Category Archives: Newsletters

A guide to UK duty hikes on wine

June 30 2023

An increase of 53p a bottle might not seem much to some but with 50% of an £8 bottle of wine soon to be UK tax, it’s worth considering how much is spent on a bottle. And perhaps, more than ever, ‘drink less but better’ might be the message.

I’ve tried to make it easier to grasp with a fancy graphic of typically-priced bottles, above, and roughly where the money goes at each price point when you buy from larger retailers. And, in a separate picture, in restaurants.

There’s also an in-depth look at the data behind the duty on wine. I hope it’s of interest and, aside from perhaps sharing in our frustration, I’d like to think you’ll be better informed to make smart decisions when it comes to buying and enjoying the stuff.

Keep reading

May news review and photo journal

May 31 2023

As ever, rather a lot to cover this month. Perhaps we should add a mid-month newsletter to break up the end-of-month drivel?

The vines are pushing on in the vineyard and it’s a hectic time for the team to keep up. The photo above is from last Saturday when we had a 10-strong group of seasonal workers removing excess, energy-sapping shoots in the sauvignon blanc.

That’s not really something you need to know about, as with so much with wine. But we think the UK duty increase in August will soon be worthy of your attention as, at over 50p a bottle, it’ll be the biggest rise in 50 years. Can you believe that 50% of an £8 bottle from 1 August will be UK tax? More on that in due course.

The thrilling items in this month’s missive:

  • The Bauduc Fantasy Premier League results
  • Mo(o)re on hooking up with the Stein family
  • My Bordeaux 2022 articles in Harpers
  • A quiet lunch with the Swiss
  • Comparing the same vines on the same day over several years
  • DQ at 90
Keep reading

Bordeaux 2022 weather and harvest report – and photo journal

March 31 2023

This report was published on Jancis Robinson’s fine wine website and also on Liv-ex – the fine wine market site.

With the world of fine wine descending on Bordeaux to taste the latest vintage in April, here’s my report on how the weather in 2022 shaped the wines. It will serve as a backdrop as to why the wines taste the way they do – even at this early stage, of course, for the reds – and to put 2022 in context by comparing the conditions with recent years.

Keep reading

February 2023 photo journal

February 28 2023

Last month we pictured the goats in front of the château, so it seems only fair that we should show them near the vines under the glorious winter sky last week. We promise not to have them headlining in every photo journal this year but they are rather lovely.

Keep reading

January news – Farmhouse update

January 31 2023

Ange may be asking, up on the balcony outside her office, just what have we got ourselves into now, but you should really taste the cheese.

Anyway, we hope you’ve had a good January and we just want to bring you up to date with our farmhouse availability for the year ahead, and some other stuff if you’re thinking of visiting the Bordeaux region. More on this below.

Les Trois Hectares blanc 2021 has now sold out and the new vintage will be bottled in March. However, the Sauvignon Blanc 2021 is still available and, as is often the case with these things, it goes brilliantly with the local chèvre, so we’ll be offering that as an option for tastings here at the château.

Keep reading

A year in the vineyard – a photo journal

December 30 2022

As we herald in 2023, we take a customary look back at the year in the vineyard. Putting this photo journal together in the last couple of days reminds us just how quickly the seasons merge and turn full circle. And that times with all the family together are moments to be cherished.

Keep reading

November 2022 photo journal

November 30 2022

Another last-day-of-the-month missive and a photo journal for November.

Before that, well done England and the USA, commiserations to Wales, and the days of four games a day of World Cup football on BBC and ITV, one after another, have come to an end. England’s opponents in the quarter final on Saturday 10 December, if they prevail over Senegal – if – this Sunday in the last 16, will more than likely be France or the runners-up of Group C (currently Argentina, but we’ll know tonight). Crikey.

Keep reading

Our Crémant – a photo journal, October review

October 31 2022

Here’s our monthly review. Well, not exactly a recap of what’s happened this month (where to even begin?) but we finally packaged up our sparkling 2019 Crémant de Bordeaux and shipped it to various staging posts before onward delivery to our customers’ homes.

Crikey, the 2019 harvest seems a while ago – though fresh in the memory – so we thought we’d put together a photo journal of the wine. There is quite a story behind it.

Keep reading

September harvest – a photo journal

September 30 2022

What a momentous September. And we had a harvest to bring in.

We’ve sent out a news review or photo journal at the end of every month for many years but we can’t recall another month of events back home quite like this one. The travails in the vineyard rather pale into insignificance but the grapes are now all in and the wine fermenting away.

Time has slipped by since our August review, when we’d just started the white harvest, and it ended yesterday with the last of the Cabernets. Many thanks to everyone who kindly sent us a note about Margaux, our beloved terrier.

Here is a photo journal of the bringing in of the crop, designed for speed scrolling.

Keep reading

Margaux 2008-2022 – a photo journal

August 31 2022

We started our harvest yesterday. It’s obviously a fairly early one, what with all the heat and the drought for most of the summer, but more on that another time.

Instead, this end of August missive is dedicated to Margaux, our much-loved terrier, who sadly died just short of her fifteenth harvest. She died peacefully at home having braved a heart condition for many months. It is very sad, of course, but she had a really good life and we are blessed to have had her, and she didn’t suffer at the end. She gave so much pleasure to so many people, and she was loved by so many in return.

Keep reading