Leon Stolarski Fine Wines Sparkling and Sweet wines

We have two cracking sparklers from top Limoux producer Domaine Rosier. One is bone dry, the other is demi-sec. At about half the price of decent, entry-level Champagne, these wines represent fabulous value for money and are perfect for any occasion, with or without food. We also list a wide range of sweet wines from just about every corner of France, including Jurancon, Banyuls, Rivesaltes, Sauternes and the Loire Valley. We even have a cracking Vintage Port. And these wines are not just for desserts - many of them, including the Jurancons, Sauternes and Loire wines go remarkably well with savoury foods such as cheeses, patés, terrines and foie gras. And, of course, Banyuls is one of the few wine styles that can stand up to being matched with chocolate - and Christmas cakes and puddings. Enjoy!

Domaine Rosier Brut - Blanquette de Limoux
Domaine Rosier 2001 Table

Vintage	N/V
Region	Limoux, south-west of Carcassone
Colour/Style	Sparkling white, brut
Grapes	Mauzac and Chardonnay
Alcohol (a.b.v)	11.5%
Food	Best as an aperitif, but can also be drunk with food
Next day	Best drunk within hours of opening, to retain the mousse
Drink	Excellent now, but will improve for a year or two
An intense, floral bouquet, with a fine mousse and fruity flavours, with a long, dry finish. Better than many entry-level Champagnes at twice the price. Rated "Excellent" by Tom Cannavan at wine-pages.com, in his feature article on Leon Stolarski Fine Wines. Also starred in the Guide Hachette every year! Currently out of stock - more arriving April/May 2009.

Price: £9.10 (Including: VAT at 15%)

Domaine Rosier Chateau de Villelongue Brut - Cremant de Limoux
Domaine Rosier Chateau de Villelongue Table

Vintage	N/V
Region	Limoux, south-west of Carcassone
Colour/Style	Sparkling white, brut
Grapes	50% Chardonnay, 40% Chenin Blanc, 10% Mauzac
Alcohol (a.b.v)	11.5%
Food	Best as an aperitif, but can also be drunk with food
Next day	Best drunk within hours of opening, to retain the mousse
Drink	Excellent now, but will improve for a year or two
Floral and biscuity aromes, with notes of lemon, apple and honey. A fine, persistent mousse and a rich palate of citrus, baked apple and honey - a considerably complex and pleasurable wine. A lovely wine, which puts most sub-£20 Champagne in the shade.

Price: £9.55 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine Rosier Blanquette Méthode Ancestrale NV
Domaine Rosier Methode Ancestrale Table

Vintage	N/V
Region	Limoux, south-west of Carcassone
Colour/Style	Sparkling white, demi-sec
Grapes	Mauzac and Chardonnay
Alcohol (a.b.v)	7.0%
Food	As an aperitif, or with desserts or fruit
Next day	Best drunk within hours of opening, to retain the mousse
Drink	Excellent now, or keep for a year or so
A pale gold colour with a nose reminiscent of apple pie and cream, with hints of allspice. The palate offers a mélange of apple, orange, peach and a certain grapiness - best described as half way between a Moscato d'Asti and a fine cider. Deliciously gluggable and different - and a refreshing change for those who like their fizz with some residual sweetness.

Price: £9.20 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Mas Gourdou Gourmandises - Vin de Table de France
Mas Gourdou Gourmandises table

Vintage	Vin de Table, but from the 2006 vintage
Region	Pic Saint-Loup, north of Montpellier
Colour/Style	White demi-sec- late-harvested
Grapes	A blend of Grenache Blanc and Clairette
Alcohol (a.b.v)	15.5%
Food	Aperitif, fruit salad. An intersting match for Thai food
Next day	Stays fresh a day or two, if refrigerated
Drink	Over the next 1 or 2 years
Straw/gold colour, with hint of spritzy CO2. Distinctly grapey nose, with additional notes of quince, honeysuckle, elderflower and orange blossom. Off-dry, even demi-sec, with complex orange, apple, apricot and papaya flavours, together with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. A mouth-watering and unusual wine.

