As it has become a tradition in January, I will start the year with the release of the latest vintage of Bodegas Aalto in Ribera del Duero. The regular readers will knew that this is one of my favourite estates (after all it was Aalto back in 2004 that drew my attention to the region) and I am pleased that the winery is going from strength to strength with every new vintage.   2019 was about as classic as they get to be in Ribera; cold (down to -9 C in some high vineyards) and mainly dry winter. Mostly dry …

Good afternoon good people from a grey and cloudy Richmond.   It’s been a busy week of tastings since I came back from Barolo (more of that trip later). The highlight was tasting the top 100 Ribera del Duero wines, as selected by Tim Atkin MW and featured in the last issue of Decanter. Many thanks to all of you who forwarded me the article and, yes, I am proud to confirm that Garmon was granted the highest rating, and pretty much all of our other estates are included in the review (Aalto, Sastre, Vina Magna). Normally, I would release …

 Garmon 2017 Release Offer   Garmon 2017, we actually managed to get the stock into the country a few weeks ago, but I have been preoccupied with chasing 2020 Bordeaux samples and it got slightly neglected. And now Bordeaux can wait its turn, ‘cos. Garmon is worth it …   As mentioned in last 2 vintage releases for Garmon, it is fast getting serious recognition as one of the leading wines in Ribera del Duero. One does not often see this many critics reviewing a new winery and consistently awarding mid 90’s scores.   The vintage was characterised by significantly …

As promised long way back before lockdown, here is the first of future superstars I managed to find in Piemonte. There is more to come but thanks to travel restrictions the deals have not yet been concluded. I promise, as soon as they are happy to receive visitors again, I will be on the first plane out (hopefully within a few weeks). These wines and people who make them are more than worth it and I will do whatever I can to get the allocations. In February this year, I spent 4 great days crisscrossing Piemonte visiting 4 producers per …

GARMÓN CONTINENTAL 2016 Lukasz and myself are well and working very hard sending cases of lockdown wines all around the country, as well as getting organized with our various producers to get all the samples in for my tastings. Regular readers of these missives of mine would expect a flurry of Bordeaux en primeur reports and offers at this time of the year, alas that is not to be this time around. Still, as you can see in the picture below, I have lined up a good range of substitutes to look forward to in the coming weeks (Ornellaia, Serre …

COVID – 19 NOTICE   Dear wine loving people of Richmond, WE ARE STILL OPEN but due to the most recent COVID-19 advice, only for HOME DELIVERIES and PRE-ORDERED COLLECTIONS from our shop at 2 BRIDGE STREET, RICHMOND TW9 1 TQ.  Enquiries and to place orders, please contact us at: sales@citywinecollection.com or tel. 0208 948 7823 . Please note that we will assemble orders received by 4pm and try to deliver locally between 5pm and 7pm on daily basis where possible. As you can imagine we will need to streamline the operations and, in order to reduce contact and protect both you and us, we will have …

AALTO 2017 and AALTO PS 2017 2017 was a difficult vintage in most of Europe and Spain/Ribera were not spared the trouble. Following a dry and warm winter (about 60 % less rain than normal) the growing season kicked off early, only to be hit by late frost just as the plants were reaching pre budding stage. Subsequently, a fair amount of fruit was never set and what was there had to fight for survival till late August, when a bit of rain moved in and propped the plants to finish the season. As in previous difficult vintages, the quality …

I was in a process of writing an offer on some beautiful wines form Piemonte, when Parker's Wine Advocate turned up in my mail box. Knowing that inside would be reviews of my favourite Spanish estates, I could not resist to peak in. And... Don't worry, fine wines of Gianni Abrigo will be coming your way very soon but, thanks to high ratings, this has become quite urgent.   First of all, I am pleased to say that all the usual suspects have been given appropriate (read: very good) scores, but one specific wine caught my eye more than others …

I hope you are enjoying this Mediterranean summer we are having in England this year. I am quite happy with the sun and the heat, but must admit that few days of rain and wind over the weekend were a welcomed break.   Talking about long hot summer, I have had quite a few people in the shop asking about the right serving temperatures for reds and how to keep the wine in the right condition. So, I thought I would write few words on the subject within this offer - those of you who are interested will find detailed …

Hello good people and I hope everyone is coping well with this spell of miserable weather. Perhaps if we all wish really hard the sun might come out to play...   Fortunately, this week was made a touch sunnier and easier to bear as I was invited to a preview tasting - launch of 2015 vintage of the legendary Sassicaia.   The "Sass", as it is known in the trade, does not really need much introduction. It is the original Super Tuscan - the wine that started the whole revolution in Tuscan wine making back in late 60s (good old …

Good afternoon good people and hope you all had a good New Year's holiday.   It's cold and unfriendly out there so in the tradition of the last few Januarys, it is time to bring some sunshine in to your lives in the shape of 2015 Vintage of Aalto.   The winery releases the wine in the late Autumn but, as that is my busy time of the year, I never get around to it at the time. Also, it somehow feels right to start the year with one of my favourite wineries.   The 2015 was (very much like …

Good morning good people and hope you are all well. A chilly grey mist is rising off the River in Richmond today but, on Saturday we were enjoying a beautiful sunny day which reminded me of Summer, Spain, and inevitably, of Aalto. They released the 2014 vintage in November, but we were busy with Christmas trading and all that jazz, so it got shelved for a few weeks. And now, whilst I am waiting to get my Burgundy allocations confirmed, I thought, let's open the samples and unleash the 2014 vintage. Most of you know that I consider Aalto to be …

Good afternoon good people  There was not much of great note happening in Bordeaux last week so, I decided to open few samples that have accumulated in our shop whilst I was travelling over the last few weeks. Most of them were new vintages of our restaurant distribution wines, so not really something worth making a special offer on. However, there was 1 little gem worth making a special mention of: a new release of Preludio de Sei Solo from Javier Zaccagnini. Those of you who read these missives of mine would be familiar with Javier’s  name – he is …

Good afternoon good people, and hope you are all well. While I am putting together the 2015 Bordeaux en primeur report, and waiting for the Chateaux to release the prices, I thought I would draw your attention to a “little” wine from the South of France and some ready drinking vintages of it.  Essentially, one of my clients has asked me to find a home for some over-stock that he has in his portfolio from mature vintages of Clos des Papes – Chateauneuf du Pape. For those of you who are not familiar with the wine, Clos des Papes is one …

Good afternoon good people. Hope you all had a great January despite the market’s turmoils, terrorists and hurricanes. It was quite a hectic start of the year, so now is the time for a little bright spark: the Queen of all Whites – The White Burgundy. As usual in January, I have been busy tasting through new vintage releases, and some 400 different 2014 White and Red Burgundies have passed though my glass, many of which 2-3 times.  By a rough estimate, about 1200 wines in total over 3 weeks. Not bad for the start of the year.   The …