Vine Trail
Short description

We source, import, sell and distribute the finest wines from France, Northern Spain and Sicily.

Stand Location: 39
Detailed information

Our aim is to inspire a more progressive, sustainable and open-minded approach to wine, one that cares about the land and the people, eschews the use of chemicals and keeps prices fair. And we believe that none of this is possible without taking some risks. Right from the start in summer 1989, Vine Trail has been about taking punts, when Nick Brookes financed the first list of 27 wines on the back of winning bets from horse racing. Pushing boundaries and taking risks defines us, it’s in our blood and bones.

Vine Trail has always rowed against the crowd and fashion, championing the maverick, chiselling out wines from top vignerons in overlooked regions like Jura and Savoie, being the first in the UK to promote growers’ champagnes as well as revealing the artisanal face of Bordeaux.

We like to focus and build up expertise, working for almost 30 years exclusively with French vignerons, we are now also applying our savoir-faire to Northern Spain and Sicily. Incredibly fine, biodiverse and untamed terroirs, Atlantic or Mediterranean climates often combined with mountain viticulture, wines with freshness, perfect balance and a clear mineral print – all these factors draw a real parallel with several of our favourite French regions.

Progressing from sole trader to company, Vine Trail is now a nine strong team with Nick passing the baton to Jean-Rémi and Raphaël. It’s an exciting journey and one that would not be possible without the help of an amazing team: Lionel, Teresa, Jack, Sarah, Susanne, and Alessandra.

Contact Email: enquiries@vinetrail.co.uk
Telephone: 0117 921 1770

Vine Trail Catalogue

This wine has real vinosity and much more quality and character than most other sparkling wines. It is made 100% from 2018, vinified in cuve, aged for 12 months 'sur lattes', disgorged in 12/20 with a 4g/l dosage. Very fine mousse, saline and long on the finish, the ripe red fruits from mondeuse noire give the wine a delicious lift.

Product Number: 1
Wine Producer: Franck Peillot
Vintage: NV
Region / Appellation: Bugey
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Sparkling
RRP Bottle Price (£): 14.8
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

This cuvée comes from vineyards in Chamery, Ecueil, Villedomange and Montbré, all 1er Cru villages on the Montagne de Reims. Fermented and aged in stainless steel for about eight months, it spent five years 'sur lattes'. It is based on the 2017 vintage (60%) blended with reserve wines from the previous three vintages. The combination of completed malolactic and low dosage help sustain the fruit beautifully, it also brings bite and precision to the wine. Disgorged 06/22 - Dosage 2g/l.

Product Number: 2
Wine Producer: Bertrand-Delespierre
Vintage: NV
Region / Appellation: Champagne
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Sparkling
RRP Bottle Price (£): 24.40
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

This cuvée is made from 3ha of organically tended 35yo vines planted in a soil of gneiss which Michel believes conveys more minerality than the gabbro soil of the VV. It has an attractive marine, sea breeze quality on the nose, zesty, ripe fruit and a sustained finish.

Product Number: 3
Wine Producer: Michel Delhommeau
Vintage: 2021
Region / Appellation: Loire
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 11
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

This comes from all of José’s fincas spread around the hillsides of Verín where the soils are a mix of slate and clay, sandy gravel and decomposing granite. Made from yields around 30hh, cuve aged with malos blocked, and kept on fine lees (no stirring) before bottling in August 2021. Like all of the Muradella whites this is subtle and elegant, quite tightly wound initially with vibrant acidity, displaying a strong mineral character with subtle peach, fennel and eucalyptus notes gradually emerging.

Product Number: 4
Wine Producer: Quinta da Muradella
Vintage: 2019
Region / Appellation: Galicia
Country: Spain
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 16.40
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

The Habrard family have been making wine for 5-generations in the Northern Rhone, at the foothills of the Massif Centrale. This Crozes-Hermitage blanc is a blend of 90% Marsanne and 10% Roussanne from a few parcels surrounding the village of Gervans, at the centre of the original appellation, where the winery is located. The 20 to 80-year-old vines are planted on the typical loess soil originating from Alpine glaciers' decomposition, light in texture and rich in calcium. The result is a white wine with a soft mouthfeel and pronounced aromatic lift.

