is pretty damn good too, at the same price, spicy stoned fruit wine, clean and zingy and so easy to drink. So Whirly wine now serves 5 wines for you from the barrel at an affordable price of under £10 a bottle so please come in, taste before you buy and there are not many wine shops you can do that in whatever city you are living in around the world, and support your local wine business. I am not in anyway expensive, no one can say that of Whirly wines and yet the quality of the wine, I can guarantee you, will far surpass anything from my supermarket friends around each corner of Ritherdon road. So come into your local wine business, support Whirly wines NOW….

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Sicily, a whole array of delights in your local wine shop in SW17…..Now serving 5 wines from the barrel from only £8.25 a 750ml bottle ( please bring one with you)

Mr Whirly is very excited to present you ten new wines from his recent trip to Sicily in May this year, from the small “Cantine Gulino” in Siracusa, where the boot of Sicily kicks the football of Sicily and the place where civilisation was born in 800BC, we have an abundance of grapes specific to this small wine region; then from Castelvetrano, famous for its olives as well as its vines  that are very close to Port Palo, an old destination for myself, Simon and Becky Thomas and Bob Parkinson ( Owns ” Food by Bob” in Cirencester) from a few decades ago, since it has a great beach and restaurant called ” Vittorio’s”, we have some delicious low alcohol wines that offer wonderful value for money for the 750ml bottled Vermentino and Syrah ( £11.95) as well as “Bag in Box” Cattarato and Syrah-Nero D’Avola from only £8.25 a 750ml bottle.

Pictured at the bottom of this post, the very special “Moscato de Siracusa” wines ( ” Don Nuzzo” and ” Jaraya”)  from this vineyard, grapes that are specific to Siracusa, sun dried off and on the vine and pure deliciousness in a glass, full of fresh figs and apricots but too syrupy at all, very fresh and acidic.  Then we have the ” Pretiosa” label, 100% Albanello, another grape specific to this delightful city,  this wine had really interesting palate of ripe Melon and Mediterranean sea salt and would be perfect with Scallops or some other shellfish. “Cantine Gulino” are the only producer that make the Albanello grape in a single varietal wine. Its beautifully different, therefore a great ” Whirly wine”. The Next white is ” Fania” a gorgeous Aperitif style wine, blending Fiano from Napoli and the ” King of Grapes from Sicily”, Insolia, to make a summer flower wine, perfect as an Aperitif wine. On a recent tasting tour of Scotland and Wales this wine was the most popular of the white wines we tasted. Two reds wrap up this array of wines, the ” Fanus” which is an un-oaked wine, Nero D’Avola and Syrah, very earthy and natural in its style, very much a wine that allows both grapes to express themselves as they are and the “Dru’s”, 100% Nero D’Avola, the main red grape of Sicily and again the home of  this grape is here in Siracusa; 12 Months on oak and seriously big yet refined juice. The reason why I am writing about these wines is because of this wine, tasted in London in January and now imported to the UK six months. Buy it and enjoy it. Needs a nice steak or possibly Grouse, now that they are in season.

From Castelvetrano and ” Azienda Marzuco” we have four more wines that also show themselves off in a sunset over Mendocino light, but at a price point of £8.25 and £11.95 a bottle. Their Vermentino, a grape originally from Sardinia, is a more linear and tight version of the mould found in the island a few hundreds miles north of Sicily, but with a little time once you pull the cork it really begins to open up and blossom, with honeysuckle and flowers on the palate and nose. Their Syrah is at £11.95,

another great find, since its extremely rare to find a Syrah at only 12.5% Alc vol. It has hints of white pepper spice, but the colour and taste is more like a richer Pinot Noir to be honest. It also had some lovely spiced berry fruit, cherries and blackberries and really expresses itself very brightly and happily. Then the find of all the wines at the moment in your local SW17 wine shop is the Nero D’Avola and Syrah from Cantina Gulino out of the ” Barrel”, another light wine in colour and alcohol at 12.5% alc vol, simply bright red cherries in a glass and quite the most drinkable wine you will find in London at the moment at £8.25 a bottle. Their Cattarato- Trebbiano out of the barrel is pretty damn good too, at the same price, spicy stoned fruit, clean and zingy and so easy to drink. So Whirly wine now serves 5 wines for you from the barrel at an affordable price of under £10 a bottle so please come in, taste before you buy and there are not many wine shops you can do that in, whatever city you are living in around the world, and support your local wines business. I am not in anyway expensive, no one can say that of Whirly wines and yet the quality of the wine, I can guarantee you, will far surpass anything from my supermarket friends around each corner of Ritherdon road. So come into your local wine business, support Whirly wines NOW….I need your support….

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New wines just arrived from Greece: August 6th 2017


” Greece is the word!”

