Philglas & Swiggot
Philglas & Swiggot is an independent, London based wine merchant. I often go to the Clapham Junction branch there to re-supply on wine glasses and browse the shelves. Read a full Wine Rambler description of Philglas & Swiggot.
Below are the wines we tasted from this source.
When it comes to wine, it is always worth keeping an eye on central and eastern Europe. When browsing the shelves at Philglas & Swiggot the other day I remembered this maxim and went for a highly recommended Chardonnay from a Slovenian winery. Sutor are located in the Vipava Valley, an extension of the Friuli. Charonnay is quite popular there, as it is in Slovenia in general (where it is the most planted white varietal), and as I had not had a Chardonnay in a while, I took the Sutor home with me.
I bought this wine when I last visited Philglas & Swiggot, one of my favourite London wine merchants. Apparently, Paulinshof is one of their long-term favourites, so I was curious to try one. Paulinshof is an old winery from the Mosel region, exclusively focussed on Riesling. So let's see what they have to offer! [read the full post...]
Would you drink wine from a winemaker who is member of a group called 'Mosel Disciples', or Mosel Jünger in German, who market their wines as 'Mosel mal jünger' (Mosel a little younger for a change), or with the label 'Riesling Reloaded'? Well, I am doing it right now. I did not, however, buy the wine because of the marketing - I bought it earlier this morning because Philglas & Swiggot, one of my favourite wine merchants in London, recommended it. Only later did I find out that there really is group of Mosel winemakers called the Mosel Jünger. And the Regnery winery is part of that group. They promise a focus on quality in order to give the Mosel area a new and better image. [read the full post...]
Sometimes you find one of these local shops that feel a bit like home. For me, Philglas & Swiggot in Battersea is one of them. Located on Northcote Road, Battersea's food and wine shopping street (especially if you count the St John's Road extension), this gem of a shop has been supplying the locals with wine for almost two decades. Now there are two other branches, one in Marylebone, the other in Richmond. The efforts of the team to provide good wine and good advice have been recognised, for instance through the award of London Wine Merchant of the Year in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Philglas & Swiggot
Intense colour, beautiful dark dark red. Concentrated nose of blackberry and black currant with a little pepper and robust wood (don't think too much vanilla, think shelf). Fruity in the mouth, again with blackberry and blackcurrant (you get what you smell), burnt wood, notes of vegetable, cool.
Fully bodied and strong, but still elegant with smooth tannins and drinkable. It made me think of my good old bolognese sauce - this would be the perfect companion.
Incredibly intense dark red colour, almost bordering on black. A nose full of fruit that, after a little time with our friend the decanter, opened up to combine redcurrant, cherry, plum, woodland herbs, leather, manure (just a hint) and oak - the latter is already very pleasantly integrated.
In the mouth it is intense yet smooth, a little spicy oak, mellow fruit, grainy tannins (quite enjoyable) - it is strong but you don't notice (in the sense of taste) the alcohol at all.
It felt as if this wine would gain from a few more years in the bottle, but it is already quite a presence!
A fairly strong white wine that does not taste of alcohol at all. A fresh nose with mineral, lemon and green apple; fresh and crisp in the mouth too, nicely balanced with a sophisticated richness of almost creamy, buttery consistency.
A very drinkable blend of crisp, young, fresh, aged, smooth, mineral, lemon, acidity and creaminess. Went very nicely with the monkfish and scallops in butter-lime-chili sauce. Go Kamptal.
Shiny golden colour and a nice nose of mineral, smoothed over with caramel-plum and herbs, with the addition of a little petrol. In the mouth, a rich, almost saturated experience that had more than a hint of old vines, a fine complexity and well rounded. A little bitter green fruit, cool, dusty mineral, herbs again with a nutty, buttery, wooden creaminess (without being buttery or excessively nutty/wooden), full and yet light enough with a little spicy plum.
What can I say? We both liked it very much - for being different from both the fruity Riesling that we often have as well as from the acid stronger dry ones. Delicious, simply delicious.
After a long and painful day of shopping for plumbing equipment and furniture I stopped by at Philglas & Swiggot to buy some new wine glasses and discovered this gem in the "reduced" section. Later at home I was pleasantly surprised to see that WeinPlus rates it at 94+. [read the full post...]