The personalities behind the wines
Recently I’ve been tasting hundreds of wines, so rather than waxing lyrical about the liquid, I thought I would write something about the personalities behind a few of our favourite bottles.
Estelle Roumage (Chateau Lestrille)
In my old life, I used to visit many West End restaurants with wine makers (I know, tough life!) When I was last with Estelle, she mentioned that she was about to open a wine shop and bar in St Germain du Puch, near her winery outside Bordeaux. This was right at the time that we were negotiating the contract for 9b The Broadway. It was great to catch up with her and talk about our respective new businesses and the similarities between La Boutique de Lestrille and Vinoramica.
Estelle makes really elegant, fruit-led reds and also some excellent whites, even an eye-opening example of “Clairet”, a dark, rich rosé which tastes like no other.
Estelle, pictured with “Le Secret de Lestrille” – a very popular Christmas Day wine in Highams Park.
Roberto and Diego Echeverria (Echeverria Wines)
Winemaking is a family affair for the Echeverrias. They came to Chile from the Basque region of Spain in the 1750s and have been producing wine in Chile for nearly 100 years. They are based in Curico, with its Pacific-influenced climate, meaning that they can grow an extraordinary range of grape varieties. Not only that, they are one of the nicest families in the business, and I’ve have had great pleasure working with them for a number of years. I’m sipping on their Gran Reserva Chardonnay as I type…
The Echeverrias produce a wide variety of styles, thanks to their location. Their Gran Reserva Syrah and Pinot Noir rose are on the shortlist for new Spring listings.
Diego (left) and Roberto (right) with a bottle of the Gran Reserva Pinot Noir, one of my go-to recommendations for those that want a red to drink with oily fish, game or earthy food flavours.
Franck-Lin Dalle (Chateau de Campuget)
Franck-Lin trained as a solicitor, but soon gave this up to follow the family tradition of winemaking. He is now living the dream in Nimes, producing exceptional wines that combine the best influences of the Southern Rhone with the best of Provence, without the expensive postcode. This means, serious Syrah, elegant Viognier and some of the most sublime rosé you will ever taste.
When I visited Frank-Lin in April, a few months before opening the shop, I learnt that:
Strawberries and Chantilly Cream is the breakfast of Champions
Following your dream of starting a (wine-related) business is definitely a good idea
So, thank you Franck-Lin for the encouragement!
Franck-Lin, with a bottle of his 1753 Syrah Vermentino Campuget Rose – THE rose to be drinking in Highams Park, Winter-Spring-Summer 2018.
Pierre Naigeon (Domaine Pierre Naigeon)
I was surprised to see Pierre at the tasting on Monday - he certainly has his roots firmly fixed in France. He is a pure winemaker from head to toe and a real legend in the wine world. He lives and breathes Pinot Noir, Chardonnay (and a little bit of Aligote and Syrah).
I first met him in April 2016 in Gevrey Chambertin. His winery was the last visit, but after tasting all day we were lost and quite tired and ready to head back to Beaune. Then we found Pierre and everything changed.
Pierre inherited a miniscule amount of land in the early 1990s and he has gradually purchased small plots ever since. Everything he does is on a small scale, so his wines are only produced in very small quantities. He has a holistic approach to winemaking, meaning that his wines really express the terroir of the plots. I've never experienced the difference in terroir until Pierre showed us in his vineyard.
Then in his cellar, jumping from barrel to barrel, trying out around 40 of his 2015s straight from the cask, I went home with a lasting impression of this visit. We now stock his Marsannay and Gevrey Chambertin Les Creux Brouillard – the 2015 vintage is tasting brilliant right now, accessible and easy to appreciate.
Pierre pictured above with his 2015 Marsannay Rouge – very well-received when we opened it by the glass in December.
I hope this has whet your appetite to get to know some of the faces behind the wines. We’re planning to arrange informal “meet the winemaker” evenings at the shop over the coming months, so expect to see the likes of Estelle, Diego, Roberto and Franck-Lin in the shop soon…