Its great to have some some new exciting wines in the shop and having had the wines in the shop now for a week I am pleased with the way they are tasting and being received. The range is good too, since I am now able to offer wines for as little as £8.50 for the Ionos White and Rose from Achaia, made from ancient Greek grapes, Roditis and a little Muscat and Syrah. The middle wine in the photo is a fragrant elderflower and Thyme dry Muscat, well worth the price tag of £11.95 then you have two reds, a 100% Agiorgitiko, a herbaceous, earthy and slightly bitter red, 2010 that needs a little time to get going but is another worthy cork opener at £13.75 then on the far right the Cuvee 111; a blend of Agiorgitiko, Mavrodafne and Cabernet, quite rich and with some ripe berry fruit but delicious with some big red meats, £14.70. So do come in soon and give these Greek gods a whirl, they are well worth a splash out of the bottle and a whirl!

 

Mr Whirly

 

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Wine of the Month: August 2017

” Greece is the word”

Its a difficult choice to be honest since we have imported so many wines this last few weeks. However I shall keep the focus in August on Greece and focus on the Peloponnese wines and in particular the Ionos White from Cavino, a non vintage wine but at £8.50 a real bargain and easy and delicious to consume.

Its tough nowadays to find wines at this price point that are easy to drink. By that I mean most wines at this price point you have a glass of and you in no way would care for another. That’s the simple objective with these wines, to simply create the desire to want more! The grapes for this wine is Roditis, an ancient grape that dates back to the 1st Century. Its a citrus rich grape, very limey with a hint of chalkiness and a little Muscat that fills it out a little and adds some weight and fragrance. Its the perfect accompaniment to shellfish and classic pan fried fish for example. I urge you to come into the shop in the coming weeks and taste it. At the whirly wine shop you can actually taste a great deal of wines before you buy them, guaranteeing that you, the customer are not wasting your money! Not many wine shops offer that do they, the supermarkets certainly don’t, so come on in an taste before you buy!

Hoping to see you at the whirly wine shop, 22 Ritherdon Road, SW17 8QD soon but be warned the shop is closed a great deal between 10-22nd August so look at the shop hour post on this site to check when I am open. The bottle is second from the left with the forest green label.

 

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Reduced Shop Opening Hours in August….

Due to holidays and people being away in the local area Whirly wines will be running reduced hours at the shop since I shall be away on business seeing restaurant clients in Wales and Scotland. Please note the shop hours below for the next 2-3 weeks:

3-4th August:closed

5th: Open later at 3pm

10-22 August- closed

Except for Saturday 12th when open from 3pm to 9pm & open on Sunday 20th August when then shop will open from 12-3pm.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused but if you do require wines outside of these hours please call me on 07821 968111 and I can arrange delivery of wines for a small delivery charge from my warehouse.

Mr Whirly

 

 

 

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” Greece is the Word’: new Greek wines here in SW17!

We are going back to the roots of wine showcasing some really individual indigenous varietals. They bring to Whirly wines some quality wines at very clever prices which is a much required need nowadays ( fab wines at fab prices, the Ionos white and rose are only £8.50 here in the shop, yes £8.50!). So come on down and support your local small wine importer, there’s no excuse for you now not coming in and tasting some Whirly wines. You can even taste here in the shop before you buy, how many wine shops can you do that in? I have wines at the same price point as my illustrious competitors around both corners and the quality is so much better. In fact I have always had this. I have my wines from La Bouysse in Corbiere that are Organic and Bio-dynamic and they are only £10,50 a litre which works out at about £7.60 a 750ml bottle. So come on down local residents in the Heaver Estate,  come on down to Whirly wines and support your local wine business before its too late and I am gone. I need your support!

All the wines are from the Peloponnese Peninsula west of Athens. This wine region is an old historic region for wine, the Roditis grape that is the main component of the Ionos white wine, dates back to the 1st century. It’s great to have some new wines and some unusual indigenous varietals from this country, the oldest of the old wine making countries. Varietals like Roditis, Agiorgitiko, Mavrodafni, Muscat of Patras. It’s these grapes that emphasise the importance of Wine today: up until a few months ago Mr Whirly had not tasted these grapes before and they bring something new to the palate, which happens to be a delight, especially if you have some food that you feel would match the wine as I did a few nights ago ( matching the 100% Agiorgitiko Nemea with lamb and Greek feta salad, which was a joy! The menu this week shall show a little Greek feel, so do pop in for a home- made Greek salad with tomatoes and Oregano from my garden soon won’t you, its pretty damn good!

The new wines are:

Ionos White, NV, PGI Achaia: £8.50

Ionos Rose, NV, PGI Peloponnese: £8.50

Mega Spileo, Moschato 2016, PGI Achaia: £11.95

Mega Spileo, ” 111 Cuvee” 2014, PGI Achaia: £14.70

“Nemea”, 2010, PDO Nemea, Peloponnese; £13.50