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 Brut 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	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.

Price: £10.99 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

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 delicious aromas of apples, oranges, peaches and intense grapiness. There is a touch of sweetness, which is balanced by lovely acidity. In other words, if you are partial to a top-notch Moscato d'Asti, then you will love this. Deliciously gluggable and different - and a refreshing change for those who like their fizz with some residual sweetness.

Price: £9.75 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

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: £8.95 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

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. Now sold out. 2008 vintage arriving March 2010.

Price: £10.99 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

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: £17.25 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

Domaine de Montesquiou - Jurançon

We discovered Domaine de Montesquiou on our 2006 trip to south-west France, on the fringes of the Pyrenées, just south of Pau. This is a small, family-run estate, with just 6.5 hectares under vine, and has been handed down from father to son since the 18th century. The current winemakers are brothers Sébastien and Fabrice Bordenave-Montesquieu (Fabrice is pictured left). And if my experience of recent vintages is anything to go by, the future of the estate is in very safe hands - for the wines are fantastic! Although not (as far as I am aware) certified as such, Sébastien and Fabrice employ many of the principles of biological and biodynamic viticulture. Detailed attention is paid to the working of the ground and the influence of the moon. To fight against pests and diseases, they only use products containing copper, sulphur and clay, together with homeopathic quantities of "herb tea" preparations popular amongst biodynamicists. Insecticides and herbicides are a definite no-no.

Canopy management is also crucial. The vines are trained high (to approximately 2.4m), with the aim of maximising the leaf area, whilst also ensuring good circulation of air and minimising the opportunity for pests and diseases to take hold. The result is healthy grapes with both high sugar content and maximum phenolic ripeness - i.e. perfect balance. All work in the vineyard, including of course the grape harvest, is entirely manual. It goes without saying that the wine-making process itself is as non-interventionist as possible - healthy grapes make healthy wine! I should also mention the labels. Quite apart from being things of real beauty, the subject matter depicting a ladybird on a vine tendril and two silhouetted figures enjoying a glass of wine next to a barrel (also cunningly evoking a crescent moon) make a strong statement about biodynamic principles and respect for the land. Everything about this estate is central to our philosophy of offering top-quality wines from small independent growers, whose passion for the vine is translated into wines of impeccable quality and breeding.

The grape varieties planted at Domaine de Montesquiou are Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng and Courbu - all indigenous to this corner of south-west France. The dry wines (Jurançon Sec) are based primarily on Gros Manseng and are fresh and zingy, with lemon, lime and apple flavours and great mineral depth. The sweet wines (simply Jurançon) are full of luscious sweet fruit, balanced by the remarkable acidity offered by the Manseng varieties. Indeed, the Grappe d'Or (comprising 100% Petit Manseng) is quite simply stunning - see below for my tasting note. Jurançon may just be France's best-kept wine secret - and this particular estate may just be our greatest discovery yet. Give them a try - I promise you will not be disappointed!

Domaine de Montesquiou Amistat 2007 Jurancon
Domaine de Montesquiou Amistat 2007 table

Vintage	2007
Region	Jurançon - south-west of Pau, in deepest SW France
Colour/Style	Sweet white, aged in oak barrels for 12 months
Grapes	100% Gros Manseng
Alcohol (a.b.v)	13.0%
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 to 10 years
Bright, clear mid-gold colour. Much the same as the Grappe d''Or below is a sweet counterpart to the dry Cuvade Préciouse, so this wine is a sweet version of the dry La Rosée de Montesquiou, with similar aromas of lemon, lime, pineapple and freshly-cut grass. It also has similar floral notes and plenty of that classic Jurancon minerality. The palate is less intensely sweet and complex than the Grappe d'Or, but with similarly intense fruity, minerally flavours, notably lemon, lime and crunchy apple, with hints of root ginger and herbs. And, as ever, that wonderfully mouthwatering acidity. Yet another lovely, lovely wine from this amazingly consistent and brilliant grower. Limited availability.

Price: £11.50 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

Domaine de Montesquiou Grappe d'Or 2007 Jurancon
Domaine de Montesquiou Grappe d'Or 2007 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)	13.0%
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
What can I say about this wine that I haven't said before in my notes for previous vintages? The 2005 and 2006 were good, but this 2007 vintage is every bit as good as - perhaps even better than - the truly outstanding 2004. Pure gold in colour, this is made from 100% Petit Manseng, harvested in late November and early December, when the grapes are dehydrated and the flavours concentrated. And I think I even detect a hint of botrytis in this one, which adds even more complexity to a wine which possesses that quality in droves. There are rich, complex, heady aromas of creme brulée, honey, toffee apple, lime marmalade, root ginger and allspice. And the combination on the palate of the dense, viscous, sweet fruit and the almost shocking acidity makes for a wine of incredible contrast - almost ethereal and other-worldly. And although the concept of drinking the whole bottle on its own is almost irresistable, it is also a perfect match for foie gras and patés, all manner of cheeses and, of course, lemon or apple-based desserts. A Sussex Pond Pudding springs to mind. All I can say is wow - what a wine! 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 at less than 15 quid a bottle, it is undoubtedly one of (if not the) world's great sweet wine bargains. 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". A wonderful sweet wine, which is worth twice the asking price.

Price: £15.99 (Including: VAT at 17.5%)

Quantity:

Mailing list

Our list is constantly evolving, so if you would like to receive our occasional e-mail newsletter (around 8 times per year) click the logo >>>>

Page footer - delivery information and under 18 warning

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.