Wine Club 16 September

Our partners Yapp Bros have just scooped the coveted Wine List of the Year gong at the recent Inter-national Wine Challenge, along with Languedoc Merchant of the Year and Loire Merchant of the Year. In their commendation, the judges said: ‘The Yapp Bros list is concise, beautifully illustrated with great writing and offers much more than a simple list of wines.’ I think it’s fair to say that Jason Yapp is feeling rather chipper.

So much so, in fact, that not only did Jason put up a particularly fine selection for me to whittle down on your behalf, he also lopped a quid off every bottle and promised to put a copy of Yapp Brothers’ award-winning, David Chandler-illustrated wine list in every case, along with a bound gift pack of ten of David’s -collage-based postcards.

We start with the 2016 Ardèche Viognier ‘Grès du Trias’, (1). Viognier is a tricky grape, both to cultivate and to vinify, and outside its spiritual heartland of Condrieu, it’s rare to find affordable examples that have the typical peach ’n’ apricot character its admirers so love.