The annual Bibendum portfolio tasting earlier this month was called ‘Moments in Wine’ so I found myself involuntarily singing ‘One Moment in Time’ by Whitney Houston on my way to the Canary Wharf venue. If you can get your attendees singing on the way there, then that’s half the battle won. Though perhaps ‘Reasons to be Cheerful’ by Ian Dury would be more apt as everyone was putting a brave face on the country’s looming economic woes.
Moments in Wine was held at the Pelligon in Canary Wharf, February 5, 2025
C&C Group wine buying director Jamie Avenell described it as “a crescendo of different impacts. Consumers with less money to spend, National Insurance and duty increases and a wine market that is substantially smaller than it was five years ago.” Yet Avenell didn’t see any reason to despair: “ultimately great wine and great outlets offering great experiences are always going to have a space, especially if people aren’t going out so much. Selling better wine. That has to be an upside.”
Earlier this year Bibendum’s parent company C&C Group announced the arrival of new CEO Roger White coming from AG Barr – yes, the company behind Irn Bru. The event offered a taster of the Bibendum portfolio. Unlike some other agency tastings that I could mention, it was a manageable size with just over 300 wines on offer. You could try something from nearly every producer. Averill pointed me towards a varied selection of new signings which you can read about below.
"Selling better wine. That has to be an upside.” Jamie Avenell
In these tough times, Avenell's particularly looking for wines that overdeliver for your increasingly worthless pound: “premium South Africa offers such good value for money. We have a very strong South African portfolio.” Other resilient areas include Provence rosé and Argentina particularly Malbec, both of which are still hugely popular. He’s also excited about good value fizz as Champagne prices move inexorably upwards i.e. Graham Beck from South Africa and Albourne from Sussex which makes a textbook non-vintage Brut.”
One area he’s not convinced by is zero ABV wine. Bibendum offers a small selection including two sparklers which he is more positive about than the still examples. “Look at repeat purchase rates – they are awful, people who buy them don’t enjoy them very much and don’t buy again. There are plenty of soft drinks that offer better flavour and value than zero ABV wine.”
But when it comes to proper wines, there are plenty of reasons for Bibendum’s customers to be cheerful. Here are six that stood out.
Export manager Capucine Bonnant
As Avenell noted, premium rosé is still a growth area so it’s great that Bibendum has brought on board a prestigious if hitherto under-the-radar producer.
Château Roubine is one of the grand old names of the region with a history dating back to the 14th century. Inevitably for this part of the world there’s some sort of Templar connection. You couldn’t spit a grape pip in Middle Age Provence without hitting a knight Templar. More recently, the estate has been a Grand Cru Classé since 1990, one of only 18 and one of the few to be certified organic. They’ve been owned by the same family for 30 years.
But tradition does not mean stuffiness as the fun 100% Grenache Gris Cuvée Hippy showed. With a great name and label, it’s the very model of fresh, saline-tinged Southern French rosé. Bring on the oysters. While the top of the range Lion et Dragon is creamy and full-bodied, a pink with more than a nod to a white Burgundy.
Corrine Woodland and Iona Milne
Avenell explained that Domaine du Météore has a “pretty unique story being situated in a 10,000-year-old meteor crater. “I’ve long enjoyed the wines from this Faugères producer. When they were good they were very good but sometimes you’d open a bottle only to be hit by a stampede of horses. Corinne Woodland admitted that it had something of Brett problem under the old regime. Something I hasten to add that has been completely eradicated since 2019 when it was taken over by a pair of English doctors.
Woodland looks after sales and marketing while her husband Simon Frech, a Frenchman, makes the wines. He trained with Philippe Cambis in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and it really shows in the precision of the wines especially his handling of Grenache which now sees no oak.
Everything was excellent I tasted but I was particularly struck by the herb and lemon-scented Faugères Les Leonides Blanc made from a blend of Rolle, Clairette, Roussanne and Viognier, and the top of the range Faugères Les Perseides. The latter showing a beautiful freshness with pure raspberry Grenache fruit. It’s really up there with a good Chateauneuf. And not a pony in sight.
Joao Pires
If I could pick one word to describe the wines of this Douro producer it would be ‘fresh as a daisy’. Oh, hang on, that’s four. Anyway. Everything from white wine to tawny port from Quinta da Pedra Alta majored on a lively acidity and crunchy vibrant fruit. Winemaker João Pires explained how this was all down to having the right sites and picking early. The family has been growing vines here for decades but began making and marketing wine themselves in 2009.
I loved the Pedra a Pedra Clarete 2022. A traditional pale red made by co-fermenting red and white grapes and it comes in at only 11.5% ABV. It’ll be just the thing with grilled sardines. The Pedra a Pedra Branco 2023 also impressed with a zingy limey acidity, a salty preserved lemon tang and none of the flab you sometimes find in a Douro white. Definitely an estate to watch.
Nicolas Jelasity, export manager Grand Tokaj
Sitting proudly on the Grand Tokaj table was a bottle from 1964 made when Hungary was behind the Iron Curtain. Commie Tokay! Sadly Nicolas Jelasity, export manager, didn’t offer me a glass. I don’t think it was for opening but to demonstrate the history of this great producer which was founded in 1948 under communism and privatised in the 1990s. Instead, we tasted some of the more modern wines produced here.
Dry Furmint is for me one of the world’s great wine styles – competing with the best white Burgundy or Grosses Gewächs Riesling. The Grand Tokaj Furmint Single Vineyard Meszes was intensely mineral with a full acidity and then rich with a creamy oaky texture. It’s one I’d love to cellar for five years. I finished on the majestic Grand Tokaj Terroir Selection Tokaji 5 Puttonyos Aszú Terroir 2019 which tasted like the finest marmalade balanced by a refreshing high acidity. It’s incredibly drinkable for a wine with 200g of sugar.
Aoife Curtin, brand development manager at Journey’s End
Inzuzo is a community project owned by the workers at Journey’s End and headed up by winemaker Kaylin Willscott whose family is from the nearby Sir Lowry’s Pass Village. 50% of the profits from the venture go into building schools and other projects that benefit the residents who have been there for generations. The wines come with beautiful labels inspired by local artists.
None of this would mean anything if the wines were not good too but they're absolutely splendid showing why South Africa is probably the most exciting place on earth for wine lovers at the moment. The Inzuzo White is made from a Chenin-dominated blend with some Grenache Blanc and Viognier. It offers apples and stone fruit with a racy acidity and just a little weight on the finish. While the Inzuzo Red is mainly Syrah with Grenache and Mourvèdre, and shows how good the Cape is these days with red Rhône blends.
Matt Dicey
I’d assumed that the brand was named after the risks inherent in starting your own wine brand but in fact it’s a family firm run by brothers Matt and James Dicey. Danger isn’t their middle name, it’s their surname. The family has been growing grapes in Marlborough since the mid 90s but only began making their own wines in 2019 and have only just begun to export. Matt makes the wines while James looks after the vines.
There were only two wines on offer from Dicey at the tasting and both were excellent. The Dicey Pinot Noir was from 2019. We don’t see a lot of mature NZ Pinot in England and this shows how beautifully it can evolve. The fruit was still fresh as anything but the wine had gained some sweet spicy notes. The white was not a Sauvignon as you might expect but the fantastically ripe Dicey Pinot Gris. It was so rich, you would swear it was off dry but apparently not – imagine it would sing with a nice piece of goat’s cheese. And we’re back to singing again.
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