I am delighted to have the newly-formed family business, Mann Fine Wine, on-board as a sponsor of wine-pages.
But though a very young company, it is one with a considerable track record. Tom Mann has over 20 years’ experience in the fine wine trade, starting in 1999 in Jeroboams wine merchant in London, before various roles in some of the country’s best-known fine wine businesses, culminating in Directorships with LHK and Appellation Wines. Tom has extensive experience in tailoring his client relationships to ensure their wine buying experience is as profitable and personal as possible.
Tom runs the business on a day to day basis, responsible for all sales and purchasing, but is joined by Kirsty Mann, who herself has over 15 years’ experience in commercial strategy with with companies from Unilever to Honda.
Their extensive list of wines includes many which are ‘collectible’, sold by the six- or 12-bottle case. But prices start from around £10 per bottle in-bond, so there is something for everyone. The personal advice and experience offered by Mann Fine Wine really does offer a refreshing alternative to more anonymous online or supermarket wine purchasing, and is surely the ultimate ‘added value’.
To mark the launch of the company and sponsorship of wine-pages, Tom and Kirsty sent me a couple of their own personal favourite bottles from their current range.
The Wines
(2022) Matelica is a DOC in the Marche region of Italy, specifically for the Verdicchio grape variety. On the Adriatic coast east of Tuscany, vineyards are set among the Apennine mountains, ensuring cool conditions and significant diurnal temperature shift. Here, Stefano Zoli hand-crafts this wine from a 55-year-old vineyard, five months on the lees adding a yeasty, lightly bready and salty aspect to the aroma which is otherwise pristine with lemon and yellow apple fruit. There's a surprising intensity and fruit sweetness on the palate, quite a rich texture too from that lees ageing. Orange and pink grapefruit dominate the flavours, with delicate but insistent acidity. A delightful wine of considerable length. Available by the six-bottle case priced £86 in-bond. Approximate per bottle price quoted.
(2022) From the Cadillac region of Entre-Deux-Mers, this 2016 is majority Merlot. It is worthy of note that Patrick Leon (ex-technical director of Mouton-Rothschild 1984-2004) was consultant here from the family’s first vintage in 2007 and, apparently, he twice tried to buy the property. It is a plush and svelte Bordeaux, with a graphite edge to plum and blackcurrant on the nose. There's a cool sense of elegance and controlled power on the palate: the fruit remains plush and deep, but it is so savoury, the tight, fine-grained tannins and keen edge of juicy acidity giving precision. The edges are barely blurred by softening coffee-ish oak, as crisp acids and bittersweet fruit lingers on the finish. £250 per dozen, in-bond. Approximate per-bottle price quoted.