Price: £8.76 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine Treloar Muscat de Rivesaltes 2006
Domaine Treloar Muscat de Rivesaltes 2006 table

Vintage	2006
Region	Rivesaltes, near Perpignan
Colour/Style	White, vin doux naturel
Grapes	100% Muscat à Petit Grains
Alcohol (a.b.v)	15.5%
Food	Aperitif, fruit, desserts, chocolate, paté, soft cheeses
Next day	Improves and retains its freshness for weeks
Drink	Anytime over the next 5 years
An intense nose of jasmine, grape and apricot with hints of fennel and star anise. Rich and complex, yet extremely fresh, with subtle notes of cinnamon, clove, mandarin and lemon oil. A truly outstanding, delicious, ethereal wine. Serve chilled.

Price: £10.75 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine Sol-Payré Muscat de Rivesaltes N/V
Sol-Payre Muscat Rivesaltes Table

Vintage	N/V
Region	Rivesaltes, near Perpignan
Colour/Style	White, vin doux naturel
Grapes	50% Muscat à Petit Grains, 50% Muscat d'Alexandrie
Alcohol (a.b.v)	15.5%
Food	Paté, foie gras, soft cheese, melon, fruit tart, sorbet
Next day	Retains freshness for weeks, once opened
Drink	Anytime over the next 5 years
Fresh aromas of Musact grapes and citrus fruit, carrying through in the mouth with additional flavours of exotic fruits and orange peel. A balanced, refreshing, and extremely versatile wine. Gorgeous!

Price: £10.03 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine Pietri-Geraud Cuvée Méditerranée 2003 Banyuls
Domaine Pietri-Geraud Cuvee Mediterranee Banyul 2003 table

Vintage	2003
Region	Banyuls - by the Mediterranean, near the Spanish border
Colour/Style	Full-bodied fortified red, aged in oak barrels
Grapes	90% Grenache, 10% Carignan - 40 to 100 years old
Alcohol (a.b.v)	16.0%
Food	Strong cheeses, patés, rich fruit cakes and puddings (including chocolate), dried fruits - versatile!
Next day	Lasts for weeks, once opened
Drink	Excellent now, or will age for 20+ years
This wine is from the 2003 vintage, which provided ideal conditions for the production of great Banyuls sweet wines. The process for making Banyuls is called "mutage sur grains". The grapes are given a 3 week maceration and fermentation, at which point a small amount of neutral grape spirit is added to the must, which stops the fermentation. After being pressed and transferred into vat, the wine was left on its lees until the following Spring, at which point it was put into oak barrels and aged for a further 4 years before bottling. The result is a luscious, sweet, tawny/amber coloured wine with an alcohol level of just 16% (resulting in far more subtlety and fruitiness than a vintage Port, which tends to be pumped-up to 20% or more and is more "hot" and spiritous). Wonderfully hedonistic, it offers a nose of prunes steeped in eau de vie, cocoa and mocha. The palate is enormously complex, with flavours of figs and prunes, bramble, coffee and dark chocolate. Rich and full-bodied, with subtle savouriness, a touch of minerality, fine tannins and excellent underlying acidity. The finish is enormously long and tangy, warming rather than hot. A truly great sweet wine, which puts most vintage Ports to shame - and you can drink it now, with pleasure! Tasting note by The Wine Gang - March 2009 "Aren't we allowed to just write 'yummy' and leave it at that? This gently fortified Grenache wine spends the best part of five years ageing before release. It has a pale amber colour and wonderfully complex nose of stewed figs, walnuts, Lapsang Souchong and prunes. It washes over the palate with sweet, full fruit, all those cosseting, comforting flavours and a warming, spicy finish. Terrific - and a refrigerated bottle will stay fresh for weeks after opening. 93/100"

Price: £16.80 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine de Montesquiou - Jurançon

We discovered this estate on our recent trip to the south-west area of France, on the fringes of the Pyrenées, just south of Pau. The estate comprises has 5 hectares under vine, and has been handed down from father to son since the 18th century. The current winemaker is Fabrice Bordenave-Montesquieu, a young man with a great future, if you ask me! His Jurançon Sec, made from Gros Manseng, is fresh and zingy, with lemon and lime flavours, married to ripe apple and great mineral depth, whilst the sweet Moelleux (made from Gros Manseng and Petit Manseng) is full of lemon, lime and honey, with floral notes. The Grappe d'Or is, quite simply, stunning. An over-used term in wine parlance, for sure, but this one really is the real deal - complex flavours of honey, apple, tropical fruits and allspice, with an almost surreal, searing, lime zest acidity - a wine of incredible contrast. We urge you to give these wines a try!

