Organic Wine

Organic Wine is made from grapes that are grown organically - that is no use of artificial chemicals or fertilisers during the growth or left in the ground from previous years. In the UK this is controlled by the Soil Association and is controlled in other countries by similar organisations to similar standards. Growing grapes organically can be very difficult in many wine growing regions mainly due to excessive humidity during the growing season which encourages mould growth. Regions with continental weather patterns and/or regions that are dryer (e.g. the south of France) can produce organically grown grapes very successfully.

Biodynamic Wine

This can best be described as 'Organic Plus'. Much of the good organic practice is supplemented by practices such as timing various functions carried out on the vines during critical phases of the moon, the theory being that it reduces stress on the vines and thus produces better grapes. Although the theory is disputed by many 'experts' there seems little doubt that it works, even though the grape production requires more work and thus is more expensive to produce. In addition producers of bio dynamic wine use very few, if any, additives to the wine, so they only use naturally occurring yeasts, very little sulphur during the process though to bottling and no filtering.

You may get small amounts of sediment in the bottle but this is completely harmless, just take care pouring the glass! In addition, to preserve the wine with minimal sulphur additives, the wines from Catherine et Dominique Derain (see our wine list) use a natural sealant instead of a plastic or metal 'capsule' to completely seal the bottle from the air after corking so that the wine arrives in top condition. You can either knock the sealant off with the back of a spoon before uncorking or you can just push the corkscrew through the sealant and open normally.

Bourgogne (or Burgundy) wine region

This region produces some of the finest and most expensive wines in the world and its all due to the 'Côte d'Or' (approximate translation - the golden hillside). For reasons due to its geography, continental weather and soil (known by the French as 'terroir') this hillside, approximately 30 miles long running north-south centred on Beaune in central France, the grapes grown, mainly Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, produce fabulous white and red wines. Some of the most famous names in wine come from this small area including Nuits St George, Romanée-Conti, Vosne-Romanée, Echezeaux, Chambertin, Alox Corton, Beaune, Santaney, Pommard, Volnay, Puligny-Montrachet, and St-Aubin.

The red wines are notable for their light colour and their delicate flavours of raspberry, cherry, strawberry and damson when young, giving way to chocolate, spices and mushrooms as they age. The white wines are generally noted for being the best in the world and are dry yet carry subtle flavours of nuts, butter and honey. Many New World producers try to mimic the classic Burgundy white wine style but nearly all fail, producing massive volumes of over oaked, characterless wine instead. The region also has important wine areas further south of the Côte D'Or.

The main ones being Côte Chalonnais, Côte Maconnais and Beaujolais all producing excellent wines albeit less expensively than the Côte D'Or. The use of Gamay and Aligoté grapes are used more the further south in the region you go. Beaujolais, known for Beaujolais Nouveau, an over hyped, over young red wine which has been 'found out' due to some very poor years has given Beaujolais a bad name consequently they have had difficulty selling all their wine which is a shame because their red wines (Nouveau excepted), made by the 'carbonic maceration' method, are excellent. The Côte Chalonnais includes several excellent wine producing villages such as Mercurey and Rully.

Languedoc wine region

The Languedoc region of France is so large that by itself it is bigger than all the wine producing areas of Australia put together. Adjoining the south coast of France, the hot sunny, Mediterranean weather is ideal for wine production but the region has gained a reputation for producing billions of litres of plonk mainly produced from the Carignan grape, grown and trained to produce volume at the expense of quality and the wine itself produced in less than the best sanitary conditions in vast co-operatives.

The New World has certainly had a profound effect on the region as the grape farmers have belatedly discovered that people are no longer prepared to pay for these poorly produced grapes/wine and the riots that ensued have lead to social and political fallout. Luckily a number of smaller producers have moved in, changing the practices in the vineyard and reducing the volumes harvested from each vine, with consequential massive improvement in quality and taste. Together with building brand new wineries using modern equipment with New World practices superb wines have emerged.

