Top 10 new products

Tio Pepe En Rama 2015

How time flies. It seems like yesterday that the brains at González Byass released the inaugural bottling of its unfiltered Tio Pepe “en rama” fino onto the market, which proved so popular the entire offering was snapped up in hours. Back for a sixth year, the 2015 release sports a clean white and gold label taken from the GB archives. For the second year running, the fino was taken from the two oldest Tio Pepe soleras: Rebollo, which is over 150 years old, and Constancia, dating back to the mid-1800s.

Master blender Antonio Flores was responsible for creating the wine and tasted his way through 600 casks to come up with the final blend. Those with the healthiest flor growth were cherry-picked for the release, which was bottled in April.

Flores describes the wine as “elegant” and “textured” with notes of “fresh almonds”. Catch it while you can.

RRP: £15.95
CONTACT: González Byass UK +44 (0)1707 274 790

Hardys’ new labels

Aussie wine brand Hardys has taken the next step in its “premiumisation objective” by unveiling new labels and a tightened regional focus for its William Hardy range. Formerly labelled as simply “South Australia”, the Chardonnay will now come from Limestone Coast, while the Shiraz will use Langhorne Creek fruit.

Outlining the mission to create “a clear and credible step up for consumers” from the brand’s Nottage Hill and Hardys Stamp ranges, marketing director Amy
White said: “We’re pleased to be able to offer our consumers the opportunity to try wines from new, premium regions whilst giving them the reassurance of the Hardys name.”

RRP: £6-10
CONTACT: Accolade Wines +44 (0) 1483 690 000

Dom Pérignon 2005

LVMH-owned Champagne house Dom Pérignon has released a 2005 vintage expression, which, while small in quantity is of “exceptional quality” boasting “a never- before-seen aromatic maturity” according to the house’s chef de cave Richard Geoffroy.

In a year when few have decided to declare a vintage and after nine years ageing in the cellars, Geoffroy said that the wine has “a rich bouquet of predominantly black fruit underpinned by a silvery minerality and notes of praline and coriander,” while on the palate it is “powerful, structured and dense with an intriguingly spicy flower finish.”

After a warm year the harvest was almost ruined by a cool and wet start to September, but the onset of botrytis, especially on the Pinot Noir, was reversed by a return to good weather near the start of the harvest in mid September.

RRP: £130
CONTACT: Moët Hennessy UK +44 (0)20 7808 4400

Bombay Sapphire Star of Bombay

While the gin market continues to boom and craft distillers pop up faster than you can say “juniper”, the big boys are having to work harder to stay on top. Enter the Star of Bombay, a “super premium” gin from Bombay Sapphire, which aims to “redefine” the category.

Offering the optimum expression of the gin with accentuated top-note aromatics, Star of Bombay features two additional botanicals – bergamot orange peel from Calabria in southern Italy and ambrette seed from Ecuador – in addition to the 10 that feature in the original recipe.

Star of Bombay is made at Bombay Sapphire’s new distillery at Laverstoke Mill in Hampshire, where master distiller Nikolas Fordham used a vapour infusion process to create a gin with “a richer aroma and more intense flavour”. The higher 47.5% abv meanwhile is designed to emphasise the aromatic profile and “underpin the spirit’s overall balance and harmony”.

RRP: £35
CONTACT: Bacardi www.bacardi.com/uk

Beam small batch Bourbons

Beam Inc has introduced a trio of small batch Bourbons into the UK in a bid to capitalise on the Bourbon boom in Britain. Baker’s, Bookers and Basil Hayden’s Bourbons have been given a makeover for their UK debut, with all three housed in slender bottles to unify the collection and give it shelf standout.

“The Bourbons will appeal to connoisseurs interested in exploring premium dark spirits,” said Janice McIntosh, marketing controller for imported whiskey at Maxxium UK. “The collection offers three Bourbons that display the wealth of history and craftsmanship in Jim Beam Bourbons.”

Baker’s is created using a secret “jug yeast” recipe that has been used by the Beam family for more than six generations and is aged for seven years in bottle. Booker’s meanwhile, is bottled at cask strength and without filtration. The third in the series, Basil Hayden’s, features a higher rye content, giving it a peppery edge.

