Part Two of my August Wines begins spectacularly with a twenty-five-year-old bottle from what is one of my half-dozen favourite sites in Champagne, one which can produce extraordinary gastronomic wines. That was followed by a wine of the same age from Bordeaux, one of a fast-disappearing stash of Classed Growths in my cellar. I haven’t had a significant birthday, or anniversary, I just like sharing these wines with friends if they visit. Here in Part Two, we continue with the youngest of two very different Vin Jaune (the old one appears in Part Three). We finish with a sweet Noble Riesling from New Zealand, a fine Manzanilla Pasada and then a wine which was as special as all those already listed, a wine and producer I’d never even heard of until a few months ago.

Clos des Goisses 2000, Champagne Philipponnat (Champagne, France)

I still have a photo of the Clos des Goisses on my business card, although as this was my last bottle, and I am unlikely to afford to buy it again, perhaps I should print up some new ones. Any wine obsessive will know that there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with visiting a vineyard just to look at it. Let’s face it, Instagram is full of photos of folks (and recently, dogs…which I really liked) perched on the wall by that cross we all know on the Côte de Nuits. The thrill of climbing the Goisses slope would surely be replicated in a few readers hearts, no?

This is a steep vineyard for Champagne, a forty-five-degree slope on chalk which falls way to a section of the Marne, east of Epernay and just outside of Mareuil-sur-Aÿ. It faces south too, so it gets warm. Very warm. This Champagne is unusual in showing 13% alcohol. This rich and majestic wine can take it, but ageing, sensible with any fine Champagne, is especially advised for any decent vintage of Goisses.

Made from an assemblage of 65% Pinot Noir and 45% Chardonnay, it was disgorged in October 2009 and dosed at 4g/l (which was reasonably low back then). The result is mineral-fresh still, but complex and ripe. Lots of tertiary-style flavours come through, citrus of course, but also earth (mushroom), wind (floral) and fire (ginger and curry spice). The structure of youth has broadly disappeared but it hasn’t fallen apart. That minerality holds it together. It needed to age but it is now ready to go out into the world. I think it is peaking now (though Goisses does tend to have bottle variation, usually depending on different disgorgement dates, a subject of fascination for some conversations I have been part of).

A one-off experience. I recommend a glass suitable for such a gourmande Champagne. I used Zalto Universals rather than my Zalto Champagne stems.

Cellared for so long I don’t know where it (and a few others before it) came from. I have racked my brain to no avail.

Château Duhart-Milon Rothschild 2000, Pauillac (Bordeaux, France)

Duhart-Milon lies to the west of Lafitte, up on Pauillac’s northern border with Sainte-Estèphe, although the chais is in the town of Pauillac itself. It is also part of the Rothschild (Lafitte) stable, with around 76 hectares of vines planted on well-sited gravel over limestone with a maritime climate. Classed as a 4^th Growth/Cru in the 1855 Classification, it shares much of the same team as Lafitte.

The blend in 2000 was 80.5% Cabernet Sauvignon, the variety which dominates the vineyards of Duhart-Milon, along with 19.5% Merlot. The estate does have some Cabernet Franc planted, but none was listed for this 2000.

I read that the 2000 is considered one of the finest ever vintages at Duhart-Milon, and that is hardly surprising. It’s a very long time since I have sipped on Lafitte, but this wine seemed to have a connection with its sibling. The first thing to note was the wine’s perfect level, not bad as it has moved three times since 2022, though each location had better cellaring than we had in Brighton, where it spent most of its life. It also had a quite youthful colour, considering, yet only 12.5% abv, which surprised me a little.

Blackcurrant, pencil lead, clichés for sure, but there they were in the glass. Medium-body, a spicy finish (peppery), and a very nice long finish as well, which tailed off slowly. It is probably mature, I don’t know. It still has a little structure, though I’d not call it tannic, not remotely. It shows no signs of slipping down the other side of the hill just yet. I was rather pleased with it.

