Wine Producers

Coeur Clémentine

Coeur Clémentine is the vinous project of two childhood friends, Steve Veytia and Pierre Arosteguy. Pierre is the 5th generation owner of one of the oldest épiceries in France, and joined a mutual passion for the Côtes de Provence with California native Steve, by starting Coeur Clémentine back in 2005. The fruit for Coeur Clémentine's dry rosé is sourced from several family growers in what’s called ‘The Golden Triangle’, an area of the Côtes de Provence that is said to have the best vineyards in the region. It’s taken 10 years to build relationships with families growing the Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Tibouren, Carignan and Syrah grapes, which make up the blend for this rosé wine. Grapes are harvested in the early hours of the morning when the temperature is at its coolest, allowing the grapes to retain their freshness while reaching the winery. Clementine also makes an elegant, bone dry, sparkling rosé, 100% from Provence, named ‘La Pétillante’. Made using a natural secondary fermentation method, the body of the wine is pure and delicate, with light and fine bubbles. Coeur Clémentine is one of just a handful of producers making quality sparkling Provence rosé from Grenache.

Weingut Carl Koch

Weingut Carl Koch is a certified organic producer located near the town of Oppenheim, right by the region’s most famous vineyard location, the Oppenheimer Sackträger. In the mid 19th century Friedrich Koch founded the world’s first quinine factory on his family’s generations old estate, with his son Carl directing operations. By 1888, global competition in the production of quinine became so intense that the family decided to sell close that business down and concentrate entirely on their other commercial interest, viticulture.

The whole range of wines has a signature elegance, classic varietal and stylistic traits and all offer incredible value, the Spätburgunder in particular is a wine that does everything that a Burgundy does but at a fraction of the price. The estate is also blessed with a large library of old vintages going back decades, small quantities of which are released to us throughout the year.

Rheinhessen is Germany's largest quality wine producing region. For years, it was an area associated with bulk wines blends but the region has recently been transformed by energetic, forward thinking winemakers like Carl Koch, who use traditional wine making methods to focus on quality.

Simpsons Wine Estate

Simpsons Wine Estate owners Charles & Ruth Simpson have been making award-winning wines at Domaine Sainte Rose, their stunning, southern French property, for the past 17 years. Combining Old World terroir with New World techniques in the vineyard and winery, they produce an eclectic range of award-winning wines, which have won international acclaim and are sold around the world.

In 2014, they bought their expertise and savoir-faire back to the UK, establishing Simpsons Wine Estate in Barham, Kent, with an aspiration to create the finest quality Traditional Method English sparkling wine. Simpsons Wine Estate now has 30 hectares of vineyard, planted with the grape varieties, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. The vineyards occupy glorious positions on the sunny, sheltered slopes of the North Downs, protected from the whimsy of the English climate by ancient woodlands and anchored in the iconic, free-draining, chalky soils, so revered in the world of sparkling wine.

In 2016 a state-of-the-art winery was created in Barham in preparation for their first harvest and a modern tasting room was completed during 2017, complete with a helter skelter slide.

From 2018, Simpson's estate has also begun to produce a range of still wines from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Crucially, these are produced from Burgundian clones, specifically intended for still wine production. This gives their still wines a ripeness and complexity often lacking in those made by other English producers, whose wines are made from clones better suited to sparkling wine.

Sandhi Wines

In his recent review of the Sandhi wines, Antonio Galloni said: ‘It is quite conceivable that within a few years the Sandhi Chardonnays and Pinots could become reference point, benchmark wines for Santa Barbara, and California, for that matter’. This sort of praise will come as no surprise to those that are familiar with the project - a collaboration between Rajat Parr (wine director for the Michael Mina restaurant empire) and winemaker Sashi Morman (also behind Evening Land, Stolpman and Piedrasassi).

Santa Barbara is a very exciting area of California for those that are looking for wines with poise, finesse and great acidity to match the natural ripeness of fruit. Founded in 2010, Sandhi (which is the Sanskrit word for collaboration) work with fruit from the finest vineyard sites in the region and produce small volumes of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in a low-tech, hands-off way.

The wines undergo wild fermentations, there are no additions (except for some sulphur), they all go through malolactic conversion and a conservative amount of new oak is used during elevage. All of this conspires to give wines of incredible minerality and purity that are fully deserving of the plaudits they are receiving.

Backhouse

Backhouse is a label from O’Neill Vintners, one of the leading producers of quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in California. It was started by Jeff O’Neill, whose family have roots in winemaking dating back to the 1930s.

The inspiration for Backhouse comes from an old home that was once a refuge for vintners, writers, artists and anyone wanting to enjoy the Californian serenity. The vineyards are located in California’s famous Central Coast region that extends from the South of San Fransisco down to the Santa Barbara Highlands.

The Chardonnay is a lovely, fresh style with very gentle oak influence. The Pinot Noir, with the lion share of the fruit coming from Lodi, is a soft and elegant style wine with plenty of red berries and dark cherry on the palate.