We have some great new wines on tasting this week at Loki wine Birmingham, and don’t worry those of you who missed the 1985 Talbot last week (I didn’t realise they would all sell out in 3 days!) I have another super 1985 coming on tasting… Cos d’Estournel 1985 will be in the machines from the 18th April 2013. I also have some of my favourite wines going in the machines at the moment including:

• Man O War “The Exiled” Pinot Gris - truly one of my favourite examples of Pinot Gris, rich, full bodied and fresh.
• The Legendary Chemin de Moscou from Domaine Gayda – Iconic wine, rich full bodied, but still classic, a great Southern French wine.
• The Chocolate Block – Back to form in the current vintage, another iconic South African wine on tasting. (more…)

Sorry for being away from the blog for a while, just been so busy at Loki, and with my holiday in the New Year – I’m sure all of you have heard about my escapades in South Africa. There are lots of things going on over the next month or so at Loki, the most important is my birthday on the 15th March, so I expect lots of people down on that Friday to celebrate with me as I will be working and also working the next day on Saturday! There may be some birthday treats for people on that day…. (more…)

December

Monday-Wednesday

10am – 7pm

Thursday & Friday

10am – 9pm* (more…)

I have an exciting new event planned for the Christmas period, both of them are pretty last minute but well worth it. The first one is a Cognac masterclass on the 7th November hosted by Sophie from Maxime Trijol, one of my favourite cognac houses. They are family owned, and produce rich and pure cognacs. This tasting is only £5 and you get to try Cognacs with combined bottle values of well over £200; Bargain I think! (more…)

Just a quick post with the list of wines on tasting at our Australian tasting, some of the best Aussie wines on tasting here, a cracking selection of different grape varieties and more common ones. (more…)

New Spirits at Loki, The Botanist Scottish Gin, Benromach single malt, Amrut Fusion Indian Single Malt, English Single Malt

Just having a re-jig in the wine and spirit range over the next couple of weeks, so expect to see a lot of new products coming into store over the next week or two. A couple of wines I’m really excited about is Nyetimber English Sparkling wine, in my opinion the best English Sparkling wine across the board and the quality is up there with some of the top Sparkling wines in the world.
Also a couple of new spirits just coming in, Amrut Indian Single Malt Whisky, St George English Single Malt and the Botanist Gin. Watch this space for new wines over the next a couple of exciting ones including Pegasus Bay and a new Grand Cru grower Champagne….

Crasto LBV, Chateau Ksara and Masi Paso Doble on tasting at Loki Wine Merchant

Also new wines on tasting this week, get a sneak preview of Saint Clair with their 2011 Sauvignon Blanc on tasting from today, also the fantastic Dopff Alsace Gewurz, nice rich refreshing off-dry wine absolutely cracking. On the Red front I have the stunning Chateau Ksara Rouge from Lebanon, rich well structured plenty of fruit a must try. Also Masi Paso Doble Malbec Corvina made in the ripasso method, really unique the perfect wine for steak! Last but not least Crasto LBV Port 2006, something that lots of people have been asking for an outstanding Port, stock up for Christmas maybe….too soon?

Also don’t forget there are still tickets available for the wine tasting events, check out the details here: http://lokiwine.co.uk/wine-tasting-events/

Had a bit of time to rest and write another blog post after a couple of really busy days at Loki, Thursday and Friday evenings are proving to be really popular and the machines are getting a bit of a battering.

Coming up I have some epic wine tastings, expect demand to be high for these ones…

First up I have a Spanish wine Masterclass featuring some amazing rare Spanish Gems on the 6th September, An epic Aussie Tasting featuring winemakers from several top vineyards on the 13th September, Birmingham Wine School are hosting an alternative wine regions event on the 3rd October, and last but not least Saint Clair winemaker and current Kiwi winemaker of the year is coming up to host a tasting on the 5th October.

For more details and pricing go to: http://lokiwine.co.uk/wine-tasting-events/

I don’t know about you but I’m really excited to be hosting some of the worlds leading winemakers and experts at Loki.

So we have some new wines to try from this week. I was thinking last night that fortified and sweet wines have not had much of a look so far in the machines. So that is all changing I four fortified or sweet wines on tasting from this week (most of them in today already!

Some cracking Sweet & Fortified wines on tasting this week

First up the much asked for and dare I say it fabulous Château du Cedre Malbec Vintage, from one of the top producers in Cahors. This is a late harvested, and slightly fortified to raise the alcohol level. Almost certainly one of my favourite dessert wines with rich coffee and chocolate notes, with smooth and fine tannins, and wonderful sweetness. A marvellous, and different wine, and one that matches perfectly with chocolate.

Also in is a Pineau de Charentes Blanc, another French fortified wine, where the base wine is fortified with Cognac from the famous Château Beaulon distillery, this creates a wonderful high alcohol sweet wine, which in all honesty tastes a bit of grapes with good acidity, the perfect wine for some cheese, pate or simply just as a drink on it’s own. Be careful though it is massively gluggable and quite alcoholic. No falling over in the shop!

Last but not least two new non-fortified/dessert wines that are new in Peter Lehmann Masters Margaret River Semillon, a cracking wine and a must try for people who have not tried Semillon before. Also due to popular demand (see I do listen to requests) a Sancerre Rose from the very French Girault, wonderful fresh crisp wine. All you want from a Sancerre Rose.

As summer has at last arrived (I think) I’m sure like me all of you will be cracking out your rusty barbecues (from months of monsoon weather in Birmingham) and firing up the grill for some quality charcoaled meat. The Pimms will be flowing, but the usual dilemma I have is what to serve with this wide variety of meat, and occasional salad leaf that falls on my plate. Well I have two treats in stock at the moment in the Loki’s wine shop that will solve all your summertime problems, if you haven’t tried these already why not!?

Sparkling red wine on sale at Loki Wine Merchant

First off is The Black Queen, Sparkling Shiraz from Australia, a heady full bodied wine, which is made summery by beautiful small vigorous bubbles. The Aussies have taken to Sparkling Shiraz in a big way because it solves the problem of requiring something to stand up to the red meat, that is also refreshing enough for hot summertime consumption – now I’m not at all suggesting that we have any hope of an Australian summer here in Birmingham…but here’s hoping.

The Second one is a cracking semi-sparkling red wine from Piemonte in Northern Italy. I must admit I love this style of Italian wine, I think the semi-sparkling styles show far more of the wine than some of the fully sparkling styles, and the wine works on two levels, it’s fragrant, juicy and light on the palate, with the semi sparkling bubbles just enough to make it refreshing without taking the structure out of the wine. Also another positive on the summer drinking front it is low alcohol (5%) so you won’t be waking up with a huge hangover on Sunday Morning. Both cracking wines in different styles and strength – the’re usually a great talking point as well.

Serve both chilled, and in flutes.

Don’t we look after you well at Loki Wine Merchant?

Enjoy!