MR WORLDWIDE 🤩

Hiya,

You might want to grab yourself a cuppa, or chuck on the out of office for 10 mins.

Upon undertaking this global export/import challenge, there was one producer whom I was entirely certain we needed, Sailor Seeks Horse. Maybe it was the weeks I spent there in 2018 plunging ferments and “learning to make wine” (read; hard labour) or the pre and subsequent years of seeking out their wines wherever possible that lead me down this path. Who knows, or even cares. The important part is that we got there, albeit in minute quantities.

Pinot and Chardy par excellence from the depths of Tasmanian winemaking country. The estate wines yield from a vineyard so miserly that although production is tiny and barely sustainable, the juice is transcendent in terms of purity and quality. Age worthy too, I recently polished off my final 2015 Chardonnay and it was singing in a way that mature Burgundy so often fails to do. But it is with Pinot where Paul and Gilli stake their claim as upper echelon winemakers. So often we are taught that Pinot from Burgundy is savoury and those imitations from further afield are all fruit and little else. It’s a major aspect of the reputation to be honest, and to be even more honest I feel it has swung the other way. Too often we see wines that show an inability/lack of desire to adapt to a warming world, particularly at what is seen as an entry point for Burgs. Totally fine if that is your jam (see what I did there) but lacking the ethereal quality that keeps you hunting for the real deal. Bias aside, we’re catching up down under, if not overtaking.

Most of this is destined for restaurants, so if you’re keen to take a sip horizontal on your sun lounger at home, then have a go right here.

Back in the Eurozone, I silently wish… It’s care of Paul and Gilli that I was introduced to the wines of Thibaud Boudignon. The fact it has taken me almost two years to act on this is entirely my own fault, and I am so sorry. Better late than never as they say. In a wine world where we’re always looking for the next bright light, isn’t it refreshing to find producers absolutely smoking it year after year? Perhaps becoming an underrated quality. That is exactly where we find ourselves with Thibaud. A master of the Chenin arts, based in the Anjou, with sublime holdings in and around Savennières (Dry Chenin Heaven™). Anyone who wanted Leroy or Bernadeau and didn’t click fast enough would be well served by taking a nosey at this lot. You can thank me later.

Still in Euroland, I’m fresh from visiting our Jura growers to collect a bit of tiny production gear and taste wines that have just hit the bottle. It is a tough existence that someone must suffer. We also managed a quick hello with Remi Dufaitre down in Beaujolais during the R n R portion of this quick trip. What a dude, so generous, and what wines. Every bottle I’ve busted open sitting in the sun on the Dalston Riviera has reinvigorated the soul. We’ve not huge quantities leftover from the shipment that arrived the other month. You’ve somehow all drained us of several hundred bottles in a matter of weeks. That’s cool. Drain us of the rest because I’m about to go big again.

Wait, there’s more!

Finallllly, something that’s potentially even closer to my heart. Four Pillars Gin. For all Australians this will need zero intro whatsoever, but for those permanent residents of Blighty, you’ve been missing out. But we hate having anyone miss out, so we’ve joined forces with the good folk to put on a night at Dan’s. It’s tomorrow, and there are less than a handful of tickets left, so if you’re of the inclination to do something moderately educational on a Wednesday, this is the one… Tickets for that, and more, by clicking the button below.

That’s me

x

Dan