Leon Stolarski Fine Wines feature some of the best wines that the Languedoc, Roussillon, Southern Rhône and Beaujolais regions have to offer. We do not stock "agency" wines - every one of the wines on our list is imported directly from the producers, all of whom we have visited and, in many cases, formed close working relationships with.

We are registered as a Limited Company in the U.K. We are registered for V.A.T and all of our wines are imported directly from the growers in France, using the same transport companies as the major supermarkets and wine merchants. All wines are duty-paid on entry into the U.K and are kept in a secure storage facility, in an environment and temperature ideal for keeping fine wines.

How we started

Leon Stolarski Fine Wines was founded in 2003. It came about as a result of a long held passion for wines, particularly those from the south of France, an area which is now gaining a much-deserved reputation for exciting and innovative wine making. We are Leon and Diane Stolarski and we have been happily married since 1985. We have two sons, Alex and Daniel, and our family home is near Nottingham.

Part of the thrill of our annual family pilgrimage to France had always been the opportunity to visit the cellars of the wine producers and to taste the wines, before buying, in the very place they are made. Although my "mastery" of the French language is limited, to say the least, it is always a treat to meet with the winemakers in their cellars or "caves" and talk about their wines, their methods of making them, the flavours, the "terroir" of their particular region…… they are invariably proud of these things and are happy for you to taste the wines before buying.

Some of our wine discoveries have come from articles in books, newspapers and magazines, others from recommendations by the owners of the properties we rent, or local people. The information you need to find the place of production of a wine is almost invariably there on the label - all you need to do is look it up in the atlas! Of course, some of the more remote vineyards are not always that easy to find. But there's a certain eager anticipation in driving around deserted country roads, down bumpy tracks, or through narrow village streets, in search of your chosen producer. And it's possible to find superb wines that seldom see the light of day outside of their own region of production, let alone on the shelves of U.K shops.

Finding the inspiration

In August 2003, we made a last-minute visit to a producer I had read about in a book by Rosemary George M.W, entitled "From Banyuls to Bellet - The Wines Of The South Of France". We sampled a variety of wines, ranging from excellent to sensational, in a cramped little "cave" next door to the producer's house in the middle of the village of La Liviniere. This village is situated in the best part of the Minervois, one of the up and coming regions of the Languedoc.

The owner of Domaine la Combe Blanche is Guy Vanlancker, a Belgian schoolteacher, who gave up his job and moved his family to La Liviniere. He bought some vines and, initially, sent his grapes each year to the local cooperative. Eventually, he bought some equipment and began to make some wine himself. He currently has 20 hectares of vines in production, from which he makes about half a dozen reds, two whites and a pink wine. He keeps the yields low, to retain concentration of flavour. M.Vanlancker took us to see his cellar, where (glasses in hand) we tasted many samples of his various wines - a normal occurrence for a wine trader or writer, maybe, but a rare treat for an "amateur du vin" such as myself! I was amazed when he informed me that he had no outlet for his wines in the U.K - a travesty, considering the quality of the wines he makes. These wines are very special indeed (and you can find out more about them in the Languedoc section of this site).

As we left after our visit, I felt a real sense of excitement and decided there and then that it was time to do what I have always wanted to do - start my own wine business. M.Vanlancker's wines are extremely fairly priced, considering their quality. And I knew, as soon as I left, that we had stumbled across the opportunity to feature a range of wines that would be worthy of building a business around. These days, M.Vanlancker is known to us simply as Guy, since we have become good friends with he and his lovely wife, Isabelle. Guy says that, when they are old enough, Alex and Daniel must go and help them to bring in the grape harvest, for which they will be fed and watered and paid handsomely!  Come to think of it, he never asked me - I shall just have to invite myself!

Our list includes a range of wines from Domaine La Combe Blanche, together with a hand-chosen selection of other wines in which we have just as much faith. As the list grows, it's content will be governed by one philosophy - we will only offer wines that we ourselves are happy to drink. Most, if not all, will be "hand picked" from small, quality-minded producers, who's emphasis is on quality wine production. Our wines will rarely (if ever) be available from supermarkets or High Street shops. Most will not be available anywhere else in the U.K.