Top 10 new products in March

Glenfarclas 31 Year Old Port Cask

Glenfarclas has veered away from its Sherry-led style with the launch of a 31-year-old single Port cask expression. Laid down in 1981, the whisky was bottled in July 2012 at 42.8% abv, with the resulting 480 bottles being made exclusively available to the UK and French markets.

Explaining this stylistic diversion, George Grant, Glenfarclas’ sales director and sixth generation of the Speyside distillery’s owning family, said: “The traditional Glenfarclas style is achieved using first and second fill Sherry casks for maturation.

“While we never do any kind of wood finish, we do have some casks in our warehouses that don’t quite fit in with our house style but have their own distinctive character. Some, like this Port cask, are too good to pass by.”

Port cask maturation leads, according to Grant, to a “sweet and fruity nose, which evolves into exotic notes like beeswax, cloves and ginger”. RRP £280.
CONTACT Glenfarclas +44 (0) 1807 500 257

Perrier-Jouët Claire Coles gift box

In the run-up to Mother’s Day this month Pernod Ricard UK rereleased a gold Perrier-Jouët gift box designed by young British artist Claire Coles.

Best known for her embroidered allpaper designs, Coles has worked with the likes of fashion designers Paul Smith and Missoni, and luxury London department store Liberty. Inside the gift box, which is decorated with a delicate leaf design, is a 75cl bottle of Perrier- Jouët Grand Brut NV.

In addition, two satin bottle carriers threaded with pistachio and pink ribbons were also released, housing the NV Grand Brut and Blason Rosé. Both were available through Costco at £29.89 and £39.99 respectively. The bags boasted insulated lining and claimed to keep their bottle chilled for up to two hours. RRP £38.49.
CONTACT: Pernod Ricard +44 (0) 20 8538 4484

 Brancott Estate Chosen Rows Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc

New Zealand winery Brancott Estate is aiming to take Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc to “another level” with the launch of a complex and powerful style designed to age. Unveiled in London last month, just 3,500 individually numbered bottles of Brancott Estate Chosen Rows Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010 will be released onto the market.

With the help of white wine specialist consultant Denis Dubourdieu, the project started in 2008 with the selection of 14 vineyard plots across Marlborough, and a mere dozen cases were produced in 2009.

“If there’s been a criticism of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, it’s been ageability. We’re trying to address that, but it’s also about making a wine that’s good with food,” said winemaker Patrick Materman, adding, “We’re trying to lock in a flavour that’s consistent over time.”

The UK allocation for the wine is just 80 cases. RRP £35.
CONTACT: Pernod Ricard +44 (0) 20 8538 4484

William’s Single Botanical Gin / Chase Distilled Juniper Vodka

Is it a gin? Is it a vodka? It’s both! The playful mind benders at Chase Distillery in Herefordshire have released just 1,000 bottles of William’s Single Botanical Gin/Chase Distilled Juniper Vodka onto the market in a bid to educate consumers that all good gin originates from vodka.

Frustrated at companies that create gin using a neutral grain spirit with little regard for the flavour profile of the base spirit, Chase is using the limited-edition run to highlight the fact that quality comes at a cost, on the premise that, in order to make the best possible gin, you have to make the best possible vodka first.

The company’s William’s Gin is made from the distillery’s apple and potato vodka as a base spirit, both of which, according to owner William

Chase, are “pure” and “full of flavour”. RRP £35.
CONTACT: Chase Distillery +44 (0) 1531 670 049

Viña Albali Tempranillo, Verdejo and Rosado Tempranillo 2012

Felix Solis-owned Spanish wine brand Viña Albali has revamped its wine labels to give the brand a cleaner, fresher image.

“Due to the brands’ increasing size and the projects we have planned for it, there was a need to refresh the Albali range in order to have a clear brand architecture,” said Felix Solis’ international marketing manager Inmaculada Moreno.

The new labels for Viña Albali Tempranillo, Verdejo and Rosado Tempranillo 2012 are lighter and brighter than their redecessors, with the colour of the foil corresponding to the colour of the wine. The makeover follows a recent revamp to the labels of Viña Albali Crianza, Reserva and Gran Reserva.
CONTACT: Felix Solis Avantis +34 926 322 400

Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber

Hot on the heels of its limited edition relaunch of Tanqueray Malacca spiced gin, which will be sold exclusively within the on-trade, Diageo is seeking to capitalise on strong growth in the gin category by introducing a flavoured range for its ordon’s brand.

