We were delighted to read this review by Sally Easton on her web site www.winewisdom.com.

We think Sally sums up much better than we could the new spirit and some of the recent changes at Caviste.

Please do give it a read when you have a moment. Best of all you'll fund that the Labastida Crianza Rioja that Sally reviews is in our Christmas Crackers festive promotion - and at 6 for £80 you save over £1.50 a bottle making now the perfect time to try this wine - and it's great with roast Turkey too!

('Christmas Crackers' promotion available in store only)

Tonight Caviste MD Ben Llewelyn is hosting a Rhône Master class at our Overton shop.

If the table setting is anything to go by it's going to be an illustrative as well as informative evening for all those attending...

Some epic red wines being served too!

Update 03.11.11, by Peter Gentilli (Caviste Overton manager)

Last night saw the 2^nd in the Caviste Master Class series focussing on the wines of the Northern Rhône.  MD Ben Llewelyn led the lucky tasters through a grand tour of famous appellations; Côte Rôtie, Cornas and Condrieu to name but a few. He also wowed the crowd with a hand drawn table sized map (from memory!) of the region which helped bring a sense of geography to the proceedings. The session started with a contrasting pair of whites, the beguiling 2008 Condrieu from Domaine Phillipe Faury in all of its floral beauty followed by a magnificent 18 year old Hermitage by JL Chave from the 1993 vintage which served to show white wines really can age well. Plenty of minerality, green apples and a little candied orange peel.

We then moved onto the grape variety the northern Rhône is really all about – Syrah. 2010 Syrah, Yves Cuilleron from the top of the Côte Rôtie hill was soft juicy, full of dark fruit, smokey bacon and black pepper. Following the river south, next stop was the biodynamic 2009 Crozes Hermitage, Domaine Bruyères -  a great vintage and lovely Crozes. The next 2 wines really showed off the granitic qualities of the area’s soils – 2008 Cornas Granite 60VV, Vincent Paris, so called because the vines are planted on a 60 degree slope and 2005 St Joseph Les Granits, Chapoutier, brimming with sweet leather, black pepper, mocha & dark chocolate and a finish that just went on and on. The penultimate wine of the evening took us back up the river. The 2004 Cote Rotie ‘La Turque’, Guigal from the Cote Brune was stunning, its 46 months in oak had given it plenty of time to develop into a silky, complex, brooding wine drinking beautifully on the evening but with the ability to age for many years to come – fabulous.

The intended final wine of the evening found us staring down at the village of Tain from the hill of Hermitage itself, 2005 Hermitage ‘La Chapelle’, Jaboulet -  one of the most sought after and revered wines of the appellation. Damsons, plums, leather, five spice, and a clean minerality tantalised the taste buds in a seemingly never ending array of flavours and aromas. Just when we thought it was all over, and purely for comparison’s sake, a 2002 Hermitage ‘Cuvee Emilie’, Remizières managed to sneak its way into the tasting just to prove that you can find excellent Hermitage for less than £100 a bottle. There was no unanimous agreement on the ‘wine of the evening’ which proves that wine is truly a subjective entity. A magnificently informative and entertaining Master Class, roll on the next one!

We've been fans of the Percheron wines from South Africa's Coastal Region for quite some time. Both the  Percheron Shiraz Mouvedre and Percheron Chenin Viognier are firm favourites with our regulars in all three shops.

So we were delighted to hear that Jancis Robinson had named the Percheron Old Vine Cinsault 2010 as her current wine of the week over at www.jancisrobinson.com.

Red the full article here and buy Percheron Old Vine Cinsault 2010 online.

Best thing about this wine? It's currently on offer at only £5.50! (normal price £7.95) Who says good wine has to be expensive?!

www.Caviste.co.uk/blog - wines worth talking about

Caviste Overton last night hosted the first of a series of Masterclasses featuring the wine of the Côte de Nuits.

A range of producers and vintages from the main village communes where presented by Ben  Llewelyn and Mark Bedford to highlight the sheer class and variety available from this wonderful wine region. The wines, listed below, all performed as expected and all who tasted were left with a lasting impression that, if one chooses carefully, burgundy is still the place for the world's finest Pinot.

See Mark's video of Ben introducing the wines.

