Last year we were introduced to a new young winemaker, Diego Carrea, from the Gavi region of northern Italy; we really enjoyed his wines and on hearing that he had no customers in England we asked you, our customers, to become a ‘Wine Angel’, and pledge to purchase a case if we shipped a pallet of his 2012 vintage. No money needed to change hands until the wines were shipped and we had successfully delivered them to your door. This proved to be so successful that many who made an initial pledge came back for a second case.

We are now shipping the new 2013 vintage from the Molinetta Carrea Estate having again offered it to all previous ‘Wine Angels’, who have benefitted from the same special price that applied to the 2012 vintage.

Now this is by no means an original concept of encouraging customers to connect to a grower, but where I have made what I believe to be a particularly successful ‘find’, this is the closest I can get to introducing you to someone new, bar taking you out there myself.

Low and behold a quick sortie to Burgundy and Champagne at the end of January allowed me to hunt for one of the wines on my shopping list: a Grand Cru Champagne from a small family grower. Making my way to the cellar in the middle of a flurry of snow was indeed worthwhile, as the tasting proved to be exciting and rewarding. In June I took six clients back to the cellar to taste test the range again, and I am pleased to say that they all agreed with me that this Champagne house was a pure delight.

If you would like to get involved with our Pallet Pledge, you can join our latest offering click here