Hello from Team Alteus! It’s been a busy month with various Tasting events, the most recent of which was our ‘Spice up your Life’ Halloween event. We sampled wines that paired well with spicy food or have characteristics of spice in them! It was a fun evening and lots of fun facts learnt along the way too! We showed our first ever Grauburgunder….. a German Pinot Gris/Grigio. It was surprisingly full and had lots of tropical fruit notes. Delicious!

Grand Christmas Tasting is only a few weeks away!

Yes, it is coming up to that time of year again! You know the drill by now…..we have settled on the final line up and will have 18+ wines that we believe will be fantastic to enjoy across the festive period. It is a non-ticketed event and you just drop in and sample away. It’s a great way to try lots of different wines and loads of our new lines. We will give you a tasting sheet so you can score the wines as you go. This year we will host this during the day on Saturday 30^th November. Doors open at 10am and kindly note last entry is 3pm as the event will wrap at 4pm.

Christmas gift ideas

We are starting to get some great Christmas gifts in, so if you are thinking about getting organised then drop in to take a look! We have some two bottle gift sets, with 3 options available: French, Spanish and Italian.

We also have a wonderful Rioja gift box and glass set containing a red and white Rioja from Queiron Mi Lugar. The Red is 2019 and drinking beautifully, with complex plum, bramble and well-integrated oak and a fabulously long finish. The White is a 2021 vintage and this has gorgeous stone fruits, white blossom, honey, brioche and gentle oak. This makes a great gift for lovers of Spanish wines and is keenly priced at £49.95. We have very limited stock of these so don’t delay as once they are gone that’s it!

We have also managed to get out hands on the Rippa Dorri Tempranillo Crianza Magnums. This is one of our best-selling red wines in the shop. It is good value and customers just keep coming back for it. If you’re having a gathering over Christmas then this will look very impressive on the table. It’s also great value at £29.95

We now have stock of Sloe Gin from Generation Gin, a local Distiller based in Chailey. We have also have their Sussex Dry Gin back in. We have both the standard 70cl and also 20cl bottles which are great as stocking fillers. And, not forgetting their fabulous Orange and Cardamon Gin which is perfect this time of year!

These are just a few examples of some of the delights we have to tempt to you but drop in to see the full range. After all that, if you are not sure what to buy then you can always purchase a gift voucher.

Wine recommendations

We’ve added even more lines in ahead of Christmas and you really will be spoilt for choice! We continue to focus on the very best quality balanced with value.

Al’s recommendation

We are partial to a cheese board as we head into the winter months and there is always a good cheese board in the Alteus Household at Christmas! We have half bottles of the Carmes de Rieussec 2013 Sauternes that have just landed. One of the most infamous sweet wines from France. This is delightful. It’s got a rich golden colour and is bursting full of apricots, candied lemon and honey. It retains vibrant acidity and is smooth and creamy. Picture nibbling some strong cheddar and salty blue cheese. The balance of the sweet wine cutting through the saltiness of the cheese is just lovely! This is also a great dessert wine too, so works really well with Christmas pudding or a mince pie! It’s £19.95

T’s recommendation

As many of you know, we have a soft spot for good quality South African wine. There are some great wineries and wine makers in this part of the world and we have stumbled across the Mason Road Chenin Blanc from Brookdale Estate. It’s from the Paarl region in South Africa which can get very hot, but Brookdale are a great producer and this wine is full of juicy tropical fruits, apple puree and pear. There are mineral and creamy undertones and a citrus finish. It’s great value at £16.49.

That’s it from us for now, but don’t forget to pop in and check out our wine wall for more new lines. They continue to come in thick and fast as we head towards Christmas! We hope to see you at the Grand Christmas Tasting on Saturday 30^th!