Bells Farm Vintners

12/02/2025

Sadly we don’t stretch to this at The Worshipful Company of Coopers, even if the Master is paying!

12/02/2025

Giaconda, Beechworth, Chardonnay, Australia, 2014 - What an outstanding wine, very top-end Burgundian qualitatively. Has the precision and minerality of Puligny-Montrachet, with a touch of tropical fruit. Lovely reductive struck-match nose, lemon, blanched almonds, white peaches. On the palate, it’s ripe and rich, full, pronounced flavour, lemon zest, white pear and peach notes, hint of pineapple, almonds. Layers of flavours, huge interest and complexity. No doubting the quality and at ten years old, really hitting its stride. Its not cheap at £300 a bottle but it stands favourable comparison with grand cru Burgundy at a similar or higher price point, so about right in todays market. Totally delicious!

30/01/2025

Roberto Voerzio, Barolo, Brunate, 2011. Cold, damp evening demanded something warming so we had a punchy chilli. Not many wines stand up to that sort of spice but this Barolo was just the job. Still very youthful, nicely tannic and full bodied. Dried rose petals on the nose, black cherry, hint of dried blood. Really ripe and full on the palate, tarry, black fruit, well integrated and finely balanced. Layered, multi-dimensional, hugely expressive. Situated high up in La Morra, less than 3000 bottles were produced. About £150 a bottle now.

05/01/2025

Domaine Jean-Louis Chave, L’Hermitage, N Rhône, 2012. Chave is the doyen of the Northern Rhône and his red and white Hermitage production never satisfies the demand for these exquisite wines. This wine is the apogee of the Northern Rhône, a blend of 85% Marsanne and 15% Rousanne coming from the delimited vineyards of Hermitage of l’Ermite, Les Rocoules, Maison Blanche and Peleat. On the nose we have have honeysuckle, white blossom, orange peel and blanched almond. The palate is rich and unctuous, bone dry, tannic bite, a pithy bitterness, perfect balance, a touch of citrus and very, very long. Around £270 a bottle and good for at least another five years.

29/12/2024

29/12/2024

A very interesting selection of wines over the last few days. Firstly, the Drouhin-Laroze, Chambertin, Clos de Beze, Grand Cru, 2011. This should have been sublime. Chambertin and Chambertin Clos de Beze are contiguous vineyards in the one of the finest parts of the Cote de Nuits, Burgundy. The wines should be rich, fairly full bodied, a pronounced aroma and layers of flavour. Sadly, this wine was somewhat thin and tart. I tried a second bottle to make sure it wasn’t a fault with the first, which of course does happen. But no, the wine was just a huge disappointment. Thankfully, only a case of three but I don’t have high hopes for the remaining bottle. It could be finding its way into a Coq Au Vin!

The Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey, Les Champ Gains, Puligny Montrachet, 1er Cru, 2009 was the opposite. Absolutely at its peak, wonderful freshnesss and acidity, lipsmaking, lemony notes, almonds, whiter peaches and a long finish. Perfection.

Next up, to make amends for the poor Clos de Beze, I opened a bottle of Penfolds Grange, 1999. An incredible wine. Although 24 years old, this wine is so youthful and has years of life ahead of it. Shiraz at it best and along with Henschke’e Hill of Grace, Australia’s best red wine. This is an exceptional wine and a unique expression of the Syrah grape variety. Mineral, almost a medicinal note, dried blood, great depth of black fruit, superb.

Lastly, for the moment, tonight I opened a bottle of white Chateauneuf du Pape, Clos Des papes, 2011. Paul Avril is about the finest producer of red and white CNDP and this wine does not disappoint. If you are looking for an alternative to Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc, this wine has it all. Made from several white Rhône grape varieties, including Grenache Blanc, Picpoul, Bourboulenc and Clairette. It sees no oak in maturation and exhibits notes of poached pear, honeysuckle and is very long. It’s a truely great wine and exceptionally food friendly.

Nunc est bibendum!

22/12/2024

A very pleasant surprise, Pavillon Rouge du Chateau Margaux, Bordeaux, 2008. The second wine of the Grand Vin, Chateau Margaux, from a weakish year has actually turned out rather good. It’s all relative of course and the second wine of Chateau Margaux should be good! It made from the fruit of younger vines and from parcels of the vineyard that didn’t make the cut, often because in the year in question, they didn’t ripen as well. Despite the poorish year with too much rain and not enough of a summer, Margaux has produced something actually very good. Deep blueish purple, black cherry and damsons. There is a lovely leafy freshness and well balanced acidity. Quite savoury on the palate, fully resolved tannins, and a very good effort in the context of the year. Chapeau Margaux!

