Festive Staff picks
Steve
Producer: La Sorga
Region: Languedoc, France
Grapes: Pinot Noir
Style: Red
Alc.: 11%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: This drinks very much like a classic pinot noir: red plum-like fruit notes, with a stalky, green edge. The pinot is destemmed by hand, macerated for 22-days and aged in stoneware jars for 8 months, on the lees. The fruit comes from 20 year-old vines growing on soils with poudingues (puddingstone) in Limoux.
“It’s got a turkey on it! What’s more Christmas-sy than that?”
RAEF
Producer: Cà de Noci
Region: Emilia Romagna, Italy
Grapes: Moscato, Malvasia Aromatica, Spergola
Style: Orange
Alc.: 11.5%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: A very welcome return of this wine for us. The grapes are destemmed and macerated for 20 days, and then aged on the lees in old acacia barrels. On the nose you can feel the aromatic varieties, reminiscent of elderflowers and a bit of jasmine. The palate has a pithy bite from the maceration, with a lovely lick of acidity for balance.
“A wonderful and versatile wine from the Massini brothers. Delicate aromatics and pithy tannins make this very drinkable.”
Kit
Producer: Vin de Lagamba
Region: Rheinhessen, Germany
Grapes: Pinot Noir [blanc de noir]
Style: White, Sparking
Size: 75cl bottle
Alc.: 12%
Notes: Our second vintage of Alanna and Martin’s sekt, and just wow! A direct press of Pinot Noir, aged a year in old barrels and then refermented with fresh juice from 2022. The aged on the lees in bottle for 30 months before disgorging in June 2025. Rich and toasty, like golden rays of sunshine bursting through the clouds. There’s enough fresh, bloody bite that keeps you coming back for more.
“The perfect bubbles for Christmas Day? I'd say so! This is full of warm, toasty, nutty depth and feels wonderfully decadent. Fröhliche Weihnachten!”
Ben
Producer: Didier Chaffardon
Region: Loire, France
Grapes: Cabernet Franc, and a little Pineau d’Aunis
Style: Red
Alc: 14.5%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: This is from a very hot vintage, providing ample fruit and richness in the finished wine. There is a touch of sugar left which adds to the heady green herbaceousness.
“Sweetness, spice, and everything that’s nice!”
Ellen
Producer: Domaine Carterole
Region: Roussillon, France
Grapes: Grenache Blanc, Roussanne
Style: White
Alc: 12.5%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: Mainly grenache blanc with a touch of roussanne, pressed directly and put into barrels to age for about 7 months. These come from Joachim’s vines planted in 2014 on schist soils in Collioure. A rich and lush Roussillon white, with a lovely minerality and a wonderfully long finish! This opens up beautifully.
“Appropriately named and perfect for a party!” 🎉
Dovid
Producer: Klinec
Region: Brda, Slovenia
Grapes: Pinot Grigio
Style: Orange
Alc.: 13%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: The pinot grigio spends 5 days on skins before it is pressed off and aged for 36 months ageing in acacia barrels. Notes of toffee apple that gives way to a sublime chalk-like minerality. This broadens up with aeration, and becomes very opulent!
“A well-timed reminder of summer; full of freshness but also warming spiced fruit.”
J.P.
Producer: Vin de Lagamba
Region: Rheinhessen, Germany
Grapes: Dornfelder, Pinot Noir, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling
Style: Light Red/Pink, Sparkling
Size: 75cl bottle
Alc.: 10.5%
Notes: Alanna and Martin lost about half their harvest in 2024 to frost, so instead of a red and a pink Frauen Power they made a blend of the two: Fusion! A dark pink or a light red, this is fresh and savoury, with an aromatic almost herbal nose and delicate bubbles.
“A wonderful tonic for hangovers the day after… or a brilliant breakfast wine on the big day itself!
Anna
Producer: L’Eau qui Dort - Lisa Le Postec & Paul Aublet-Cuvelier
Region: Auvergne, France
Grapes: 50% Chardonnay, 50% Chardonnay muscaté (Domaine de Gergovie, Auvergne)
Style: White / Orange
Alc.: 12%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: A lovely and perfumed take on two varieties of chardonnay – a part is direct pressed, which the other is added to the juice in 'the ‘trempette’ style for gentle extraction. Aged in barrels for 6 months, this has pear-like fruit and aromatics with a moreish saline finish.
“A lovely party wine – crowd-pleasing but not boring! Plush fruit and moreish minerality. Even better in large format!”
Carmen
Producer: Loco
Region: Puglia, Italy
Grapes: Primitivo
Style: Red
Alc.: 13%
Size: 75cl
Notes: An amphora-aged Primitivo bursting with dark rich fruit notes and a gentle sundried raisin-y edge on the finish. The fruit is destemmed with little pigeage. This has an almost classic Primitivo profile. One to have with a rich seafood-fish stew, or with Apulian tiella!
“A wine that is good fun for all the family – deep, dense fruit, beautiful earthy minerality, and a gust of salty sea air.”
ROSIE
Producer: Julien Peyras
Region: Languedoc, France
Grapes: Grenache Noir
Style: Red
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: This shows the finesse and lightness of grenache in delicate hands; iron, blood, and brambly fruit are balanced by the warm southern sun and delicate tannin.
“A lively and nuanced side-step from the heavier winter reds: spice, tomato, a little sugar, with an almost celestial acidity!”
AARON
Producer: La Perdida, Nacho Gonzalez
Region: Galicia, Spain
Grapes: Garnacha Tintorera, Godello, Palomino
Style: Red
Alc.: 13%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: From a single plot where the grapes are co planted, they are fermented and aged together in 300lt barrels. The lightest of the single plot cuvées from Nacho, this is no less complex and long. Rich and ripe, with dark fruit and lovely texture.
“Aromatic, spicy, floral – and so well balanced. I’m going to sit with this and all the leftover Christmas ham on Boxing Day!”
Darryl
Producer: Altura Vigneto
Region: Toscana, Italy
Grapes: Ansonaco
Style: Orange
Alc.: 14%
Size: 75cl bottle
Note: One of the biggest orange wines we have, partly due to the thick skinned grapes and the absence of rain. The vines grow close to the sea, so there is always an element of salt and ozone to this wine. Full of Seville orange, bitter almond, and acacia…this can be decanted and do not get it too cold!
“Grip, salt, spice, with gentle waves of citrus and anise on the finish. This is THE bottle that I will have with roast duck on Christmas day itself.”
Emilio
Producer: Château Lestignac
Region: Perigord, France
Grapes: Semillon, Sauvignon Gris, Petit Manseng, Chenin
Style: White / Sweet
Alc.: 14.5%
Size: 75cl bottle
Notes: A really fascinating wine. Mainly made up of dried and botrytised Semillon, with some macerated Sauvignon gris and Petit manseng. After fermentation it was blended with a small amount of Chenin blanc vinified oxidatively from 2022. The result is semi-sweet, with some lip smacking acidity and a salty, nutty finish.
“A lovely transition wine as you move from cheese on to puddings – gently off-dry, lick of acidity, and so drinkable.”