Although many wine merchants are tightening their post-Brexit belts and rationalising their cellars, Yapp Bros have thrown their net ever wider. They might be the 2016 International Wine Challenge Loire Specialist of the Year and ditto for the Rhône, but Yapps have recently been fishing outside their traditional waters, making first-time forays deeper into France and into Germany and Spain.
Wise old truffle-hound that he is, Jason Yapp’s touch clearly hasn’t deserted him and we at The Spectator are the beneficiaries. All the wines below are completely new both to Yapp Bros and The Spectator and each and every one is a delight. And to tempt us even further, Jason has generously lopped a quid off every bottle.
The 2014 Vom Kalkstein Grauer Burgunder (1) — that’s Pinot Gris to you and me — comes from limestone (‘kalkstein’) soil in Pfalz, Germany. Fine Pinot Gris is one of my favourite grapes — not the-crappy Pinot Grigio grown in Italy but the classy Pinot Gris one gets in Alsace and here in Germany. It’s whistle clean, dry but with just a hint of sweetness, and is full of fresh apples and citrus with a fine mineral backbone. It’s perfect as an aperitif or alongside an Asian stir-fry. £8.30 down from £9.30.
The 2013 Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Oppenheim Riesling (2), also from Germany, is a classic of its kind; it’s great to see the Yapps branching out and listing a fine German Riesling for the first time. It’s mouth-tinglingly fruity, with limes, peaches and apricots in the mix, yet it’s dry on the finish with a zingy freshness and a fine acidity. £10 down from £11.
The 2015 Domaine Py ‘3ème Cuvée’ Blanc (3) is much more typical Yapp Bros fare: an organic blend of Grenache Blanc, Vermentino and Roussanne from Corbières in the Languedoc.
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