Now this bottle, I think I can place. I’m at least eighty percent sure it came from Butlers Wine Cellar in Brighton. By coincidence I see from Henry and Cassie’s IG that they have very recently pulled up some more of their famed cellar of classic Bordeaux to put on sale. If you want some old claret, give them a call.

Arbois Vin Jaune 2010, Domaine de la Touraize (Jura, France)

I first met André-Jean, and his wife Héléana Morin at a Raw Wine Fair in London, which shows how long ago that was (no London Raw any more). Back then they were very much under the radar, and had no UK importer, but their wines were readily available in Arbois. I very much took to them, both the couple and the wines.

Since then, they have become not just people respected by their peers (something I have seen emphasised several times), but a producer whose wines are sought out by a growing fan base and are now quite expensive. They also have a UK importer, who I am sure is rather pleased that Touraize didn’t get snapped up before.

This is a biodynamic estate (since 2010), accredited by Demeter since 2020. André-Jean joined his father in 2005 but the grapes went to the Arbois cooperative until 2009. They are interestingly (cf Wink Lorch, Jura Wine Ten Years On, Wine Travel Media 2024) one of the estates which has re-planted some hybrids. Hybrids are all the rage now. They existed all over the Jura vineyards in the pre-phylloxera years, after which they were banned, though some parcels always remained. The Morins have 0.4 ha of Seyve-Villard. Wink also notes that the couple’s daughter, Victoria, has joined the team now, having previously worked at Domaine Lapierre in Beaujolais.

This mostly loft-aged Vin Jaune saw seven years in oak, under voile/flor. Wines used to be aged in two locations but there is now a new cellar on the edge of town where everything can be made and aged in one location. It has a fresh bouquet, but nutty (almond and hazelnut) with curry spice. It still feels youthful, even on the nose. The palate is very fresh. It is long, and delicious, impressive without the grandeur of older wines. Really good.

That UK importer I mentioned is Newcomer Wines. They don’t have any Vin Jaune on their online shop, but there is mention elsewhere of the 2018 VJ, with the suggestion “Inquire”, so you may still have to go to Arbois for this. They do have some other Touraize wines around the late 40s to low 50s ££. Check them out. They are probably beyond my pocket now, which came as a bit of a shock, but they are undoubtedly superb wines.

Noble Riesling 2013, Riverby Estate (Marlborough, New Zealand)

This is the one Marlborough estate which almost no-one has heard of, although they are right in the heart of the region, on Jackson’s Road. A long time ago I met owner Kevin Courtney a few times, and on one occasion attended a great tasting and lunch with him at La Trompette in London. The whole range was good, although I was always very fond of his Grüner, and the Chardonnay was superb. The pinnacle of the range was always this much-awarded sweet Noble Riesling though. I found a piece written by Tom Canavan (winepages.com) from 2024 which suggests that more recent vintages are, if anything, even better.

This is a classic botrytis Riesling in a half-bottle. The grapes are picked when the noble rot has developed, and they are destemmed before a cold soak. Fermentation is in stainless steel and it came out of the tank in 2013 with 10% alcohol and somewhere between 180-200 g/l residual sugar. It’s a wine which concentrates with age so after twelve years it has a bouquet of dried apricot, yellow peach and orange marmalade. There’s the merest hint of marzipan. The palate is sweet, rich and concentrated, very long on the finish, but there’s enough acidity still to ensure it isn’t the slightest bit cloying.

It’s a magnificent wine, much awarded, a regular Trophy Winner in NZ, and one worth ageing to benefit from the complexity that comes with it. It isn’t easy to find, and I wish Riverby had a wider distribution in the UK. The agent/importer is Black Dog Wine Agency, based in Cheshire. They currently have the 2019 for £26/33cl. Black Dog is a small importer, but they have a good spread of Riverby wines, including some nice Pinot Noirs, the abovementioned Grüner Veltliner (which seems now to have become a customer favourite) and Chardonnay, alongside this sweet Riesling (which you need to scroll much further down to find).

