Handford Wines

While his family has ben growing grapes for 14 generations, Louis Barruol is the first of the clan to bottle his own wines, rather than sell grapes to local négociants. Indeed, Louis has become a négociant himself, sourcing grapes and wines throughout the Rhône valley and making an outstanding range of wines. The basic Côtes du Rhône puts most producers to shame, while the Gigondas made from his own estate fruit is always one of the top wines of the appellation. Louis makes his wine without fining and his wines are bottled unfiltered to produce exuberant fruit and flavour as well as lots of character. His wines remain one of our star finds and judging by all the great reviews he has received we are lucky to have found them when we did.

The Wine

100% Syrah from 6 parcels in the Côte Brune and 3 in the Côte Blonde. Drought was the feature of the vintage and the harvest was cut in half. The result is a wine of intense depth and complexity. The last truly great vintage here was 1999. There is a big difference in that alcohols have never exceeded 13.5 in 2003 whereas in 1999 they commonly rose above 14. This is crucial to the balance and, I believe, the ultimate popularity of this very fine wine. 2007 to 2015.

Single Bottle: £35.00

In a case of 12: £33.25