D. Byrne & Co. Wine Jottings

D. Byrne & Co. Seasonal Cases

We are delighted to announce our annual Seasonal Cases for 2016!

Each of the cases contain a fantastic selection of specially chosen bottles for all your seasonal drinking. They also make ideal presents, which can be collected from the shop or can be delivered to any address in mainland UK in time for Christmas. The cases also make excellent corporate gifts, please call us for details.

So whether you want to send a gift, thank a loved one, turn up with something special at a house party or simply light the fire, put your feet up and indulge, we have something for you.

Please note that due to the sheer quantity of wines being sold in our cases over the Christmas period, we reserve the right to substitute a wine or vintage for one of an equal quality if necessary.

Our full Christmas Newsletter full of goodies will be out in the very near future, watch this space.

For orders or enquiries about any of the cases or wines in this newsletter, please contact us by phone at the shop on 01200 423152 or 01200 422281, thank you. 

D. Byrne & Co. CHRISTMAS CASE

2015 Domaine Vedilhan Serica Viognier, Pays d’Oc

D. Byrne & Co White Wine Of The Year 2016/17

An extremely fine and richly textured Viognier with bitter-sweet aromas of crystallised orange peel, ginger and cream. Barrel-fermentation brings subtle texture and richness rather than a dominant oaky flavour, leaving rich stone fruits and fresh herbs to shine through.

2014 Clos de l’Eglise Macon Charnay, Bourgogne

An unoaked, fresh and elegant white Burgundy in the Chablis-style.

Delicate citrus blossom on the nose and a palate brimming with bright and lightly creamy fruit flavours. A classic food friendly Bourgogne Chardonnay with good depth and an underlying savoury minerality.

2015 Les Mains Noires Cotes de Rousillon Blanc, Vallee de l’Agly

A vibrant and easy drinking dry white from the black soils of Roussillon.

Made mainly with Grenache Blanc and a splash of Macabeu, this wine is lightly aromatic and has abundant green apple, citrus and floral notes that are balanced perfectly by a refreshing, appetising finish.

2015 Terrazze della Luna Nosiola, Trentino

Trentino’s native Nosiola grape produces wines of real character.

A lightly floral nose with pear and apple notes. Delicate and fresh on the palate with spicy green apple fruit balanced by zesty acidity. The textured and lightly nutty finish has a crisp green edge.

2015 Tabali Pedregoso Gran Reserva Sauvignon Blanc, Limari

Uniquely focussed Sauvignon Blanc from Chile's fantastic cool-climate region.

Intense, complex and elegant on the nose with citric notes and green aromas. The palate shows great volume with crisp, high acidity giving chalky minrality and a fresh, long, fruity finish.

2015 La Bascula Catalan Eagle Red, Terra Alta

D. Byrne & Co Red Wine Of The Year 2016/17

Weighty and complex yet retaining a bright freshness which is characterized by spicy blackberry and raspberry fruit. Old vine Garnacha and Carignan aged in French oak gives this wine a thoroughly modern feel while remaining firmly and typically Spanish. Outstanding quality and value for money.

2014 MOKO Black Pinot Noir, Marlborough

This is a lovely, lifted Pinot with plenty of fragrance and finesse. The wine displays the classic crunchy cranberry and red currant fruit flavours associated with this most noble of grapes, and although the wine is fruit driven and delicious on its own, there is enough bite and texture to be food friendly.

2015 Chateau de Belleverne Chenas ‘Le Chatelain’, Beaujolais

2015 was a truly exceptional vintage for Beaujolais and if there’s such a thing as Blockbuster Beaujolais, this is it; deep and beetroot-stained with a flowery aroma and a flavour of ripe Morello cherries, the palate is plush and generous with a velvety texture.

2015 Domaine Mas Barrau Cabernet Franc, Pays du Gard

Sensual, seductive and sophisticated Cabernet Franc from the Pays du Gard.

There is a wild ripeness of sweet orange-zest scented raspberry fruit twinned with an edgy woodland perfume. The palate is incredibly long and very rich with fleshy fruit flavours counterbalanced by a bitter, woody, character and a thread of honey.

2013 Boutinot ‘La Cote Sauvage’ Cairanne, Cotes du Rhone

For the La Côte Sauvage fully ripe Grenache and Syrah grapes are hand-picked from old bush vines on selected hillside slopes within Cairanne, a village which was recently elevated to cru status. With cherry and a touch of sweet spice on the nose, ripe berry, liquorice, chocolate, summer pudding and a hint of cinnamon spice on the palate, this wine is full flavoured and smooth with supple tannins.

2013 Cantina Nicosia Nerello Mascalese, Sicily

Nerello Mascalese is one of Sicily’s most serious red grapes, thriving on the slopes of Mt Etna. Ripe cherry and red berry fruit on the nose with spicy, savoury notes. Supple, juicy fruit combines with fresh acidity to give an attractive, easy to drink red - warm, rounded and medium-bodied with gentle tannins.

