Save the Date: 10th November 2019 - Stockport SK1 1JY

WTLGI Wine Fair

We are excited to announce that we will be part of the wine fair at Where The Light Gets In in Stockport. The fair will take place on Sunday 10 of November 2019, open to general public and trade between 11am and 5pm.

Participating: Tutto wines, Wines Under the Bonnet, Otros Vinos, Newcomers wines, Kiffe my wines, Modal wines including guest wine makers.

Tickets are £20 and will include a glass and the opportunity to meet people we value grandly, the importers and the makers and taste the very best wine available in the UK. It will be possible to purchase food as well during the fair, cheese from the Courtyard dairy, pies from Littlewoods butcher and salads from Isca.  

Tickets are now available prior to the general release for friends and fellow industry people - we would like you to be there!
 

"Once again we are celebrating the people behind what we do and we are inviting 6 importers that we have been working closely with in the past 3 years. They are all engaging fully in a system that we believe in and work with winemakers that produced wines with precision and responsibility, culminating in a balance that both nourishes the body and sustains our eco-system. We pick from our own continent, harnessing the knowledge, ethical practice and exacting standards of these winemakers. 

"We were at the forefront of bringing most of these importers and their wines in this part of the country. And we are now getting all of them under our roof to share and celebrate what they do, and the relationships we created through the years. It is a celebration and chance for everyone to meet, drink and share stories."

- Caroline Dubois, Sommelier

See you there!

A Chat with Fergus Clague

Fergus Clague

France, Languedoc, Junas

Born and bred in South London, Fergus and his wife Vicky ran Hand Made Food in Blackheath for 21 years. In 2014, blown by a wind of change, Fergus and family arrived in the south of France.

The wine story started when Fergus met Thierry Forestier, Laurent Bagnol, Yves & Vincent Moulin and Olivier Pichon at Quilles de Joie, a natural wine festival in Souvignargues (Gard), France. None of them were represented in London so he took a suitcase full of their wines and did tastings all over London with several importers. And it all went from there...

In 2015 they lived on a domain outside of Montpellier as negociants and in return for that they got to make a small amount of their first vintage, ‘Press in the Vines’, a soft and easy drinking Cinsault.

In 2017 they produced 900 bottles of 'Gout Elles', a blend of Grenache and Carignan. The name means 'grappions' - the little bunches on the top of the vines which people usually leave behind during harvest. At that point in time they still didn’t have their our own vines, so Thierry Forestier kindly let them pick the grapes he had left from his vineyard.

Then in 2018, they had the very first harvest on their very own parcel two miles away from their cave. They produced ‘Echappez’ and we now have it - right here - right now...


Tell us about the 2018 Echappez we have just received
I now rent a parcel of Grenache, it is 0.3ha on limestone on a lovely slope. The vines are about 80 years old. Last year was our first harvest and it was fantastic, we've had a really lovely crop. We had two tons of lovely grapes and produced a total of 1200 bottles.


What is the meaning behind the name?
Echappez is the imperative of 'escape'. It basically means 'get out of here'. For us it was partly about escaping from London.


How are you enjoying your life in France?
It's cool, we like it. We've got two teenage boys and they are both pretty happy.


How did the 2019 harvest go so far?
This year in July we've had over 46 degrees for a couple of days. I am a complete beginner when it comes to winemaking and had treated the grapes a couple of days before. They got burned really badly, I was devastated. But there were loads of people in the same boat as me. The heat was terrible and as a result the sugar concentration was quite high, so the issue was the yeast converting all of it.

In total we've harvested one ton, with a really high sugar concentration. So what we did was we went and we picked some Grenache that was lower in sugar at the domaine Mas de la Font Ronde nearby. So this year we've got two cuvees: one which is made from our own super ripe Grenache, and the other one of the less ripe Grenache from the other vineyard. They are both interesting and hopefully by next spring I can put them together, that's the idea.


Which wines do you enjoy drinking besides your own?
'Aramonix' from Thierry Forestier is pretty much 'THE reference' for me.


