I’m going to fess up right from the off and say that, yes, you’re right, we’ve offered two of these wines several times before. But they simply shone in our tasting and refused to be ignored. You loved them last time, dear reader, and these vintages are even better. The other four are crackers, too. So get stuck in.
And I must add that even though FromVineyardsDirect is noted for its rock-bottom prices and tight margins, FVD’s sainted Esme Johnstone is knocking 50p off every bottle as well as keeping prices at pre–Budget levels. Hooray!
So to the 2013 Crémant de Bourgogne Brut Millésimé (1), which we’ve not offered in these pages before even though it’s a regular at Spectator lunches and the Spectator Wine School. I simply love it and drink it with abandon at home. It’s made (using the Champagne method) by the excellent Cave de Lugny near Mâcon in the heart of Burgundy. A blend of top-quality handpicked Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, it’s aged for 18 months before release and is about as fine a fizz as you can find for under 20 quid. It has depth, weight, character and real panache and the bottle looks pukka too. You will love it. £14.45 down from £14.95.
Esme was desperate for me to try the 2015/16 Finca Tempranal Selección (2), and I can see why — it’s a charmer (on the cusp of a vintage change, incidentally, but I couldn’t tell the difference between them). Made from unblended Airén, the third most widely planted grape variety in the world apparently (nope, nor me), it comes from La Mancha — Don Quixote country — notorious in Franco’s day as the source of all that ghastly cheap Spanish brandy that we used to drink so readily.
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