The Perfect Cellar

I received some samples from a new online wine merchant called The Perfect Cellar. The idea behind this venture is carefully selected wines from lesser known French regions, making them available to the public in limited quantities.

Their website includes mixed case offers, wine gift packs, wine guides and features on the Chateaux that supply them. One particular selling point is that the wines are frequently featured in Michelin starred restaurants. In particular, there are six properties featured: Domaine Seguela (Roussillon), Domaine Bernard Baudley (Chinon), Brisson Jonchere (Champagne), Mas Amiel (Roussillon, Maury), Henri Bourgeois (Loire) and Chateau Parsac (Bordeaux, right-bank).

The Chateau Parsac is actually made by Chateau Pitray of Cotes de Castillon, which I rate as a great value Bordeaux region.

Another selling point - price. To quote the website: 'You no longer need to spend £££ to enjoy the Luxurious French Wines'. I'm not totally convinced everything The Perfect Cellar sells is a bargain. For example, they offer a gift pack of 2 bottles of 2006 Chateau Parsac for £39.99, knocked down from the 'regular' price of £69.88. This is quite frankly misleading. The wines themselves are worth no more than £8 or £9 a bottle - since Pitray's Grand Vin 2005 was only £8.99 a couple of years ago at Majestic. So after the wine, you're basically paying £20 for a box and a bunch of useless wine accessories (perhaps with the exception of the waiter's friend corkscrew). To be fair, you can buy 6 bottles of the Parsac for £60, which sounds reasonable, but not a bargain.

However, the regions represented here are in fact good value ones. Castillon and Roussillon are ones that I'm familiar with, rarely experiencing a bad bottle and never paying over the odds. Loire and Champagne less so, but the samples I tried were pretty good.

So, onto the wines.

Henri Bourgeois, Petit Bourgeois Sauvignon Blanc 2008. VdP Loire Valley. £53.94 / 6 bottles: Expressive, competent wine. Not overbearing a la NZ, but lots of SB character nonetheless. Good acidity. Well made. 3/5

Brisson Jonchere '3 Cépages' Champagne NV. £18.99 / bottle: '3 Cépages' translates to 3 varieties, so I'm assuming that this contains all three Champagne grapes. I could be wrong however, as there is no blending information on the label, The Perfect Cellar's website, or Brisson Jonchere's website. No matter though - I think it resembled a more Chardonnay dominated blend, with crisp, appley character. Bright and refreshing, this is my kind of Champagne. 3.5/5

Mas Amiel Maury 2008. AOC Maury. £95.40 / 6 bottles: This is a port-like fortified wine from the South of France. I should have decanted this, as it was quite closed. Still it showed quality but I will withhold a rating.

All in all The Perfect Cellar offers higher quality, cheaper alternatives to the consumer. Vintage Maury instead of Vintage Port, VdP Loire Sauvignon Blanc instead of Sancerre, and Cotes de Castillon instead of Pomerol. I applaud their choice of regions as they offer similar quality to much more well known, more expensive appellations. Most serious wine lovers are aware of these 'lesser' regions, but it's good to see a merchant concentrating on them. Just stay away from the gift packs!

Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Muscadet de Sevre et Maine 2007

For £5, you can't do much better than this. Muscadet, aged on its lees (used, dead yeast cells), produces a light but flavourful wine.

Well chilled and drunk along with food (garlic and olive oil pasta), I found it very enjoyable, much more that I expected. Other Muscadet I've tried has left a rotten fruit-like taste in my mouth.

Too bad summer is almost over, this would be a good wine to stock up on. On a side note, if you haven't noticed, Sainsbury's appears to be dumping a lot of (overproduced) 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, in the form of its Taste the Difference range (£5) and Oyster Bay (£5.99).

Sainsbury's

Taste the Difference Muscadet de Sevre et Maine 2007

Muscadet de Sevre et Maine AOC, Loire Valley, France

Sainsbury's

£5 (£5.99)

3/5

Monmousseau Vouvray 2003

In a previous post I mentioned that I had moved offices with work, and therefore have a few new wine merchants to try out. This wine is from Nicolas, a French-owned wine merchant that has a shop (among many) on Fleet Street.

The wine is a slightly off-dry Chenin Blanc. The main characteristic present is honey, along with rotten-apple notes that reminded me of scrumpy cider. A touch of sweetness and good acidity. Not massively complex, but this is a good bargain - I can't remember the exact price but it was on offer for around £6-something.