Among the the 2003 David Duband was showing beautifully, even for this massive vintage. The tannins had resolved and the fruit, although brooding and powerful was nicely rounded and seductive. Virgile Lignier's 2006 Morey 1er Cru Aux Charmes was possibly the most attractive to drink now, proving that even in a difficult vintage like 06, terrific wines (and value) are to be found. Surprise of the night was the 2007 Morey Blanc from Dujac, which was described as ferric, mineral and racy, which it certainly was, but as it opened up over the evening the fruit bloomed and it showed its class-Chablisesque with a touch of the Beaune, and still a long way to go.

Download: Côte de Nuits Masterclass notes and tasting brochure

The next Overton master class is on the Northern Rhone, focussing on the reds, and that means it's going to be a Syrah fest. Please book your tickets early as they are selling fast - buy tickets online here.

We will post the wines on the web site when we have confirmed the line up for the evening.

Welcome to our new series of blog posts: 'What to drink with...'

Earlier today I passed our local farm shop and outside was a huge trailer over-flowing with pumpkins. It started my mind whirring about how to cook pumpkins - and what to drink with them (I know, I should concentrate on my driving more...)

I musty confess to never having been a huge pumpkin fan - when the kids were younger the scooped out flesh from the Halloween pumpkin lanterns went straight in the compost. What a waste I hear you cry. So, in an effort to waste nothing and inspired by those bright orange, glorious looking globes of Autumnal loveliness I went off in search of some tasty ways to use up all that foodie goodness.

Having just bought food blogger Niamh Shields new book (well done Niamh on the book deal!  Oh and if you are bit of a foodie like me Niamh's blog Eat like a girl is a must too) I felt sure she would have some new takes on Pumpkin recipes. And sure enough a quick wizz through her blog just now brought me to this delicious-looking recipe for pumpkin mash. I love looking through cookery books/magazines/blogs to get inspiration and to put my twist on recipes - but this looks so perfectly suited as an Autumn comfort-food that I'll be making it 'as is' very soon. I'll let you know how it goes!

Now inspired by Niamh and her blog, what wine to drink?

Well, I think the mash recipe above needs something to work with all that starch and and add a bit of zip, and perhaps a little twist of citrus/wild herbs to add 'bite'. One of our recently arrived new Italian wines, Selva Capuzza Lugana 2010 would be my choice. Zingy and fresh with a under-lying minerality giving back-bone and a taut structure.

Lugana is in the Veneto wine region of north east Italy. 4km south of Lake Garda, in the green rolling Moreniche hills can be found the beautiful wine property Selva Capuzza. Lugana is both a region and the local name for the Trebianno grape variety.

Produced from Selva Capuzza's oldest and highest vineyards it is one of the first single vineyard Lugana ever produced and is the estate's signature Lugana. The combination of low yields and the selection of grapes produce a white wine of finesse and complexity.

There we have it. A new way to make use of one of Autumn's classic vegetables and a new wine to try alongside it. Food and wine matching advice and a tasty Autumn supper to boot. More soon...

We are pleased to announce that we have shipped more of Jean-Francois Merieau Cent Visages Malbec 2008

Check out our recent blog post on Jean-Francois Merieau wines.

See all Jean-Francois Merieau wines that we list.

New Zealand have played today....

Tomorrow Argentina play Romania, Australia play Ireland and South Africa play Fiji.

You can get up to 10% of any of those countries marked in red on the day of the match. So take advantage and stock up for the week-end today or tomorrow in any of the three Caviste shops.

• Buy 6 mixed bottles or more 5% discount
• Buy 12 mixed bottles or more 10% discount

That could be 10% off a case of the Nieto Bonarda 2008 from Argentina (complex, bramble fruit – velvet soft grainy tannin), or Spinifex Paillon 2007 from Australia (warm, spicy Rhone blend from the Barossa), or Carrick Unravelled Pinot Noir 2009 from New Zealand (Layers of summer fruits, mushrooms and spice, balanced with smooth tannins). Or dozens of other wines from these countries that adorn the shelves of each of our shops.

Don't forget that False Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2010 from South Africa is still on its incredible 6 for £36 offer. That's over 20% off it's normal price of £7.50 per bottle when you buy in sixes. Fantastic value - lets hope the Rugby is as entertaining!

Note: no further discounts off existing special offers

Links to past issues of our regular newsletter can be found on the right hand side of this page, just below the blog archive.

No excuse now for not knowing what is going on in the Caviste world of wine!

Our latest newsletter has lots of fantastic tasting opportunities for this autumn plus some great new offers, including one specially for the Rugby World Cup.

