Retail News
The General Wine Company is an independent wine shipper and merchant based on the Hampshire / West Sussex / Surrey border. Click here to find out the latest news.
Xavier Clua wines finally here - AMAZING!
We are immensely excited to have taken delivery of some of the very best wines we have tried for a very long time - unusual, delicious and cutting-edge!
A little background......
The Xavier Clua wine cellar is situated in Vilalba dels Arcs, in the Terra Alta in Catalonia - a dry, sunny area where vine-growing and wine production have been a tradition since medieval times.
For four generations, the name of Clua has been associated with the culture of the vineyards and the production of wine. The latest generation, led by Xavier Clua combines the experience of this viticultural tradition with university training, bringing new perspectives and techniques both to viticulture and winemaking.
In 1995 the small family enterprise exchanged the production of bulk wine for a quality product, sold in bottles with personal labels. This evolution only underlined the desire keep working with a limited production to obtain a rigorous selection of the different grapes of each plot and close control of the whole winemaking process.
More and more the products of the Cellar Clua acquire a name in the wine world and the family enterprise has grown with the addition of Rosa Domenech: Xavier's wife and an experienced oenologist in her own right. With this growth it became more and more necessary to expand to a newer, more modern site.
In 2006 this dream came true with the creation of a new infrastructure where the usability is guaranteed by a contemporary architectural construction and modern technology going hand in hand with the tradition and love for the terroir. As in the vineyard, in the wine cellar: the members of the Clua family are guided by their love of the land that, day by day, they bring to their wines.
The high altitude and the numerous valleys increase the risk of frost in the spring. Its proximity to the Ebre river make the prevailing wind the Cers (mistral), a dry wind from inland Aragon that keeps the vines healthy, combined with the Garbi, a humid wind blowing inland from the Mediterranean.
The soils are calcareous clays, with low levels of organic material, but rich in elements that favour good drainage. It is, therefore, a terroir that guarantees grapes which are ideal for a quality wine production. The vineyards are trellised to maximise the exposure to the sun, making for ideal ripening in late summer.
Langley's No.8 Gin enters the fray
We are very excited to be one of the first outlets to take delivery of the first botlings of Langley's No.8 Gin.
Langley’s No.8 is a unique gin made with a secret blend of 8 botanicals, harvested at their freshest. It is hand crafted & distilled in a small English-produced pot still. Blended by expert craftsmen with 100% English Grain Spirit and delivers a smooth, rounded finish with just the right balance of alcohol.
“We are delighted to be attending the Petersfield Wine Festival”
Langley’s No.8 has been painstakingly developed to deliver the perfect G&T and delivers equally well with all tonic waters. The blend & split of the 8 botanicals, English Grain Spirit and the strength at 41.7% ABV allows the classic gin flavours to come through, whilst still allowing the right level of quinine/tonic flavour.
A perfectly balanced gin of classic taste - what better for the most quintessentially English of drinks, the Gin & Tonic.
Mark Dawkins, the man behind the bottle, will be pouring samples of his brilliant creation at our Petersfield Wine Festival on Saturday 22nd June at the Festival Hall.