As a Whitfield Wines follower, I suspect you agree with Thomas Jefferson’s words describing wine as a ‘necessity of life’.  Worth considering though, the term need is ‘something required for a safe, stable, happy and healthy life’ and according to most (not all) economists, should be distinguished from a want, or something that is desired, that increases quality of living. A big question then, is a glass or two of good premier cru Chablis or a perfectly made French rosé a need or a want?

Pictured is the Beqaa valley where it all started, (see Massaya wine, below). 2,500 years ago, for the Phoenicians, wine was firmly in the needs department, as it was one of the only safe ways of staying hydrated. We know Phoenicians didn’t invent wine - that was in Georgia eight millennia ago - but they were responsible for spreading winemaking across the ancient Mediterranean and also for the early planting of vitis vinifera varietals, from which all grapes used to make wine today descend. 

Dramatically increasing wine prices will likely sort our modern needs from our wants in the wine buying department in 2022. Global warming effects grape harvests, the pandemic has driven demand hard for all wines and inflationary pressures on materials (bottles, corks, the lot), plus huge energy costs leave no wine price unchanged. In fact, a bottle of wine priced at about a tenner now, may have less than two pounds allocated to the actual grape juice and those two pounds continues to fall as input prices increase. Government duty increases don’t help either. Spending £20 on a bottle will more than triple the amount dedicated to the wine itself.

So as purse strings tighten and we decide to stay in, good wine becomes more of an affordable luxury than a staple and as consumers we want to make sure we are getting the very best bang for our buck. When you need a bottle of Tuscan red on a Friday evening at home after a tough week, you want to make sure you have got the very best for the money you are spending. We can take comfort in knowing that although we may be spending more on that bottle, it is great, and not marked up in a restaurant.

Finding the good stuff in that £16-£25 range for drinking at home, as prices increase across the board, is paramount, especially if you tend towards staple-level consumption! At Whitfield Wines, we endeavour to remain ‘never knowingly undersold’ and are always committed to the best expressions of terroir, grape and winemaker.

Three exciting NEW wines for May:

First, a wonderful white from the shores of Lake Garda, Ca dei Frati 'Brolettino' 2019, made with 100% Trebbiano and a huge amount of skill, it has a real Burgundian feel to it, and is a classic restaurant wine too - Locanda Locatelli for one - -as a best-in-class Veneto white. 

Second, Chiave di Saletta IGT Toscana, 2016 is a fabulous Super Tuscan from the Saletta estate near Pisa, a classic wine from this glorious estate, owned quietly by Guy Hands of Terra Firma fame. 2016 an amazing vintage.

Finally - and here is the Phoenician link- an exciting departure to Lebanon, the Beqaa Valley in fact, and ancient stone’s throw from the Temple of Bacchus. This brilliant red Massaya 'Le Colombier', Beqaa Valley, Lebanon 2019 (see photo, above) is a proper restaurant wine, on the list in cool spots across the capital, and put together by some of the best from the Rhône Valley, the Vieux Télégraphe team.

Lots of other wines to explore too, do check out the Whitfield Wines rosé selection as well as light reds and elegant whites perfect as the weather gets warmer.  

Happy perusing,

MAY FAVOURITES:

The clocks went forward, and we enjoyed a miniature heatwave in mid-March. All our summer radars were up and running as we emerged blinking into the sunshine. We went in search of rosé, summer clothes and vitamin D replenishment, and anything that might feel like an end to the grim rolling news from Ukraine and cost of living debacle, as we lurch from crisis to crisis in 2022.

Ten days later we have sleet, snow and frost in the UK, and we were all reminded of the expression ‘Ne'er cast a clout 'til May be out’. The heating is back on and 50% more expensive but as we face our challenges so too do wine makers in Chablis (see photo). As in 2021, they are placing hundreds of candles across their vineyards before daybreak. This helps to warm the vines and prevent the destruction of already well-developed shoots by temperatures that have plunged below freezing. Not a great start for the 2022 vintage.