The better known wine areas include AOCs Corbières, Minervois and Côteaux de Languedoc but many of the new Vin de Pays wines are often the most interesting and well made. The grapes used in Languedoc are mainly Syrah (Shiraz), Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Grenache and Carignan for the reds and Chardonnay, Vignonier, Sauvignon Blanc, Ugni Blanc and Colombard for the whites although there are a very wide range of lesser known varieties found.

AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée)

AOC or Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée is the geographical system now used for a variety of food products all over Europe although the system was started in France to protect their wine producers and consumers. It guarantees that the product comes from where is says it's from and how it is made. So for wine an AOC would guarantee where the grapes are from and could also guarantee what grapes can be used, at what yield and the techniques allowed to make it. The system's origins go back to early last century when unscrupulous merchants tried to overcome wine shortages by importing grapes from North Africa and calling it 'Bordeaux Wine', undercutting the Bordeaux producers in the process.

The AOC system has since developed so today, in the French wine industry, it's fantastically over-complicated! So now in the great wine regions the system differentiates wines between regional wines e.g. AOC Bordeaux, village wines e.g. AOC St Emillion, château wines e.g. AOC Château Latour and in Burgundy you can also have AOCs referring to small parcels of land, some being Grand Cru or Première Cru.

Unfortunately the system has lost its way as a method of selecting a good wine in that only the very top wines' AOCs are any real guide as to how good a wine is. In fact the difference in wines within just one village AOC can be quite marked. As any Frenchman who knows his wine will tell you, it's all down to the producer so you will just have to know who is good and who isn't! With several thousand producers across France the choice is bewildering except to those with an encyclopaedic knowledge. Some producers look after their vines well, have modern equipment and produce excellent wines in clean conditions - and others don't. The prices usually don't vary much. You may have heard the expression 'You can't judge a wine by its label' and it's so true! You can be sure Just Great Wine only sells those wines that are.... excellent.

Vin De Pays

The Vin De Pays (VdP) classification is a relatively new innovation in France which adds credibility to those wine producers (mostly in the Languedoc) who are making good wine but their wines either fall outside the AOC areas or use grapes not allowed under the local AOC. Without the Vin de Pays classification these wines would have to classified as Vin de Table thus lumped together with the cheap plonk that many French producers still make and, remarkably, still sell and not just in France either, although in decreasing quantities. Vin de Pays wines rules vary but generally they must be made with at least 50% of a noble grape variety e.g. Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah (Shiraz), Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling or Pinot Noir which ensures a level of quality. Many VdPs are outstanding and are more often than not better than nearby produced AOC wines.

Clos D'Yvigne

Clos D'Yvigne is owned and run by Patricia Atkinson, who moved from England many years ago to run the vineyard even though, at the time, she knew nothing about wine making! Today the vineyard is three times its original size and she is recognised all over France for her expertise, the quality of her wine and her wine tasting skills. You can read her story in her best selling book 'The Ripening Sun' available in all good book shops. She makes wines under AOC Bergerac (for her red and white wines) and AOC Saussignac for her special, late harvested dessert wine. The red wines use the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, her white wines and her AOC Saussignac dessert wine use the Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. The wines of the Clos d'Yvigne vineyard are internationally acclaimed for their high quality.

Domaine des Graves D'Ardonneau

The Rey family established their vineyard in the Côtes de Blaye area of the Bordeaux wine region many decades ago where they currently have 34 hectares (approximately 90 acres) of vines. Currently three generations of the family work at the vineyard. They have kept their vineyard and equipment fully up to date and have also embraced New World wine making techniques. Their wines are thus of excellent quality and are brilliant value for money as both their red and white wines taste 'more expensive' than they actually cost. The grapes used are Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot for the red wines and Sauvignon Blanc for their white wines and their sparkling wine, Crèmant de Bordeaux.

