Red Christmas Pack

Chermette’s entry-level Beaujolais is drawn from 30- to 40-year-old vines grown on dark granite soils around the homestead in Saint-Vérand (in southern Beaujolais). The winemaking has remained unchanged for decades, with traditional whole-bunch, semi-carbonic fermentation in concrete tanks and then maturation in both tank and old oak casks still the order of the day. As opposed to his age-worthy Crus from Moulin-à-Vent, Fleurie et al, Chermette’s aim here is to produce something light-to medium-bodied, bright and cherry-fruited with reach-for-another-glass charm. The nose is so exuberant you could be tasting out of barrel, flush with lip-smacking wild-plum fruit flecked by violet florals. The palate tells the same delicious story through waves of vibrant and tangy berries and cherrystone fruit. Love at first sip! There is a strong argument to say this is the best Griottes we have shipped. As always, it is a delicious, moreish wine and fabulous value.

Certified organic. 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah. All the fruit for Olivier Klein’s killer-value entry-level Côtes du Rhône grows on the estate’s highland, sandy limestone vineyards set around the hamlet of Sabran. With this wine, Olivier aims for a vin de soif—juicy, floating fruit and sweetly floral perfumes. To this end, following a five-day cold soak, the wines spend only a brief time on skins, and Olivier also incorporates a more significant number of whole bunches in his ferments for more lift and buoyant, bunchy structure. Aged in concrete and bottled within a year of harvest, it’s a vibrant and perfumed Grenache-led Côtes du Rhône oozing pristine red-berry fruit, a jubey palate and a crisply refreshing close. Andrew Jeffords’s “strawberries metamorphosed into wine” description of the 2012 works here, too. As we have said before, any other questions can be answered at the end of your corkscrew. Indeed, you'll be impressed by how quickly the bottle empties once you pull the cork, which is why we also ship this wine in magnum.

This wine is a blend of Heathcote (66%) and Harcourt (34%) Syrah. Although this is the “entry-point” red, it gets the same attention to detail as the other cuvées, and even here, it has serious intensity, good tannins and ageworthiness. About 70% whole bunches were used, and the wine matured in a range of casks (primarily large Stockinger) for the first year before resting in tank for the rest of its maturation. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a spicy, cool Syrah/Shiraz that will drink well young but can be aged with confidence.