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January 2009
Fin d'Année 2009
Autumn 2008
Newsletter N°3
Newsletter N°2
Newsletter N°1
January 2009
Le 01/26/2009
Janvier 2009
Happy New Year and Best Wishes to everyone.
The festive period has been and gone for another year. With the financial downturn there may well have been less consumption this year than previous years. Majestic have just announced a 3% drop in sales for December, and as for the large Tesco in Calais, if the rumours are true, then they have some serious thinking to do. However, it isn't all bad news; some of our suppliers have reported a very busy run-up to Christmas, even selling out of some lines, which was a shame for us, must make that order earlier next year. There are certain small independents that have had a better than expected season so it seems that wine lovers are still enjoying the great value range that is available. And of course I should mention Blakeneys; we had a reasonable December, better than last year (though being just a year old it wasn't too difficult to better the year on year sales).
It's still very much winter here; the nights are long and so far this January, very cold. This is also the month when I give my liver a rest and stop drinking. I do have the Salon des Vins de la Loire to look forward to at the beginning of February. This is a fantastically well run trade fair where a good mix of producers and négociants; from the mega to the small independent, get together to show their wines. And of course the diversity that comes under the umbrella of the Loire is unbeatable. There will be a full report in the next Newsletter.
In the run up to Christmas Blakeneys found some new wines to add to the already fascinating and mouth-watering list. Firstly I felt we needed a Chablis. Now Chablis is not an appellation that fits easily into the ethos of the company; that's to say I find that many of the readily available Chablis wines are bland. It is, I think, a victim of its own success. The more popular it becomes, the more money invested, the higher the demand for a good return on the investment. A large profit has to be made and then I think the quality suffers, particularly when there is over production, which probably happens. So I was very pleased to find this Chablis, which has every thing you need and beautifully demonstrates that when Chablis is good, it's fantastic. This wine is from Domaine Perdrycourt, a relatively small, family run domaine, which concentrates on quality before profit. Obviously it has to make some money otherwise it would disappear, so it's not the cheapest but it's a fair price when you consider the care and effort put into the production and the resulting wine. This isn't a wine for all those people who don't like Chardonnay but love Chablis; I hope you know what I mean.
The second new wine that I felt was needed for the range was a decent mid-range red Bordeaux. Similar to the search for the Chablis, I wanted a wine from a domaine that has maintained their integrity; however, the range and the number of producers in Bordeaux are far higher. After a lot of trying and rejecting (either because the price was too high or the flavours and body were too feeble), we found an excellent Bordeaux of good quality and is certainly value for money. The search for new wines will always continue but we think Château Melin Premières Côtes de Bordeaux, produced by the Modet family in the area around the town of Cadillac, is a winner. The soft red fruits and firm but non-aggressive tannins make this an ideal wine for a roast. The wine will benefit from a moment or two in an open bottle, or even better decanted. We also have in stock, from the same producers, an absolutely delicious dessert wine.
We have a new Muscadet lined up and something really special from Domaine d'Aujardière where Eric Chevalier uses a grape variety called Fie Gris; more on that in the next bulletin.
This Newsletter is a little bit late as I have been working hard to arrange some new promotions. These promotions will initially be available exclusively to newsletter subscribers. So if you're reading this and you're not registered, it's very easy, simply go to the Blakeneys.com homepage in the top right corner it says My Account or Mon Compte click on that and fill out your details not forgetting to tick the box where it ask if you want to subscribe to the Newsletter. Then once you've registered, look out for the email, containing details of these promotions.
Why not nominate a friend or college to subscribe, and receive a voucher for 10 €, when the new customer places his or her first order of 80 € or more, they will need to mention your nomination when completing the order details, there is a section for additional information. The voucher will be sent directly to you.
STOP PRESS - The new President of the United States of America, Barack Obama celebrated his inauguration with Prosecco. How about that? Blakeneys sells a fabulous Prosecco for a credit crunching 7.60 €. Never tried Prosecco before? Well maybe it's time to change - yes we can!