Lycée Viticole De Beaune

The Lycée Viticole as the name implies is the seat of learning for the viticulture and vinfication techniques for the wine industry of Burgundy. In fact many of the professors and teachers also own and work some of the top vineyards in the area themselves. The Lycée owns several hectares of the most valuable vineyards in the world where the students are trained (under strict supervision from their teachers) in the specialist techniques that gives the 'Qualitée Bourgogne'. The grapes are harvested and the wines are made under the Lycée's own label to the highest standards of the region.

They have a range of Beaune Premiére Cru (the highest AOC of the Beaune area) and other top quality burgundy red and white wines all made either from the classic Pinot Noir (red) and Chardonnay (white) grapes. The wines represent superb value and are a great, lower cost way to drink the very top quality of the wines of the region.

Domaine L'Estello

This domaine is situated close to Lorgues in Provence in the south of France. The domaine uniquely supplies wine to the 'Chez Bruno' restaurant in Provence, famous the world over for its recipes based on truffles. The domaine itself extends to over 32 hectares (75 acres) of vines and olive trees where, together with the other Provencal herbs that grow in the vineyard, the wines gain their distinctive Provencal character. The grapes grown are Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Syrah and Carignan for the red and rosé wines and Ugni Blanc and Rolle for the whites. All the equipment is modern and the wines are well made with plenty of oak ageing where required and it shows in the quality of wines produced, all of which are AOC Côtes de Provence.

Domaine de la Grande Pallière

This vineyard is based near Corens in Provence, one of the most beautiful parts of the world. The sunny, dry climate during the growing and ripening season has been fully utilised to produce superb organically grown grapes. These grapes are then made into excellent wine thanks to the investment made by the owners of the vineyard, the Guiberia brothers, who have built a brand new winery utilising modern stainless steel equipment with computer controlled temperature control. The combination of organic grapes and modern equipment really is the best practice for producing outstanding wine. And it shows!

Château Condamine-Bertrand

Bruno Andreu and Bernard Jeny run this excellent vineyard exploitation not far from Pezanas in southern France. Their enthusiasm and creativity mark them out as excellent producers making the most of the excellent climatic conditions and fertile grape growing soil in their location in the middle of the Languedoc. They then use their large winery with its modern equipment to produce their range of excellent red and white wines.

Château Cabezac

This wine exploitation is a joint venture between Gontran Dondain and Michel Fabre in the Minervois wine area in the Langedoc. They produce wine from four separate parcels close to their modern winery where they have invested heavily. They cultivate the vines in the modern responsible way called 'lutte raisonnée' which means that the minimum of artificial fertilisers and herbicides are used together with natural methods of control of pests and vine diseases meaning the environment is not damaged in any way. Of course it also means better quality grapes. This, together with controlled very low yields across the whole vineyard means very good quality wines are produced. They have been receiving many awards recently for their wines, only recently from Decanter magazine where they achieved Bronze medal status for their Cuvée Arthur and Alexis AOC Minervois wines.

Domaine des Chandelles

This wine domaine in Corbières has been run by Peter and Susan Munday for over 15 years. Their vineyards are a mixture of mature and very old vines; the Carignan vines are reputedly to be over 100 years old! Generally the older the vine the more concentrated and intense the flavours from the resulting wines so, combined with their modern wine making equipment, their attention to detail and their enthusiasm has lead to them winning over 25 national French wine awards.

Di Giorgio Family Wines

The Di Giorgio family may own the second oldest winery in Coonawara but it contains state-of-the-art technology whilst retaining the historic elements of the building. This includes the underground cellars - the perfect place to store the wines away from the hot Australian sun.

The second oldest winery in the area, the aged vines surrounding the winery are planted in the famous terra rossa soil in the heart of Coonawarra. This produces the superb grapes that produce the intense, concentrated high quality wines that the winery is renowned for and that is acknowledged by the numerous awards won by the winery over the years.

