New Arrivals this Spring and Summer, so far…

As ever we’ve been busy beavering away over the last few months sourcing a range of exciting (and of course being us some quite eclectic) new wines from around the world for our Hampton Hill shelves. We’ve taken on some lesser known wines from famous regions, more well-known varieties but from areas you might not expect, some wines from truly tiny producers, and a whole bunch of new English producers – more about that here..

Piedmont in North West Italy produces some of the greatest red wines in the world but while Barolo and Barbaresco take the limelight there are many others that deserve their bit of attention. In the Langhe region Barbera is such a versatile variety able to produce great value pasta pizza table wines and on the other side of the coin intense, complex and thoroughly rewarding serious wines that have an ability to age. One of our favourite small producers, Gian Luca Colombo, has made such a Barbera d’Alba and we just had to have it, along with his 2018 Barolo (which is one of the most approachable young quality Barolos we have tried).

Around the northern Barolo village of Verduno a very rare grape is grown, Pelaverga, which produces a beautifully light and fragrant wine, perfect slightly chilled or for when you want something not quite so heavy, we have taken on Michele Reverdito’s delicious example. Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc from Piedmont you say? Yes! From top producer Machesi di Gresy we have his very old-school, minerally and herbaceous Sauvignon and his Monferrato 100% Merlot, great wine, one of the best value in the shop.

Go north of the Langhe towards the foothills of the Alps and you come across pre-Barolo Nebbiolo, tiny husband and wife producer Noah from the equally tiny Bramaterra DOC have made a lovely ripe and smooth wine here. Staying in Northern Italy and with Nebbiolo but moving out of Piedmont and into neighbouring Lombardy and Italy’s most northerly wine region, Valtellina. A steep, terraced east-west Alpine Valley cut off from the rest of the world and producing their own unique expression of Nebbiolo, we’ve taken on La Spia’s Sassella and it is really worth a try if Piedmont/Burgundy/Pinot Noir wines are your thing.

We jump north across the border to Austria and over to Vienna where we have taken on a number of small parcels from the excellent Weingut Alex Zahel (his single barrel Chardonnay is stunning). Read all about our visit to Zahel and Vienna here…

We’ve always loved Georgian wine and are delighted to have increased our range even further. Along with new vintages from old favourites Pheasant’s Tears, Iago and Didimi we have added a delicious traditional white blend from Archil Guniava, a deep rosé almost light red from John and Jane Okruashvili, and welcomed back an old friend in Iberieli’s awesome Saperavi. Modern and approachable expressions of skin-contact amber/orange wines and Georgia’s flagship red grape Saperavi are found from new-to-us Teliani Valley.

From elsewhere in Europe we have added a great, light and juicy Malbec from the Aude in South-West France, Les Volets, a rather grown-up and good value Merlot from north of Lake Garda in North-East Italy, Bottega Vinai Trentino (really worth a try). A fantastic Alsatian Grand Cru Riesling from the ever good Cave de Turckheim joins our list as does a rich, full and elegant Bordeaux dry white from old Sauternes winery Chateau Sigalas Rabaud. From Spain a single-village, top-quality new-wave Rioja, Queiron Mi Lugar, and a extraordinary rich and complex Albariño from Bodegas Granbazán.

We jump over to the Antipodes and have a bunch of great Bordeaux and Rhône alternatives for you to try. Hawkes Bay in North Island New Zealand produces some great Bordeaux-style wines and we have added two from the Te Mata Estate (one of NZ’s oldest and family-run since the 1880s!) to complete the trio. Fine, fresh and structured these are all persistently quality wines. Esk Valley’s River Gravel is another stand out, full-bodied Bordeaux blend and what Hawke’s Bay also does rather well is Syrah and Esk’s Artisanal Collection Syrah is beautifully fresh and crisp, almost Northern Rhône in style. Across to Australia and Hunter Valley, one of Australia’s oldest wine regions. Hunter pioneers Tyrrell’s are Semillon and Shiraz specialists so we’ve taken on one of their bright, soft and spicy reds – also has a bit of the Northern Rhône going on about it. Over to McLaren Vale in South Australia and the biodynamic Yangarra winery, their Southern Rhône-style Estate Blanc is beautifully fresh, clean and delicate; an elegant wine this.

Suns out rosés out! A few lovely new additions to our range this year and it’s not all about being almost translucent pale salmon in colour! Down in the heel of Italy Produttori di Manduria have made a dry and fruity Primitivo Rosato that is brilliantly vibrant pink in colour and super refreshing. From the wilds of Alentejo in Portugal we have a rather serious, classy example from Quinta da Fonte Souto, here the pale pinky/orangey colour belies the depth and concentration of flavour. Similarly over in Northern Greece Alpha Estate’s Xinomavro Rosé is wonderfully refreshing with a real line of crisp acidity and minerality running through it. New fun and easy-drinking rosés from Olivier Coste in the Languedoc and Journey’s End in South Africa round out our non-English (take a look at those here) new rosé offering.

We have continued to add to our Burgundy range, focusing more on the value that the Macôn can offer. We have added wines from Éric Forest, one of the most acclaimed winemakers in the region, whose wines are of stand-out quality and to match these from the famous villages of the Côte d’Or you can double the price. From Saint-Véran winery Domaine de la Croix Senaillet their rich and concentrated, single-vineyard La Grande Bruyere is added to our line-up.

Lots of new exciting and interesting wines to explore and enjoy and this isn’t even everything! Alcohol free still and sparkling Rieslings, New Zealand Pinot, and seven new English producers bringing our English still and sparkling wines total to over thirty! Cheers!