So, is Thierry a really good friend of yours?
Yes, it wouldn't have been possible without him. He has helped us a great deal and whenever I have a problem, Thierry is the first person I ring. He has been very generous. I do try and make up for it with my cooking skills. For example, this year we will be doing the cooking at theQuilles de Joiefestival for the 4th year in a row. That is just such a lovely event and as we don't get paid for it, that is my opportunity to make up for all the favours that everyone has done for me. Normally there are a couple of chefs who come out from the UK, too. It's a great opportunity for them to understand how to drink all day but then still put in a good evening's work!


What can you tell us about your future plans?
We've got a couple of nice two-year-old barrels coming from Bourgogne. This year we are going to do some barrel aging, partly because there is still some sugar left in the Grenache we've harvested this year. That really needs to be left in a barrel over the winter in order for it to finish.

Now in stock

Red

NEW 2018 Echappez - Grenache
"10 days of maceration carbonique, manually pressed in basket press - that’s why it has a really bright colour as it was lightly extracted. Aged in inox. We bottled it in May this year. It is a wine which has a potential to develop over time."

We can't wait to see where Ferg's journey takes him!

For any wholesale and stock enquiries, please contact hello@winesutb.com

New Producer Aboard: Terres de ROA

Terres de ROA

France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Monetay-sur-Allier

Loren Tisserand was introduced to us by Vincent Alexis (Château Barouillet) at the Biotop wine fair in Montpellier last January. We were quite intrigued as we were neither familiar with wines from the Saint-Pourçain region before, nor the Tressalier grape variety. We obviously liked the wines and now here we are!

The vineyard of Terres de ROA extends over 18.5 hectares spread over the communes of Monétay sur Allier (sandy soils) and Breuilly Cesset (granitic soils). It is run by Lauren and her parents Claudine and Luc Tisserand.

They work with four grape varieties: Chardonnay, Gamay and Pinot Noir, which are common in this region of the Loire Valley - and the Tressallier grape variety, which is grown only in Saint-Pourçain.

The vineyard is farmed organically in respect of the soils and the nature. Tillage or controlled grassing alternates between rows of vines in order to enrich microbiological life, promote biodiversity and aerate the soil. A fertilizing vegetable compost is also put in place. It is the only Domaine in the Saint-Pourçain AOC Appellation in Organic Agriculture certified by Ecocert in 2009.

Their philosophy: just let nature take its place.

We've had a chat with Loren Tisserand:

What have you been up to before you have joined your parents' business?
My parents created the domaine in 2006 and I joined in 2015.
Before that I lived in Paris and worked at Fauchon, a luxury grocery store. I then studied in Beaune, Burgundy, where I met my husband who has just started a new job there. I then decided to join my parents' business.

What are your responsibilities?
I work in the vineyard, cellar as well as the shop.

What do you like most/least about your job?
I like everything except the fact that I don't have enough time. It should get easier next year when we will downsize from 18 to 11 hectares, as our lease will expire.

What does the name ROA stand for?
Raisins (Grapes) – Organics – Attitude 

Tell us about your 2018 harvest: What were your challenges? What went particularly well? 
The year was way too hot and dry. Like for many other winemakers, during the vinification the fermentation was complicated due to a lack of energy in the juice. But, in the end, I can say we've had a great result both quality and quantity-wise.

Who creates the wine labels and what is their meaning?
My mother usually designs the labels but I have created the ones for Dans l'Absolu and Dans ma Sph'R. Both mean translated something like being in your own sphere, being whole. The label is a nod to my own childhood as I was often in a world of my own as a little girl.

Are there any new winemaking techniques or tools you'd like to experiment with?
I started to work with plants and I want to progress with this. I especially like working with nettles.

Which wines do you enjoy drinking besides your own?
I enjoy Malbec wines from Cahors, South West of France.

Now in stock

White
NEW 2018 Tresse a Lier - Tressallier
Manual harvest. 20 to 40-year-old vines. Indigenous yeasts. Vines vinified and matured independently in vats for five months and blended one month before bottling. Bottled with a small addition of sulfur.

