Producer of the month - August

Ocean 8, Mornington Peninsula, Australia

We've decided to take a short break from our big Thursday evening tastings during August. Instead we'll pick a couple of our favourite producers on which to focus, starting off with Ocean 8 from Australia. They are based in Mornington Peninsula, a cool-maritime climate just to the south of Melbourne, the perfect place for producing intense yet elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. I first met founder and winemaker Mike Aylward (pictured above) when selling to restaurants, and still think Ocean 8 - and this region - produces some of the best - and most unique - examples of these grapes outside Burgundy.

We'll have the wines open to taste and buy by the glass on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th August, there will be 10% off on takeaway sales, and are well worth a taste: Ocean 8 Verve Chardonnay 2015 - £28.80 bottle (normally £32) Ocean 8 Pinot Noir 2015 - £27 bottle (normally £30) Grand Thursday night tastings will return in September, kicking off with Australian and Portuguese wine evenings.