Sweet Wines, Rosé and Bubbles

This cuvée has gone from strength to strength since it was first made in 2000. The percentage of Chardonnay is slowly growing, and in 2018 sits at 20%. Ageing in oak barrels adds complexity and depth. The palate is nicely textured and vinous, and there’s a wonderful fresh bread and bruised apple character throughout. This is really impressive for the price.

As the name suggests, this cuvée has no dosage, and so has not a drop of residual sugar. As a result, the wine expresses abundant freshness and minerality, supported by bright citrus and green fruit. The 2017 has a bright refreshing acidity and subtle richness, thanks to its oak ageing.

Stéphane Riffault, one of Sancerre's most talented winemakers with demand to match, makes rosé in only tiny amounts. We are thrilled to have a small parcel of the delicious 2022. Sancerre rosé is made from 100% Pinot Noir and this iteration is vinous and long, with a mineral backbone, as if chiselled from Sancerre's limestone soils, and a juiciness from the sunny conditions of the year. Unlike Stéphane's whites which demand a little ageing, this is ready to drink already, though do not underestimate its ability to age.

For complexity, depth of flavour, and interest, it’s hard to beat this ancestral method sparkling wine from Vincent Carême. So vinous and lively, it’s delicious in youth, and fascinating with some age. It’s made by transferring the still sweet and fermenting grape juice into bottle, and then trapping the subsequent carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment to dryness in the bottle. No dosage is added, though the spent yeast cells are expelled, leaving a brilliant, crystalline sparkling wine behind. It has such a wonderful depth and complexity on the nose, with a vinous structure on the palate, and a salty zing. The creamy mousse wraps around crunchy apple fruit. Experience from tasting back vintages of this cuvée shows me this wine ages brilliantly, and will develop complex depth, and savoury precision with a few years in bottle.

This has got to be one of the best value sweet wines on the market. It is bottled in 50cl exclusively for Lay & Wheeler - the perfect size, we feel. It's made from 100% Chenin Blanc in the Loire Valley, and its balance of sweetness and freshness absolutely hits the spot. It is a beautiful pale golden colour, with aromas of Seville orange marmalade and acacia honey. The palate is fresh and vibrant giving it a refreshing, long finish. There is so much going on here.

Although the Loire is a region that has not embraced the cru system, it makes an exception when it comes to the magnificent sweet wines around the tributary of the Layon, near Angers. Quarts de Chaume is made from Chenin Blanc, and offers up a complex symphony of Seville orange bitterness with sweet candied citrus peel depth. The wine is intensely perfumed with honey, flowers, quince and apricot. It shows outstanding acidity which cuts through the concentrated sweetness.

This sparkling Chenin Blanc has fast become one of our go-to fizzes. It has zero chaptalisation, zero liqueur de tirage, and zero dosage, so is as dry as they come. This 'méthode ancestral' is the same as that used to make Pet-Nats (pétillant naturel) where the fermentation is finished in bottle. But unlike a Pet Nat, this sees the lees disgorged at the end, meaning the finished wine is crystal clear. The crisp orchard fruit aromas combined with a complex biscuity character on the nose are followed by taut precision and depth of flavour on the palate. The texture of the bubbles is spot on: creamy and persistent. It's one of the most interesting, delicious, and best value sparkling wines you'll find.

We’ve worked with Bouvet-Ladubay in Saumur for years. Run by the charming Monmousseau family, who now fully own the estate again after a 41 year hiatus, they make some of the most impressive sparkling wines we know. So we were delighted that they agreed to work with us on Our Collection. This is a blend of Chenin Blanc - with naturally high acidity, a brilliant white grape for sparkling wines - and Chardonnay, made in the traditional method and spending a couple of years on the lees before disgorgement. The resulting wine is zesty, vibrant, and brilliantly complex. Not to mention a total bargain.

This Sancerre Rosé is made in the village of Bué by brothers Clément and Florent Pinard, who know a thing or two about Pinot Noir. It's fresh and fruity, but with serious structure underneath making it a great accompaniment with food. It's a real all-rounder of a rosé, and easily one of the best in the appellation.