RRP: £42-£64
CONTACT: Maxxium UK +44 (0)1786 430 500

McGuigan Frizzante Extra Dry

Australian wine giant McGuigan is seeking to capitalise on the global thirst for sparkling wine with an extra dry Frizzante. According to its makers, the wine boast notes of “soft lemon and apple”, and will go on sale across the UK in May. It was created in response to consumer taste trends, with sparking wine having enjoyed double-digit growth in the UK over the past year.

“We wanted to make an easy drinking style at the right price point,” said chief winemaker Neil McGuigan. The fizz will make its debut at a barbecue hosted by McGuigan and Masterchef presenter John Torode at the London Wine Fair.

RRP: £7.99
CONTACT: Australian Vintage +44 (0)207 924 8850

Astelia Crémant de Limoux

Named after owner Jean-Claude Mas’ three daughters, Astrid, Elisa and Appoline, Astelia is a new Crémant de Limoux from the south of France. A blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Chenin Blanc, the grapes, which are grown on clay and limestone soils, benefit from lashings of sunshine paired with cool sea breezes flowing in from the Med.

Made in the traditional method, the fizz is aged on its lees for 18 months and is recommended as a match for grilled lobster, parmesan cheese, and oysters. Making its debut at the London Wine Fair, the wine is aged for a further three months after disgorgement before release, making it ready to charm when the cork is popped. According to Mas, the sparkler boasts aromas of “yellow fruits, fresh verbena and pastry”.

RRP: £25
CONTACT: Côté Mas London +44 (0)207 484 0554

Fonseca Guimaraens 2013

To celebrate its bicentenary this year, the Fladgate Partnership released a 2013 Fonseca Guimaraens vintage Port on St George’s Day, the traditional date for vintage declarations. Adrian Bridge, CEO of The Fladgate Partnership, which owns Fonseca, said he was “delighted” with the “textbook” Port.

While Fonseca started trading in 1815, Guimaraens vintage Ports have been made for over a century, drawing on the best produce of Fonseca’s own estates in years that produce more supple and early maturing wines when a classic vintage is not declared.

The Port will be sold “en primeur” in six- bottle wooden cases.

RRP: £30
CONTACT: Mentzendorff +44 (0)20 7840 3600

Camus Extra Dark and Intense

Camus Cognac has created a bold new expression of its “Extra Elegance” Cognac. Camus Extra Dark & Intense comes housed in an elegant square-shaped decanter that seems to take design cues from the fragrance world. Befitting of its name, the bottle is black with a gold stopper.

The “rich and powerful” blend is formed of eaux de vie chosen for their intensity of character, which were decanted from 340 litre casks. In order to release the barrels’ full aromatic potential, they were toasted by hand over naked flames, with the master cooper having to determine the optimum time to create the right balance between the Cognac and the oak – toast it for too long, and a glass would taste like licking the inside of a barrel. When the liquid is poured back in the barrel, it changes form, taking on the spicy notes from the freshly toasted oak, leading to aromas of “crème brûlée, gingerbread, dark chocolate and roasted macadamia nuts”.

RRP: £315
CONTACT: Camus +33 5 45 35 61 98

Ledaig Dùsgadh 42-year-old Scotch

Called “Dùsgadh”, which means “awakening” in Gaelic, the whisky started its life at the Isle of Mull’s only distillery, Tobermory, which was originally known as Ledaig.

Just 500 bottles of the whisky will be released at an RRP of £3,500 each, with a focus on key markets such as the UK, North America and Asia. Brand owner Burn Stewart Distillers has confirmed that the next Ledaig release of a similar age will not take place until 2036.

Each bottle comes packaged in a box, complete with copper card entitling the buyer to “inherit” a bottle of Ledaig 10 year old when it is launched in 2025. This second whisky has been made from the final distillate of the same copper still that began service in 1972 when Ledaig’s 42 year old was born, but has now been decommissioned.

Thanks to its “heavy intensity” and “distinctly rich and smoky flavour”, aided by the fact that the whisky is un-chillfiltered for greater texture, Dùsgadh is recommended for drinking without water, ideally as a digestif or with a cigar.

Introducing the new expression, Ian MacMillan, master distiller at Burn Stewart said: “I’ve been distilling for almost 40 years and the smoky aroma retained in Ledaig 42YO is the highest I have ever come across in a 40YO island whisky.”

RRP: £3,500