Author: Mr Whirly

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New” Organic” wines imported Summer 2018….

Its May 2018 and the summer has kicked in at last.

With this in mind over the next few weeks and months  i shall be importing a whole array of summer madness wines!

  • First of all, just in is the ” Wine of the Month” for May 2018, the lovely Organic Pinot Noir from Ricardelle de Lautrec.  Mr Whirly says:”  Its great to grab a wine of quality and excitement from a region that normally does not specialise in that varietal and in this case, with a Pinot Noir, made by a very small vineyard just north of Corbiere in the Languedoc, you get something really individual and exciting for your money. Fresh strawberry juice in the glass, really light and fresh wine juice. 13 % alc vol: £15.50 a bottle, available to buy online on the newly launched Whirly wine shop ( picture below)
  • Rose wines next! Soon in are some delightful Rose and Sauvignon Blanc ( both 2017 vintage) from Molhiere in Cote de Duras, FROM THE BARREL  in the Whirly wine shop by the 5th June 2018. So come in soon and fill up your wine bottle with great wine from a small producer in the Dordogne for only £8.50.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continue reading New” Organic” wines imported Summer 2018….

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May 2018: ” Organic” Pinot Noir from ” Ricardelle de Lautrec”, 2017, Languedoc

” Vignerons Independants” OR Concours 2018

Just arrived from the Languedoc this unusual  Organic Pinot Noir. I say unusual since this region is famous for big reds like Syrah, Mourvedre, Carignan. Pinot noir is normally grown a 200 miles north of here in Burgundy and this wine does a really good job of offering this King of varietals a place at the table at a sensible price yet with refinement and quality still intact. Very small vineyard and productions hence the award above at the 2018 wine contest for small vineyards.

Slightly richer than a Burgundy yet full of summer madness! Strawberry and raspberry dominate the nose and palate with some lovely fresh notes. This wine is sublime, a true wonder if you served it chilled and allow it to warm up an evolve. Well priced at £15.50 a bottle.

 

 

 

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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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New wines for 2018: some ” Organic” Bordeaux from Chateau Grand Francais as well as” Organic” Tempranillo from Dionisos

 

January 2018: New imports from Whirly wines

There have been a flood of new wines imported for 2018, so its a pretty exciting time at Whirly wines, 22 Ritherdon road, London, SW17 8QD, whether you are coming to the wine shop or buying wholesale for your restaurant. All the prices below are Ex Vat.

Bordeaux

My first “Organic and Bio-Dynamic” wines from this prestigious wine region. Unheard of, to be honest since they are pretty traditional here.  40 year old vines, Organic certified since 2002.

Chateau Grand Francais, 2015, “Cuvee Prestige”( un-oaked), AOC “ Organic” Bordeaux Superieur: 45% Merlot, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc: clean, soft tannins, ripe berries plus a little cinnamon; modern Bordeaux: £14.95

Chateau Grand Francais 2015, Grande Cuvee ( Oaked )  AOC “ Organic” Bordeaux Superieur; 50% Merlot. 30% Cabernet sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc. Red cherry and black, fleshy and spicy. Modern day Bordeaux, juicy strawberry, blueberry on the nose, full of shine and brightness, sort tannins, with a creamy middle palate: £16.95

Cote de Duras

Chateau Molhiere: Terroirs de Duc 2015: new vintage of this Cabernet Franc and Merlot Stalwart imported, for many years now from close to childhood family cottage ; earthy, country red wine. £8.10

Languedoc

Domaine Ricardelle de Lautrec, Pay D’OC, “Organic and Bio”

Pinot Noir 2015: a new find that has been ringing well with many private and restaurant clients already. Its unusual to find Pinot Noir in Languedoc, hence this wine is bottled under AOC “ Vin de France”. Don’t let that put you off. Spicy and full Pinot, juniper and hedgerow berries. Exciting wine that represents great quality for the price: £11.50

Chardonnay 2015 ( un-oaked): Light fresh Chardonnay, not in anyway big and bold, in fact light and fresh. £11.00

Spain

La Tierra de Castilla, Valdepenas, PGI “ Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla”

Dionisos, “ Organic and Bio” Tempranillo 2015 ( aged in large amphorae clay pots, Roman style, please see the picture below). 100% Tempranillo, 13.5% alc vol, hand picked grapes, fermented with own wild yeasts in big amphorae pots, with thick walls in order to slow down the fermentation process.  Young appealing, deep and lively purple colour. On the nose great intensity and ripeness, fleshy and sweet red cherries. Milky enveloping notes on the palate with overwhelming energy. £13.00

Ribera del Duero

Meloso“ Joyen” 2016, 100% Tempranillo

An old favourite is back, beautifully rich yet sublime Tempranillo. This wine speaks volumes for this premium red wine region of Spain, surely take over from Rioja in that department, making wines fresher and easier to drink with no oak, which to me is a blessing. 30 year old vines, 14 days maceration with temperature controlled by water. 10,000 Bottles made, grapes picked 4th week in September; very light process of filtering and clarifying; £11.75

Ribeiro

Val de Souto

Wines made with oh so much passion by Jose Manuel Blanco Perez. His wines speak volumes for the small winemaker making wines oh so exquisite.

Val de Souto 2016: another old favourite. Godello, Triexadura and Lourieira. Jose Manuel Blanco Perez makes wines of passion; he puts his soul into the wines. He works his land 365 days of the year, he rarely takes a holiday, this is his life. This wine has lovely aromatic qualities yet is dry on the finish. Honeysuckle and clover honey on the middle palate. A pure delight. £11.90

Benedictus Fructus 2015

Albarino and Godello. Left on the Lee’s for 5 months so pretty big and rich yet still oh so easy and beautiful to drink. This wine exudes class. High aromatic intensity, due to being left on the lee’s with great harmony and balance. Citrus, mandarin and grapefruit on the palate with some floral notes too. Only 4,000 bottles made. £16.75

Italy

Verona, IGT Veneto

“Villa Aganoor”

From north west Italy and the home of Pinot Grigio some simple yet very well made wines for you for the front page of your list. With these wines i can offer you quality wines at a good price, around the £6.00 mark

Pinot Grigio 2016: weighty and complex PG, with apples and pears on the palate. A really pleasurable glass of wine. £6.25

Sauvignon Blanc 2016: clean, fresh zingy and lemony SB. Another simple yet very good wine for the money. £6.25

Merlot 2016: young, fresh perfumed Merlot, full of fresh young berry fruit. £6.25

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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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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….