Shottesbrooke Estate

Shottesbrooke is a small, family owned and operated vineyard and winery situated in the eastern side of the beautiful and tranquil McLaren Vale wine region of South Australia. The winemakers, Nick Holmes and his step son Hamish Maquire, closely monitor the production of their wines by owning the vineyards that surround the winery so that total control can be maintained in delivering perfectly ripe grapes immediately into the winery for fermentation. The winery was constructed as a state of the art winery complex in 1996 to combine the latest in technology with hand made winemaking techniques. The wines are also stored on site for barrel maturation and further constant monitoring. Their grapes are Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Shiraz.

Scotts Creek Wines

Scotts Creek is owned by Rob and Terry Byrne who have a close association with the wine industry of the region for nearly 30 years although the first vines were planted at Scotts Creek by Penfolds over 25 years ago. The area was selected for its stony soils over a limestone base to produce grape varieties of immense character and resilience - Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Semillon, Colombard, Gewurtztraminer, Gordo and Riesling. The long periods of sunshine and warm dry climate delivers consistent high quality grapes.

The vineyard is adjacent to Scotts Creek, originally a vast and beautiful wetland area but since 1851 the flood plains have been used to graze sheep by settlers which changed the character of the area. It is now one of Australia's largest wetland projects, with the aim of returning the 870 hectares (over 2,100 acres) back to its natural state. Already the signs are very encouraging, with a wide variety of native plants and animals thriving in their natural habitat. A donation is made to the project with every bottle of Scotts Creek wine sold.

Ross Estate

Ross Estate Wines is a new winery on an old vineyard in the world-renowned wine growing region of the Barossa Valley, South Australia. Ross Estate dates back to the 19th century when it was a general farm and a vineyard but has been owned by Darius and Pauline Ross since 1993 who built the winery five years later to form Ross Estate Wines under the watchful eye of Rod Chapman, the winemaker. The Estate itself consists of the hot North Ridge (excellent for their red grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot and the cooler South Ridge, excellent for their Semillon white grapes but the main part of the vineyard produces superb Shiraz grapes, which is produces their excellent Barossa Valley Estate Shira.

Peppercorn Lane Wines

Peppercorn Lane Wines are based in the Limestone Coast wine region of South Australia where intensely flavoured Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Shiraz are grown on the well drained limestone soil. This, and the moderate climate fanned by westerly winds with their cooling, slower ripening conditions produce these high quality grapes. Peppercorn Lane wines are created from vineyards situated in the heart of the Limestone Coast. The vineyards are characterised by stunning tree-lined tracks where shady peppercorn trees give shelter from the brilliant summer sun. These magnificent old trees were the inspiration behind the wine. The wines produced here have been carefully made to bring out the best of the fruit produced in the Peppercorn Lane vineyards.

Henri Mandois Champagne

The Champagne House of Henri Mandois was founded in 1842 by Victor Mandois and it has stayed in the family since then. It is located in Pierry near Epernay with over 30 hectares (72 acres) of prime Champagne vineyards producing Première Cru and vintage Champagne. The wine processing takes place in small vats to ensure that the wine produced from each of their several vineyard parcels are kept separate to ensure the best possible combinations of blend for great taste for each Champagne they produce. Their attention to detail ensures that the Champagne produced is the best you can get. For example the initial fermentation stage is carried out as slowly as possible, this ensures that the bubbles are the lightest and finest you can get. They make their Champagne using Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier grapes.

Franck Bonville Champagne

Franck Bonville Champagne was launched in 1945 and is now run by his son Gilles and his oenologist grandson Olivier over their 15 hectares (33 acres) of Grand Cru vines (the best Champagne grape growing area) on the 'Côte des Blancs' around the town of Avize in the heart of the Champagne region, where they are based. Their winery is modern and along with the quality of their vines has ensured they have won many French and international wards for their whole range of Champagnes. All the Champagnes sold by Just Great Wine are made from the white Chardonnay grape (so their champagnes are 'Blanc de Blancs' style).