Fin d'Année 2009
Le 12/09/2008
Newsletter N°5 What a lot of things have happen since the last newsletter. The house of cards that was the financial world has toppled over and it seems that the world has got to rethink how it does business. The new President of America gives me a great encouragement that the world is not that bad and give it a bit of time the waves will calm and the storm will pass.
New Wines
As the nights get longer and colder what better way to cheer up than to try new wines from the South of France.
Some of you have already tried the delights of "le Petit Pont" range of wines. These are, as far as I'm concerned, some of the best value wines around at the moment. They are from the Domaine Robert Vic so we wondered what else they produce. And lo and behold they produce a wine that I was given a couple of years ago. It had been bought in the UK from Majestic Wines. It is a Petit Verdot from vineyards near Beziers, hardly a common grape variety in these or any other region except for a few corners of Bordeaux, hence the interest,. As I was most impressed by this wine it was certainly added to the next order. Not only that, there is a Cabernet Franc from this estate, a Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah to make up the list. All these wines are delicious and like le Petit Pont excellent value, which we always enjoy, but particularly when things are a bit tight.
This is not the only new wine we have in stock. We have a whole plethora of wines from the Languedoc Roussillon region to try out so all your comments will be welcomed. Some are from producers you will be familiar with, like Michel et Pompilia Guiraud who make the very delicious Comme à Cayenne, we have a lighter Saint Chinian from them "les Cerise" and a Sauvignon Blanc from this estate made with input from the inimitable Jeff Carrel.
There is another producer that requires mentioning and that is Domaine Souterranne owned and run by Jim and Sarah Pearce. They decided to leave England and rapidly learnt how to grow and sell peaches as well as how to become a wine making expert before a vintage was lost. They did have the good sense to employ a couple of "flying winemakers" one of them being the world famous David Morrison from Australia who brought his knowledge of the international market. The other was Raphael Genot a French man presumably to make sure the local tastes were taken into account. The domaine has only three cuvees; a Chardonnay Viognier blend, a Merlot nice and oaky and then an old vine Carignan which is brilliant. Their wines appear in the latest edition of the Oz Clarke annual the Top 250 Wines of the World. Not a bad start
Tastings
Next year Blakeneys is planning to go on the road to show some of the wine we stock. And to get things started a series of tastings in the village in the very welcoming Lion d'Or estaminet. The first one featured various wines from the Languedoc and Roussillon area and demonstrated that there are some truly fantastic wines being made and knocking on the head the idea that the region only makes plonk. We tasted the wines from Domaine Souterranne and le Petit Pont range. The winner on the evening however was the Fleur Blanche from Mas des Agrunelles, a Chardonnay Roussanne blend extremely well balanced showing a delicious blend of aromatic fruits and crisp citrusy freshness.
The next tasting was wines from Chile and Argentina, it was an attempt to show some of sceptics in the area that there are wines from other countries around the world and they are pretty good. The Ventisquero Reserva Carménère was extraordinary and certainly turned a few heads. The Malbec from Trapiche was an example that wines from South America can have a European style, very good structure and plenty of fruit. All went very well and hopefully we changed a few opinions.
The next two will be wines from Italy and then just before Christmas we will try a few classics from France. I'll let you know how they went in the New Year.
Christmas Marché Ardres
On the 14th of December the Marché de Noël at Ardres will take place. Last year the rain came down all day and in the end Father Christmas had to give up his decent from the roof of the church to finish the evening. The insurance wouldn't cover any accidents, which got me thinking who his normal insurance company is and what must his premiums be? This year Blakeneys is taking a chalet and is hoping for some good weather. Even if it is not that good we are sure to have a good time and kick start the festive period. We will have plenty on offer so if you are around and fancy a picking up some bits and pieces come along.
New Year
In the New Year we are planning to develop the business. First thing is a shop, based in Hardinghen, a small village 15 minutes from Boulogne and about the same from Calais. It will not be a megastore but good personal advice will be on hand as well as all the fantastic wines stocked by Blakeneys.