26/10/2024

Two nights, two world class wines! Firstly, last night, Francois Feuillet, Chambertin, Grand Cru, Burgundy, 2009 and tonight, Giaconda, Beechwood Victoria, Chardonnay, Australia 2014. Chambertin Grand Cru is a powerful wine for Burgundy, and a great vintage too. Actually, it’s still very youthful and I will give this another five years before broaching the next bottle to see if the tertiary sous bois, barnyard-type aromas and flavours develop. An exceptional wine, no doubt, but it will continue to develop and improve for sure. Giaconda Chardonnay is an Australian wine that stands excellent companion to Crand Cru white Burgundy. Struck match, lip-smacking citrus notes followed by almond and white stone fruit. Again, even at ten years old, it’s till in its primary youthful stage and will develop nuance and complexity over the next five years. Two exceptional wines. The Feuillet Chambertin Grand Cru will now set you back £200 a bottle and the Giaconda £200 a bottle also. Cheers!

28/09/2024

I’d like to say I’m following a better but less approach but in truth, it’s been better and more since I became Master of The Worshipful Company of Coopers. This weekend at home has been no exception. Yesterday with baked cod and Iberico chorizo i had a bottle of Domaine Leflaive, Batard Montrachet, Grand Cru, 2012 which was sublime. Leflaive ranks in the top handful of best white Burgundy Domaines, where wines can only be purchased on allocation. In other words, you don’t order what you like, the domaines tells you what has been allocated to you! This Batard at 11 years old was perfect, lovely almond notes, lemon citrus, well integrated oak and very fine. Then tonight, with a stunning T-Bone, I’m having a Penfolds Grange 2000. It’s the best-conditioned bottle of Grange I’ve had for quite a while. Still so youthful, ripe black cherries, kirsch, Iron-y and medicinal, blood, soft tannins and very, very long. These were never cheap wines, even when I purchased them several years ago but today, the Leflaive would set you back £1100 a bottle and the Grange would set you back about £450 a bottle. Nunc est bibendum!

25/08/2024

Vega-Sicilia, Unico 2004, Ribera del Duero. Spain’s original First Growth, a stunning wine to match the finest from anywhere in the world. A blend of Tinto Fino (Tempranillo) and Cabernet Sauvignon. An unusually high proportion of the latter in this year, at 13%, giving the wine a Bordeaux-esq nod without compromising on the quality of Spains finest grape variety. Matured for the first five years in a mixture of American (sweeter) oak and French (more tannic and overtly Oaky) oak, new and 1 year old casks and then a further five years maturing in bottle before finally releasing to the market in 2014. It’s still very youthful and will only come into its full stride in another ten years but it’s very approachable now with a bit of air in a decanter for an hour or two. A wonderful nose, quite savoury, meat juices laced with curry spices. On the palate, the acidity is perfect, juicy and fresh, still tannic, black soft fruits of plums and cherries, a hint of scorched earth and very long. Has the potential to be a majestic vintage in time. It was expensive on realise but is even more so today at around £350 a bottle.

14/07/2024

Dominus, Napa, California, 2007.This really is an exceptional wine, one of California’s very, very best. Christian Mouix of France’s Petrus fame, is the owner and the same skill and care goes into the vineyard and cellar. This was a very good vintage in Napa and at 26 years old, this is now only just entering its drinking window. Cabernet Sauvignon in excelsis.

Incredible perfume, cherry kirsh liqueur, violets, a whif of liquorish and mint. A black-purple colour, no signs of ageing. On the palate, the power builds. Elegance and poise, amazing depth of fruit, damsons and black cherry, a savoury note, leafy, cedar, really fine, supple tannins, hint of mocha on the finish. So long, profound, an exceptional wine. Around £270 a bottle.

14/07/2024

On Friday we had en excellent lunch with Château Cos d’Estournel courtesy of Private Cellar at 44 Cloth Fair, a new restaurant near Smithfield Market. A very intimate group of 8 people, we tasted a terrific range of wines from this esteemed producer . All the wines were excellent of course but the Grand Vin, Cos d’Estournel 2014 and the Pagodes Blanc 2021 were outstanding. As if that was not sufficient, one of the guests also chipped in with a fine 1995 Chateau Canon, Saint Emillion, which was also superb. It’s hard to keep this up!