(2022) Disgorged in August 2022, this wine has absolutely no sweetening dosage added. That makes it a very bracing and crisp style, with a lemony freshness of fruit. There is some bready, biscuity complexity to the aroma through that long lees ageing, but then the palate zings and zips to an exhilarating finish.
(2022) Each bottle was hand-dosed with 15.2mls of Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Tokaji, then the dosage adjusted to take the total sugar level to 8g/l. The nose has a custardy, slightly toffeed note which may, or may not, be influenced by the Tokaji dosage. In the mouth there's a perceptible ripeness and mid-palate sweetness to this despite the modest dosage. There's a lovely clarity and precision to the lemony thrust of fruit and acidity, and there's a sense of concentration too. Long and sheer, the pillowing generosity of the mousse and that hint of sweetness in the background is beautifully tensioned against the lemon and salts acidity.
(2022) There's just 4mls of the extraordinarily sweet (@ 581 g/l) Tokaji Essencia 2008 as part of the dosage here, so it's perhaps not too surprising that it doesn't mark the nose or palate too markedly. Is there just an aromatic hint of the intense, raisiny essencia, or is that auto-suggestion? There is certainly some biscuity character over lemony fruit. The palate is intense and dry, with again plenty of lemony thrust, a pithy bite of dryness, not at all aggressive. Fascinating, though the essencia not too evident.
(2022) 'Made in the realm of Albion' according to the label, but more prosaically, that means Sussex for a wine made for Justin Howard-Sneyd by Ridgeview vineyards. Using the three main grapes of Champagne, it spent a almost six years on the lees. There is bruised pear and apple, plenty of zippy lemon and a touch of bready/biscuity quality on the nose. The palate has a sweetness to it, whether fruit or dosage it is hard to say, but a direct lemony freshness comes through in both fruit and acidity, assering towards the finish to give this bite and clarity. £28.00 to Club members.
(2022) Always such a lovely wine this, it is a blend of Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris, with just 20% seeing time in one and two-year-old barrels to give a subtle dimension of creaminess adding to the honeyed, lightly waxy aspect of the nose and palate. Blossom hints flit around peachy-ripe fruit, but it stays focused and pure, a little saline aspect to quite fat lemony acidity making for an easy but perfectly-pitched, freshening finish. Club members buy for £13.20
(2021) A Syrah and Grenache blend, this is a delicately-coloured but vibrant pink with a light passion fruit and nectarine aroma, some raspberry too in a summery cocktail. The palate is very dry, a lovely lemon pith line of acidity giving this definite food-friendly appeal for most fish dishes or tapas perhaps, the fruit quite tart and elegant, just enough sweetness for delicious drinking too. £12 to Bee Club members.
(2021) A fine follow-up to the 2018 for this blend of very old vine Grenache Blanc and Gris, appearing under the 'Field of the Bee' label as the fruit comes from Jean-Marc Lafage's vineyard, rather than one owned by Domaine of the Bee. The four months a small proportion of the wine spent in barrel is barely discernable aromatically, as the floral, spice and citrus and melon-rind notes dominate, a hint of exotic mango in there too. The oak adds a touch of warming toast in the background of the expansive palate, the rich texture and intense concentration giving definition and weight to a still fresh and vibrant wine, but one with a bit of grippy, spicy structure. £12.80 for Bee Club members.
(2021)
From a tiny, 80-year-old Carignan vineyard of low yielding bush vines, fermentation took place in both stainless steel tanks and 500-litre barrels , before maturation in barrel, 50% new. Much more depth of colour than the Bee-side, the nose deep and fruity with a nuttiness I often find in Carignan - almost chestnut-like - and he spice and pencil-shaving notes of the barrel. Creamy in texture, there is mouth-filling richness here, effortless concentration of lush, creamy black cherry fruit, a hint of gaminess, but a rasp of tannin and juicy cherry-pit acidity cut through the creamy density of fruit very nicely to balance, finishing on spice. £17.60 to club members.
(2021) Hand-sorted at the winery, the first pick of Carignan is fermented in a stainless steel tank, with the rest of the Carignan and Grenache fermented in large wooden barrels. After pressing, the whole lot spends 18 months in a mix of 500-litre and 225-litre barrels, approximately a quarter of which were new. Dense, deep crimson colour, the nose showing a little violet and Indian ink, vinous density. In the mouth the sweet punch of the fruit is delicious, a combination of red and black fruits, plenty of spices here, clove and black pepper, and the weighty, rounded mouthfeel balanced by creamier tannins than in the Carignan, and very good acidity, giving this both svelteness and freshness into a long, powerful finish. £20 for club members.
(2021) 100% Grenache made in oak vats, around 50% was fermented with 'whole bunches', and the rest destemmed. After pressing the wine was aged 18 months in 500-litre barrels, with a very small proportion of new oak. It has an attractively pale but bright colour, the nose a little earthy and showing the wood component, the fruit a little shy at first but bursts into bloom in the mouth, with juiciness and richness, good concentration, some spicy notes and savoury cherry fruit. A stripe of tannin and acidity gives a mouth-watering tartness in the finish. £14.40 to club members.