NEW 2018 Dans l'Absolu (Cuvée A) - Tressallier (60%) – Chardonnay (40%)
Manual harvest. 15 to 50-year-old vines. Vinified and matured independently in vats for eight months and blended two months before bottling. Bottled with a small addition of sulfur.


Red
NEW 2018 Dans ma Sph'R (Cuvée R) - Gamay (80%) - Pinot Noir (20%)
Manual harvest. 20 to 40-year-old vines. Indigenous yeasts. Vines vinified and matured independently in vats for five months and blended a month before bottling. Bottled with a small addition of sulfur.

For any wholesale and stock enquiries, please contact hello@winesutb.com

A Chat With Thomas Boutin

Thomas Boutin

France, Loire, Anjou, Rochefort-sur-Loire, Angers

Thomas Boutin started his own winemaking project in 2008, with only 1.8 hectares. In 2011, he inherited a compact winery and vines from his mentor, and has progressively built up the number of hectares. He farms two hectares in Rochefort-sur-Loire and one hectare in Saint Aubin. He is evolving as a winemaker, and experiments whilst learning and finding his style.

Having studied oenology and worked in larger wineries, he is passionate to keep the approach small-scale with minimal intervention. All wines are made without any use of chemicals, are unfined and unfiltered with little use of sulfur.


Tell us about your 2018 harvest: What were your challenges? What went particularly well?
2018 has been difficult but with a good result. We've had loads of rain in June which caused mildew. It stopped in July and the heat allowed us to fight the mildew, which then resulted in a good harvest both quality and quantity wise.

What do you anticipate for the 2019 harvest?
I always wait until September to have a better idea of the end result. August is a really important month when it comes to maturity of the wines. For the moment what I can see is that the buds are developing well from the outside, but I cannot tell yet how good the quality is.


What is your personal favourite vintage you have made to date and why?
I have two: 2012 and 2016 when it comes to quality, even though the yield was very small. I haven't made loads of money but the wines turned out amazing.


Which wines do you enjoy drinking besides your own?
Normally I enjoy drinking full-bodied wines but at the moment I drink light reds. There is no particular region that I prefer, I am more about discovering new wines, especially from outside of France.


Are there any winemakers whose influence has been particularly important?
Benoît Landron has helped me out immensely. We enjoy sharing our wines and I will always be helpful to him as he has helped me to establish myself as a winemaker.
Also, there are other winemakers who have taught me a lot and who are less into natural wines but are still organic certified. For example Benjamin Delobel. There are always more things to learn as there are always new challenges coming up.

What can you tell us about your future plans?
I want to reduce the use of copper in the vineyard. Also, I want to create a new cuvée. At first I thought about using barrels but now I feel like I am at a point where I'm more connected with the earth and I want to try making a cuvée using amphora.
Further down the road I'd like to plant Pinot d'Aunis and Grolleau Gris and have some fun experimenting making new cuvées.

Now in stock

White

NEW 2017 Celsiane - Chenin
"100% chenin, from five different plots. Two plots consist of 60-70 year old vines, planted after the second world war in mass selection. The other three are between 20-30 years old in clonal selection: one with coarse grains and normal maturity, the second one with very early coarse grains, I sometimes pick it up a week ahead of the other vines, and the last with small grains and a normal maturity. The fermentation took place over one year. This wine has a fresh mouth, very ripe fruit, almost dry fruit with hints of honey. Warm notes of plum which remind of Alsatian wines and give the wine a bit of pep."


2016 Charabia - Chardonnay
"Small yield due to frost (loss of 5 - 10%) mildew (loss of 35 - 40%)and heat. The harvest went well in the end with good maturity of the grapes. It is a well-balanced wine with notes of exotic fruit and a lot of freshness. An easy drinking Chardonnay."


Red

NEW 2017 La Quilette - Gamay (60%), Cabernet Franc (35%) & Grolleau (5%)
"Small yield due to frost, but as the rest of the year has been pretty balanced we didn't get the feared mildew. Maceration and fermentations occured separately for each grape variety. I macerated for 7-8 days with whole bunches before pressing. The tanks were assembled the following spring when fermentations were complete. Harvest started already on August 23. This was the earliest I have ever had to start as the grapes were maturing very fast due to warm weather. Compared to previous vintages, the 2017 vintage has less acidity, more structure and more notes of compote red fruits, but it's still a light wine."