Manzanilla Pasada “Botas NO” 100, Equipo Navazos (Jerez/Sanlúcar, Spain)

Equipo Navazos probably needs no introduction here. Peter Liem (in Sherry, Manzanilla & Montilla, Manutius 2012) called this bottler “The most distinctive and unusual project to come out of the sherry region in recent times…a creation of my co-author Jesús Barquin, along with Eduardo Ojeda, technical director of the Grupo Estévez”. As Liem says, they are effectively a negociant, but for unique, rare and very special wines tucked away in the back street bodegas of Jerez and Sanlúcar.

This 100^th bottling by EN is a saca of October 2020 drawn from three casks at Hijos de Rainera Pérez Marin in Sanlúcar. The desire to create an iconic “100” which was available in reasonable quantity was set against a desire to release all bottlings ending with a zero as a Manzanilla Pasada from this great source.

It’s a wine that shows its biological flor character, very saline. The butts were filled to what is called tocadedos level, that is “well above the 5/6 mark that is common in the Sherry district”. This created a thin veil of flor, kept alive by periodic refreshment. Hence the wine’s oxidative character, and also a slightly elevated alcohol level (16%).

The wine was around 14 years old at bottling. Nutty, very elegant though, very long and gaining complexity. I do still have one left. It might not be possible to find “100” any more, though an internet trawl is worth doing. This was purchased back in the days of much less problematic direct shipping for me, when I could get a nice little assortment to my door without paying almost as much for shipping as for the wine itself. Alliance Wine is the UK agent for EN.

Les Arceaux 2021, Grange Saint-Saveur (Loire, France)

Of all the wines I drank in August, this is the one that surprised me the most. Who would think that a Rosé made from two obscure and unloved grape varieties could be this good, this interesting? I would go as far as saying this wine is indeed unique.

Grange Saint-Saveur is located at Le Thoureil, fifteen minutes southeast of Blaison Gohier, which I had never heard of but seems to be itself southeast of Angers. It is run by Alice and Antoine Pouponneau, who keep themselves resolutely to themselves, no web site, no listed phone number, as Beverley Blanning notes (Wines of the Loire Valley, Academie du Vin Library 2024).

You may not have heard of this couple, but Antoine has built a formidable CV. After training at Dijon he worked for top estates in Corsica and Bandol, but now combines his riverside vineyard (6.5 ha) with oenology consultancies at, inter alia, Châteaux Latour, Cheval Blanc and Pavie in Bordeaux and at Dalla Valle in Oakville, Napa.

Les Arceaux is a blend of the two rare Grolleau varieties (80% Grolleau Noir, 20% Grolleau Gris). Farming is biodynamic and nothing is added, including zero sulphur. The direct-pressed grapes are aged eighteen months post-fermentation on fine lees, and the wine undergoes malo naturally, in 228-litre oak. Apparently, this ageing takes place in the 5^th-century chapel that sits between their house and barn, where winemaking takes place.

Ethereal, haunting red fruits, a soft texture with just a hint of cranberry bite. It’s like drinking a gentle breeze through the hedgerow. It’s hard to describe quite how good this is, but the wine trade friend who shared all the wines in this Part 2 said it was his Rosé of the year. He imports directly and sells a lot of Rosé.

I will also say that I was pleased to be able to read about this producer in Beverley Blanning’s aforementioned book which comes very highly recommended, and as you will have guessed, much of the information here is shared from her book, but I’d mostly like to thank Ali at Communiqué Wines in Edinburgh. It was he who persuaded me to part with £38 for this rarity, over my usual budget these days. There was just something about the way he described it.

I will leave the last word to Blanning as she describes this cuvée so perfectly. “Les Arceaux…is a remarkable rosé unlike any other, aromatic, structured and bone dry, with a savoury delicacy and extraordinary length”. To be fair, she makes the other cuvées sound no less good. “The wines of Grange Saint-Saveur carry a signature of lightness, balance and freshness. Erring towards understatement, but always elegant and invariably interesting, they are some of the best expressions of the ligérien style, from vines that have been looking out over the Loire since long before many of their drinkers were born”. Nicely put. Don’t all rush out at once!

Grange Saint-Saveur’s UK importer is Thorman Hunt.