Despite the confusion around exactly what season it is, tastings have been done, and decisions made, and we have some exciting new wines for April at Whitfield Wines. This should ease us all into early summer and perhaps herald better days.

At Whitfield Wines we now have four rosé wines - three from France and one from Portugal. The Triennes is available in magnums and double magnums, and I think the price is very hard to beat. Think of buying rosé as like choosing champagne – we seldom suggest buying from producers with the biggest marketing budgets, largest production, or the most famous owners.

Our quest to curate a selection of brilliant whites from Italy continues with an elegant Vernaccia di San Gimignano, discovered in a Florence restaurant and also a wonderful Riesling from Alto Adige, truly a sommelier’s favourite.

Some elegant Whitfield Wines from Sancerre & Pouilly Fumé as I have reset our selection of whites from the Loire valley with some changes you must read about.

On the red wines, I have started my series on pinot noir from Italy with a wine from the mountainous Aoste region on the border with France. I will present a new pinot every month.

Also, a focus on value for money and what we call house wines here, that is wines to have in good amounts at home, that can be consumed any night of the week, on any occasion: a wonderful Chianti; a popular producer of Côtes du Rhône in London restaurants and a remarkable xinamavro wine from the Greek mainland.

Finally, If you are focused on eating steaks at home to wait for all these crises to blow over (something I can relate to), I have tracked down a unique blend from Braida; made in Piedmont for the Hawksmoor wine team to accompany the results of your home barbecue escapades.

For April, please do order your case or three by Sunday 10 April - delivery by Easter. 

*Buy April Wines*

Last chance to express an interest in Burgundy *En Primeur*

Thank you for all your recent wine orders and feedback, it’s been great to hear about how much you enjoyed the Christmas wines particularly the Champagnes, Burgundies and Nebbiolos (all available to re-order).

So now it is February and we have passed another variant it feels like time to reboot life, get back in the wine saddle and re-stock.

February is the time for purchasing of ‘en primeur’ 2020 Burgundies and it turns out that 2020 has been a miraculous year, despite it being the warmest and driest year on record. I will be sending you a short but sweet ‘en primeur’ offer next week. I have also been to tastings of 2017 Brunellos from Tuscany, which was a very tough vintage, and my top tip is to keep drinking the 2016s and leave the 2017s for others (top Brunello top below).

If this is your first Whitfield Wines letter, I am delighted you are curious to find out more and I welcome you. My mission every month, after lots of searching and tasting, is to write with suggestions for wines I have loved and think you will too. The list is tightly curated and better priced than you will find on offer anywhere else. Many of my wines are allocated to restaurants so I wrestle them away from sommeliers around London, to offer and deliver them to you. This month I have seven new wines -  three French whites and four French and Italian reds, plus all the previous favourites.

New wines for February 

Three French whites

I have uncovered a wonderful Pouilly-Fuissé from Vincent Besson’s Domaine Pouilly in response to requests for a robustly old fashioned, classic white burgundy. For the second white, I’ve included a favourite of mine, less fashionable but perennially glamourous for those who know, a white Bordeaux, Château Graville Lacoste from Graves. You will want it within easy reach for the rest of 2022. My third new French white pick is a Viognier from Languedoc, produced on the estates of J&M Cazes of Lynch Bages fame.

Four new reds

I am firstly nipping to the Côte Chalonnaise for some ethereal and perfectly named wine from Domaine Faiveley - Mercurey 'La Framboisière', before swooping down to Beaujolais for some gorgeous Gamay from Julienas. Two bigger reds, another Southern Rhône beauty, this time from Gigondas as it is so hard to argue with the value found in Southern Rhône. This is similar to the much loved Rasteau I wrote about at Christmas. Finally, I’ve included an Italian red, this time a ‘Baby Supertuscan’ at a fraction of the usual price, from Argiano near Montalcino. I am convinced you will love it and look forward to the feedback.

Very best & happy drinking,

Ben