Sweet

2011 Topaze - Chenin
Thomas' first harvest. Hand-harvested from three vineyard selections. Direct-press with indigenous yeasts used, three years in barrel. No filtration, racked twice to remove lees before bottling.

For any wholesale and stock enquiries, please contact hello@winesutb.com

A Chat with Rémi Sédès

Rémi Sédès

Coteaux d’Ancenis, Nantes, France

Hailing from the Jura, Rémi studied agronomy when he arrived in the area to live with his Nantes-born wife. He worked for a couple of years with Vincent Caillé, and then spent time honing his red winemaking skills in Bordeaux before setting up on his own in 2013.

Part of winemaking for Rémi is a lifestyle choice; he wants to work outdoors, in the fresh air, and not with machines – his Shire horses are an important part of his winemaking process.

Rémi is a Gamay specialist, and this was a key factor in choosing to work in Ancenis – where half of production in the area is red. The soil is micro granite - which suits Gamay particularly well - with a mix of clay, sand and limon underneath.


Tell us about your 2018 harvest: What were your challenges? What went particularly well?
In June/July last year I had to put up a big fight against mildew due to loads of rain. It's better if your sprayer doesn't break, or you'll lose the fight big time! This is what I was worried about the entire time.
The harvest ended up really good as all the efforts paid off and the mildew didn't affect the buds. There was also very little harvest in 2017, so as a result the grapes in 2018 were even better.


What do you anticipate for the 2019 harvest?
This year we've had big frost in early April. Usually you get two hours of cold air mass but we've had six to seven hours. The buds look beautiful for now, so fingers crossed.

What are you drinking at the moment?
My own rosé, which is still in the tank, as I didn't have money to bottle it yet! Other than that I love a white wine from Sicily called Porta del Vento.

What can you tell us about your future plans?
Tocade my horse is expecting a foal. Also, I want to restructure two new hectares which I've acquired. They are empty at the moment I want to plant fruit trees to bring more biodiversity.

For any wholesale and stock enquiries, please contact hello@winesutb.com

A Chat with Complemen'terre

Complemen'terre

Le Pallet, Loire-Atlantique, France

We have been following the wines of Marion Pescheux and Manuel Landron for the last couple of years. Due to a few tricky vintages they haven’t had any wine available for us until now.

Manuel Landron is the son of Jo Landron (and cousin of Benoit). His dad travels a lot to promote his wines. However, Manu wants to keep things simple and has a very hands on approach in the vineyard.

Both Marion and Manu were born in Muscadet and have been around vineyards their whole lives. After a long time away working for winemakers in New Zealand (Felton Road Winery) and Chile (Domaine Clos Ouvert), they settled in 2013 in the village of le Pallet and work now with three grape varieties: Melon de Bourgogne (8 ha), Folle Blanche (0,68 ha) at la Haye-Fouassière, and Gamay (0,60 ha). The wines are all vinified by parcel with the aim of showing off the varied volcanic terroir of the region.

Marion and Manu are working organically and in line with the lunar calendar, in total respect of the soils and the nature.



Tell us about your 2018 harvest: What were your challenges?
2018 was really hard because we had to fight a lot against mildew. But we did it: ‘Marion & Manu 1 - Mildew 0'. In the cellar however the vinification was hard. The fermentation was very slow, with not enough acidity in the juice and large yields 48 hectolitres / hectare: ‘Wine 1 - Marion and Manu 0’


What went particularly well?
We were very happy with the wine in the end! There was also a good yield compared to previous vintages.


What do you anticipate for the 2019 harvest?
A late harvest, the grapes are just starting out right now. Plus, we are moving cellar during the summer.


What are the biggest changes you've seen in winemaking since you got started?
We filter our wine less. In 2016/17 we had no filtration at all. Also, we are finding less and less acidity in the juice every year. We are questioning ourselves constantly with, for example, the harvest date. The more you wait, the sweeter the wine gets, so you need to be careful to get the acidity levels right.