We will also be organising tasting events and hopefully a wine club both in person and online where each month a new set of wines will be tasted, analysed, notes made and ultimately drunk.
And of course we will be constantly on the look out for new and exciting wines from around the world.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Autumn 2008
Le 10/08/2008
Newsletter N° 4
So the summer is over, did it actually begin? The weather has not been a friend of the holiday maker, the school fête organiser and certainly not the wine producer.
Certain regions, Muscadet in particular suffered from a late frost, other areas like Madiran and Sancerre had to put up with hailstorms with lumps of ice the size of golf balls ripping off the new leaves and of course every where was hoping the rain would stop and the sunshine would come out.
It isn't too late, there may well be one or two sunny days but with the vendages well on its way most people would agree that 2008 will not be a great year.
We shouldn't forget the other side of the world where Australia is in the grip of a massive drought, this is affecting an incredible number of growers who are really feeling the pressure. This could be the end of cheap wine from down-under; a situation similar to that of the Champagne region, the demand for grapes pushes up the price.
Now having just said that it was a miserable summer, there were a few decent days and some of those Blakeney Wines got out of the office and set up stall at Wissant Market. It was excellent fun being out and talking about all types of wine with all kinds of people. The big successes were somewhat obviously the cheaper bottles. The Petit Pont wines, Vin de Pays d'Oc, produced by Robert Vic were very popular, as were the range of wines from Gascogne by Jean-Luc Lapeyre. His Domaine La Haille Blanc was a triumph; the fresh, fruity nature of this wine goes so well with fish and there were plenty of that available at the market. The Merlot from the same producer was on tasting and was enjoyed by the locals and tourists particularly when there was a chunk of cheese from Wierre Effroy, just down the road.
I was lucky enough to have a few days on holiday and had the great fortune to find the most fantastic restaurant in Trouville. As a brief shower became a prolonged downpour we took shelter from the beach and came across Les Quatre Chats (8, Rue d'Orleans, 14360 Trouville-sur-Mer. Tel: 02 31 88 94 94). The menu and the wine were chalked up on the wall; the food an encouragingly short list and the wine temptingly long. The fish was cooked to perfection; not over done, fresh and simple. We had an interesting St Pouçain white, I'll probably carry on looking for a better example. One wine I did notice on the list was a Menetou-Salon from Le Prieuré de St Céols. This is an excellent Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Noir from the same domaine is equally delicious, this I know as Blakeneys.com stock them regularly and I have sampled them often.
I've just received the very fat Decanter magazine packed with the results of the annual awards. Obviously, these aren't the be all and end all of the thousands of different wine awards (have you noticed how many there are in Australia?) but they are pretty comprehensive. So as I flick through I'm pleased to see one or two award winners. St Clair Sauvignon Blanc won the Regional Trophy for New Zealand; wines from Ngatarawa also picked up medals, and Ventisquero received some commendations in the Chile section.
There is also a medal for the Meerlust Estate Rubicon from the Stellenbosch area of South Africa which has just been ordered and will be our new flagship wine for the South African range, which some of you may well have noticed has been missing for some time now. So keep an eye out in the coming weeks, as finally the South African producers get their proper place amongst the other New World wines.
Newsletter N°3
Le 05/16/2008
May 2008
Champagne
As we've seen with bread and petrol, the increase in demand for Champagne has led to an increase in price - the growers are holding out for the highest prices. The contracts are completed in May, and the price per kilogramme is finalised. This year it seems that the growers will be asking the top houses around €3.00 to €4.00 per kilo. A bottle needs roughly 1.5kg of fruit; therefore we can all see the cost of the raw material.
