Nick's Vintage 2011

Producing wine is like any type of agriculture, it depends on so many things coming together at the right time to produce the best results: great grapes, suitable soils, climate, weather and expert viticulture. Harvest across Europe has thrown up many challenges this year – from hail, rain and wet conditions to heat spikes and dehydration – but France has certainly had the best vintage across Europe both in terms of volume and quality, for which we are very thankful!

Producing wine is like any type of agriculture, it depends on so many things coming together at the right time to produce the best results: great grapes, suitable soils, climate, weather and expert viticulture. Harvest across Europe has thrown up many challenges this year – from hail, rain and wet conditions to heat spikes and dehydration – but France has certainly had the best vintage across Europe both in terms of volume and quality, for which we are very thankful!

I go over to France many times in September and October to visit our partner producers and to see how the harvest is progressing and to look at early tanks of whites and rosés that have finished fermentation. It’s an exciting time but can also be nerve-wracking too – luckily I needn’t have worried….

Here are my first thoughts on vintage 2011:

French Connection Sélection wines – the quality looks really good for the white and rosé; they are bright, fresh and fruity.

French Connection Reserve Chardonnay – the quality here is very good too with freshly balanced acidity from the Languedoc and bright, fresh and easy-drinking juice from higher yielding regions of Gascogne and Charentes.

French Connection Reserve Merlot – Merlot is an early-ripening red grape variety that was affected by the challenging weather but our producers picked later resulting in grapes with better, richer qualities. Good stuff.

French Connection Grande Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – there is good, fresh quality here with a vibrant nettle component from the Gascogne region. The Languedoc portion is very fresh with good flavour and palate weight. I am looking forward to making up the first blends in December.

French Connection Grande Reserve Shiraz – this looks good both in terms of even quality and reasonable crop. The wines are already showing good blackberry fruit and pepper characters.

French Connection Champagne – in Champagne picking began on 19 August, the earliest harvest since 2003, which was in itself was the earliest since the 19th century. Results so far show good quality and quantity. Delicious!

Now the work starts in the wineries and I look forward to seeing how the wines progress over the coming months and, of course, bringing you the fantastic results next year.

Nick

Producing wine is like any type of agriculture, it depends on so many things coming together at the right time to produce the best results: great grapes, suitable soils, climate, weather and expert viticulture. Harvest across Europe has thrown up many challenges this year – from hail, rain and wet conditions to heat spikes and dehydration – but France has certainly had the best vintage across Europe both in terms of volume and quality, for which we are very thankful!

French Connection goes to Ireland

For all our Irish fans, pop down to the French Connection clothing stores in Dublin, Dundrum, Cork, Blanchardstown and Mahon Point tonight, 17 November, from 5-8pm for a glass of French Connection wine. Head to your local store for an exclusive party to celebrate the new Christmas collection, a night of fantastic shopping and, of course, a glass of delicious French Connection Wine.

French Connection Wines will be providing drinks at the in-store bars at the evening shopping experience in its namesake’s top Irish stores. Stop by for a refreshing glass of French Connection Grande Reserve Sauvignon Blanc or Shiraz, while you do a spot of shopping. There will also be an exclusive competition to win a case of French Connection Brut Champagne – the details will be found in your goody bag. Register for the preview evening here: www.frenchconnection.com/u

Don’t get confused by the name! French Connection Wines is owned by the wine importer, Bottle Green Ltd.

If you missed the last French Connection at French Connection events, you have another chance this evening, Thursday 6 October from 5-8pm. Pop down to your local French Connection clothing store for an exclusive preview of the new fashion collection, a night of fantastic shopping and a glass of delicious French Connection Wine.

French Connection Wines at French Connection preview evening

If you missed the last French Connection at French Connection events, you have another chance this evening, Thursday 6 October from 5-8pm. Pop down to your local French Connection clothing store for an exclusive preview of the new fashion collection, a night of fantastic shopping and a glass of delicious French Connection Wine.