It's in very good shape for a 2003; Vouvray has a reputation for producing wines can age forever. This could definitely continue for a few more years if desired.

Monmousseau Vouvray 2003

Vouvray AOC, Loire Valley, France

Nicolas

~£6.70

3/5

Domaine du Vieux Vauvert Vouvray 2007

This is an affordable, medium-dry white made in the Loire Valley in France from Chenin Blanc grapes.

I wouldn't say it has massive amounts of character, but its tingling acidity and residual sugar make it a fine food wine. It kind of reminds me of an Australian Riesling - all lime and acid.

I bought it because I wanted something that would go with my spicy ginger chicken, and also cheese (I'm trying to learn about cheese, but that's another story...), and I would buy it again if I was looking for something versatile.

I like this style of wine, mostly for its versatility at the table. This particular one is made exclusively for Waitrose.

Domaine du Vieux Vauvert Vouvray 2007

Vouvray AOC, Loire, France

Waitrose

£6.99

3/5

La Grille Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2007

I made a brief mention of this wine previously while discussing its cool-fermented stablemate. It probably would be less confusing if I didn't mention the cool-fermented one, but it's easy to mistake one for the other so let's make the distinction now.

The main difference seems to be this one is far less sweet, and perhaps (although it's hard to tell) higher in acid.

The wine almost seems like a high-alcohol apple cider, such are its appley taste and mouth-puckering acidity. Still, there's enough flavour and body to the wine that the acid is palatable, but food is probably a good idea.

This wine is oak-aged, but I confess I can't really notice any oak flavours. However that could just mean that it's been done properly.

All in all a decent effort - I have always enjoyed Loire Chenin Blanc and I probably don't drink enough of it. If you've never tried it, then these efforts from La Grille are a good start.

La Grille

Barrel Fermented Chenin Blanc 2007

Anjou, Loire Valley, France

Waitrose

£6.79 (on offer)

3/5

Clos de Nouys Vouvray Demi-Sec 2007

I do like a good off-dry white, and this IS a good one, made from hand-picked Loire valley Chenin Blanc grapes. I typically drink these kinds of wines with Asian food, and tonight it was chicken with black bean sauce (made by myself from scratch, not that rubbish from a jar).

I think it was probably a bit too sweet though, for this and might have been better off serving it with a dessert of some sort.

I can't remember exactly what I paid, but I think it was around £7 on offer, and it normally goes for about £9.

Clos de Nouys
Vouvray Demi-Sec 2007
Vouvray, Loire Valley, France
Waitrose
~£7 (~£9)
3.5/5

Lauverjat Moulin des Vrillères, Sancerre Rouge 2006

The region of Sancerre in the French Loire Valley is probably more famous for its white Sauvignon Blanc wines rather than its reds, but that doesn't mean it can't produce a decent Pinot Noir, which is exactly what this is.

This is a light, refreshing Pinot, and slightly chilled and on its own, it would be perfect on warm summer day. The nose and flavours are wonderful, think strawberries and cream.

I'm also a big fan of Sancerre rosé, also made from Pinot Noir. If you haven't tried it, you should.

Lauverjat
Moulin des Vrillères Sancerre Rouge 2006
Sancerre AC, Loire Valley, France
Philglas & Swiggot
£13.00
3.5/5

La Grille Cool Fermented Chenin Blanc 2007

This wine for me was the hit of the holidays. It was recommended in Decanter magazine as a good "party wine" purchase for the holiday season. It over delivers on both quality and value.

This is a cool-fermented, lees-aged Chenin Blanc from the Anjou region in the Loire Valley. I never suspected I'd taste a wine like this from the Loire and it not being a Vouvray, let alone one only costing £5.

I love this off-dry, flowery, aromatic style of white wine, and I was so pleased with it I've just ordered a case of 12. It will be great on its own and with everything from fish to spicy food.

Get some, now.

PS I noticed today that La Grille also produce a barrel-fermented, oak-aged Chenin Blanc that is available in Waitrose. I haven't tried this wine, and it's made by a different wine maker (although still "La Grille"). I imagine it would be quite a different wine to this one, but it would be interesting to try, nonetheless.

La Grille
Cool fermented Chenin Blanc
Anjou, Loire Valley, France
Majestic
£4.99 (when you buy 2 bottles)
4/5