Mission Estate, Sauvignon Blanc 

Wine and hampers have now added this fine New Zealand Wine to their single bottle wine gift pack range.

Viticulture

The fruit for this delightful New Zealand wine is grown on vineyards around Raupara (60%) and the southern valleys. The vineyards are on various soil types from the stony Raupara sites to the sites around Omaka with heavier soils. The fruit is picked over a three week period to give a range of maturities in the fruit at harvest of the individual blocks.

Winemaking

Fruit is crushed, with minimal skin contact. Only free run juice is used in the final blend. The wine is fermented entirely in stainless steel. Yeast strains specifically developed for Sauvignon Blanc are used to conduct the fermentation. The wine is left on lees for a short time to improve flavour and finish of the wine.

Tasting Notes

The colour is pale straw. The bouquet has gooseberry, passionfruit, white and blackcurrant aromas. The palate is crisp and textural with good weight. There is good fruit sweetness and a rich varietal impact. This intense fruit on the mid palate leads to a dry, clean finish. This is a focused style with plenty of character and complexity.

This delightful wine is now  featured in our wine gift pack selection at our website page http://www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Single_Bottle_Wine_Packs.html

The full range of wine gifts and food hampers can be seen at www.wineandhampers.com

Looking for a Fathers day gift?

Then we have a special offer for you!

Claim 5% discount off any purchase at wineandhampers.com. Just Enter the code ‘fd5′ when prompted at the checkout.

Offer ends at midnight on the 20th June 2010.

Visit the Wine and Hampers website  >>>>

We have recently added a number of new hampers to our extensive range of products these can be seen at www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Luxury_Hampers.html

These new products range in price from £120 to £500 and are well suited to high end staff reward and client gifting… a great way to say that special thank you!

The products that make up these superb hampers have been specially selected to create a “Wow Factor” ensuring that the recipient is left with a lasting impression.

The full range of our wine and hamper gifts can be seen at www.wineandhampers.com

WineandHampers.com features OFFLEY LBV Port in all its premium port gift packs and in some of its luxury hampers. OFFLEY LBV is a classic and powerful Porto wine ideal to serve at the end of a good meal, on its own, with cheese or intense desserts like chocolate.

OFFLEY LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE 2004 is a top quality wine of single fine year, bottled between the 4th and 6th year following harvest in the traditional L.B.V. style. It shows a very deep, intense ruby red colour and full aromatic concentration. Its aromas are very elegant and complex with predominance of full ripe red black fruit as well as balsamic aromas and cinnamon. In the mouth, it has a very good balance between acidity and tannins that give great harmony and the complexity typical of the Offley style. The good tannins structure confers the wine a characteristic profile, which can be enjoyed young and will age well for some years.

OFFLEY LBV is produced by the traditional Porto wine method. The hand-picked grapes undergo stalk removal and crushing before fermentation, under controlled temperature, with skin maceration so as to extract the best components. The addition of wine alcohol at the ideal moment sets the balance between the wine’s body and bouquet. This moment is chosen by the winemaker following strict control of fermentation temperatures and densities, the later depending on the vine variety, maturation stage and the final sweetness required.

After the harvest, the wines remain in the Douro until the following spring, when they are taken to Vila Nova de Gaia and enter Offley’s centuries-old lodges for ageing as required by Porto wine traditional ageing system. Along the years, the wines selected for this OFFLEY LATE BOTTLED VINTAGE are carefully tasted and analysed, racked from lees and all corrections deemed necessary by the tasters are carried out. The final blend results from a selection from just one good harvest, that maintains the character of the year and the Offley style, and is bottled between the 4th and 6th year, according to the Porto wine rule.

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Are you out of gift ideas, or shopping at the last minute?

A very popular and considered to be wonderful item for both personal and corporate gift purposes these days is a wine gift pack. It’s hard to find anyone who doesn’t appreciate wine gifts. It is difficult to go wrong. They are practical gifts for all types of occasions. Wine gift packs are available to accommodate any budget and you can send your friend or client the type of wines that you know they will appreciate, packed in a gift box or a classy wicker wine gift basket.

Wine gift packs & baskets should be a huge hit for the holiday seasons (especially Christmas) but are also great for a wedding, anniversary, or a dinner party. Wine is always sure to bring a smile.

You can find a great selection of wine packs and baskets at www.wineandhampers.com just go online and choose a wine gift that meets your budget and taste. They take care of everything else!

Wine gifts are reasonably priced and can be tailor-made if necessary to meet any budget.

Instead of just picking out a standard wine from the website you can have one personalised for the recipient or the particular event. Personalised labels create a memorable and appreciated wine gift.

