Alliance Wine’s acquisition of H2Vin last year seems to be going swimmingly, judging by the enthusiastic turnout at its autumn tasting on a tube-strike-stricken Monday earlier this month, where sommeliers and buyers for hard-hitting wine lists including A Wong, Cloth, Trullo, Lady of the Grapes and the Gordon Ramsey group jostled to get tastings of the 145 bottles on show.
"The integration of H2Vin into Alliance Wine has brought enhanced benefits across the board,” says Matt Wilkin MS, co-founder of H2Vin. “We now offer an expanded and more diverse range of wine, backed by the expertise of new colleagues whose knowledge of the wine trade is second to none. For existing and prospective customers alike, this means greater access, more choice, and the confidence of working with a proactive team uniquely placed to help them grow their wine offerings."
A novel tasting order arranged 20-odd bottles on each of three main tables, titled “Inspired by…the Rhône/Loire/Burgundy” respectively. These reflected the strong interest from top-tier sommeliers and premium off-trade buyers who are trading up but staying with trusted names within these regions. This, in addition to the varietal-led decisions that are increasingly driving buying choices, especially when wines offer strong value from more modern or emerging regions – hence the appearance of wines from Spain, Bulgaria, South Africa, Australia, Chile, Slovenia, Hungary, California and others alongside their French cousins on these tables.
“Mediterranean wines continue to gain traction, both from established grapes and lesser-known indigenous varieties, which offer distinctiveness at accessible price points,” Holly Sharpe, Alliance’s head of London on-trade sales, told me. “While lighter, fresher reds are in also demand, appealing to changing drinking habits and more versatile food-pairing opportunities.”
“Sparkling wines continue to grow in both volume and value,” Sharpe added. “Crémants and premium estate-grown alternatives to champagne are particularly resonating with buyers seeking quality at sharper price points.” A fact borne out by the keen tasters who’d beaten me to the sparkling wine table and snaffled interesting wines such as the Vignerons de Florensac’s Pique & Mixe 2024, a 50/50 Piquepoul/Terret blend that Alliance kindly sent me afterwards - very jolly bubbles at a pocket-friendly £10.24 - and Bodegas Sumarrocca’s very smart Gran Reserva Cava 2021 at £13.40.
Although fortified and dessert wines remain a challenging category for Alliance, as for every supplier, it put on a splendid selection to finish the tasting which I nobly assessed.
The Alliance/H2Vin partnership is clearly going great guns offering all their customers access to dependable well-known producers and regions as well as the more price-sensitive wines that offer bang-for-buck value at all levels. This was a very impressive tasting overall with many standout wines; it was tough work to whittle them down to my top ten choices here.
Prices are for the on-trade excluding VAT.
Inspired by the Rhône
Thistledown ‘Walking With Kings’, South Australia Roussanne/Grenache Blanc 2023 £20.46
Thistledown is a project led by Alliance’s Giles Cooke. Here he fermented the varietals separately with wild yeasts in barrel before blending them to make this lovely textured wine - a classic Rhône blend with a sunny Aussie flourish. Pineapple, honey, a bit of beeswax and a bright lime-juice finish.
Francois Villard, Viognier, Les Contours de Deponcins IGP, 2023 Rhône£22.91
Viognier from declassified vineyards in this top-notch wine, layered with concentrated peaches, apricots, honeysuckle and hazelnuts. Opulent but not flabby with a mesmerising length.
Inspired by the Loire
Casa Marin, Sauvignon Blanc, Cipreses Vineyard 2024,
San Antonio, Chile £19.14
Partially fermented in oak, this has big ripples of tropical fruits, nectarines and greengages with a really attractive, herbaceous finish.
Olivier Cazenave et Chateau, Franc de Bel, Solera Cabernet Franc NV
Vin de France £22.41
Olivier Cazenave is known as a breaker of winemaking rules. He makes this in Bordeaux on the banks of the Dordogne, blending five vintages of old-vine Cabernet Franc in a solera system. Bags of concentrated black fruit bolstered with star anise, liquorice and lavender but lifted and very nicely balanced.
Inspired by Burgundy
Mount Edward ‘Ted’ Pinot Noir, 2022,
Central Otago £21.21
Duncan Forsyth does it again. Pure, focussed red-cherry fruit with a savoury seam of wet stones and mountain herbs; quintessential Otago Pinot at a great price.
Alemany I Corrió, Principia Mathematica, Xarel-lo 2023,
Catalunya £18.71
Oh wow. Old-vine Xarel-lo fermented with wild yeasts in oak then one third aged in old 700l barrels and one third in stainless steel in Penedès. Bright peachy fruit with beguiling notes of lemon sherbet and toasted nuts; slightly buttery but with a crisp, saline twang.
From the other tables:
Terres Fidèles, Montsablé, Chardonnay 2024,
OGP Vallée de l’Aude, Roussillon £10.10
Keenly priced, very decent and quaffable Chardonnay with warm ripe fruit; scents of peach melba and lemon meringue pie.
Funkstille, Grüner Veltliner 2024
Niederösterreich, Austria £9.84
Fantastic value for this very pretty, crowd-pleasing wine - floral and peachy and just a bit peppery with a lovely lime-zest tang. Funky label, too.
Equipo Navazos, La Bota 120, Manzanilla Pasada,
Jerez £37.13 50cl
I’ve long been a fan of Equipo Navazos which sniffs out special barrels from various bodegas and bottle them under its own label. All the salty nuttiness you’d expect from a good manzanilla pasada but lots more going on as well – orange zest, green olives and yeasty dough. “10/10; beautifully complex but served a bit too cold,” my bossy notes say.
Rallo Azienda Agricola, Passito di Pantelleria, Moscato d’Alessandria 2017£30.18 50cl
Wondrous layers of candied orange peel, walnuts, figs and vanilla; supple and silky and totally delicious. One to splash out on for Christmas sipping.
Alliance Wine/ H2Vin is a commercial partner of The Buyer. To discover more about them click here.