French Connection Wines will be providing drinks at the in-store bars at the evening shopping experience in its namesake’s top stores. Head down to Birmingham Bullring, Bristol Cabot Circus, Leeds Vicar Lane, Liverpool Lord Street, London King’s Road, London Regent Street, Manchester Exchange Street, Newcastle Grainger Street and Oxford Queen Street for a refreshing glass of French Connection Grande Reserve Sauvignon Blanc or Shiraz, while you do a spot of shopping.

An exclusive competition to win French Connection Brut Champagne will be running too – the details will be found in your goody bag.

Register for the preview evening here: www.frenchconnection.com/grazia

Don’t get confused by the name! French Connection Wines is owned by the wine importer, Bottle Green Ltd.

If you missed the last French Connection at French Connection events, you have another chance this evening, Thursday 6 October from 5-8pm. Pop down to your local French Connection clothing store for an exclusive preview of the new fashion collection, a night of fantastic shopping and a glass of delicious French Connection Wine.

French Connection and French Connection

We know you love French Connection Wines but do you love French Connection clothes too? If so, you’ve got an evening made in heaven coming up on Thursday 8 September. French Connection Wines is joining forces with the fashion brand, French Connection, for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out at French Connection from 5pm to 8pm this Thursday.


French Connection Wines will be providing drinks at the in-store bars at the evening shopping experience in its namesake’s top stores. Head down to Birmingham Bullring, Bristol Cabot Circus, Leeds Vicar Lane, Liverpool Lord Street, London King’s Road, London Regent Street, Manchester Exchange Street, Newcastle Grainger Street and Oxford Queen Street for a refreshing glass of French Connection Grande Reserve Sauvignon Blanc or Shiraz, while you do a spot of shopping.

An exclusive competition to win French Connection Champagne will be running too – the details will be found in your goody bag. And there will, of course, be the opportunity to view the new clothing collections and have a night of fabulous fashion and exclusive treats and discounts.

Register for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out at French Connection here: www.frenchconnection.com/vogue

Don’t get confused by the name! French Connection Wines is owned by the wine importer, Bottle Green Ltd.

We know you love French Connection Wines but do you love French Connection clothes too? If so, you’ve got an evening made in heaven coming up on Thursday 8 September. French Connection Wines is joining forces with the fashion brand, French Connection, for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out at French Connection from 5pm to 8pm this Thursday.

The awards keep coming

French Connection Classics Saumur Champigny 2009 has now won three highly acclaimed trophies in the International Wine Challenge 2011. The delicious wine from the Loire Valley won the International Cabernet Franc Trophy, the Loire Red Trophy and the Saumur Champigny Trophy. 

Not half bad to say that only 100 wines out of more than 12,000 entries have been awarded an IWC Trophy this year! 

Find out more about this wine in Nick Butler’s video blog.

French Connection Classics Saumur Champigny 2009 has now won three highly acclaimed trophies in the International Wine Challenge 2011. The delicious wine from the Loire Valley won the International Cabernet Franc Trophy, the Loire Red Trophy and the Saumur Champigny Trophy.

And the medal goes to….French Connection

We are running out of frames to put all of our certificates in following a fantastic round of results in the recent international wine competitions announced at the London International Wine Fair. French Connection wines won medals across the range in the recent competitions, which is a great testament to the hard work of our winemakers.

Every wine entered into the International Wine Challenge and the International Wine and Spirit Competition, from the French Connection range, won an award. French Connection scooped nine medals in the esteemed International Wine Challenge including a gold medal for French Connection Classics Saumur Champigny and a silver for French Connection Classics Croix Milhas Rivesaltes Ambré. The three French Connection Champagnes (Premier Cru, Brut and Rosé) were all medal winners too.

It was not only the Classics range that scored well in the competitions as French Connection Grande Reserve Shiraz 2009 was selected as an ANIVIN International Best Value Vin de France 2011.

Félicitations/congratulations to all of the team!

We are running out of frames to put all of our certificates in following a fantastic round of results in the recent international wine competitions announced at the London International Wine Fair. French Connection wines won medals across the range in the recent competitions, which is a great testament to the hard work of our winemakers.

