French Connection Classics

We have now blended our French Connection Classics, so here’s how it went...

French Connection Saumur Blanc 2011

This wine is made using Chenin Blanc with our partners at Cave de Saumur. The 2011 vintage was never going to be easy, in fact the word most often heard this year is ‘compliqué’, but so far we’re happy. The new blend came out clean with tropical notes of pineapple with bright fresh acidity. We decided to add 10% of a riper ferment to add fruit weight and a touch of roundness. Eric the winemaker was very happy with this.

French Connection Saumur Champigny 2011
This has been a difficult ride for the grape growers this season. They had a very warm spring, then a wet summer, but saved by an Indian summer in autumn! This Saumur is made from Cabernet Franc, with a blend of early picked lighter fresh wine, and later harvested ripe jammy wine. Overall the blend works well. It’s soft full and supple on the palate with the classic Loire freshness, well-defined flavours, and the potential to broaden out and develop.

There will be a lot of attractive Loire wines for you to enjoy!

French Connection Roussillon Villages 2011
This region benefited from the unsettled wet weather of the summer, breaking the decade long drought. The harvest levels needed to be controlled through green harvest (removing excess bunches) but the results are fantastic. The blend we completed with winemaker Sandrine Le Cam, shows a powerful nose, expresses primarily black fruit and garrigue spice, with finishes of floral notes. The palate begins with bright fruits, with a beautiful fleshy finish. The wine reveals the sweet fruit and smooth tannins of Grenache, rich central Syrah fruit, spice and structure from Mourvedre and the mocha notes of the Caramany Carignan. Superb!

French Connection Languedoc  2011
Made by Vignerons St Felix de Lodez and blended with the Vignerons Catalans winemaker Sandrine Le Cam, this year the wine looks great with rich fruit, sweet pepper spice, lifted fruit and a touch of integrated oak. The blend is made up from the local favourites, Syrah, Grenache, Carginan and  Cinsault.

Enjoy!

Nick's Blending Trip

The last couple of months have seen me running around making the new vintage blends – good to work off those extra kilograms after Christmas! As we get glimpses of sunny spells and a touch of warmth of the forthcoming spring, the wines in vat are entering their final stage of finishing and blending. They then head towards either maturation (vat, tank or barrel) or are prepared for bottling. The last couple of months have seen me running around making the new vintage blends – good to work off those extra kilograms after Christmas! As we get glimpses of sunny spells and a touch of warmth of the forthcoming spring, the wines in vat are entering their final stage of finishing and blending. They then head towards either maturation (vat, tank or barrel) or are prepared for bottling.

I have just completed the work of blending the French Connection Sélection, Reserve and Grande Reserve wines with our French partners.

French Connection Sélection wines –  the white and rosé wine is an easier challenge than the red! The season produced wines that are fresh and vibrant in fruit, with easy balanced acidity – job done!

·         White – the wines are blended from Gers, Languedoc, and an area near Gaillac. Bright and fresh, the Colombard grapes give this a tropical grapefruit zing.

·         Rosé – the wines are blended from the Rhône, Languedoc and Gers. These wines show bright, cherry fruit, with a touch of sweeter strawberry.

·         Red – lots of ‘light’ wines from rain-affected grapes made this a challenge but we tried lots of different blends to get a fantastic result.  The successful blend was from the Vaucluse region and Languedoc.

French Connection Reserve Chardonnay – better  quality than the 2010 vintage, with richer fruit.  The blend was created using wines from the south-west, Languedoc and Gard. Peach and melon fruit, citrus freshness with good texture – a bright, fresh style.

French Connection Reserve Merlot –  the early grapes have vinified wines with freshness; the grapes picked later needed more selection due to the challenging wet weather. As always the Merlot was a challenge– our final blend was made up of wines from the south-west, Gaillac, Vaucluse, Gard and Languedoc regions – well travelled already! The result this year is a fresh Merlot with delicious, plump fruit on the palate.

French Connection Grande Reserve Sauvignon Blanc – this is a good vintage for Sauvignon Blanc with good quantity, which is lucky because the Brits love it! Same game plan with this vintage blend – fresh nettles and gooseberry with a  touch of tropical ripeness. We created it using wines from the south-west, Gers, Gaillac, north Gard and the Languedoc.

French Connection Grande Reserve Shiraz –  this was a cracker last year so the challenge is to continue with a blend as good or better! The 2011 vintage has produced wines that have more red and black fruits, with the peppery spice harder to find – but we got there... the blend this year is created from Languedoc, Drôme & Vaucluse with a splash from Gaillac (not normally in the blend but added for spice and freshness).

Now that the blends have been done – on the slab in the lab – the real challenge is to get the wines blended, finished and then bottled for you all to enjoy!

Nick Butler

French Connection Winemaker

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.

BBC Good Food Show Winter - The Video

The BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham was a very busy event for French Connection Wines. Check out our video to see just how busy!

Visitors flocked to meet our winemaker Nick Butler and to taste the delicious range of wines. Many people were stocking up for bottles to drink with their Christmas meals or to give as presents.



Nick and Phil ready to talk to all the visitors



Thank you to everyone who came down to see us. We really enjoyed meeting you all and finding out about your favourite French Connection wines.

Enjoying French Connection Premier Cru Champagne

Have a fantastique Christmas and see you in 2011!

Languedoc-Roussillon progress check

This month I took a trip over to the Béziers area of the Languedoc in southwest France and then down to the Roussillon to check on the progress of our wines with our producer partner, Vignerons Catalans. It was a trip beset by beautiful autumnal weather: the days were bright, clear and sunny but crisp – perfect for reflection on the wines.

