Our wine buyers have often been referred to as ‘truffle snufflers’ of the wine world, seeking out bottles from paths less well-trodden to bring members interesting and delicious wines to pique interest and please palates. Along the way, they have also picked up interesting finds from their travels, too good not to list, as well as accessories to help us get the most out of, and into, our bottles.
So, let’s take a look at some of the hidden corners of our List and website to give you the skinny on some of the bottles, accessories and other bits of wine paraphernalia that we think you also need to add to basket!
Drilling for extra virgin olive oil
Where there are vines, there often are olive groves, and it isn’t unusual for our buyers to be offered the latest vintage of oil to taste alongside the wine. So, when olive oil was considered exotic (and the only way to get your hands on it was to head to the chemist!) our buyers decided we should source a really good oil to give members access to this vital Mediterranean ingredient. Today’s members may be surprised to learn that The Wine Society has been stocking olive oil since the late 1940s, delivering this green gold to members alongside their wine.
The Soulas family, who have been making oil in the hills of the Cévennes in southern France since 1930, came highly recommended by several of our wine producers. They have been supplying us with their delicious fruity, gentle-flavoured oil since the 1990s. The olives are pressed in the family’s artisanal olive mill in the village of Collorgues near the Pont du Gard. The intensely fruity picholine du Gard variety is the mainstay of the family’s groves, but many other varieties bring their own particular flavour to the mix too.
Arguably not such a ‘hidden gem’ as this olive oil has been extremely popular with members for decades, but for those that haven’t yet discovered it, it comes highly recommended, as the reviews attest.
Litre of Soulas Extra Virgin Olive Oil 100cl
A Manhattan via London without the hassle!
Our spirits buyer Sarah Knowles MW loves a cocktail (who doesn’t?), so when she discovered just how good this pre-mixed Manhattan from London-based Moore House was, she snapped it up so we can all enjoy a beautifully hand-crafted cocktail without all the faff!
The game-changing double-levered corkscrew
This is a relatively new addition to our small but carefully chosen range of accessories and as our Tastings and Events team can tell you, the double lever makes light work of opening hundreds of bottles of an evening, particularly when you come across the occasional stubborn cork. Smartly branded and with a little knife to help remove capsules, this would make a nice little gift too.
The Society's Double-Lever Corkscrew
Smart new glasses from Jancis Robinson OBE MW and Richard Brendon
World-renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson teamed up with young British glassmaker Richard Brendon to design and produce a beautifully crafted glass that would express wine of any style to its fullest. The original glass, handblown and exquisitely crafted, has been well received around the world but doesn’t come cheap, so the pair set out to make a more accessible machine-crafted version for more people to enjoy. Made to the same design as the original wine glass, the Precision X glass is a more robust version and will show off all styles of wine, from Champagne to fortified and everything in between to their absolute max.
Jancis Robinson X Richard Brendon Precision Wine Glass X Set of Two
Shaken or stirred? The Society’s Chambéry
While vermouths have fallen in and out of fashion, our white vermouth from the house of Dolin in Savoie has been adding a touch of Alpine je ne sais quoi to members’ cocktails for generations. Dolin are in fact one of our oldest suppliers and their vermouth has been a timeless member favourite across the decades. Despite our long-standing relationship, the recipe, which is based on macerations of no fewer than 30 Alpine plants, remains a closely guarded secret. As well as being the essential ingredient for the classic Martini, adding a drop to a risotto or ragu is transformative. Discover this not-so-secret member favourite and its more recently introduced red partner for yourself.
The Society's Chambéry White Vermouth
Lovingly crafted liqueurs
Also tucked away in our spirits and cocktails section is another reminder of a by-gone age and a delicious tribute to craft and tradition. Our Curaçao Triple Sec comes from the family firm of Gabriel Boudier, established in Dijon in 1874, the same year as The Wine Society. They are master crafters of fruit liqueurs like cassis, the local speciality but blackcurrants are not the only fruit to be transformed by this famous distiller. Early Wine Society Lists had liqueurs of all hues and flavours and Boudier were the people behind these exquisite bottles which carried our own Wine Society labels. Their Curaçao Triple Sec is the last-remaining in this this long line of fine liqueurs. With its enticing bitterness from distilled peels of curaçao oranges and fine, subtle flavour, once you’ve made a Margarita with this, no others will do!
Gabriel Boudier 'Fontbonne' Curaçao Triple Sec 50cl
Eau de vie de marc anyone?
When we showed this marc to members at a recent tasting of Rhône wines, there was so much interest in it, with comments ranging from, ‘what on earth is it?’ to ‘that’s the best marc I have ever tasted’, that we thought we should include it here to bring it to more people’s attention. In answer to the first question, marc is made from pressing all the leftover grapes, skins and pips after making wine and then distilling the resulting juice. It was traditionally made to prevent wastage and wasn’t necessarily meant for commercialisation. As a consequence, quite a lot of marc can be rather rustic! Which brings us to the second comment. At Château Mont-Redon, the marc receives lots of love and attention and, crucially, years of gentle ageing in barrels. The result is a wonderfully fragrant and gentle spirit to serve at the end of a meal as a digestif, in much the same way as you might enjoy a Cognac or Armagnac. If you have never tried it, your fellow members and we heartily recommend it to you.
