Top new products: September

Cuvée Roger Daltrey Champagne

Roger Daltrey, frontman of the legendary rock band The Who, has launched his own Champagne to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band. Cuvée Roger Daltrey, produced by Champagne Charles Orban, carries The Who’s bullseye logo together with Daltrey’s signature, taking cues from one of the band’s best-known albums, Tommy. A matching pewter ice bucket, made by the jeweller L’Orfèvrerie d’Anjou, will also be available, priced at £650.

The limited edition bucket is available in ten different colours, and each one of the 499 examples is numbered. A percentage of the proceeds from the sales of the products will go to Teen Cancer America, the charity that Daltrey co-founded with fellow band member Pete Townshend. The Orban family has been growing grapes in Troissy, on the left bank of the Marne, since 1770, and has been making wine under its own name since the 1950s.

CONTACT Eminent Life, eminent-life.co.uk

RRP: £95

Louis Roederer 2009 Cristal

The 2009 vintage of Louis Roederer’s prestige cuvée, Cristal, has been released at just under £550 a case. Merchants have begun to offer the 2009 for around £549 per six or just over £1,000 per dozen, which means it sits at roughly the same level as the 2006 and 2007. There are no scores so far, although Antonio Galloni rated it 95-96 back in 2010. Prestige cuvée Champagne has been one of the best-performing categories of fine wine in recent years. Every vintage of Cristal from 2005 backwards has gained in value since release. Liv-ex said the 1999 has more than doubled in price between its release in May 2005 and its last trade on the exchange.

Sales at merchants have been good. Julian Campbell, buyer at Justerini & Brooks, told the drinks business: “Sales are going well, we still have some stock, mainly because we’ve only just started offering it, but I don’t expect it to last long. “Cristal is still a strong brand with a loyal following of customers who like to buy it early and cellar it for a number of years. And it makes sense to do so – vintages older than 2004 trade at considerably higher prices.”

CONTACT MMD, +44 (0)20 8812 3380

RRP: £550 a case

M&S Kopke 1996 Colheita

Premium Port brand Kopke has won its first UK multiple listing after its 1996 Colheita Port launched with Marks and Spencer online. The listing marks the first plank in producer Sogevinus’s plans to boost distribution in the strategic UK market across both the on- and off-trade for Kopke and its three other port brands, Calem, Barros and Burmester.

The company, which is the oldest port house, specialises in Colheita ports, single-vintage tawny ports that are oak-aged in barrel, and claims to hold the largest volumes of the style in the world. The company’s UK port sales have doubled in the past year and remain a focus for further growth across both the on and off-trade. M&S Port buyer Dror Nativ said: “The 1996 stood out in particular for its delicious caramel and dried fruit flavours.”

CONTACT Hayward Brothers, +44 (0)20 7237 0576

RRP: £30

Luc Belaire Luxe

Luc Belaire, the favourite French fizz brand of the American rapper Rick Ross, has expanded its portfolio with the launch of Luc Belaire Luxe. A blanc de blancs, the sparkling wine is produced in Burgundy from Chardonnay grapes and blended with an oak-aged dosage that is produced from Chardonnay grapes which were grown in Chablis.

Housed in a white bottle with a silkscreened gold label, the cuvée is said to have aromas of grapefruit, apricot, honeysuckle and hints of brioche.

CONTACT Sovereign Brands, +1 (0)212 343 8366

RRP: £29.99 at Selfridges

Matarromera WIN.0 alcohol-free wines

Spanish wine producer Matarromera has launched a trio of non-alcoholic wines in response to growing demand for more “healthy” wine options. The producer began researching non-alcoholic wine production in 20014, and in 2010 built a €4m “molecular” plant in Valbuena de Duero, Valladolid, described by the producer as a “milestone in Spanish innovation”, where it produces its range of WIN.0 wines.

