It is a little early for us to be talking about Christmas, but this year is obviously quite different! We are already well stocked with fantastic wines, beers and spirits covering home drinking and Christmas gifts. We have a range of wine case offers and beer gift packs ready and waiting to go. As ever, […]
We are glad to welcome you back to our shops! Cotham is open from 12:00 noon – 7:00pm Monday to Saturday. the below guidelines apply. North Street is open 12:00 noon – 7:00pm Monday to Saturday. the below guidelines apply. Cargo is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 4:00pm – 7:00pm, for retail only. There […]
We are gradually starting to re-open our shops – exact details to follow. Meanwhile, we are still taking orders for delivery. Delivery within one mile of our three shops; Cotham, Cargo and North Street We are delivering to South Bristol on a Tuesday and Thursday and to other areas on Wednesday and Friday There is […]
Thursday, 12th March -7pm Coffee and Beer, 16 Cotham Hill £20 Portugal is a fascinating wine producing country. Most famous for the production of Port, beyond which there is a wealth of table wines offering distinct styles and great value for money. Indigenous grape varieties rule across the varied and diverse wine regions covering the […]
Thursday, 13th February – 7pm Coffee and Beer, 16 Cotham Hill £20 In the North West corner of Italy lies the stunning wine region of Piedmont. Home to some of Italy’s most prestigious wines, it offers a glorious array of varieties little found elsewhere in the world . From bold reds to delicate whites and […]
We have expanded our range of Whiskies. Now we can show this amazing spirit that is made from Australia to Taiwan in a huge range of styles and flavours. To start with our New Favourite: Starward from new World Whisky Distillery in Melbourne Australia. Started in 2007 to showcase the region nature of the area […]
Vodka is nowadays taking a step back in terms of shelf presence , this is particularly the case for lots of bars, which tend to give other spirits the limelight. Most of these replacement spirits are deemed as best for drinking neat, with vodka being the basic ingredient for the ubiquitous cocktail. But we argue […]
Sparkling wines are and have been always associated with celebration, with times of happiness and joyous moments. It dates back to the times were harvest was celebrated with the newly bottled wine shortly after completion, where this newly bottled wine was slightly effervescent, or petillant as the French say. This was in fact the first […]
Wines By the Glass served in 125ml measures White wine: 2018 Grenache Blanc, Felicette 12.5% 5.00 Languedoc, France Apples and pear fruit with a hint of spice. 2016, Pinot Blanc, Mittnacht 13.5% 5.50 Alsace France Minerals and chalky lime fruit 2017 Art Terra, Amphora, Herdade Sao Miguel 12% 5.50 Alentejo, Portugal Fresh with smoke and a […]
Summer is always the time to measure the quantity and quality of rose wine, or so it seems. In reality, wine drinkers are more and more inclined to serve rose all year round nowadays and it is easy to understand why, given the multiple styles out there. But before we go any deeper on […]
GIFTS AND OTHER IDEAS We have a great range of gift boxes. Wine boxes for 1,2 or 3 bottles Wooden Boxes for 1 bottle Beer Boxes for 3,4 and 6 bottles New Can Box for 6 cans Belgian Beer Gift Packs Plus Port Packs 3 different selections from Neipoort 3 Vintages of Colheitas 3 Ages […]
Lambic-style beers, in the form of a spontaneously fermented beverage, can loosely be traced back to approximately 50-100BC thanks to Roman historians marching with the army, near what is the modern Belgian/German border. The Breweries that survive today often have long, centuries-old history, and have experienced the changes in public tastes and political climates. Some […]
The coming of Spring is imminent, snowdrops are scattered around and the sunshine hours are increasing, our appetite for poking our heads above the winter slumber is increasing too! We are suggesting therefore, a small selection of spirit beverages that we think should match the coming euphoria at the return of Mother Nature’s green shoots. Our first […]
I have just returned from an amazing trip to Mendoza, Argentina’s most famous wine region. Stunning vineyards framed by magnificent mountains, consistently brilliant wines and inspirational people made for quite an experience (not to mention over consumption of beef and empanadas!). The region is most famous for its Malbec grape and I tried an amazing […]
In the North West corner of Spain lies the magical land of Galicia. Green and rugged it is a beautiful mix of mountains, rivers, rolling hills and a stunning coastline. As breathtaking is the scenery, so are the wines. We have just returned from a tour across the region taking in Rais Biaxas, Ribeiro, Ribeiro […]
Not long ago, Portugal was only known for its beautifully crafted fortified wines (Ports) and less so for the easy, quaffable white wines of the north (Minho) or juicy reds of the Dao, Bairrada or the Alentejo. Nowadays this has been rectified, most of wine drinkers having met with the delicious Vinho Verde or similar […]