So what does this mean? OPEC feels oil extraction is at its maximum capacity at the moment, by contrast, the INAO has just allowed an expansion of the land permitted to be a part of the Champagne region, instantly raising the price per hectare. The result is a 200 fold hike overnight, causing much rancour amongst those communes still left outside the boundaries; one side of the fence your vine could get you around €5000 per hectare, just the other side, and your vines are now worth €1M per hectare. However, the fruit will not be available for sometime, so this will not alleviate the pressure on demand instantly; and let's face it, when the extra fruit is ready, in say, ten years time, will prices fall? Will we see, not supermarket or wine-warehouse "special offers", but genuine reductions? Now unless you are on a wheat free diet we all need our daily bread and I think you'll agree that petrol prices can carry on increasing as much as they like before we give up our cars. But Champagne, can we live without it? Probably yes, possibly no. There are some excellent sparkling wines from various parts of France like our Vouvray Domaine de la Chataignerie and from around the world; the Montresor Prosecco is delightful, but do they carry the same gravitas as the real thing? We often have to supply wines for weddings and like the white dress and the several tiers of iced cake, Champagne is the only drink to toast the special occasion. There is a silver lining to all this gloom. Unlike petrol where the choice is 4 star or diesel from the local service station, or save a penny or two by driving miles to the out-of-town supermarket, Champagne comes from many producers who show variance in profiteering, marketing, and quality. We can certainly recommend Champagne Pannier. The basic Brut Selection, according to Andrew Jefford in his excellent book The New France published by Mitchell Beazley, "is as near to a cert as this difficult climate can provide". We have this available for €18.20. We also have St Réol Grand Cru at €18.49, an absolutely delicious example of how Champagne does not have to be exorbitant. Here comes the cloud for the silver lining, we can only maintain these prices for the first half of the summer, but, to draw one last parallel, unlike petrol, you can keep Champagne in the cupboard under the stairs for quite a few months. What we suggest is, stock up now.
Rosé
Is Rosé just a feel good wine and if so does it matter? You never see a case of pink going for thousands at auction, when celebs, top bankers or art collectors are interviewed by specialist magazines and asked what their most memorable bottle of wine was, no one ever says a Portuguese rosé in a funny shaped bottle. Sommeliers seldom recommend a rosé, possibly in Provence from time to time but hardly ever. Rosé is the wine for the holiday, the weekend break or even the glass or two after work.
It doesn't involve an elaborate or long production process; although I'm sure vigneron will argue to the contrary. In fact I was chastised the other week by a producer in the Fronton area just north of Toulouse, who claimed that their Rosé, made from the Negrette grape was a complex wine of great quality. I asked for some samples to be sent up so who knows, next month I may be extolling the virtues of Rosés from this area. To me all you need to do is give a juicy red grape a little squeeze and then do as you would for a white wine. The resulting wine doesn't require too much contemplation. A good rosé should be refreshing and fruity, dry or off-dry according to your taste, it should suit the occasion and not be expensive. So why is there now so much advertising and promotion of the humble rosé? A few years ago the big hypermarchés here in France would have one or two Rosé tucked away on the bottom shelf, now they are packed at eye level, at the expense of decent whites I should add. The cynic in me says it is just marketing aimed at a new market, women and younger drinkers. The more realistic side of me reckons Rosé wines have always been around and basically forgotten by the Northern Europeans when they get back to the cold of home and it has taken the distributors a while to realise that a little reminder was needed. At Blakeneys we have just tasted and ordered for stock, a lovely Rosé, Petit Pont made by an independent producer from just south of Bezier. It has everything you need including the great price - 2.70€.
Parties
With the sunshine comes the barbeques, the garden parties and of course the weddings. All of which will need some libation. Obviously with barbeques, or hog roasts as one couple recently bought wine to accompany, the wine does not have to be of the highest quality. White has to be fresh and a touch aromatic, like the Touraine Sauvignon Domaine Octavie or the Saint Roch Viognier Vin de Pays d'Oc, to keep you interested while the charcoal gets going. Reds should be robust with a good fruit driven quality to go well with burnt sausages. The Australian Tall Poppy wines do the trick as does a new wine to blakeneys.com L'Indigène produced by Mas des Agrunelles situated just north of Montpellier.