Domaine de Montesquiou Moelleux 2005 Jurancon (50 cl)
Domaine de Montesquiou Moelleux 2005 Jurancon table

Vintage	2005	Image to follow
Region	Jurançon - south-west of Pau, in deepest SW France
Colour/Style	Sweet white, aged in oak barrels for 12 months
Grapes	80% Gros Manseng, 20% Petit Manseng
Alcohol (a.b.v)	13.5%
Food	Goat's cheese, foie gras, fruit salad, or as an aperitif
Next day	As good - lasts a good few days in the fridge
Drink	Now, or over the next 5 years
Clear yellow/straw colour. Lemon, lime and honey, with floral notes and flavours of apple and lime - honied and ripe, but never cloying, with a lovely streak of acidity from the start to the finish. Not quite as shocking in its acidity as the Grappe d'Or (see below), but a delicious wine nonetheless.

Price: £7.34 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine de Montesquiou Grappe d'Or 2006 Jurancon
Domaine de Monttesquiou Grappe d'Or 2006 table

Vintage	2006
Region	Jurançon - south-west of Pau, in deepest SW France
Colour/Style	Sweet white, aged in oak barrels for 12 months
Grapes	100% Petit Manseng
Alcohol (a.b.v)	13.5%
Food	Blue cheese, foie gras, smoked salmon, tarte tatin, lemon layer or Sussex pond pudding, or simply as an aperitif
Next day	Indestructable - lasts for weeks in the fridge
Drink	Now, or over the next 10 to 20 years
This is classic sweet Jurançon, harvested in November, when the grapes have shrivelled through a combination of passerillage (dehydration) and a touch of botrytis, giving a lovely deep yellow/gold coloured wine. The nose is fabulously expressive, with notes of honey, bramley apple, pear and cinnamon. On the palate there are complex, viscous, lusciously sweet flavours of honey, apple, tropical fruits and allspice. Yet the sweetness is countered by a searing, almost shocking (yet utterly delicious) lemon, lime and mineral acidity that goes all the way from start to finish, making for a wine of incredible contrast. And the finish goes on for an age. Having tasted many of the world's great sweet wines from Sauternes, Loire, Mosel and Austria (not to mention Hungary, Australia, South Africa) I can honestly say that this one excites my taste buds like no other. The sweetness of fruit, married to that amazing acidity makes for something utterly memorable – far more than the sum of its parts, and a definite contender for my "desert island wine". And it is a bargain – a fraction of the price of most classic sweet wines, and a full 75cl bottle, at that. The word "stunning" is over-used in wine parlance, but it is hard to find a better word to describe this one - it really has that "wow factor". This is the third vintage of this particlar wine that we have stocked, and it is as good as ever (possibly even the best yet) with great potential to age and evolve for many years. A wonderful sweet wine, which is worth twice the asking price. Now sold out - the 2007 vintage will be arriving later in the summer

Price: £13.65 (Including: VAT at 15%)

Chateau de Suronde Quarts de Chaume 2004
Chateau de Suronde Quarts de Chaume 2004

Vintage	2004
Region	Quarts de Chaume - south-west of Angers
Colour/Style	Sweet white
Grapes	100% Chenin Blanc
Alcohol (a.b.v)	11.5%
Food	Aperitif, foie gras, liver paté, blue cheese, white fruits
Next day	Even better - goes for days if kept in the fridge
Drink	Amazingly good now, but will evolve for decades
Rich, mid-gold colour, with great viscosity. Aromas and flavours of honey, tangerines and apricot. Further layers of flavours develop in the glass, with exotic fruits, toffee and hints of spice, combining lush sweetness with excellent acidity. Quarts de Chaume can be difficult to drink in its youth, but this has less overt minerality and more in the way of intense fruit and nectar flavours, which makes it delicious to drink now. That is not to say that it won't evolve further, though - for years, or even decades. Exquisite biodynamic wine, from one of the region's finest estates.