Last night we indulged (alongside our customers) into a superb tasting hosted at The Kensington Arms, Redland featuring some fantastic wines from Quinta do Vale Meao.The tasting was presented by Francisco Javier de Olazabal , winemaker at this esteemed estate that sits atop a granite outcrop in the Douro Superior region of Portugal. We started the […]
Italy is a treasure trove for native and sometimes obscure grape varieties, although Trebbiano is not really obscure, it is certainly Italian. Trebbiano is also known as Ugni Blanc or Colombard in neighbouring France, where it is mostly used for creating the base wine for Cognac and Armagnac, with little presence as a wine varietal […]
Earlier this week we were invited to host a tasting for the Bristol Wine Circle, a lovely group who meet frequently to share their passion for wine. They tasked us to show them a range of ‘interesting wines’, always like a challenge! First was to narrow this down to just ten. We choose all our […]
PORTUGUESE ICONS QUINTA DO VALE MEAO WINE DINNER Wednesday 10th 2017 May – 7.30pm The Kensington Arms, 35-37 Stanley Road, BS6 6NP £45 In the upper reaches of the Douro Valley, on the rivers most dramatic meander, sits an iconic estate. Quinta do Vale de Meao produces some of the world’s most stylish wines […]
We are delighted to have Teeling Whiskey in Cargo on Friday 16th March 2017 from 3pm to 6pm. TEELING WHISKEY Whiskey making and entrepreneurship has been in the Teeling genes as far back as 1782, when Walter Teeling set up a small craft distillery on Marrowbone Lane, Dublin 8. Right back in the heart […]
WINE DINNER DANIEL RAMOS DISTINCTIVE TASTE OF SPAIN Wednesday 29th March 2017 – […]
Since Roman times, Madrid and its mountainous surroundings have been cultivated with grapes. The climate is continental, quite hot summers, equally cold winters and it is this stressful succession of seasons that makes the area a good spot for wine grape-growing. The growers here adapted to these slightly harsher conditions by bringing in the sturdy […]
The last few days have seen a sudden temperature drop – not wholly unexpected – which has brought with it that slight feeling of need for warmth. Being more specific, it’s that time of the year when you transition from the citrusy white wines and bone dry rose of the summer to warmer reds. And […]
The growing trend is to bottle and release “En Rama” is an exciting addition to our sherry range. “En Rama” is to bottle the sherry (usually Fino or Manzanilla) virtually at the sane condition as found in cask. It has a very light filter to remove any suspended particles that may spoil the wine during […]
From its conception in the later 1800’s, 4 generations of the Antica Distilleria Quaglia have developed artisan spirit production, modernising where needed whilst cherishing the older traditional art and methods of distilling. With a range comprising Vermouth, Gin, Liqueurs, Absinthe, Grappa and Bitters, these are some of the best products we’ve tried. Organic with the […]
During the month of April , 2016 we celebrate an exciting, innovative promotion of organic, biodynamic and natural wine. At the dawn of winemaking this is how wine emerged from the fermenting cycle, unaltered by the primordial custodians of the red bacchian juice. It shows mostly what grapes,yeast and mother nature intended to do, turning […]
Tracing its origins to the first Francs, the ancestors of modern day French, this little wine region, perfectly surrounded by the great forests of Germany, has been making good wine for several centuries. Although it has somewhat kept to it’s original, middle-ages shaped bottle called Bocksbeutels, it has done so out of need for protection […]
The King is dead, long live the King! Or so the saying goes, a bit like Old World wines too. It is still winter, certainly more so on the continent where the Barolo Hills are covered with a blanket of snow, or the frosty mornings cover most of Burgundy’s Grand Crus. The Old World is […]
I feel there’s no better way to try Belgian beers than in the country itself, so I headed for a long weekend in Bruges on New Year’s Day…all in the name of ‘research’ of course. Comparing the range available in this beautiful historic city with what we stock in our shops I’d say we’ve […]
The cold, frosty windows signal a returning appetite for rich, dark fruit laden, spicy red wines. There are plenty available nowadays, from the sunny shores of the Southern Hemisphere to the classical Old World blends and single varietals that have time and again proven their worth. The New World reds that would suit […]
Megan’s passed her final exam in the WSET Diploma. We’re all very proud!
As winter draws in we see the Breweries shift their releases towards darker beers. Known as Porters or Stouts which are a made from a higher proportion of heavily roasted malts. We stock year round classics such as Cheddar Ales’ Totty Pot Porter & Wye Valley’s Wholesome Stout. Also some more unusual styles including Milk […]
At the beginning of October my colleague Meg and I went on a short wine trip to the Douro region of Portugal to visit esteemed producer Alves de Sousa. This was part of a well planned visit by Top Selection Wines, alongside a few colleagues of the wine trade. On arrival, Porto greeted us with […]