Our latest press mentions in March include a great selection of our wines that appeared in The Telegraph’s ’50 Best’ section, a mix of some of our Italian and German wines in The Guardian and finally Jancis Robinson rated 12 of our wines for summer.
Benefit from our case price discount in red by buying any 12 bottles from this selection – in a mixed case of your design or simply by the dozen.
Jancis Robinson.com, A Lea & Sandeman summer dozen, Jancis Robinson, 30/03/2020:
2018 EL OSO Y LA ALEMANA White Màquina y Tabla
£13.95 | £12.95
Review: ‘Great label. Ungrafted vines grown in sand. Verdejo with a touch of Malvasia, approximately three weeks on the skins. Hugely pungent. Despite the long time on skins not remotely aggressively astringent. Honey, spice and absolutely enough acidity. Quite full bodied and with masses of character. This is quintessential new-wave Spanish white. 13.8%
Drink 2020 – 2024’
Rating: 17
2018 LADERAS DE LEONILA WHITE Màquina y Tabla
£15.95 | £13.95
Review: ‘50% Doña Blanca (Portugal’s Síria), 15% Godello and 35% Palomino, all barrel-fermented and then aged for 12 months in old French barriques with the Palomino element spending time under flor.
This tastes more of unfortified Palomino than of racy Godello to me. A slightly acquired taste unless you live in Andalucia and are used to this slightly flat style of wine. 12.5%”
Drink 2020 – 2022
Rating: 15.5′
2019 MiP* Classic Rosé Made in Provence
£10.95 | £10.95 (Vintage 2018)
Review: ‘
Fresh fermentation aromas with firm fruity attack on the nose. A little bit sweet on the front palate but certainly clean enough and with sufficient body to stand up to quite a bit of food, though pretty technical. 12.5%
Drink 2020 – 2020’
Rating: 15.5
2019 ROSÉ BONBON Côtes de Provence Sainte Victoire Domaine des Diable
£17.95 | £15.95
Review: ‘You have to look carefully to spot the Bonbon on the label of this fat bottle. 50% Cinsault, 30% Syrah, 20% Grenache, including some vines planted in 1914. Clean if slightly neutral nose. A suggestion of stones and garrigue. But also a suggestion of boiled sweets.
Drink 2020 – 2020’
Rating: 16
2019 L’HYDROPATHE Élite Rosé Côtes de Provence Sainte Victoire Domaine des Diables
£14.95 | £14.95 (Vintage 2018)
Review: ‘You have to look carefully to spot the Bonbon on the label of this fat bottle. 50% Cinsault, 30% Syrah, 20% Grenache, including some vines planted in 1914. Clean if slightly neutral nose. A suggestion of stones and garrigue. But also a suggestion of boiled sweets.
Drink 2020 – 2020’
Rating: 16.5
2019 TM ROSÉ Rosato Tenuta Monteti
£15.95 | £14.50
Review: ‘Merlot and Cabernet Franc. Quite zesty with a bit more structure than a typical Provence rose. Good food wine with something to get your teeth into. A satisfying rosé for the table.
Drink 2020 – 2021’
Rating: 16.5
2018 BEAUJOLAIS VILLAGES Domaine Rochette
£13.95 | £12.50
Review: ‘Light nose. Grainy texture and really quite juicy and refreshing. Pure and wonderfully unadulterated. The Gamay grape, the whole grape and nothing but the grape. This is a wine that really does taste ‘natural’. GV
Drink 2020 – 2024′
Rating: 16.5
2018 CÔTE DE BROUILLY Les Grillés Domaine Chevalier-Métrat
£14.50 | £12.95
Review: ‘Quite a deep crimson. Slightly sweet palate entry. Less transparent and ‘natural’ than the Dom Rochette Beaujolais-Villlages. Correct but not thrilling and a bit technical.
Drink 2019 – 2022′
Rating: 15.5
2018 BROUILLY Les Mines Domaine Chevalier-Métra
£14.95 | £13.50
Review: ‘A little more ‘grunt’ on the nose than its Côte de Broullly, Les Grillés stablemate. Light with marked acidity and a reasonably pure expression of Gamay. Zesty enough.
Drink 2020 – 2024′
Rating: 16
2018 BOURGUEIL Cote 50 Domaine Yannick Amirault
£16.95 | £15.50
Review: ‘Fresh, rather tight and very slightly reduced nose. Light and fresh with a slightly sweet start. Refreshing but not outstanding. Scratchy texture on the finish. Could happily be served with fish and lightly chilled but aeration would do it no harm.
Drink 2020 – 2023’
Rating: 15.5
2017 TERRAZAS DE SERAPIA Garnacha Màquina y Tabla
£16.50 | £14.95
Review: ‘A self-styled Vino del Pueblo.