2013 Novas Gran Reserva Carmenere Cabernet, Colchagua Valley

A deliciously natural, black, muscular food wine, with a great sense of place. A deeply coloured classic blend of Carmenere and Cabernet, dark fruit aromas mixed with soft toasty notes. The palate is intensely rich with lots of herbal flavours, including mint. There is a slight salinity, with lots of fruit and dusty, clay earth and a beautiful stony finish.

£89.99 if collected from the shop or £98 delivered anywhere in mainland UK

CONNOISSEURS CASE 2016

2015 Pazo Barrantes Albarino, Rias Baixas

Very pale with green-gold lights. Full of aromas of wild flowers, white fruits and a hint of spice. A textured palate with plenty of palate weight followed by a fine stony finish. This is a very fine dry white from one of the very best producers in the Rias Baixas, superb with shellfish.

2015 Signos de Origen ‘La Vinilla’, Casablanca Valley

Elegant aromas of apricot, toasted almonds and hints of vanilla. The palate is full and smooth with subtle notes of flowers, luscious lemon meringue fruit and creamy oak with bright natural acidity and a refreshing savoury twist. A modern day Chilean classic which is wonderfully rich and powerful and a food matching dream.

2012 Turckheim Grand Cru Brand Riesling, Alsace

Archetypal Alsace Riesling; fine and dry with elegant pear and citrus fruit on the nose underpinned by hallmark petrol aromas. The palate is broader with rich fruits and a crisp, steely finish. Riesling may not be in fashion, but it is undoubtedly the most noble of noble grapes. A true connoisseurs wine in every sense.

2015 Domaine Roblin Sancerre ‘Terres Blanches’, Loire

Smokey, almost toasty aromas and fresh grass, mingle with just picked lemon and a hint of aniseed. The palate has more lemon, fresh grass, savoury notes, hay and hints of spice. It is round and full in the mouth, finishing with a pure intensity and zippiness that you'd expect in classy Sancerre.

2013 Villa Raiano Ventidue Fiano di Avellino, Campania

A rich and textural Fiano from Raiano's finest vineyard plots. Stone fruit aromas with some savoury, flinty and herbal notes. The palate is complex with peach, nectarine, mineral, and slight leesy characters. Textural, with crisp acidity and great length on the finish.

2014 Feudo Maccari Saia Nero d’Avola, Sicily

Awarded tre bicchieri (Gambero Rosso) for the past 4 years, the Saia Nero d’Avola is the wine that put Feudo Maccari on the map.  From selected plots of 30 to 40year old bush vines, this is a Nero of uncommon delicacy and perfume. Floral, violet aromas backed by spicy notes. The palate has layers of ripe plum fruit with smoke, mocha and more spice - a rich, ample wine backed by vibrant acidity.

2013 Waterkloof Circumstance Cabernet Franc, Stellenbosch

The hugely impressive Waterkloof estate is a certified bio-dynamic vineyard. The estate wines are produced in tiny quantities, and represent the very essence of the pristine landscape from which they are drawn. Cabernet Franc craves a slow, even ripening and its potential on the estates ocean-facing site shines through here. This is an exhilarating wine which must be decanted in order to fully appreciate its wonders, serve with lamb or pink duck.

2014 Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Mourvedre,

Tiny yields of two to three tons per hectare are drawn from Cline’s Contra Costa Mourvedre vineyards. This is hugely concentrated and opulent in style with flavours of dark plum and chocolate leading to a hint of oak and a smooth finish. Long, savoury and luscious.

2015 Wandering Beeste Syrah, Swartland

Mineral, fine and uplifting, with bright acidity and fine tannins that lift the ripe Syrah fruit to a freshness and vitality seldom found in Swartland. The mean, slatey soils give further minerality to the palate which finishes long, broad and bright. This is a wonderfully fresh and floral Syrah with a good dollop of pepper and spice, a brilliant food wine.

2010 Contino Reserva Rioja

All Contino wines are made from grapes exclusively grown on the 62 hectare estate located in Laserna, near the town of Laguardia in the Rioja Alavesa wine making region. This was the first single estate concept in the Rioja region and was established in 1973. This really is a Rioja legend from a legendary vintage, developed, mouth-filling flavours and incredible persistence.

2013 Chateau L’Ermitage Cuvee Sainte-Cecile Rouge, Costieres de Nimes

This is a warm, herbal-scented southern French wine that is immediately soft and developed.

A beefy Syrah/Mourvedre/Grenache blend that is dark and distinctive with lots of ripe red fruit, sweet and savoury characters and roasted coffee flavours. Warm, southern, spicy fruit that is quite warming and appealing yet still rustic.

