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Nick Palmer of armit is delighted to recommend some wines for laying down long term
armit is the expert link between carefully selected wine growers and discerning, successful, demanding customers who look to us for guidance on what to drink, cellar or collect.
Based in Notting Hill in West London, armit is the leading contemporary UK wine merchant, supplying handcrafted wines from the world's best winemakers to private individuals, top restaurants and the trade.
Nick Palmer is delighted to recommend the wines below. He has worked in the wine trade for almost 10 year, spending time at Laithwaites before joining armit in March 2008. He would welcome enquiries from wine novices as well as the serious enthusiast, providing the highest levels of personal service.
Please find below a selection of wines suitable for drinking over the next 5, 10 and 15 years. Naturally, this is only a small selection of the wines we offer so please do not hesitate to contact us for more advice.
5 years
Bourgogne Blanc 2007, Domaine Leflaive £225 IB
Open and expressive with considerable intensity and the silkiness and refinement of something far grander. Delicate and floral but full of energy and life. The finish is pure, straight and mineral with effortless balance. Drink 2010-2014. Bourgogne Blancs are rarely profound wines, but when you find an example that hails from one of the finest white wine Domaines in Burgundy, as this one does, there is good reason to pay attention. This refined Chardonnay has the all the hallmarks of Anne-Claude Leflaive’s mineral-laden 1er Cru and Grand Cru wines and punches well above its ranking.
Châteauneuf du Pape 2005, Domaine Font de Michelle £160 IB
70% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre. Warm, inviting brambly fruit with hints of cracked pepper, blackberries, violets and underlying savoury notes. Tight, dense, powerful. Drink from 2009. The Gonnet brothers run this excellent domaine in Bédarrides with the sort of care and attention you would expect from two of the most respected growers Southern Rhone. They put the utmost importance on safeguarding the character and purity of the grapes & terroir and as such the winery is fully operated by gravity, minimal new oak is employed, and the wines are neither filtered nor fined.
10 years
Guidalberto 2006, Tenuta San Guido £133.84 IB
Really lush, with lifted notes of cassis and mineral. This is very elegant, refined and savoury. Fine structure and restrained use of oak make for a gentle, but still serious wine. Drink now and over the next 5 years. Guidalberto is the younger sibling of Sassicaia, the wine responsible for the entire “super-Tuscan” movement. A blend of 60% cabernet sauvignon and 40% merlot, this excellent 2006 very much reflects the character and terroir of Sassicaia itself with its smooth silky style and deep minerality.
Promis 2006, Ca' Marcanda, Gaja £208.74 IB
Dark in color. Very focused and precise on the nose, with a full body, wonderfully silky tannins and a fruity, bright aftertaste. Lively and delicious already. Drink 2009-2019. Angelo Gaja is one of the great names of Italian winemaking, producing some of the country’s great Barolos, Barbarescos and now a variety of styles in Tuscany. Promis comes from his Ca’Marcanda estate where there is a small area of soil particularly suited to growing high-quality Syrah.
15 years
Léoville Poyferre 2006, 2ème Cru St Julien £360 IB
Vibrant raspberry and cassis fruit, fresh acidity, medium to full body, superb ripeness, melted tannins, and a long, savory, expansive mouthfeel are found in this top-notch St. Julien. Friendlier than the more backward, tannic 2005. Drink 2012-2028. One of the best balanced wines of the vintage, this Leoville Poyferre is perfectly structured for mid-to-long-term cellaring. There’s a lovely density of fruit, ripe fine tannis and that classic St. Julien pencil lead minerality. A lovely claret.
Château Troplong Mondot 2003, Grand Cru Classé St Emilion £450 IB
Very ripe, dark cherry and blackberry fruit aromas. Soft, ripe attack of fruit; plummy and intense with great savoury and spice overtones. A great Troplong.
Drink 2010-2025
Troplong-Mondot has been having a troubled time of date. Promoted from Grand Cru to 1er Grand Cru Classe in the 2006 reclassification of St Emilion, it was left with no valid ranking at all following the collapse of the system. This has not bothered its fans however, and the estate continues to produce brilliant wines worthy of its lost status.
All of the wines are available either In Bond (IB) if you would like us to store the wine on your behalf or Duty Paid inc. VAT if you would like them delivered to your Spiral Cellar.
armit
5 Royalty Studios,
105 Lancaster Road,
London, W11 1QF
Tel: 020 7908 0664 fax 020 7908 0661
Email npalmer@armit.co.uk or visit www.armit.co.uk