Great label. Pale ruby. Dangerous! Edgy nose with quite high VA. Very obviously countrified Garnacha but just a tad too natural for me. A little sour rather than fruity, with an uncompromisingly bone-dry finish. I wouldn’t mind a little more fruit in the middle. Quite demanding! Pinched finish – but I do love the label.
Drink 2020 – 2023’
Rating: 15.5
2018 BUGALUGS Barossa Shiraz Tim Smith Wines
£17.95 | £15.95
Review: ‘Deep crimson but there the resemblance to stereotypical Barossa Shiraz ends. This has the warm nose of hot-climate Shiraz as well as an array of spices, but it’s delightfully fragrant and velvet smooth with imperceptible acidity (though quite enough freshness). A real joy for current drinking with a saline finish. Way to go, South Australians! Clean and lively. I see that it’s currently out of stock and I can quite understand why. Maybe not for the long term, but such a charmer now…
Drink 2019 – 2022’
Rating: 15.5
The Guardian, Great-value wines from independent shops, David Williams, 29/03/2020:
Review:’On the other side of town, Lea & Sandeman has five shops in West London, with a range that is particularly strong in modern Italians such as a fleshy but tangy and unusually fresh and vibrant Puglian red duo from Cantine de Falco: Salento Primitivo 2018 and Salento Negroamaro 2018.‘
2018 PRIMITIVO Salento Cantine de Falco
SOLD OUT £9.95 | £8.95
2018 NEGROAMARO Salento Cantine de Falco
£9.95 | £8.95
The Guardian, Sour grapes: wines with a good tang, David Williams, 15/03/2020:
Review:’The absolute masters of sour in red wine are the Italians. There’s an understanding that sourness can act as both a mouth-freshening agent and as a kind of base-layer around which all the other elements in the wine can circulate. So many Italian red wines have this element of the sour-tang, which may be reminiscent of the smarting of plum skins or the tartness of just-ripe cherries. The sour is a big part of the appeal in the Piedmont variety barbera, for example […] a background hum in Andrea Oberto’s glorious Barbera d’Alba 2017, while the sweet-sourness of black cherries is part of the appeal in a gorgeous, supple and vibrantly juicy dolcetto from Burlotto.’
2017 BARBERA D’ALBA Andrea Oberto
SOLD OUT £17.50 | £15.75
2018 DOLCETTO D’ALBA G B Burlotto
£16.95 | £15.25
The Telegraph, 50 best Red and White wines for £10 and under, Victoria Moore, 14/03/2020:
2018 MERLOT Chemin de la Pinède
£9.50 | £8.75
‘Merlot? Yes a Merlot but there is not one hint of jam or chocolate, no slipperiness or listlessness about this one – instead it’s a beautifully structured red that smells of redcurrant leaves and has a freshness to it. Delicious.’ (Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph)
2018 PRIMITIVO Salento Cantine de Falco
£9.50 | £8.75
‘Forged in the heat of Italy’s heel, what’s special about this Primitivo is the balance it strikes between a vibrant and warm gush of fruit (think red plums, cherries and stewed damsons) and the firm, clean edges that give it a refreshingly tart snap.’ (Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph)
2018 OLD HANDS Monastrell Ecológico Bodegas La Purisima
£9.75 | £8.95
‘Monastrell is known as Mourvèdre in France, where it contributes the feral/savoury quality to Bandol. Grown in eastern Spain, it has a more accessible quality, but there’s still a pleasing earthy quality. A well-cut wine that’s refined for a Monastrell at the price.’ (Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph)
2018 SEMÉLI ‘FEAST’ Mantinia Nasiakos
£10.95 | £9.95
‘Moschofilero is the grape behind this unusual and aromatic white that sings of summer. The smell is all lemon oil and rose petal – a rich fragrance with a refreshing taste. It’s great with Greek lemon potatoes and herbs.’ (Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph)
2018 SAUVIGNON BLANC Domaine de Valensac
£9.95 | £8.95
‘Some Sauvignon Blanc is shrill or piercing, some reeks of freshly-mown grass, but this one is gentle and elegant, soothing and surprisingly fresh considering it comes from the south of France in a warm year. Very classy indeed.’ (Victoria Moore, The Daily Telegraph)
The Guardian, Why European wines are still number one, Fiona Beckett, 06/03/2020:
2017 PINOT NOIR Weingut Petri
£12.50 | £10.95
‘Fruity, seductively rounded German Pinot Noir (they usually call it Spätburgunder). Very good for the price.‘ (Fiona Beckett, The Guardian)