Top 10 new products of the month

Bodegas Ontañón Vetiver Sauvignon Blanc & Verdejo 2015

CONTACT: Boutinot, +44 (0)161 908 1300

Spanish producer Bodegas Ontañón has released its first wines from the Rueda DO – a duo of varietal wines. Part of its Vetiver range, Ontañón’s new releases include a Sauvignon Blanc and a Vedejo produced from the 2015 vintage. During this year, the region experienced “dry weather with little rainfall”, resulting in smaller yield but higher quality grapes, according to the producer. Its Vetiver Sauvignon Blanc is said to exude “intense vegetal aromas” with “tropical fruit nuances”. Ontañón’s 12.5% ABV Rueda Verdejo, meanwhile, is described as “intense” on the nose with sharp notes of lemon and lime – typical characteristics of the variety. Rueda, famed for its production of crisp white wines, primarily from Spain’s native Verdejo grape, is one of Spain’s fastest-growing wine regions, with several large producers moving into the region in recent years.

RRP: £11

Golan Heights Yarden Rom 2012

CONTACT: Hatov, +44 (0) 208 885 4444

Israeli winery Golan Heights has released the fourth vintage of its Yarden Rom range, the 2012, produced as part of a collaboration between American winemaker Zelma Long and its head winemaker Victor Schoenfeld. Long, winemaking partner at Vilafonte Wine Estate in South Africa, has been working with Schoenfeld since 2002, studying Golan Height’s vineyard blocks with the aim of increasing wine quality. Made from a blend of 47% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot and 23% Syrah, fruit for Yarden Rom is sourced from the estate’s best vineyards in the central and northern Golan Heights region in Galilee – the most northerly appellation in Israel. The wine has been aged for 18 months in French oak barriques and bottled without filtration. Just 32 barrels have been produced. Schoenfeld said the wine has “a mix of ripe cherry, blackberry and plum fruit characters, backed by an intriguing fusion of earth, smoke, aniseed, tobacco, sage and black tea notes”.

RRP: £110

Tio Pepe 2016 En Rama Sherry

CONTACT: González Byass UK, +44 (0) 1707 274 790

Tio Pepe has released its latest en rama Sherry expression, with a mild growing season and “spring-like winter” reportedly allowing the flor to flourish and produce a “healthy and balanced” vintage. The producer’s en rama fino was first released in 2009. The 2016 limited edition fino, like previous en rama releases, is bottled without normal wine clarification and stabilisation processes – fining or filtration. Instead, the Sherry is taken ‘raw’, straight from the barrel. Made in limited quantities, Tio Pepe en rama is drawn from the middle of the cask during spring when the flor is at its thickest. Antonio Flores, master blender at González Byass, described the 2016 en rama release as “sublime; pungent, fresh and very much in the style of traditional Tio Pepe”.

RRP: £15.99

Follador Torri di Credazzo Cuvée Millesimato DOCG

CONTACT: Copestick Murray, +44 (0) 1672 519 390

Follador will unveil the 2015 vintage of its Torri di Credazzo Cuvée Millesimato DOCG later this month. It is produced using a new winemaking technique which it claims cancels the negative effects of oxygen during pressing. The Prosecco is described as the result of an “experiment” performed for the very first time. Follador has not divulged specifics of the technique, but said its use, combined with the use of inert cryogenically liquefied gas, “essentially cancelled the unfavorable effects of oxygen in the pressing phase”. “In this way the final product is more fresh, full-bodied and satisfying; it’s fragrant with hints of apple, peach and rose petals, and is even more intense and persistent,” said marketing director Cristina Follador.

