Gold & Grand Gold for Ramos Pinto

Maisons Marques et Domaines are delighted to announce that Ramos Pinto have been awarded Gold and Grand Gold medals at the 18th Grand International Wine Award Mundus Vini.

The panel was made up of 160 international wine experts from 36 countries. Only 39 Grand Gold Medals were awarded this year, two of which went to Ramos Pinto’s Vintage and Twenty Year Old Tawny Ports.

Furthermore, Mundus Vini also awarded Ramos Pinto’s Duas Quintas Reserva Red 2013 a Gold Medal. In fact, this wine has been awarded with Gold and Grand Gold medals since the year 2007, showing the quality and consistency of Duas Quintas wines.

Contact Christine to find out more about Ramos Pinto’s award winning wines.

New Californian Wines to MMD portfolio

16^th Feb 2016 – Maisons Marques et Domaines is delighted to announce that the company is now distributing Roederer Estate’s still wines, Domaine Anderson and Carpe Diem, in the UK.

“The arrival of the Domaine Anderson and Carpe Diem wines is a welcome and timely addition to the MMD portfolio”, commented MMD Managing Director Richard Billett. He added “we are confident they will help us build on the success of the well-established Quartet, at a time when the premium Californian segment continues to grow in popularity in the UK market.”

Domaine Anderson is located in the north of California, benefiting from the cooling effect of the Pacific coast, offering the perfect conditions for the cultivation of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes.

The winery and the vineyards, originally belonging to the Dach family, were bought by Champagne Louis Roederer in 2011, with additional vines being planted in carefully selected areas. Today, 50 acres of vineyards located throughout the Anderson Valley in the warmer northern town of Boonville right down to the cooler regions by the Mendocino coast, produce grapes for the Domaine Anderson wines which are made using 100% Estate grown fruit.

The Carpe Diem range is made by Domaine’s Anderson’s winemaker, Jerry Murray, and uses 90% of Estate fruit from the north of the Valley, where the cooling coastal climate provides the ideal location for the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.

The complete MMD Californian range, including Quartet and Quartet Rose, will be available for tasting at the Go West! Californian tasting on 10^th March at the QEII Conference Centre.

For more information on the wines please click on the links below:

Domaine Anderson Chardonnay 2013 – RRP £36.99

Domaine Anderson Pinot Noir 2013 – RRP £39.99

Carpe Diem Chardonnay 2014 – RRP £26.99

Carpe Diem Pinot Noir 2014 – RRP £29.99

For more information on the wines, please contact Marinel FitzSimons on 020 88 123380 or marinel.fitzsimons@mmdltd.co.uk.

Champagne Louis Roederer at the Decanter Royal Opera House Gala Dinner

12th February, London – Champagne Louis Roederer Brut Rosé 2009 and Cristal 2006 were poured to guests of the Decanter Royal Opera House Gala dinner on the 9th of February 2016.

This dazzling event was jointly organised and hosted by Decanter and the Royal Opera House London.

The Gala Dinner raised more than £250,000 for the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, which strives to encourage young people to participate in the creative arts, offers apprenticeships and commissions new work.

Guests at this sell-out event were entertained by the Royal Opera House’s musical director, Sir Antonio Pappano, who performed alongside fellow opera stars, Bryan Terfel, Ermonela Jaho, David Junghoon Kim and Vlada Borovko.

An auction, led by Christie’s David Elswood and Anthony Hanson MW, offered guests ten unique wine and opera lots. All proceeds will go to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation.

Frédéric Rouzaud, the Managing Director of Champagne Louis Roederer, attended the event alongside other famous names from the wine industry, including Hugh Johnson and Baron Eric de Rothschild.

Guests were welcomed on arrival with a glass of Champagne Louis Roederer’s Brut Rosé 2009 and later enjoyed a taste of Champagne Louis Roederer’s flagship wine, Cristal 2006.

Champagne Louis Roederer is very proud to support the Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation, and shares their commitment to helping young people engage in the arts.

For further information about the event please contact Marinel FitzSimons.

Platter’s Review Meerlust Estate

Platter’s Wine Guide is South Africa’s best-selling wine annual. It is an up-to-date and comprehensive guide to South Africa’s wine and winelands, featuring hundreds of producers, negociants, wines and brands.

Platter’s was awarded the Domaines Ott* award for Annual Wine Guides in the 2007 Louis Roederer International Wine Writers’ Awards and continues to produce outstanding wine annuals every year.

Platter’s describes Meerlust Estate:

“The long and continuing history of this fine family estate in Stellenbosch has little parallel in the Cape, certainly in conjunction with a tradition of fine winemaking. The lovely old manor house is lived in now by Hannes Myburgh, descendant of the Johannes Myburgh who bought the property in 1757 and developed the land and the charming complex of buildings. There’s also a valuable continuity (on a shorter scale!) in cellar and vineyard: Chris Williams has made Meerlust wine, in a brilliant blend of elegant classicism and modernism, since 2004 (much longer, if one takes into account his time as assistant), while Roelie Joubert has been chief tender of the vines since 2001. Importantly, as underlined by their Fairtrade accreditation, Hannes Myburgh ensures there’s also a genuine, pervading concern for the whole Meerlust community’s wellbeing.”