Caviste Odiham Fine Wine Dinner

Date: Thursday 22nd September 2011

Time: 7.00pm for pre-dinner aperitif, sit down for dinner at 7.30pm

Venue: Newlyn's Farm Cookery School (above Caviste Odiham at Newlyn's Farm shop)
Lodge Farm, North Warnborough, Hook, Hampshire, RG29 1HA Google map

£95 per person
To reserve your place please telephone Caviste Odiham manager Christien Hay on 01256 703130 or book online here.

Totally exclusive, utterly decadent!

This is being held as an exclusive, one-off event. The evening will start with a glass of champagne and will follow with a sumptuous, 3 course dinner, cooked by Newlyns Cookery School’s Head Chef Hannah Westcott.

Caviste Odiham manager Christien Hay will then match each course with a top wine. This promises to be a very special event and is limited to 12 spaces.

Menu & accompanying wines

NEWLYNS CHARCUTERIE PLATE-

Castro Iberico Salchinon, Teruel Ham, Napoli Salami, Chorizo

Bollinger Special Cuvee Rose

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BUTTERFLIED MACKEREL ESCABECHE, FENNEL AND MOSCATEL VINEGAR DRESSING

Labastida Tierra Fidel Blanco 2009, Sancerre Monts Damnes Thomas Labaille 2010

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CONFIT DUCK, MADEIRA SAUCE, DAUPHINOISE POTATOES, RED CABBAGE, CAULIFLOWER PUREE

Domaine Dujac Morey Saint Denis 2007, Chateau Pontet Canet 2007

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VANILLA CRÈME BRULEE, ORANGE SABLE BISCUIT

Alluviale Vendage Tardif 2009

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BARKHAM BLUE, TUNWORTH, MONTGOMERY CHEDDAR & BISCUITS

Chateau de Malle Sauternes 2003

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Coffee plus  Maxime Trijol VSOP Grande Champagne Cognac

We always get very excited about every new wine that we discover, ship and begin selling to our customers in Hampshire, Berkshire and beyond.  Then like new toys, the wines join the ranks of established bottles on our shelves, standing back as others enjoy the limelight of novelty and a seasonal glow.  Recently I have revisited two of the wines that we included in our shipment from Jean-François Merieau, and I was captivated by their quality, originality and ability to age.

Jean-François Merieau - a little background.
Based about 50 kilometres to the south east of Tours, Jean-François has returned to his roots after working vintages abroad including an extended stay in South Africa, where Chenin Blanc continues to be the most widely planted grape variety.  He is dedicated to working with ancient grape varieties that have been grown on the hills south of Tours for centuries, rather than espouse only big brand varieties that are easily recognised and are reliable sellers.  Caviste drinkers have been captivated by his Malbec wines, a variety known locally at ‘Cot’, and drunk through two vintages of a delicate Pinot Noir grown at the little known Saint Pourçain which lies between Sancerre and Mâcon.  We have two other of his unique wines that merit special attention.

Click here to view a video of Jean-François  talking about his vines and the variety of different vineyard terroirs. (It's in French but with English sub-titles)

Jean-François Merieau Fleuve Blanc, Vouvray 2005 @ £17.95
Oh boy – does Chenin Blanc age well.  This six year old beauty (translates as ‘white river’) is showing a wealth of dimensions following fermentation and maturation in old oak casks, followed by extended bottle age.  Framed by a green apple acidity the core of flavour resonates with honeycomb, citrus, even a hint of marmalade.  It is broad and complex – and demonstrates what phenomenal quality can be discovered under £20 a bottle when one steps outside the boundaries of the big name grape varieties.

Jean-François Merieau Tirage Limite Sauvignon Rose 2008 @ £21.00
Sauvignon Rose, also known as Sauvignon Gris, is believed to predate Sauvignon Blanc, displaying the same level of acidity but with a wider variety of aromatics without the gooseberry or nettle characteristics of its better known cousin.  Almost abandoned as a variety due to its ridiculously low yields, there remain a few devotees in the Loire, Graves and Chile who are finding an audience for its unique integrated characteristics and flavours,  Only 1500 bottles were made of this wine, using a combination of stainless steel, 25% new oak and some enthusiastic ‘batonnage’.  The result is a rich and complex white wine with distinct dried apricot on the nose with honey suckle notes, followed by a refreshing Sauvignon acidity on the palate.  Its intensity broadens with age.

Follow the link to see all of Jean-François Merieau's wines that we list.

Both these wines will partner a variety of well flavoured poultry and fish dishes, and prove a worthy match for aged white cheeses.  These are fine wines that deserve an attentive and appreciating audience and will bring enormous pleasure to the broad minded wine drinker.