By Ed H-B on 15/08/2013
La Grêle Rosé - Château de Roquefort: £12.95 Btl or £11.95 case price Lovers of Burgundy will be aware that the 2012 vintage, already not looking large, was decimated by hailstorms producing a reportedly minuscule vintage.
By Andrew Hooper on 12/08/2013
Tasting activities in W4 for 2013 resume on Wednesday 25th September with a rather special evening. Here in the shop in Chiswick - that doyen of British wine journalism, jovial bon viveur and knowledgeable evangelist for fruits of the Lusitanian vine, Charles Metcalfe will on hand to talk you through a selection of Portuguese wines pulled from the shelves of LEA & SANDEMAN.
By Charles Lea on 26/07/2013
Hail has been much in the news recently, with Tamlyn Currin making Raimond de Villeneuve's La Grêle 2012 Rosé the wine of the week last week on www.
By Charles Lea on 24/07/2013
International Wine Challenge (IWC) Merchant Awards Strictly Come Wine Tasting? On the 18th of July, at the 30th anniversary of the IWC awards, Lea & Sandeman was awarded 'En Primeur Merchant of the Year', All the L&S team are absolutely delighted to have been given this award by such a high-calibre panel, (Tim Atkin MW, Oz Clarke, Sam Harrop MW, Peter McCombie MW, Charles Metcalfe and Derek Smedley MW) and judged against such formidable competition.
By Ed H-B on 19/07/2013
In anticipation of the Royal birth we have dropped our price on our Royal warranted champagnes: Pol Roger White Foil Brut, Bollinger Special Cuvée Brut and Louis Roederer Brut Premier, all just £30 a bottle. For ideas on how to top up for the hot weekend, browse our recommendations throughout our blog.
By Ed H-B on 15/07/2013
Louis Roederer is one of the largest remaining independent Champagne Houses, owned by the same family since it was founded in 1776, the same year that the USA was officially founded. The house is famous for making 'Cristal' - the highly demanded Super Cuvée - but the Brut Premier is their classic, non vintage blend and represents excellent quality in the slightly fuller, creamier style.
By Andrew Hooper on 12/07/2013
i Clivi was created when Ferdinando Zanusso bought two dishevelled old vineyards in the early 1990's. They were in a poor state but were rescuable and their age has become key to i Clivi's success.
By Charles Lea on 02/07/2013
Tim Atkin MW on crackling form in this week's edition of the trade rag 'Off-Licence News' (bet quite a lot of you did not even know it existed). Following-up on a headline-grabbing article in the Observer at the weekend, he roundly rebuts the idea that tasters cannot tell one wine from another or judge quality.
By Andrew Hooper on 01/07/2013
At the time of the infamous 1985 “antifreeze” scandal a story did the rounds that the Japanese government had briefly and erroneously banned the importation of Australian wine, comedically confusing Australian with Austrian. It was, almost certainly, an urban myth but one does wonder what the fabled and lexicographically challenged Japanese civil servant would have made of Bert Salomon.
By Ed H-B on 19/06/2013
UPDATE: The latest vintage of this cracking wine can be found on our website HERE for only £9.
By Ed H-B on 12/06/2013
Pioneering a new vanguard of Chinon wines exemplifying purity and extraction, this is a splendid example of pure Cabernet Franc made by a seasoned expert. Rich, sumptuous, dark ruby in colour, yet with clean and precisely extracted fruit, Bernard Baudry's 2010 Domaine Chinon is a treat to drink now or will happily cellar over the next five years.
By Ed H-B on 11/06/2013
Yes I know it's Wimbledon week, but it is still with great surprise that I find we still have a few places available for this exceptional wine dinner on Thursday.