Product Number: 5
Wine Producer: Laurent Habrard
Vintage: 2020
Region / Appellation: Northern Rhône
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 17.5
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

Domaine Stoeffler is located in the village of Barr, at the epicentre of wine production of the Lower Rhine region. Work in the vineyards is extremely attentive, led by nature’s cycles and without the use of any pesticide or synthetic fertiliser. The high concentration in Vincent’s wines is achieved through vine density and yield management – this meticulous work allows him to bottle without fining, filtration, or sulphur. His Riesling Rutscherle is a dry wine, with a rich mouthfeel and uplifting acidity that expresses a pure and pronounced fruit character with notes of green apples, elderflower, and honey.

Product Number: 6
Wine Producer: Domaine Stoeffler
Vintage: 2021
Region / Appellation: Alsace
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 15.5
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

The vines are planted on red marl (with high clay content) in Orbagna, lieu-dit Clos de Jerminy. Grapes are directly pressed, fermentation in stainless steel, extended élevage of 24 months in 228 and 500ltr barriques, and bottling without filtration. 0.5g/hl SO2 added at press only – around 20mg/l total eventually. This is dense and textural, terroir-driven with limestone induced bitters and structure.

Product Number: 7
Wine Producer: Guillaume Overnoy
Vintage: 2020
Region / Appellation: Jura
Country: France
Wine Colour: White
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 21.90
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

Camino de la Frontera comes from an ancient northwest-facing vineyard in the Parque Natural de Los Arribes del Duero – planted mostly to malvasia and verdejo, there is also a little Puesta en Cruz, an incredibly rare white variety endemic to Fermoselle. The 130yo vines are on steep, difficult-to-access, 650m terraces with granitic soils of a sandy loam texture; here the work can only be described as heroic – relying solely on manual labour there are no shortcuts for applying organic treatments and natural preparations. Harvested at the beginning of September, the grapes are destemmed and lightly crushed to macerate on skins for 4 days before pressing, the wine then rests in 500ltr chestnut barrels for 12 months and is bottled unfiltered with a minimal dose of sulphur (15mg/l total). This is an extremely detailed wine which gently unfurls to reveal its full aromatic depth and minerality.

Product Number: 8
Wine Producer: Daterra Viticultores
Vintage: 2020
Region / Appellation: Galicia
Country: Spain
Wine Colour: Orange
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 14.55
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

Veronica is based in Valtuille de Abajo, and this wine comes from various parcels of organically tended vines around the village. Averaging 80yo the vines are planted in the typical sandy, iron-rich clay soils yielding around 25hh. Given a 15-day cuvaison and aged for seven to nine months, half in 800ltr amphoras and half in 2-3yo barrels, total SO2 40mg/l. This wine has an excellent texture, most attractive mulberry and brambly fruit and floral hints with some liquorice and herbal notes – so delicious and easy to drink. Veronica’s father was a bullfighter and 'dar un quite' is originally a bullfighting term, now commonly used and meaning 'to offer a helping hand'.

Product Number: 9
Wine Producer: Veronica Ortega
Vintage: 2020
Region / Appellation: Galicia
Country: Spain
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 13.65
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

One of Daniel’s top cuvée comes from 1 ha of vines (just above the cave) planted in 1926 on very steep hillside, with sandy soils of decomposed schist and granite. Vinified and aged in foudres, this has lovely weight of fruit, dark cherry and blackberry, and intense mineral character. There is a quietly tannic, old viney grip to the finish that presages an excellent future.