The purpose of the trip was mainly to look at the 2010 whites and rosés and see how they are progressing; the reds are not finished yet as most are still going through malolactic (secondary) fermentation.

I was really pleased with the style and quality of the wines. The Chardonnay has good fruit and a really fresh style with less heavy ripe melon characteristics. This will be brilliant for the French Connection Reserve. I selected the components which give the fruit and fresh characteristics, which are ready to clean up for blending. I also assessed the ‘texture’ components for treatments such as lees stirring and oak.

The Sauvignon Blanc is also shaping up well, although we had some really challenging, hot days over the summer. It is a fresh but wonderfully full style. I selected the components to leave ‘sur lie’ (on the lees).

I had a sneak preview of the reds too: the Syrah is the champion of the vintage with fantastic colour and fruit. It’s a fresher style with perfumed top notes and bright blackberry fruit on the palate. Merlot is the most challenging variety this year but I was really encouraged to find a fresh, crunchy style to the fruit – the hallmark of our French Connection style. Richer, fuller ripe fruit components are also available.

I then travelled over to the Roussillon to review the progress on the Vignerons Catalans wines there. The Roussillon blanc and rouge are both good, rich, bright wines and should be of a very high quality this year. The whites will be very fresh but still have rich, exotic flavours and the reds will be nicely full-bodied. I also tasted tanks (cuvées) of Côtes du Roussillon Villages from Rasiguères, Terrats, Vinca, Estagel and Caramany; there is really good quality potential here. Lastly, I sampled wines from Gascogny (sometimes used as components of French Connection Selection and, of course, our Sauvignon Blanc), Colombard, Ugni Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc and Gros Manseng; they are all very bright and fresh and lighter in body than typically and with higher acidity.

I am really encouraged by my trip and look forward to returning to the beautiful Languedoc-Roussillon in a month for the really exciting part - making the French Connection blends.

Nick Butler

BBC Good Food Show Winter 2010

Come and see us at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham between Wednesday 24 and Sunday 28 November 2010. French Connection wines will be exhibiting on stand H41 and you will have the opportunity to sample and purchase a variety of wines from the range at special show prices. And if that wasn’t enough, on certain days you will be able to meet the winemaker behind the brand, Nick Butler.

The BBC Good Food Show Winter is the UK’s biggest celebration of food and drink and will be packed with so much to see, do, taste and buy. Come down to the French Connection stand, take advantage of the fantastic offers and stock up for Christmas.

Don’t miss out - get your tickets now: http://www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com/

We look forward to meeting you there!

Come and see us at the BBC Good Food Show Winter at the NEC in Birmingham between Wednesday 24 and Sunday 28 November 2010. French Connection wines will be exhibiting on stand H41 and you will have the opportunity to sample and purchase a variety of wines from the range at special show prices.

Nick’s Vintage Trip

Autumn is an exciting time for me as a winemaker as it signifies the start of vintage – a time when the grapes are harvested for new wines. I always get involved in this process and work with our suppliers in France to keep a check of how the grapes are looking for the French Connection range. I spent last week visiting our wineries in the Rhône and Roussillon to see how things were going. The trip started on Tuesday with our supplier G.M.D.F in the Rhône. The weather was beautiful with clear, bright sunny autumn days followed by crisp fresh nights. There were still a few workers hand-picking grapes in Gigondas and everyone’s spirits were high. All the French Connection wines are looking good and they’re not even ready yet! The reds were still in maceration, whilst the white wines were finishing fermentation and starting to taste more like the final product.

Summer had not been particularly hot in the Rhône this year, which means both red and white wines will be fresh and bright with higher acidity than normal. I was impressed with the good flavour and colour in the red wines; the Shiraz and Grenache were outstanding whilst the Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon may be more of a challenge! I’m confident of some fantastic 2010 French Connection wines…

After a few days with the guys in the Rhône I headed down to Roussillon to catch up with Vignerons Catalans. I stopped by several cellars in the Roussillon Villages region with the sun still shining. It’s typically hotter down in the Roussillon, but I could tell the seasons are turning with the fresh nights and an autumnal tinge to the leaves on the vines. Give it a few weeks and the vineyards will be awash with golden yellows and reds. It’s a beautiful time of year. The Roussillon is slightly down on production as it is their fifth year of drought. Not good for thirsty vines but regardless of this, the quality of the wines are looking fantastic with concentrated flavour showing in the Shiraz, Grenache and Carignan grapes. The 2010 whites are fresher with higher acidity than normal which gives them great potential.

It was a great trip with promising signs for an impressive 2010 vintage for French Connection wines.

Nick

Autumn is an exciting time for me as a winemaker as it signifies the start of vintage – a time when the grapes are harvested for new wines. I always get involved in this process and work with our suppliers in France to keep a check of how the grapes are looking for the French Connection range

Welcome to the new website

Welcome to the new website! We hope you have had a good ‘surf’ and like what you see. You’ll have seen that we’re passionate about what we do and strive to bring the best French wines to you in a no nonsense way.

Going forward, we want this blog to be not just about our wines, but about all the other great things that you love about France. Whether you post your favourite recipes, holiday memories, or questions for winemaker Nick, we want you to get involved, leave comments and ask questions. So what are you waiting for? Get posting!

What do you think to the new website?


Welcome to the new website! We hope you have had a good ‘surf’ and like what you see. You’ll have seen that we’re passionate about what we do and strive to bring the best French wines to you in a no nonsense way.