You can call The Wine & Hamper Company on 01530 245486 with any questions that you may have, they are always ready to give advice and guidance to make your gifting experience a hassle free one!

A comprehensive selection of wine gifts can be seen at http://www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Wine_Pack_Selection.html

Chateau la Tour des Graves, 2006

This superb bordeaux claret is produced from Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot Grapes, it shows an intense ruby colour with purple hues, revealing a fruity nose with raspberry and blackcurrent flavours. On the palate it has a sweet start balanced by silky tannins with long lasting aromas .

The domaine is situated at St. Loubes on the edge of the Entre-Deux-Mers region. The average age of the vines is 20 years and the grapes are harvested by hand. Fermentation takes place in both stainless steel and concrete vats and the vinification process is traditional.

This interesting wine is included in the four bottle wine basket gift that can be seen at… http://www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Wine_Basket_Gift_Pack.html

wineandhampers.com

Did you know that wine tastes different in the air?

According to the article by Jim Eagles in the new Zealand Herald… “When flying, that glass of sauvignon blanc you savour at home might be a bit too acidic at 10,000m. And a nice cabernet sauvignon you lick your lips over when it’s served on the plane could seem a bit overpowering when you get back down to earth.”

This interesting report can be read in full at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/news/article.cfm?c_id=7&objectid=10632572

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The Internet has made it quicker than ever before to buy someone a gift. You can say thanks, celebrate a special occasion, or just tell a friend they’re in your thoughts with just a few simple clicks of the mouse. With a selection of gift ideas including wine packs, hampers, and flowers, you can find exactly what’s needed to show them what they mean to you. Hampers and wine baskets make captivating presents good to suit a wide range of tastes and make both male and female recipient alike happy, all delivered at low prices and the ease found only when you shop on the Internet.

Christmas hampers make magnificent surprises for loved ones and friends as well as business colleagues. A significant benefit with Christmas hampers is that they contain with delicacies that people delight in yet don’t ordinarily buy for themselves. Luxury items such as chocolates, wines as well as fine cheeses, you’ll never have to worry that the recipient won’t enjoy the hamper you picked out.

From time to time the surest way to let somebody know you love them is to give a gift to show them. At weddings, birthdays, and other special occasions, the gift of flowers will strike the right note and show your friends how you feel. There’s no reason not to let flowers convey your message. Whatever your choice amongst roses, rustic wildflowers, or the exotic flowers that are becoming common these days, the right bouquet for that special occasion is waiting at www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Flower_Gifts.html

New research suggests that women who regularly consume moderate amounts of alcohol are less likely to gain weight than nondrinkers and are at lower risk for obesity.

The findings, reported this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine, are based on a study of 19,220 United States women aged 39 or older who, at the start of the study, fell into the “normal weight” category based on their body mass index. Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston tracked the women’s drinking habits over 13 years. About 60 percent of the women were light or regular drinkers, while about 40 percent reported drinking no alcohol.

Over the course of the study, 41 percent of the women became overweight or obese. Although alcohol is packed with calories (about 150 in a six-ounce glass of wine), the nondrinkers in the study actually gained more weight over time: nine pounds, on average, compared with an average gain of about three pounds among regular moderate drinkers. The risk of becoming overweight was almost 30 percent lower for women who consumed one or two alcohol beverages a day, compared with nondrinkers.

More on this at http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/women-drinkers-gain-less-weight/

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Chilean Earthquake – Letter from our wine supplier.

 We have received this update regarding the effect of the recent earthquake on our wine supplies from the TerraMater vineyards.

“We are ok, in TerraMater everybody its safe and we are working hard to restart our normal process.
In Curico and in Maule the houses that we had in the vineyards are destroyed, but again, it is only a material loss.
We lost 2 tanks with wine because they fall, but is something that doesn’t concern us a lot since the harvest will be very soon, the vineyards are ok.
I don’t know if I could be in the UK this week since the airport is really damage and it is closed for departure flights.”

So it seems that our wine supplies from Chile will be uninterrupted dispite the major disruption caused by the earthquake.

 The TerraMater vineyards are located in the heart of Chile’s finest wine growing regions at Isla de Maipo-Curico and have belonged to the TerraMater family for decades. The 500 hectares of prime vineyards, pure water from the Andean mountains and exceptional luminosity provide the winery with top quality grapes. TerraMater is the Chilean wine brand that specializes on blends that are truly innovative, attractive and interesting.

The Chilean wine selection that Wine & Hampers feature in wine gift packs can be seen at www.wineandhampers.com/acatalog/Wine_Pack_Selection.html