RRP: £18

McGuigan Family Release Chardonnay and Shiraz

CONTACT: Waitrose, waitrosecellar.com

Australia’s McGuigan Wines has launched a new Family Release range exclusively at Waitrose; a Chardonnay and Shiraz. The Family Release range features a Chardonnay and Shiraz produced from grapes grown in south Australia and was developed with Waitrose. The Chardonnay has an abv of 13% and is described as having “ripe tropical fruit and peach flavours and very subtle oak notes”. The McGuigan Family Release Shiraz has an abv of 13.5% and is described as a “smooth, full-bodied red with rich plum and blackcurrant flavours and a warm spicy aftertaste”.

RRP: £8.99

Snow Queen 20th anniversary bottle

CONTACT: Snow Queen vodka, oleh@calibrebrands.com

Snow Queen Vodka has released details of a subtle redesign of its bottle to mark the brand’s 20th anniversary. The new design features the queen motif in a brighter blue, with white detailing to the sides and silver text. “Over the last two decades we have always stuck with a very similar design,” said distribution director Oleh Bashutskyy. “We feel that the perception of ‘premium’ has evolved and therefore we have adapted our latest batch of Snow Queen Vodka to look more premium.” The new bottle design will be available in the UK from April.

RRP: £37.50 for a 700ml bottle

Nederburg Motorcycle Marvel 2013

CONTACT: Matthew Clark, sales@matthewclark.co.uk

South African producer Nederburg has released a Rhône-style blend of Carignan, Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre in travel retail markets for the first time. Motorcycle Marvel is described as having an “abundance of sweet spice, berry and dried fruit characters” with notes of “wood with a hint of spice” showing on the palate. The blend is a tribute to winemaker Günter Brözel, cellarmaster at Nederburg from 1956 to 1989, who famously travelled around the winery on a 250cc motorcycle. Now available in travel retail markets including Big Five in South Africa and onboard some Scandlines ferries, the wine will be on show at the TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition & Conference in Singapore in May.

RRP: £11.58

Domaine Paul Mas Cuvée Secrète 2014

CONTACT:  Vintage Roots, +44 (0) 800 980 4992

Languedoc producer Domaine Paul Mas has released a red blend as part of a range of no added sulphur, organic wines. ”We have been experimenting with low SO2 fermentation techniques and the results are convincing: the cuvées without sulphur taste far better than those to which sulphur has been used throughout the fermentation and they continue to develop in intensity,” said fourth generation winemaker Jean-Claude Mas, who took over the running of Domaine Paul Mas in 2000. Harvesting at night to prevent grape oxidation and careful management fermentation allows producers to refrain from using SO2 until the very end of vinification, a method Mas hopes to use for the entire production at Paul Mas. Cuvée Secrète 2014 is a blend of 60% Merlot and 40% Cabernet Franc. Ruby red in colour, the wine has aromas of spice and plum giving way to an elegant palate with notes of liquorice and “very ripe, almost jammy black cherry”.

RRP: £9.75

Louis Jadot Résonance Pinot Noir 2013

CONTACT: Hatch Mansfield, +44 (0) 1344 871 800

Burgundy négociant Louis Jadot has launched a wine from its first project outside France: a Pinot Noir from Oregon. Called Résonance, the wine comes from the 2013 vintage from grapes produced on an 8-hectare vineyard within a 13ha site in the Yamhill-Carlton District AVA, located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Jadot bought the property in 2013. Produced in limited quantities, the wine is produced by winemaker Jacques Lardière, who has worked as winemaker for Maison Louis Jadot for more than 40 years. The project is managed by Thibault Gagey, son of Pierre-Henry Gagey, the president of Louis Jadot.

RRP: £48

Isake Enamor yuzu liqueur

CONTACT: Isake, info@isake.co.uk

Japanese drinks specialist Isake has unveiled a new liqueur made from the citrus superfruit yuzu. Called Enamor, the liqueur has been created by drinks expert Xavier Chapelou and is described by Isake as a “a stunning fusion of French, Japanese and Indian cultures” combining “grapefruit notes and fresh bergamot aromas”. The liqueur is intended to be drunk over ice with a twist or as a low-calorie alternative to a Margarita. It is available from Selfridges in London from April.

RRP: £36.99