Platter’s have awarded Meerlust’s wines with outstanding scores, with the Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlots receiving 4/5 and the Chardonnay, Pinot Noir 2013 and Rubicon 2010 receiving 5/5 stars.

Platter’s called the Rubicon 2010 vintage ‘superlative…complex, dense’.

The Chardonnay is described as a ‘lightly fruited expression with no loss of subtlety, breeding or class. Silk textured, for earlier enjoyment’.

Contact Effi to find out more about Meerlust and their high scoring wines.

Ramos Pinto LBV 2011 Scores 93 Points

Ramos Pinto’s Late Bottled Vintage 2011 has been awarded a stunning 93 points by Mark Squires writing for eRobertParker.com.

Ramos Pinto was founded in 1880 by brothers Adriano and Antonio and immediately became noted for its quality wines and distinctive art nouveau imagery.

Ramos Pinto is run today by Jorge Rosas, Export Director, and João Nicolau de Almeida, the oenologist famous for officially identifying the five key grape varieties best suited for wine production in the Douro. Furthermore, he introduced and developed vertical vine planting techniques to the region and has advanced Port and wine production by building two of the most modern wineries in the Douro.

The oldest LBV recorded at the Instituto do Douro e Porto belongs to the Casa Ramos Pinto and dates back to 1927.

The Ramos Pinto LBV comes from a single year and a single harvest. Where the Vintage Port is bottled in its second year, the LBV is bottled in the fourth year after harvest, making it a more ready to drink style.

Mark Squires described the Ramos Pinto LBV 2011 as “very serious and very well structured. Its focus and fine finish are lovely … Did I mention that it is pretty delicious, too? In structure, concentration and complexity, it is a mini-me of a fine Vintage Port, with everything in fine proportion and perfect balance.”

Contact Christine to find out more about this high scoring wine.

Maisons Marques et Domaines marks its 30th Anniversary with landmark tasting

Thursday 28^th January 2016

Fine Wine Importer Maisons Marques et Domaines marked its 30th Anniversary in style with a tasting at the Institute of Directors, London, yesterday. With a record attendance of over 320, guests tasted through the latest releases from the 20 producers, welcoming new additions to the range, such as the Mazzei family’s Castello di Fonterutoli, and the Californian Roederer Estate’s new still wines.

To celebrate the landmark year, producers proudly presented an iconic vintage marking a milestone year for the producer or MMD alongside their range; Louis Roederer poured 1996 Brut Vintage, Domaines Ott* and Chateau Pichon Lalande took guests back to 1986 with their Clos Mireille Blanc and Grand Vin from that year, Marqués de Murrieta showcased the 1991 Castillo Ygay, the year they joined the MMD portfolio, while Ramos Pinto treated guests to a 30 Year Old Tawny Port in Jeroboam to name a few.

Frédéric Rouzaud, CEO of Champagne Louis Roederer, and 7th generation of Roederer to lead the maison, reflected: “We are extremely proud to have created our UK distributor that carries on the work we do – which is to create the most singular wines possible from our outstanding terroir (an undertaking which starts as much in the soul as it does in the soil) – to our final consumers. A philosophy which is shared by all our friends in the MMD portfolio, distributed and marketed by the MMD UK dream team!”

Richard Billett, MD, added: “This year marks a milestone in the company’s history as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary. MMD has come a long way since it was established in 1986 to manage the sales, marketing and distribution of Louis Roederer champagnes. Not only has it grown as the maison has expanded its interests beyond Champagne and as we have welcomed like-minded producers to the portfolio; it has also evolved to meet the ever-changing challenges and opportunities of the UK wine market. What has remained constant, however, is the commitment to serving our principals and our customers, without whom we would not be the company we are today.”

MMD: Established in 1986 as the exclusive distributor of Champagne Louis Roederer, MMD now manages UK distribution for a broad portfolio of 20 high quality, family-owned producers from around the world, all of whom endorse to the Roederer philosophy of excellence and craftsmanship.

Producers: Champagne Louis Roederer, Roederer Estate, Ramos Pinto, Château Pichon-Lalande, Château de Pez, Château Haut Beauséjour, Petrus, Château Loudenne, Domaines Ott*, Marquès de Murrieta, Pio Cesare, Domaine Faiveley, Domaines Schlumberger, Pascal Jolivet, Tommasi, Castiglion del Bosco, Marchesi Mazzei, Meerlust Estate, Spring Creek Vintners

2015…A Very Promising Year for Ramos Pinto!

Ramos Pinto have reported excellent conditions for the 2015 Harvest, with very positive results in terms of quality and quantity.

