Two from Ten Acre Wines

Ten Acre WinesTen Acre Wines (ten-acre.com) imports the wines of some terrific small domaines into the UK. Owner Brian Peacock has been in the wine trade for almost 40 years, a good part of it as wine buyer for the award-winning La Réserve wine merchants chain in London. Along with Sales Manager Jo Burns, ex-La Réserve Manager and Fine+Rare Wines, the pair have put their decades of experience into sourcing some exceptional wines. As Brian says, “We don’t deal in anonymous wines sourced from vast corporations where the only difference is between label colours; our customers demand value and quality, but they also want their wines to have vitality and a sense of place.”

I’ve just tasted two outstanding examples of this philosophy in action: a seldom-seen Pinot Noir from the Vendée appellation of the Loire Valley, and, even rarer from the Loire, a Gamay from the Côte Roannaise. Definitely not your standard supermarket fare. There is no minimum order with Ten Acre (buy a single bottle if you wish!) but be aware that delivery is £10 on orders under £300, free if spending £300 or more,

The wines

Domaine Sérol, Côte Roannaise 'Sérol' 2014

Loire, France, Dry Red, Cork, 12.0% abv
89
(2016) From 90-year-old vines grown in the foothills of the Massif Central in the Loire Valley, this is Gamay St. Romain, the local variant of the Beaujolais grape, made in cement tanks and unoaked. The colour is surprisingly deep, though not dense, then really charming vinous aromas of cherry and kirsch, black fruits and the most elegant spice as well as some floral nuances. A lovely sappy edge of almost stony minerality on the palate, delicate still, but there is a framework of tannin and pert acidity underpinning that. A seriously lovely Gamay from a less familiar source.

Jérémie Mourat, Moulin Blanc Pinot Noir 2015

Loire, France, Dry Red, DIAM, 12.5% abv
91
(2016) What a charming Pinot - more than charming - from this conscientious winemaker in the Vendée, made in cement 'eggs' and spending six months in Tronçais oak. It has that lovely edge of brisk, cherry and raspberry fruit and a certain sappiness, briar and twigs and all the hallmarks of genuinely cool climate, natural Pinot Noir, the palate flooded with sweet red berry fruit but against that juicy and firm core of acidity and tight tannin, and again that tangy, edgy balance that Burgundy lovers will take to instantly. A terrifically refined and poised wine.

Ten Acre Wines is a minor sponsor of wine-pages.com, but we make no commission or fees on any sales of wine.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *