SKINSY STUFF 4 THE SUN 🌞

Heyy, Fionn on what is shaping up to be a pretty decent Thursday.

Good weather calls for good wine. Luckily for you lot, we’ve had a couple of new arrivals that will do well over hopefully a bright and breezy weekend.

I’ve been a long-timee admirer of these Mataburro wines. IDK why they haven’t graced the shelves sooner. I guess that’s the problem with having TOO much wine…

The name translates to Donkey Killer after a railway line, that runs behind their vines, unfortunately claimed two unsuspecting victims on its opening day. Gruesome name aside the wines are very good, very fresh. Laurent comes from a wine-making family but got into the natural stuff while at La Verre Volé. This Bistro, open 7 days a week, is always a safe, wallet-friendly bet for when in Paris FYI. He then honed his skills with Alain Castex of Le Casot des Mailloles before starting the project in ‘17.

It gets HOT down here near Perpignan. Excess heat = Jammy wine. Not want we/they want. They make wines that we/they like to drink, modest on booze, high on acid. Things that you’d want to drink when the sun’s out. They believe the best way to combat global warming lies in healthy soil. Healthy soils = healthy vines = healthy wines. Simple. Good grapes allow them to opt for more gentle, delicate vinifications and pick earlier. Taste the wines, and you’ll know they’re onto something.

Never thought I’d say this but this is bloody great Merlot. Yes, Merlot. Ignore everything you learnt from the wine film Sideways. Go into this with an open mind, you’ll be surprised. At a recent wine fair, I was served this blind…  My guess? Jura Red :\. At least I was in the right country. I was way off the mark but the room full of top Vignerons also didn’t fare much better. The vitality, crunchy fruit, and that earthen thing they do so well were all on show. I have no words to describe how INTO this wine I am. It’s quite absurd how delicious Merlot can be when treated right. Why no one else is making Merlot like this, only god knows. Chill this down and go to town.

Their orange offering is equally light and bright. Most of France wouldn’t dare lift a finger in August, it is the holiday season after all. Not for Laurent and Melissa though as this is picked on the 5th. It has all the wonderful piercing acid and a modest % to show for it. The fruit is still sun-kissed and southern, tropical and high-toned. Fleshy texture and with a salty finish. Well worth missing the holiday for. Refreshment from the unlikeliest of places.

On the topic of skin-contact stuff we also welcome Ham Street’s latest limited release. By limited I mean a measly 252 bottles were made. Clues in the name of this one... Expect wild orchard fruit, smoke, and spice. Easily, the best macerated wine from the UK. Serious stuff. All their wines come from beautiful fruit, in minute quantities and won’t be around forever. They’re only an hour on the train from London and some of the nicest people you’ll meet. Check ‘em out!

More Skins from Alsace. This is a rare Savagnin clone that couples the aromatics of Gewurz with the hallmark driving acidity we know and love. Tasted this freshly bottled on my last visit and begged the importer to start bringing this into the UK. They listened, I bought some, now you can enjoy it too.

It has become nigh on impossible to source well-priced orange wine these days. Well, we’ve only gone and done it. Heinrich are about bang for your buck. The newest addition to the Naked Range over-delivers as with the rest. Juicy citrus with the bite of a blood orange. Just look at the colour. You’re not gonna get much better for a score.

Finally, September is all about Tastings over at Dan’s. Back to school or something.

Firstly some Elite Pinot from down under. Here, we’ll be joined by the Queen of Pinot, Mel Chester of Giant Steps fame, and it’ll be a nice change to have an Englishman in for once with Paul Lipscombe of Sailor Seeks Horse. Eye-opening wines that drink way better than similarly priced Burg. Plus the winemakers are actually a laugh. Full details here.

If that wasn’t enough, Wink Lorch is coming to the party on the 22nd. If ya don’t know, Wink was championing the Jura long before the cool kids were. The definitive voice on all things sous voile and ouillé. She’ll be presenting her newest book, diving back into the Jura 10 years since the release of her legendary Jura Wine. This is not one to be missed. All the details are here. After the tasting, we’re opening up the bar to everyone. Wink will hang around to chat, we’ll be pouring exclusively JURA BTG. Special bottles will be unearthed from the cellar too…