Category: Wine of the Month

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Wine of the Month: July….

Chateau Molhiere, Terroir de Ducs, Rose 2018, Cote de Duras, Dordogne

Wine of the month for July has to be the Rose from Chateau Molhiere, 2018 and just arrived in time for the summer.

I have been lucky enough to work with The Blancheton Brothers at Chateau Molhiere in Duras, 25 miles south of Bergerac in the Dordogne for 15 years. I have been drinking their wines since the 1980’s when my parents bought a ramshackle of a cottage down in this beautiful part of SW France. These brothers make exquisite wines at great prices, tiny production, ultra care and attention. Their rose has been a great success over the last three years here in the Whirly wine shop and it arrived into the UK this last week with their zingy Sauvignon Blanc, tight and citrusy with its own Cote de Duras indentity and their Cab Franc, Sauvignon and Merlot red. Order some rose now if you can, since when its gone it won’t be back! Made from Cabernet Franc and Merlot varietals its pale pink in colour and dry with some lovely summer fruits on the palate and ample weight to take food as well. 

£12.95 per bottle, 750ml

Order online and get a bottle free if you order a case of 12….

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Wine of the Month: June

” Organic” Moscato D’Asti, DOCG, Asti, Piedmont

The wine of the month for June 2019 is something a little bit different. What do you think of when you think of Muscat? Sweet wine from the Rhone potentially? And for some reason the Brits don’t like sweet wines do we? Well this Frizzante ( very small bubbles) wine from Asti does have a hint of sweetness on the palate but we must embrace this and enjoy it and in this world of cheap Prosecco in Supermarkets with nothing to say for itself, we must try something that had everything to say about itself! Its the most perfect summer sparkling, full of elderflower and Spring apple blossom on the nose and with a light, delicate mousse and fizz. Its also only 5% alc vol so its great if you want to drink something light at lunch or if you want a wine with less alcohol too. Well worth ‘a whirl’ at Whirly wines, 22 Ritherdon road, London SW17 8QD and also being served outside on the Patio this summer!

£16.95 a bottle. Buy online on the Whirly wine shop page….

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Wine of the Month, March 2019: Velenosi, Pecorino “DOCG”, 2017 ” Villa Angelina”

The wine of the month for March is the lovely new Pecorino from Velenosi in Marche. Imported just before Christmas it emphasises the joy of tasting and enjoying new verietals and not just drinking the commercial grapes like Chardonnay and Chardonnay and to enjoy drinking unusual grapes.

This grape is one of those fashionable grapes that is enjoying a spotlight in the wine world. This wine from Velenosi represents the peak of their production for the wine, hand picked and carefully selected grapes from their best vines.

The wine combines savoury notes, some herbaceous with some peachy stone fruit too, its an odd but beautiful combination. This wine is so worth Whirling in a big beautiful Riedel glass.

Price: £24.00

Alc vol: 13.5%

Order online by clicking on the link online shop at the top of the page!

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Wine of the week, ” Organic Domaine de Malavielle, Charmille”, Languedoc: 22-29th November, Sale price on the 23rd November only, Black friday

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 Cevennes. 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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Moscato D’Asti,2016 “Azienda Agricola Terrebianca”, DOCG

The wine of the month is changing! We have some many exciting wines to tell you about that we are going to have a wine of the week for the next 8 weeks! So the first wine to concentrate on is this delightful soft and elegant Moscato D’Asti from Asti in Piedmont, Northern Italy. Its so delicate, its almost like an elderflower sparkling wine with a little alcohol: it smells of elderflower and fresh apple, its only 5% alc vol and its simply beautiful. Its a little sweeter than most sparkling wines but don’t let that put you off since its very classy. Its simply divine!

Pop into the whirly wine shop or order online, click on the Buy online link at the top of the menu and order from there.

Price: £16.50

Alc vol; 5% 750ml

 

 

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July 2018: Rose, Chateau Molhiere 2017, Cote de Duras.

Its rose time lets face it! The heatwave and the football have taken over the UK.

So enjoy a glass of Molhiere Rose from Cote de Duras, made by the Blancheton brothers. Its simply ticks all the boxes. First of all its from a very small vineyard, massively important to the quality of the wine, therefore the wine is made with lots of  love and attention. Its pale pink in colour, its not sweet but dry ( clearly vital), it is a little fruity but not too so, raspberry and strawberry but not yet ripe and you know what its not expensive  at £10.95. So pop into the whirly wine shop soon, fill up your bottle from the barrel for only  £8.70 too!

 

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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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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 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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June 22nd 2017! New rose from Molhiere just arrived, by the litre bottle as well as 750ml bottle

 

For the first time Mr whirly has imported some rose for you to have by the litre! From the fabulous Blancheton Brothers in Cote de Duras, a stones throw from Cote de Bordeaux, we have a their new 2016 Cab Franc and Merlot rose, very light in colour with hints of summer fruits. Hand pressed, plunged and made its a truly lovely rose for the money. I only have 120 litres for you for your litre bottle for the summer so once its gone its gone! Price for the Litre is £11.90 and for the bottle its £10.50….you can try it before you buy it too! I Look forward to welcoming you to the the whirly wine shop soon at 22 Ritherdon road, London, SW17 8QD…

 

Mr Whirly