The range consists of a Verdejo, a Tempranillo and a rosé, made from a blend of Tempranillo and Verdejo,. Each wine undergoes a “molecular deconstruction process” to extract the alcohol through a system known as “spinning cone column”, resulting in an abv of 0% while keeping aromas. The wines will be primarily aimed at markets including Finland, the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Australia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, as well as some Arab countries where alcohol is not widely consumed.

CONTACT exportmanager@matarromera.es

RRP: £8

Matetic Corralillo Carménère

Biodynamic Chilean producer Matetic has released a Carménère variant to its Corralillo range. Its Corralillo range typically comprises fruit-forward wines produced from grapes grown in the El Rosario Valley, a sub-division of the San Antonio Valley on Chile’s central coast. However its Corralillo Carménère is produced from grapes grown in Apalta, in the heart if the Colchagua Valley in central Chile. Aged for 18 months in French oak barrels, its Carménère is deep purple in colour with aromas of “ripe blackberries and chocolate”, and a “spicy touch of savory herbs” on the palate, according to Matetic.

CONTACT Armitt Wines, +44 (0)20 7908 0600

RRP: £15.55

Hine Domaine de Bonneuil 2006

Cognac producer Hine has released the second vintage of its single vineyard Grand Champagne Cognac from its Domaine de Bonneuil estate. Domaine de Bonneuil 2006 is made from Ugni Blanc grapes grown on the producer’s Grande Champagne estate situated in the tiny parish of Bonneuil. The wines were distilled on their lees to enhance the fruit and flavour in the new spirit, with the young eau de vie then transferred into French oak, 350-litre second-fill casks to mature for the next 10 years.

Only 19 casks, yielding 9,500 bottles, have been produced. Eric Forget, Hine’s cellar master and estate manager, describes Bonneuil 2006 as “generous and suave” with an “evocative” nose of candied apricot, nougat and hints of toasted bread, while a hint of lychee “awakens aromas of exotic fruits, honeyed flavours and roasted peach”.

CONTACT Pol Roger Ltd, +44 (0)1432 262800

RRP: £80 (US$120/€110)

Stassen Cider

A new “super-premium” cider aimed at those who “yearn for the finer things in life” has been launched into the UK on-trade by Heineken. Cidrerie Stassen’s three variants are available now in select on-trade outlets, after a successful trial in the off-trade. Announcing its launch, the brewer said it expected the brand to “reach new audiences” and broaden the cider category.

“Mature consumers aged 30-45 who yearn for the finer things in life are behind this evolution of the special occasion trend, which is opening up more in-outlet occasions to operators,” it said. The cider, sold in a 750ml bottle and closed with a cork, borrows cues from the world of sparkling wine and is intended to be unisex in its appeal. The three variants include Stassen Cidre Brut, Stassen Cidre Cuvée Rosé and Stassen Cidre Grand Cru, which are intended to be served in a chilled flute.

CONTACT Heineken, +44 (0)344 556 0109

RRP: Yet to be confirmed

Haig Club Clubman single grain whisky

Sports icon David Beckham has released a new expression of his popular Haig Club whisky brand in collaboration with Diageo, designed for mixing with cola. Haig Club Clubman is a single grain Scotch from Cameronbridge in Fife aged in American oak former Bourbon barrels. Haig Club’s master distiller, Chris Clark, says the Bourbon casks lend the whisky vanilla, butterscotch and toffee notes, giving it a “smooth and sweet” character. Clark recommends mixing it with cola, as the vanilla and coconut flavours in the whisky complement the cola’s caramel notes.

Ronan Beirne, Haig Club’s global marketing director, said: “Clubman aligns with our ambition to offer a stable of Haig Club expressions at various price points to match different occasions and consumer tastes.” The name is inspired by a Haig whisky advert from the 1920s in which the spirit is referred to as “the clubman’s whisky”. The Scotch is housed in the brand’s signature electric blue glass in an elongated rectangular bottle that sets it apart from its older sibling.

CONTACT Diageo, +44 (0)20 8978 6000

RRP: £25