What do you like most/ least about your job?
We love pruning, because it’s quiet and relaxing, you are alone in the vineyard. On the other hand we like the harvest time too, because it's social with a lot of people around and there are lots of festivities.


What can you tell us about your future plans?
We want to get more into polyculture. We now have 5 beehives and would like to get some cows and sheep, too. We are also going to plant about 50 apple and pear trees around the vines.

A Chat with Cyrille Vuillod

La Dernière Goutte

Vaux-en-Beaujolais, Beaujolais, France

Cyrille Vuillod comes from the Hautes-Alpes and, before turning to wine-making, worked in the mountains as a ski instructor. His life in wine started in 2011 working under Jean-Claude Lapalu for three years. In 2012 he produced his first vintage in his own cellar.


Tell us about your 2018 harvest: What were your challenges? What went particularly well?

It was hot but not as hot as 2017. The biggest challenge was that the heat was making the wine more alcoholic than it was meant to be. I also had to get more grapes from a friend in the North of Beaujolais.


Your wines are organically farmed without any added sulphur. Have you always worked this way?

I have used sulphur for the first three years and stopped once I had the confidence to do it. I have always worked organically but without any certification. Now I also work biodynamically.


How did you find your current vineyards? Why in Beaujolais?

I have been harvesting there for 20 years and I have loads of friends in the area.


Are there any new winemaking techniques or tools you’d like to experiment with?

For the last few years I have been experimenting with amphora and concrete eggs. I have also started making white wine. I always like try out new things. The other thing is that the climate is constantly changing and each year there is a new way on how deal with the challenges, so us winemakers help each other out to be on top of the latest techniques. The end result is always unpredictable.


Your favourite vintage to date?

2014 and 2016 were my favourite, but completely different vintages.

Now in stock

White

NEW 2018 Boire Désir - Chardonnay
In their third year of organic conversion. Chardonnay planted on clay and limestone. Vinified in 80% new barrels. Working with a cooper in Burgundy using three kinds of oak, steamed very gently to avoid a toasty flavour.


Red

NEW 2018 La Baleine Ivre - Gamay
30-year-old vines of Gamay on pink granite and sand. Eight days' maceration in fibreglass.

NEW 2017 Gamay De Bonheur - Gamay
A parcel between La Baleine and Sang neuf, on pink granite. Carbo for 20 days. Ageing in old barrels for eight months.

New Producers Aboard: La Grange aux Belles

La Grange aux Belles

Soulaines-sur-Aubance, Angers, France

Situated in the heart of the Anjou appelation, the team at La Granges aux Belles produce wines with cleanliness and precision but also the drinkability that we look for in a UTB wine. We are excited to work with these wines due to the originality and the expression of where they are from.

The Chenins have unctuousness balanced with the acidity you would expect, the reds are light, deep in flavour but not overly grippy or stalky.

The seeds of La Grange aux Belles were planted in 2004 when Marc Houtin gave up a career in the oil industry to follow a passion for wine. He purchased a dozen hectares on the slopes of the Aubance river in Anjou.

At first they mainly supplied the co-operative of Brissac but Marc also experimented, vinifying and bottling some parcels individually.

After two great vintages, a difficult harvest in 2006 prompted Marc to seek the help of a partner. 

Julien Bresteau was interning at Domaine de Montgilet, the spark was right between them and they became friends. Julien had been studying wine since he was 15 and had been coming to help during harvest. In 2008 Marc invited Julien to join the Domaine and La Grange Aux Belles was born.

In 2008 they converted to organic agriculture. But Mother Nature's love was tough. A hard frost followed by vicious mildew meant the yields were catastrophic.

Two more characters joined the story; a need for further investment brought in old friend Rémi Fournier of "Chez Rémi” in Angers. Also lending his skills came Gérald Peau – aka "Jesse" – the first bartender of the legendary "Le Circle Rouge” wine bar in Angers.

For wines in stock, please contact hello@winesutb.com