FEELIN' BOUGY ;)

What’s that? Just when the rest of the world is kicking off their sandals for summer, we’re still out here doing the god’s work. Yes, you could say that it’s been quite the week for half-decent allocations. Strap in and scrap your holiday savings.

ICYMI, we managed to blag the entire 2021 vintage of Sansonnière (11 bottles each, lol) that made it into the country. Don’t ask what we had to do to get it, just trust me when I say these are the pinnacle of Chenin. Given how limited they are, we’ve packed them 4 your pleasure. I’ve been feeling generous this week, so you might even find a bottle of N Joly (or similar) nestled next to your unicorns from Angeli. No promises, but if you’re nice, I’ll be nice. See here, here, and here.

Also, a strong week for fans of grower Champagne. Elise Bougy is the hottest thing coming out of Les Mesneux right now and the eagle-eyed amongst you have already snapped up most of our allocation. We tasted through her lineup in the dimly lit caves of La Dive this year, and the acid line on show hit harder than my morning coffee. Shame she was our first stop, as it was pretty hard to top after that. We still have a decent chunk of this, and just little bits of this and this though. Get ‘em now whilst you have a chance, as these will be nearly impossible to track down in a few years.

Still on fizz and I visited Vincent Carême in Vouvray whilst on my Loire jolly (Yes. I’m still going on about it) and was floored by how precise his wines are. Truthfully, Vouvray used to sit rock bottom on my list of French fizz.

Champagne > Crémant > Limoux > Vouvray.

That was the pecking order. The key keyword being was. This bottle put a proper spanner in the works. It’s so clean. It’s so crispy. It’s so refined. For an ancestral fizz to taste this polished, it’s either genius or magic. And after seeing his vineyards teeming with life, it’s probably a bit of both… Steal too.

Also, picked up a matured Riffault (Claude) ‘cos I want to show you that Savvy B can age. Another steal considering this is from way back in 2011.

Another Pet-Nat that makes my heart skip a beat is from Dandelion. We’ve scored a nice chunk of the 2024 and, as ever, it’s outrageously tasty. It’s a different vibe to the above, but same high quality. Directly pressed Pinot and Gamay results in a frothy bottle laced with apple skin bitters. The ultimate picnic upgrade. For once, I’ll let you off if you wanna pound this from a tumbler.

Also, a new red in the form of Pinot de Zinc! A blend of all their other cuvées, a touch tighter and more savoury, but still just as delicious. As with all things Dandelion, it’ll reward the patient but it’s rustically beautiful even as a baby. Still not over those labels either! Hand-pressed with wildflowers at an old-school paper mill in the Auvergne. How cute. If that’s the effort that goes into the label, imagine what’s inside the bottle. This weekends weather also saw me  check in with Sur La Plage, the HC and Fruit Defundu and I can firmly say they’re starting to show really really well. Now my cellar needs a top-up… Thankfully, I’m off to Burgundy this weekend ;)

I was gonna leave it there, but just had some FRM roll through the doors. No words needed for the Cuvee du Prof but the Fleurie and Pinot are in a nice place too and fly a little more under the radar. Also, this is a strong case for the World’s Greatest Yellow Wine. On that note, anyone up for a potential WGYW tasting at Dan’s at some point?

That should be enough to see you through… Oh wait, one more. A bit of Selosse is now live for a little laugh. Not cheap but Selosse you can actually buy…

LYSM

Fionn