Hurrah, they’re back! After years away from our embrace, mighty Berry Bros & Rudd have finally returned to the Spectator Wine Club fold, and I couldn’t be happier.
I spent many jolly years working for Berry Bros a few decades ago and it was wonderful to return to my alma mater to taste wines for this offer, in the company of BB&R’s Ned Donaldson and my old chum Tom Cave – a new boy when I started and now one of the senior prefects, in charge of customers’ private reserves.
The old wood-panelled shop at 3 St James’s St, SW1, has barely changed and I reckon its famously sloping floor could still take a bit of left-arm spin, as it did years ago during our regular impromptu indoor cricket matches. Berrys’ wine list, though, is cutting edge and it was a joy to explore their range of Loire wines for this offer although impossible to select just six.
The 2023 Denis Jamain ‘Les Coignons’ Reuilly (1), from the eastern end of the Loire Valley, set the tone for an excellent tasting. Made from 100 per cent Sauvignon Blanc, it sees no oak but spends time on its skins before fermentation and time on the lees afterwards. It has a deliciously creamy texture and is neither grassy nor lean but full of restrained exotic fruit. One sip and we were all beaming. ‘How could you not love this?’ queried Tom, and he doesn’t even like Sauvignon Blanc. £15.26 down from £17.95.
Having nailed my top six, I couldn’t resist going back for a palate-cleansing gulp of the 2022 Daniel Chotard Sancerre (2), realising in a trice that it’s simply too good not to include.
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