FEELIN THE HEAT? 🌵

by Megan Jones

What’s up winos,

Did I tempt fate last week, whining about the cold weather? In true British fashion I’m now too hot. Did we skip something somewhere? Where’s that lovely 23 degrees I’m such a fan of? A distant memory these days, I guess. Hope you’re all staying cool wherever you are. Or cancelling those flights to Greece so you can roast like a rotisserie chicken in your back garden for free instead. Lucky for you, we just installed a lovely new awning at dan’s, so you can shelter from the unrelenting sun while sipping on the good stuff. If you drop by make sure you remember to compliment me on my colour selection. I know! I’m so talented.

What’s new chez nous? Glad you asked. Master of Wine and all-around great guy Tim Wildman is back with the new vintage of his Lost in a Field pét-nat. The mission? To recover UK heritage varieties that are on the verge of disappearing. Noble! The wine contains a whopping 14 different grapes from five different vineyards in five different counties, among which are the lesser spotted Madeleine Angevine, Reichensteiner, Schönburger, Triomphe d'Alsace, Rondo, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.* Unpronounceable as some of those words may be, the wine is accessibility personified, gorgeously pink in colour with flavours ranging from raspberry to rhubarb. It’s also only 9.5% ABV if you’re into that kind of thing. Pick up a bottle or six here.

*Did you know that’s actually a Microsoft Word approved word?! It just corrected my spelling of it! Learn something new every day.

In other news, our latest tasting with Envínate is set to be a banger. Thought I’d spend a little time introducing the guys behind it, all the better for you to have smart questions prepared to ask them on the 11th of July. The Envínate crew are Roberto, Alfonso, Laura and José, four pals who met studying oenology in Elche and then head off to different corners of Spain and the Canary Islands with the shared goal of make banging wines from the regions’ distinctive Atlantic coastline soils. Though they make wines in three different places, the process is the same in each – zero chemicals, hand-picking, foot-treading and wild yeast fermentation. All the classic ingredients for a natty wine, essentially. The wines are crazy good – completely expressive of the terroir they come from (catch me saying terroir like I didn’t only learn what that meant six months ago), wild yet focussed. Delicious, in short. My two faves are the Benje Blanco – a saline, volcanic, savoury Listán Blanco – and the Lousas 'Doade', a Mencía that’s all tight red fruit and shredding acid. What’s not to like? Grab yourself a couple bottles and get excited for the tasting, tickets for which can be purchased here, or by clicking the gigantic image below.

Gotta go, got to go put my head in the fridge.

Stay cool!

Megan