National Wine Month

Here at French Connection Wines, we are proud to be supporting National Wine Month this May. It’s a fantastic event organised by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust and aims to encourage more people to explore more wines and broaden their normal wine habits.

www.maketimeforwine.org is the new National Wine Month website and has details about events happening in your area throughout May, as well as tasting tips to help you learn more about wine, an online 3 minute wine school and much more.

There are also lots of competitions with the chance to win great prizes, including a case of our very own French Connection - www.maketimeforwine.org/competition.

So if you like wine (particularly French Connection!) and want to learn more, why not Make Time for Wine this May?

Here at French Connection Wines, we are proud to be supporting National Wine Month this May. It’s a fantastic event organised by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust and aims to encourage more people to explore more wines and broaden their normal wine habits.

Make some room on the mantelpiece

We are all over the moon here at French Connection HQ as we’ve just found out that French Connection Grande Réserve Shiraz 2009 has been selected as an ANIVIN International Best Value Vin de France 2011. ANIVIN is the French trade organisation for Vins de France and helps to develop this category of wines in the UK and around the world.

Then hot on the heels of this honour, the 2010 Grande Réserve Shiraz was awarded a bronze medal in the National ANIVIN competition in Paris. These awards are proof of the hard work and dedication of our winemakers.

We’re pleased as punch/wine!

We are all over the moon here at French Connection HQ as we’ve just found out that French Connection Grande Réserve Shiraz 2009 has been selected as an ANIVIN International Best Value Vin de France 2011.

Salon des Vins de Loire

The Salon des Vins de Loire (or Loire Valley Wine Trade Fair) is an annual event held in Angers each February. I enjoy going as it’s a small fair with an intimate feel. There are about 600 exhibitors and it takes place over 3 days – so plenty of time to taste the 77 AOCs that make up the third largest wine region in France. Open and friendly, the Salon des Vins de Loire is the first international ‘get together’ in the annual wine calendar. Everyone is in good spirits - I guess they are all still fresh from the Christmas break!

I came to the fair to catch-up with our partner winery, Alliance Loire, and to check out the new vintage Loire wines. The 2010s are looking good so far.
@InterLoire Pascal Girault


Here are my thoughts on what I’ve tasted:

WHITES
The whites are fresher and more typical compared to the 2009s which were very ripe and softer than usual.
• Muscadets are showing fresh pineapple and melon fruit, bright acids and typical minerality. Most 2010 tasted are tank samples and some wines are still ‘sur lie’ but they will be fantastic with some mussels in a few months’ time.
• Touraine Sauvignon Blancs are racy with lifted aromas and a fresh prickly palate feel and good flavour depth. Again, most are tank samples and are not complete but the potential is clear – certainly a good year.
• Saumur Blancs have an exotic fruit, rich pineapple, honey and white floral lift. There is a rich palate there with lots of flavour and acid to play with. Again they are showing good characters that should be appreciated by the British palate.

REDS
2010 is a greener year with fresher character than 2009. With careful handling, the results look potentially good to very good.
• Saumur Rouges have bright fruit notes on the nose, a touch of twiggy spice and surprising weight and smoothness on the palate – this seems to be the hallmark of the reds this vintage from the Loire.
• Chinons also have a smooth density to the palate carrying the flavour with good length. The best wines have fine tannins.
• Saumur Champigny has bright cherry notes with rich blueberry and mulberry. It has smooth, rounded fruit weight with good flavour and a touch of green spice which, handled with care, will integrate well. It will certainly be fantastic with some roast lamb – delicious.

Right! Back to the tasting.....


Nick Butler

The Salon des Vins de Loire (or Loire Valley Wine Trade Fair) is an annual event held in Angers each February. I enjoy going as it’s a small fair with an intimate feel. There are about 600 exhibitors and it takes place over 3 days – so plenty of time to taste the 77 AOCs that make up the third largest wine region in France.