Latest arrivals from South Africa include new wines and new vintages from La Couronne and, for our South African cricketing fans, Infinity Wine's The First XI The Belter is back in stock! La Couronne We welcome some new vintages and also some new wines amongst our new arrivals from La Couronne in Franschhoek. Among the delightful new wines, is their...

Iona Wines, owned by Andrew and Roxy Gunn, is situated at 420m above sea-level in the Elgin Valley in South Africa and is proud to be the coolest vineyard in South Africa. Planting began in 1998, with Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot the first vines planted. These were followed by Chardonnay, Semillon and Pinot Noir. Shortly after Iona's first...

Hard To Find Wines is delighted to announce the arrival of new wines from Domaines Vinsmoselle in Luxembourg! Domaines Vinsmoselle is a co-operative of wineries founded in 1921, situated in the Moselle Valley in Luxembourg. Although less well known than other European winemaking regions, Luxembourg produces high-quality, Alsatian-style wines. Primarily white grape varietals are grown, such as Pinot Gris, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Auxerrois. However...

Haute Cabriere's 2017 vintage of their very popular Chardonnay Pinot Noir has just arrived at Hard To Find Wines! "The 2017 vintage yielded grapes of outstanding quality, resulting in a beautiful balance of fruit and acidity." says Cellar Master Takuan von Arnim.   Cellar Master's Reflections The two noble Burgundian cultivars of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir form the cornerstone of Haute Cabrière’s wine...

Hard To Find Wines welcomes Twenty Twelve Wines by Es Fangar, the oldest estate on Mallorca, to our selection this week. The Eisenmann family bought Es Fangar in 2000. They have been reconstructing and replanting the land since. Currently, the reclaimed land stands at 1,000 ha, making Es Fangar the Balearics’ largest ecological finca, or estate. The vineyards at Es Fangar constitute 56...

This week, Hard To Find Wines welcomes Quinta do Ermízio, a tiny vineyard producing just 3 handmade whites in the Vinho Verde region of Portugal (40,000 bottles per year in total). Quinta do Ermízio has been passionately producing Alvarinho, Loureiro and Trajadura wines for generations. Concept Quinta do Ermízio believes that wine profile and character begins in the vineyard. The wine-making technology used in the...

We took a trip recently to Rickety Bridge in Franschhoek, South Africa to meet Anya Grobler, the woman behind Infinity Wines. Anya introduced us to the First XI Wines and filled us in on the journey the team has taken in creating their wines. The story began in 2013. Four friends and legendary cricketing heroes, Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers...

Paul Gerber, winemaker at Le Lude, was teaching mathematics when he got married. “Within a few months of getting married, I convinced my wife to let me go and study oenology at Stellenbosch.” When he finished, he specialised in bottle-fermented sparkling wine and worked in Northern Italy, Champagne in France and Germany. On his return to South Africa he did...

We had the privilege of observing the bottling of GlenWood's 2017 Merlot on Friday, 2 February 2018. What an exciting morning! Here are some photos of the process. [caption id="attachment_1183" align="alignleft" width="640"] Merlot being pumped from the tank to the bottling plant[/caption] [caption id="attachment_1188" align="alignleft" width="640"] The wine is pumped to the bottling trailer[/caption] Continue reading →