The garden party is very much dependent on who is coming but whether it is a local dignitary or your work mates, a glass of fizz is always handy. We have just listed the Bailly Lepeirre Crément de Bourgogne, a summer wine if there ever was one, light and fruity and the bubbles don't disappear without trace once it is poured. As for all the 500,000 odd weddings that took place last year in Britain and France I doubt if any were the same. Getting the right balance of quality and quantity to suit everyone is a nightmare and far too complicated to generalise. I would love to hear your experiences when it comes to wines for the big day, you can send them to the blog. www.blakeney-wines.blogspot.com
Packaging
Finally I am looking for ideas relating packaging. I am on the search for a cost effective, environmentally more friendly and easy way to send wine to our customers. At the moment the lightest option and therefore the cheapest to send is a polystyrene casing that sits in a cardboard. However the packaging itself is very expensive and possibly more significant it is more than likely not ever used again. I have always believed it is better environmentally to reuse before recycle. So at present we are investigating ways that these boxes may be used again and again, the current thinking is a returns policy. We would really appreciate your thoughts. We will obviously let you know what we decide.
Enjoy the long summer days
George
Newsletter N°2
Le 03/14/2008
Newsletter N°2March 2008The year is rolling along with the days getting just a bit longer, the birds are starting to sing and the corks are beginning to come out. It's really a dull few weeks, the start of the year isn't it? Time to look forward to Spring. And this year Easter is early - it always seems to be early or late, never on time. So is there a better way to pass a long weekend than with a glass or two of delicious wine?
If you are planning a trip to France to restock the cellar, garage or cupboard under the stairs with some wine, you will save on the UK duty, which is about to rocket, or depending when you read this, has rocketed (if all the rumours prove to be false and the status quo is maintained 1.88 € per bottle is still a lot more than the two and a half centimes over here). And to make it even more enticing, in association with Boursot's Wine Collection and the Ferry Travel Company, we can offer preferential rates for day trips; email us contact@blakeneys.com for details. In February I went to Vinisud, the massive wine fair in Montpellier, a fantastic occasion. There were several large halls and around the edge of each one were all the smaller independent producers with some delicious wines to try. There may well be one or two new lines arriving next month, some delicious summery wines from Gascogne and Languedoc and some genuine bargains, so when the deals get done you will be the first to know (along with all the other people who get the Newsletter).
Then on 23rd of February Guy Boursot and I hosted a dinner where we introduced some new wines along with a fine meal laid on at the Relais Hotel in Ardres. The highlight of the evening, for me was the sparkling Vouvray from Domaine de la Chantaigneraie. A real pleasure and great value at 9,60€. It is fresh and has a light floral feel. We have recently found another great fizz, Champagne Pannier and at just 16,20€ it shows that there are still lovely champagnes out there that don't have to cost the earth. It is slightly drier than the Vouvray and has that classic brioche taste. Both of these sparklers have their time and place and at these prices the occasion doesn't have to be too special, celebrate a Wednesday evening for example.
I was recently reading, in a trade magazine, an interview with Américo Hernández the Export Manager of Viña Ventisquero explaining his CO2 offsetting. He was saying they were the first producer to do so. It seems that transporting one container load of wine (12000 bottles) from Chile produces two tonnes of CO2. Now I'm not sure what this means in terms of climate change but it is a quantity high enough for Ventisquero to believe it needs addressing. You could argue its just bandwagon jumping and the cynical part of me thinks it is a nice piece of marketing. However it is something that they have invested quite a tidy some of money in and it appears that they are taking it seriously. Blakeneys already stock their wines. They were chosen because the wines show the typical fruit quality you would expect but also they offer great value for money. So how green is your wine? Over the next few months we will try to investigate some of our other producers and let you have the results. I would welcome any comments on this subject, does it matter if your wine is a gas-guzzling 4x4 or a tandem with panniers?