2014 Merum Priorati Ardiles, Priorat

The wine is deep and moody yet captures a brightness and elegance remarkable for such a powerful wine. Sweet mulberry fruit is surrounded by herbal notes of thyme and fennel and underpinned with a hint of vanilla. Very ripe, fine tannins allow the sweet, juicy fruit to dominate but with the seriousness of leather, tobacco and coffee notes adding complexity.

£150 if collected from the shop or £158 delivered anywhere in the UK

Andrew's Christmas Box

N.V. Emiliana Organic Brut Sparkling Wine, Casablanca Valley

We now have such customer interest in organic wines that this year I decided to draw up a separate list of purely organic wines, needless to say this sensational fizz is one of the real highlights. The first organic fizz from Chile’s leading organic producer. Persistent, fine bubbles provide a classic mousse. Aromas of green apples and papaya with notes of toasted brioche. The palate is impressively clean and balanced with moreish fruit driven character and a long, seductive finish.

2015 Diez Siglos Verdejo, Rueda

In order to select the wines for my wedding this year, Joseph organised a blind tasting of several candidates for Isabel and I to taste, we had already chosen the red so it was down to the white. And the winning white wine is…Diez Siglos Verdejo, wow!! And in such a star line up. You can imagine my surprise (not to mention elation), not only a great wine but it would also save me a packet. It is a widely acknowledged that women have superior palate’s for tasting wine and on this occasion I was only too happy to bow to my dearest’s superiority. Complex aromas of stone fruit, tangerine oil and citrus. A rounded and full flavoured palate, with notes of peaches and cream. Textural, though bright and pure with a long finish.

2015 Feudo Maccari 'Family and Friends' Grillo, Sicily

‘Family and Friends’ sums up the whole ethos of our wedding. A glitzy gathering of 99 Byrne’s, 50 Davie’s and countless friends packed into the warehouse to celebrate mine and Isabel’s marriage. And although I say it myself, this really was one of the most joyful occasions ever. From a selection of the finest Grillo grapes on the estate - fermented and aged 4 months in French oak. A restrained and complex nose with hints of dried fruit, orange peel and papaya. Ripe stone fruit characters and spicy oak lead to a creamy, textured palate and a long, savoury finish.

2011 Boutinot Cairanne ‘Les Six’ Côtes du Rhône Villages

In early summer this year myself and Isabel spent two weeks in Cairanne, we stayed as guests on the Boutinot estate. Our initial thoughts and intentions before leaving were to blend our own wine to serve at the wedding, I have put together some crackers in the past but on this occasion it wasn’t to be. Lurking in a dark corner of the winery was the last dusty palate of ‘Les Six’, and even better it was 2011. A tasting of the wine quickly followed and I was reminded of just how good this wine had been two years earlier. So that was that, I offered the estate manager Kim Tidy a princely sum for the whole palate and he duly accepted. Surely 700+ bottles would be enough to keep the guests happy, and I might even have a few left to enjoy over the coming years. Six varieties, some familiar, others less so, combine beautifully to make one superb Cairanne. In an appellation often dominated by just two varieties, ‘Les Six’ is a new style of Cairanne which, due to the ancient varieties of Carignan Noir (10%), Cinsault (10%) and Counoise (10%) included in the assemblage, is also a Cairanne whose heart holds dear the traditions of yesteryear. ‘Les Six’ is all about elegance and the expression of six different grape varieties; soft red fruits gently seasoned with a touch of oak.

Massaya ‘Le Colombier’, The Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley

Whilst I was in the Rhone I visited Daniel Brunier at the famous Vieux Télégraphe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Daniel and his brother Frédéric, now make wines in the Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. The Massaya wines are a very popular range in the shop, offering the perfect mix of modern wine making and that captivating Lebaneese spice. A blend of Cinsault, Grenache Noir, Syrah and Tempranillo, ‘Le Colombier’ is a fresh, thirst-quenching wine, distinguished by hints of spice, pepper and cedarwood. Ironically I did have the opportunity to visit the Lebanon in early October, but allas love conquers all and I had to decline the opportunity as it coincided with my wedding day!!

Krohn Colheita 1995

Krohn produce the most wonderfully silky and complex of all Colheita’s. The wines are disgracefully decadent, rich and impossible to put down, I will be enjoying mine by the fire with the last of our wedding cake. A stunning richly flavoured Colheita, drinking perfectly after nearly 20 years in barrel! From the very correct 1995 vintage. Deep brick red. A warm, rich, spicy nose, with aromas of plum cake, caramel and dates. The palate is generous with lots of rich, concentrated flavours, dried fruit, dates, raisins, nuts and plum. Stunning length and great balance.

£80 if collected in the shop or £88 delivered anywhere in mainland UK