Blockbuster Binner – pure liquid sunshine…

It’s rare that I talk directly about an individual wine in a blog post, but I feel the desperate need to share with you one of the most pleasurable wine experiences I have had this year.

You can imagine that we get through a fair few bottles in a year, continually tasting both wines from our range as well as new kids on the block, as we strive to seek out the glory from the monotony.  And believe you me – there is a lot of dross out there.

Last week, however, saw a new arrival from one of our old pals in Alsace – Christian Binner.  His Riesling ‘Champ des Alouettes’ had us roaring with appreciation at this, his latest masterpiece, made from his tiny vineyards in Ammerswihr, Alsace.

The Binners date back to the 1700s, so there’s no shortage of ‘savoir faire’ in this family.  On the other hand, less is more when it comes to fine wine-making.  Under Christian’s stewardship, they farm organically and bio-dynamically.  They rarely filter (and when they do, sparingly), their use of sulphur is minimal (if not at all) and they use 100 year old barrels for slow aging.  It’s no wonder that the resulting product is harmony personified.  A split between honey and ripe quince and peaches, the flavours in this wine were simply exquisite.   Price-wise, take a small breath – £22.95 is a little scary on an unknown, but trust us, every single penny is worth it and more.

We will only ever hold minimal quantities of this wine – shout if you’d like us to reserve any for you.