Price: £30.83 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine des Baumard

Florent Baumard presides over one of the finest estates in the Loire Valley, producing a superb ange of dry (sec) and sweet (moelleux) Chenin Blanc wines. The dry Savennières are amongst the very best in the appellation – steely dry, complex and age-worthy. They are great food wines, ideally suited to hors d’oeuvres, fish, shellfish/seafood and even veal. The sweet wines of Coteaux du Layon and Quarts de Chaume are also amongst the very best in the appellation. Some say there are no greater dessert wines produced anywhere in the world – and who are we to argue? They can be drunk with pleasure in their youth, but can age and evolve for as long as you want them to. They are quite delicious on their own, but are also a perfect match for foie gras, liver patés, blue cheeses and white fruits.

These wines will age and improve for many years to come (indeed, the moelleux wines will last for many decades) but there is not one amongst them that cannot be drunk with pleasure right now.

Domaine des Baumard Carte d'Or 2004 - Coteaux du Layon
Domaine des Baumard Carte d'Or 2004 - Coteaux du Layon - table

Vintage	2003
Region	Coteaux du Layon - south-west of Angers
Colour/Style	Sweet white (moelleux)
Grapes	100% Chenin Blanc
Alcohol (a.b.v)	12.0%
Food	Foie Gras, chicken liver paté, blue cheese, white fruits
Next day	Stays fresh for days in the fridge
Drink	Lovely to drink young, but will also keep for decades
Pale yellow/gold colour. The nose is totally suggestive of a dry wine, with a distinct citrus note. On the palate, however, the sweetness is quite a shock! Whilst the acidity takes a little time to come through, it does develop on the finish. This is a medium-bodied wine, but really full on the flavour. All in all, very "contrary" and quite delicious! 91/100 - Wine Spectator.

Price: £11.26 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine des Baumard La Cuvée Ancienne de Jean Beaumard - Coteaux du Layon
Domaine des Baumard La Cuvée Ancienne de Jean Beaumard - Coteaux du Layon - table

Vintage	NV - a blend of 15 different vintages, from 1966 to 1988
Region	Coteaux du Layon - south-west of Angers
Colour/Style	Sweet white (moelleux)
Grapes	100% Chenin Blanc
Alcohol (a.b.v)	13.5%
Food	Aperitif, foie gras, liver paté, blue cheese, white fruits
Next day	Just gets better and better
Drink	It hardly needs keeping(!) but will last for decades
A glorious dark yellow/gold colour, with a complex nose of pears, apricots, vanilla custard and even a hint of mushrooms and kerosene. The blending of wines from 15 different vintages (from between 1966 and 1988) offers a fascinating insight into just how lovely a mature sweet Chenin Blanc can be - the flavours on the nose carry right through to the palate, with additional bitter-sweet candied fruit flavours and mouth-watering acidity, making for a hugely complex wine, and a rare bargain too. Whatever you do, don't drink it all on day 1, as it really benefits from a day or two in the fridge. Brilliant stuff! 91/100 - Wine and Spirits.

Price: £13.95 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Domaine des Baumard Cuvée Le Paon 2003 - Coteaux du Layon
Domaine des Baumard Cuvée Le Paon 2003 - Coteaux du Layon - table

Vintage	2003
Region	Coteaux du Layon - south-west of Angers
Colour/Style	Sweet white (moelleux)
Grapes	100% Chenin Blanc
Alcohol (a.b.v)	12.0%
Food	Aperitif, foie gras, liver paté, blue cheese, white fruits
Next day	Even better
Drink	Drinking well now, but will last for decades
Tasting note to follow. 89/100 - Wine Spectator.

Price: £17.86 (Including: VAT at 15%)

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Minimum order value, delivery charges and times

The minimum order value is £50 (plus the delivery charge). You may of course choose a mix of any wines in our range. Orders between £50 and £175: delivery charge is £6. Orders over £175: delivery is free! (If your order is over £175, please remember to change the delivery charge in checkout to £0.00). Please note: Delivery to non-mainland addresses (Scottish Highlands and Islands, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Isle of Wight, etc.) is usually possible, but may not be on a next-working-day basis. It is also more expensive than delivery to mainland addresses, so will be charged at cost (for orders under £175) but with a small discount for orders over £175 - please call us for a quote.

Warning - you must be aged 18 or over

It is an offence to purchase or attempt to purchase alcohol if you are under the age of 18. (Section 149 Licensing Act 2003). We reserve the right to seek proof of age. Leon Stolarski says "drink less, but drink better!" Please consume alcohol in moderation.