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“Black friday Sale!” New Organic and Bio Dynamic wines from Velenosi and Marche on sale tomorrow only!

I don’t normally get involved with ” SALES” its not my thing! But as this is possibly the last time I an do this then why not!

This fabulous wine below is just one example of one of the new wines that will be substantially discounted tomorrow, Black Friday 23rd November!

Sale price, Black Friday Friday 23rd November £12.50

New wine, just imported this week from Saint Saturnin in the Northern part of the Languedoc near Cevnnes. it’s a blend of mainly Merlot ( oaked in old French barrels) with a little Portan ( 30 %) 10% Grenache and 10% Syrah. Soft berry fruits, blackberry, sloes and elderberry with some cherries too and even a hint of summer flowers. A pure delight. fab wines for £13.95, sale price on Black Friday £12.50

750ml 13.5% alc vol

 

 

 

 

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Whirly wine ” Online shop” launched! New ” Organic Pinot Noir from “Ricardelle de Lautrec” just arrived; Rose and sauvignon Blanc from Chateau Molhiere from ” The Barrel” from 5th June 2018

You might have already noticed but we have just launched  the Whirly wine “ Online shop” in the last week, The aim is to have twenty wines on there that I can get to you quickly and easily ( therefore have good stock of the wines here in the shop). At the moment there is a small selection of good wines on there including the ” Organic Pinot Noir” from Ricardelle de Lautrec in the Languedoc, 2015, full of Raspberry and Strawberry summer fruits, light and subtle and great chilled too. £ 15.50 per bottle ( picture below). Also next week I will add the Rose from Chateau Molhiere that has just arrived into the UK, by the bottle as well as from the barrel, so as of the 5th June you can pop in and fill up your bottle with french country rose from Cote de Duras for only £8.70 a bottle as well as their Sauvignon Blanc 2017 too. So Whirly wines can offer you 5 wines from the barrel next week!

Please do check out the online shop and if you would like to order something let me know? Delivery is free to local postcodes and will be priced at £4.95 for other postcodes with free delivery for orders over £100.

 

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Spring Aperitif bar list, April 2017, focuing on low alcohol wines with zest and great acidity, an array of hand sourced wines with some delightful Organic options too!

The new Whirly wine Aperitif bar list for April is below!

Come on down soon and experience the Whirly effect of drinking beautiful wines at beautiful prices. Mr Whirly has focused on some great wines from the smaller producer, Organic wines as well as wines from far flung wine regions that you might not have heard of. I look forward to welcoming you to the Whirly wine shop soon for a glass of wine outside on the terrace!

 

 

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Wine tastings start this Friday for Australia day! Details on the ” Events page”; New wines imported in December 2017, plan your own wine tasting event or party at whirly wines in 2018…

A very happy and prosperous  New year to all my lovely customers! Its 2018 and its January and everyone has stopped drinking wine! Why oh why!  Drink less and drink better. Mr whirly can help you there, 95% of the wines I have here are from the smaller producer, its all about quality not quantity in your local wine shop in SW17. This at least gives me a little time, amongst my office full of end of year accounts, to write to you about some new wines that we imported just before Christmas and plan some fabulous wine tasting events commencing with  Australia day this Friday 26th January (details on the events page) then kicking off February, on the 1st,  with some really delightful new imports from Ribeiro, Ribera del Duero and Castilla de Manche, followed two weeks later when we will look at some other new wines from Bordeaux, some revolutionary ” Organic” and Bio wines from Bordeaux, which is a rare thing to find since the Bordelais don’t like change and are pretty set in their ways.

So if you are looking to plan your own private wine tasting this year then get in touch with Mr Whirly and we can arrange it for you. Prices start from £25 per person and we need 8 people minimum to make it work, but we try to give you as much as possible for that, 5 X 75ml measures and snacks too! Try to avoid Thursdays since this is when we have our regular ” Open” wine tasting.

In December we imported some really exciting new wines from Spain and France. Some old favourites like Val de Souto and Meloso from Ribeiro and Ribera del Duero and some new delights from Bordeaux, yes ” Organic and Bio” Merlot based wines from ” Chateau Grand Francais”.  All in all we imported twelve new wines with a range of pricing here in the shop from £8.75 up to £22.50. Let me, if I may, give you a brief synopsis of these new wines:

From Verona,  some simple yet delightfully made wines that drink very well from Villa Aganoor. Their Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot are all well made and have their own character and individuality and show that at this price point wines can be enjoyed. ( £8.95). From  Chateau Molhiere in Cote de Duras, their lovely soft Cabernet Franc/Merlot 2015.  Top wine, no oak, earthy and an old favourite and well priced at £10.50. A little north west of here, near St Emilion, some ground breaking ” Organic” Bordeaux from “Chateau Grand Francais“. I say this since its rare to find this new style of wine here in Bordeaux, since of all appellations in France, this is the most traditional.  Further South in Languedoc, and bottled under ” Vin  de France” the very exciting Pinot Noir 2015 from “Domaine de Ricardelle” as well as their Un-oaked Chardonnay. ( £15.50 & £14.50) The Pinot Noir in particular has been a great hit so far sellimng very well in the shop. Further south still, from Ribera del Duero, another old favourite, the juicy and delicious  Meloso Joyen 2016 Tempranillo, ( £14.50). Further south, below Madrid in the wide ranging ‘Castilla la Mancha` wine area, Dionisos are making some Amphorae aged ” Organic and Bio” Tempranillo, silky smooth and made in the ancient Roman way. Then finally north- west to Ribeiro, “Val de Souto”and the oh so passionate wine maker, Jose Manuel Blanco Perez, who makes wines of such feeling and intensity, being one of the smallest vineyards I work with. His Val de souto 2016 is Godello based with some Loureira and Trixudeira and his “Benedictus Fructus” is quality and beauty all rolled into one, 5 months on the lee’s Godello and Albarino.

For tasting notes on all these wines please look at the ” New wines” page, which will updated in the coming day (written 20.01.18).

I look forward to welcoming you to the Whirly wine shop soon. Remember, drink less and better and come into Whirly wines for your wines, since i can vouch for every single bottle of wine in the shop, its not a pick and mix here!

Mr Whirly

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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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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, 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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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