Leaves on the vine remained very green at the end of July. The soil managed to retain a lot of water, despite a drought caused by low rainfall throughout the year. Although new vines suffered during maturation, well-established vines produced firm, aromatic and balanced grapes.

The harvest began on the 10th August (a week later than 2014) with the Viosinho grape planted in Ervamoira. Cool temperatures recorded during that week slowed maturation of the rest of the white grape varieties, especially Rabigato.

The reds began to be harvested on the 24th August (5 days later than the previous year) and had a high alcohol content, particularly for Touriga Nacional.

Harvest took place in the first two weeks of September in sunny, stable weather conditions. In general the grapes were well balanced and expressive.

The start of the harvest at Quinta dos Bons Ares was brought forward a week, and the white grape harvest began on the 25th August. Red grapes were harvested from the 3rd September and ended on the 29th. Rainfall on the 15th September was a blessing which allowed the Touriga Nacional and Touriga Francesca to reach full maturation.

Grapes were in perfect health from Quinta do Bom Retiro, thanks to well-timed rainfall and ideal maturation conditions.

Harvest ended on 30th September.

The Ports…

The White Port has been very successful, fresh and fruity.

The Red Ports of special categories were vinified in lagares and have revealed exceptional quality, concentration, beautiful colours and great aromatic expression. The Touriga Nacional from Ervamoira and Bom Retiro, and Touriga Francesca from Ervamoira, have played the leading roles.

All in all this has been a very promising year!

The Wines…

The Whites presented very ripe aromas, average acidity and high alcohol levels. They are full-bodied and structured wines.

For the Reds we can foresee an interesting level of quality with concentrated, fruity wines with mature tannins.

Contact Christine to find out more about the 2015 harvest at Ramos Pinto.

Ramos Pinto: Decanter’s Top Port for Christmas

Ramos Pinto Ports have been awarded outstanding scores in Richard Mayson’s “Top 20 Ports for Christmas”, for Decanter Magazine.

Richard Mayson began his career at The Wine Society and specialises in the wines of Iberia, especially fortified wines. He is the author of four books, including “The Wines and Vineyards of Portugal” and “Port and the Douro”.

Richard recommended Ramos Pinto’s Late Bottled Vintage and 20 Year Old Tawny as some of the best Ports to enjoy over Christmas, scoring the LBV 90 points and 20 Year Old Tawny an outstanding 98 points.

Mayson described the LBV:

“Ripe nose yet showing attractive restraint, with a touch of lavender. Rich and full of deep and dark sensuous fruit with lovely freshness and firm, ripe tannins giving good grip. Serious yet vibrant LBV.”

And the 20 Year Old Tawny:

“From a single estate where a quarter of the vines are more than 80 years old. Soft and seamless, boasting waves of dates, dried figs, brazil nuts and toasted almonds. Suave silky texture and wonderful savoury- sweet length. Supremely good.”

Contact Christine to find out more about these high scoring Ports.

Christie’s Champagne Masterclass: Cristal in Magnum with Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon

London, 2nd December: Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, chef de cave at Champagne Louis Roederer, hosted an intimate masterclass at Christie’s lining up 14 different Roederer vintages en magnum, including nine vintages of Cristal.

The event, held at Christie’s in central London, took their annual Champagne Masterclass to new heights this year, showcasing an exceptional range of wines from Champagne Louis Roederer, as part of their education series.

This was the first time in history that such a round-up had been brought together of such wines in magnum.

This unique Masterclass, “Cristal in Magnum”, was hosted by Master of wine Nancy Gilchrist and celebrated oenologist Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon, from Champagne Louis Roederer. Over the course of the evening, Jean-Baptiste guided guests through the evolving characteristics of Cristal, shaped by the unique climate profile of each vintage, explaining how these factors would sculpt the wines’ development over time.

The discussion turned also to disgorgement times, and the impact it can have on the wines, demonstrated by the two vintages of Roederer 1990 – one disgorged in 2007, the other in 2015 (on 28th Sept).

Vintages included Cristal 2000, 1999, 1997, 1996, 1995; Cristal Rosé 2002, 1999, 1996, 1995; Roederer Brut Vintage 1999, 1997, 1990 (two different disgorgements); and Roederer Vintage Rosé 1993, tasted exclusively in magnum.

For further information about the event please contact Marinel FitzSimons.

Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru 2013 scores 18.5/20

Sixteen Domaine Faiveley wines have been highly praised in “The World of Fine Wine” review, in particular the outstanding Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru which was awarded 18.5/20.

“The World of Fine Wine” described it as “A sublime wine, as in 2012. Elegant, pure and refined on the nose, with black and red fruit and gentle spice. A gloriously flowing silk texture[…] A brilliant expression of this special site.”

A love of winemaking has been passed from one Faiveley family member to the next for more than one hundred and eighty years. The Domaine has always remained in the family and continues to be completely independent. The Domaine is run today by Erwan Faiveley, one of the youngest directors of a Burgundy Domaine on record.

Contact Christine to find out more about the outstanding wines produced at Domaine Faiveley.

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