Product Number: 10
Wine Producer: Daniel Bouland
Vintage: 2021
Region / Appellation: Beaujolais
Country: France
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 16.85
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

This comes from 40 to 50yo vines planted high on a due south-facing hillside in a soil of sand, limestone and yellow ‘millarge’ (soil derived from underlying shell-rich sands). Fermented in cuve and then aged in 4-5yo 400ltr barrels. Notable red fruit aromas lead to a palate that has similarly intense red fruits, and a marked saline, mineral flavour, possibly due to the limestone bedrock, with good structure, ripe tannins and beautiful length. Low sulphur.

Product Number: 11
Wine Producer: Château de Coulaine
Vintage: 2019
Region / Appellation: Loire
Country: France
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 15.15
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

Hildegard’s red is produced from the cooler terroirs of Assignan in the St-Chinian appellation. 100% destalked, the grapes are lightly crushed, cuvaison in stainless steel vat for 25 days with pumping-over. Press wine is blended with free-run juice, ageing for 10 months in stainless steel. The wine has succulent, spicy, dark cherry fruit with a hint of garrigue herbs. Structured, it’s still fresh and very easy to drink.

Product Number: 12
Wine Producer: Domaine la Grange de Quatre Sous
Vintage: 2020
Region / Appellation: Languedoc
Country: France
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 11.55
Is this wine new to the UK?: No

Made from a selection of old bush vine parcels tended organically including St Jean, Jasio and Grames, largely at high altitude to the south of the village, where the soils are a complex mix of marls, safres (sands) and limestone-clay. Vinified from whole bunches and aged primarily in old foudres this is an extremely fine and elegant example of Gigondas – they took a calculated gamble and harvested the grapes in the middle of October, over one month later than everyone else in the appellation (but similar to Gourt de Mautens in Rasteau). It has an attractive red cherry colour, bramble fruits with menthol and pine on the nose, and an amazing palate, offering beautifully judged raspberry and blackberry old viney fruit, liquorice, leather, hint of violets, nutmeg and cinnamon stick, relieved and lifted by a juicy berry acidity and a saline lick, all held together and enhanced by fine grained tannins. It’s so pleasurable to drink now with its very digeste quality and excellent balance, but will improve over the years.

Product Number: 13
Wine Producer: Gour de Chaulé
Vintage: 2021
Region / Appellation: Southern Rhône
Country: France
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 20.55
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

Originally from the Loire Valley, Cédric settled in Sicily thanks to WWOOFing, a worldwide initiative that connects volunteers with organic agricultural projects worldwide. Following stints in France, Italy, Spain, & Portugal, Cédric eventually took root in Etna, enamoured by the beauty of the landscape and the noble Nerello Mascalese. Working alongside another European ex-pat, Eduardo Torres Acosta (native of Tenerife) since 2014, Cédric bottled his first Goccia wines in 2018 from different plots dotted around Randazzo, traditionally planted using the vite ad albarello training (Gobelet). Wholly committed to organic farming he does everything by hand with the utmost care. The grapes were harvested at the end of September and after 10 days of maceration, the juice was transferred to steel tanks, where it rested until bottling in May.

Product Number: 14
Wine Producer: Cédric Perraud
Vintage: 2021
Region / Appellation: Sicily
Country: Italy
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 18.10
Is this wine new to the UK?: Yes

Each grape in this wine is produced on the terroir best suited to its qualities and vigneron Christophe Landry practises a different method of pruning for each grape. His merlot is aged in 400ltr barrels and cabernet sauvignon in 225ltr barrels. The percentage of new oak is adjusted according to the strength of the vintage – fluctuating around 30% – the balance comprising 1-2yo barrels. It offers a clear, bright black cherry colour, a kernel of rich fruit with great depth, and superb texture with good freshness and marked mineral flavours. Very, very long on the finish. For drinking now to 2030+.

Product Number: 15
Wine Producer: Château des Graviers
Vintage: 2016
Region / Appellation: Bordeaux
Country: France
Wine Colour: Red
Wine Style: Still
RRP Bottle Price (£): 24.35
Is this wine new to the UK?: No