Due to arrive on UK shelves this March, the new range is headed by Gordon’s Crisp Cucumber, RRP £15.49. This will be complemented by two pre-mix options: “Gordon’s & Tonic with a hint of cucumber” and “Gordon’s & Tonic with a dash of lderflower”, at £1.85 per can. Describing the move as its “biggest ever innovation” for the Gordon’s brand, Diageo is upporting the launch with a £1 million marketing campaign.
CONTACT: +44 (0) 20 8978 2749

Bodegas Lustau En Rama

Bodegas Lustau is the latest Sherry producer to launch an en rama offering onto the market. The three-strong range, each limited to a single cask, will reach the UK in early May. Describing the move as “in line with the Lustau philosophy”, the company’s export director Ignacio López de Carrizosa explained: “We knew others had done this, but we wanted to be different somehow. We have achieved this by offering three different locations.”

Drawing on Lustau’s stocks in each of the three towns within DO Jerez, the producer’s selection will feature a manzanilla from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, a fino from El Puerto de Santa Maria and a fino from Jerez. Each will be packaged in 50cl bottles and offered on allocation. RRP £15.
CONTACT: Fields, Morris & Verdin: +44 (0) 20 7819 0360

Motörhead bag-in-box Shiraz

British heavy metal group Motörhead have released a bagin-box Shiraz modelled to look like a guitar amplifier. The band’s first bag-in-box effort, Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz has been designed specifically to appeal to the BIB-friendly Swedish market. “Around 60% of the wine consumed in Sweden is from bag-in-box, which makes Sweden the world’s largest consumer of boxed wine.

Naturally, we want to provide Swedish rock fans the same range of packaging choice,” said Yvonne Wener, head of the wine’s istributor, Brands For Fans. Like the bottled version, Motörhead Sacrifice Shiraz comes from South Eastern Australia, and, according to its makers, is “full bodied” and “spicy” with “aromas of blackberry and blackcurrant”.

In addition to Sacrifice Shiraz, the band, which has been together for 38 years, also makes a rosé, a vodka and “Bastards Lager”.
CONTACT: Brands for Fans +46 70 727 16 28

Hine 1983 Jarnac-Matured and Early-Landed

Hine has released a duo of 1983 Cognacs, Jarnac-Matured and Early-Landed, onto the market as birthday and anniversary bottles.
A particularly good year for Cognac, fewer than 50 bottles remain of the two.

The 1983 Early-Landed was shipped in French oak casks to Wickwar, near Bristol, at the end of 1985 to develop and mature in the damp English cellars. Having developed its richness due to the ageing conditions, Bernard Hine describes the 1983 Early-Landed as round and balanced with “hints of fig, crystallised fruit, gingerbread and honey on the nose” and “a long velvety finish”. He describes the 1983 Jarnac-Matured, meanwhile, as having “hints of wood, spices, leather and nuts with a fullbodied palate”.

Hine’s vintage Cognacs are released at a minimum of 20 years in very limited quantities. RRP £285 (Early-Landed);
£359.95 (Jarnac-Matured).
CONTACT: Pol Roger Ltd +44 (0) 1432 262 800

Sharp’s Spring Ice Ale

Sharp’s head brewer, Stuart Howe, came up with the idea for Sharp’s Spring Ice Ale, a 4.2% abv ale, that is brewed with ice and which the brewery describes as a “fresh, crisp beer, perfect for the warmer weather that is just around the corner”.

Howe said: “By using a secret process, involving refinement through freeze distillation and blending, we’ve created a world first.

“Spring Ice Ale has a finish which is brisk and fresh, it’s certain to put a spring in the step of cask beer drinkers over the coming months.”

The Spring Ice Ale, which is deep red in colour, is the brewer’s first offering of its 2013 seasonal range and is available in the on-trade until 31 May.

CONTACT: Sharp’s Brewery +44 (0) 1208 862121