One of the best parts of being in the wine business is talking about wine and sharing information. I was at a smallish wine fair the other day and even there amongst producers, the guy from Languedoc was pleased to learn from the woman from the Loire. I might expand that conversation next time. There are plenty of blogs on the subject, here in France and obviously around the world. I guess I may well set up one for Blakeneys.com in the near future. In the meantime if you have any stories to tell or questions to ask feel free and get in touch.
Finally a quick remainder of our Spring Offer. Place an order with Blakeneys.com for 150€ or over and you will get a free bottle of Grand Cru Champagne when you opt for collection at Boursot's Wine Collection in Ardres. And spread the word any new customers will be warmly welcomed.
Here's to Spring and the singing birds.
George
Newsletter N°1
Le 01/24/2008
Newsletter N°1
January 2008
A Happy New Year to you all and I must say a big thank you to everyone who gave their support, advice and encouragement during the past year as Blakeneys was being conceived, developed and eventually launched. From start to the first few steps it has certainly been a long and at times frustrating period but we got there and 2008 can only be an exciting year where the business increases and what we can offer gets even better.
Before we look ahead, the Christmas tasting needs a quick mention. We had a variety of wines available to try. Amongst them the Argentinean Sparkling from Trapiche was very well received as was the Rolling Cabinet/Merlot from Australia. The two most popular however were the Doricum Catarratto (5.30€) from Sicily and the Morin-Langaran Syrah (6.20€) from the South of France. The whole event was a great success and encouraged us to plan more in the not too distant future. When you read on you will discover something is already being discussed.
So what does the next twelve months hold in store? There are lots of experts all trying to predict the next big thing – will Rosés carry on having a bigger and bigger presence on the supermarket shelves, what will replace Viognier as this years Pinot Grigio and just how many little animals will appear on labels?
Some things seem certain, Champagne prices are bound to increase the only questions are by how much and when. What will stay the same is the difference in price between France and the UK; often as much as £7 a bottle, so if you are planning a big event this year and you are in the UK it does make sense to cross the Channel. Blakeneys offers a particularly fine Champagne – Saint Réol Brut Premier Cru – with a toasty richness that all good champagnes have as well as lovely fizziness, great balance and a long finish. For the first two months of the year the price will go unchanged.
I am personally looking forward to trying some new wines from the Loire Valley and with the late summer sunshine the Vintage for Touraine Sauvignons and Muscadets shouldn’t be half bad making lovely fresh and fruity wines ideal for the summer, which, weather-wise, can’t be worse than last years, can it? There are also those beautiful wines from the Vendée produced by Mourat Père et Fils. The Chenin Blanc was a delight last year so hopefully this year it will prove to be just as good.
I am also popping down to Montpellier in February in the search for some exciting new wines from all around the Mediterranean at this year’s Vinisud. There will be thousands of wines to try, a dirty job but someone has to do it. However rest assured that if we find anything that we think is a bit special and not ridiculously priced, we will do our utmost to get it to you later on in the year.
TASTING DINNER
Along with Guy of Boursot’s Wine Collection in Ardres there is a tasting dinner planned for the evening of the 23rd of February here in France. This is a great opportunity to meet like minded enthusiasts, to enjoy some fabulous French cooking at a local restaurant and of course sample some wines guaranteed to excite your palette. The theme of this dinner will be Traditional versus Anticonformists – what is the way forward? If you are interested please let me know as soon as possible as places are limited and these dinners are always very popular.
NEW YEAR OFFER
As a way of spreading the word and saying thank you for your help we would like to introduce a Welcome to the New Year offer. If you place an order of 100€ or over (excluding delivery) we will add free of charge a two bottle gift box containing a Chilean Red and White from Ventisquero. This offer is also available for anyone that you introduce to Blakeneys and if they subsequently place an order of 100€ or over you will receive 5% off your next purchase. This offer will finish the end of February.
The intention of this site is to be open and willing to hear your comments. If you have any ideas or suggestions, be they wine related or commercial, then please feel free to make contact by email – contact@blakeneys.com . Let me know if you want to share them with other readers to the Newsletter and I’ll print a copy the following month.
All the best
George
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