Cellar Door Wines

22/11/2024

21/11/2024

Thursday 21st November 2024 is Beaujolais Nouveau Day.
BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAUX SONT ARRIVES!

Beaujolais Nouveau 2024 Sans Sulfite Jean-Michel Dupré

Jean-Michel Dupré is the fifth generation winemaker, now assisted by daughter Cindy, on the outskirts of Beaujeu, the market town that gives its name to the region. His Beaujolais has always been made with minimal intervention to preserve the natural vibrant fruit character. This year he has made a Natural Beaujolais Villages Nouveau, without the addition of sulphites or chemical processes; a young wine is the perfect wine to enjoy the ripe and flattering juicy fruit character.

It is made from an old vine parcel of organically farmed vines planted in 1940 in a plot of Beaujolais Villages that commands a beautiful view across to the church towers of Régnié and the hill of Brouilly.

This natural Beaujolais Villages 2024 wine is suitable for Vegans and Vegetarians.

Country: France

Region: Beaujolais

Grapes: Gamay

ABV: 12%

Historically, Beaujolais Nouveau was made to celebrate the end of the harvest. The wine was released early on the third Thursday in November, just after midnight. This quickly became known as “Beaujolais Nouveau Day” when producers raced to get their wine shipped to markets around the world by that date every year.

18/11/2024

The best wine in the world! 🥇 🍷
According to , renowned wine publication, Cabernet 2021 from the Alto Maipo Valley in Chile takes first place in the top 100 wines of 2024.

Available to buy from us in-store and online for £120 per bottle. 10% discount on a case of 12 mixable.

Intense, ripe plum, blackberry, cassis and damson. Silky smooth tannins, but still has great structure and a very long finish.

This wine will be on taste at our Christmas tasting this Friday evening the 22nd of November, poured and explained by the fabulous

17/11/2024

A tribute to Miles Lilliott, founder of Cellar Door Wines.

Miles opened Cellar Door Wines in 2004 and held his first Christmas tasting event in the St Albans Town Hall, now the St Albans Museum, where our 20th annual Christmas tasting is being held this Friday the 22nd of November.

Since then, our tastings and range have grown year on year and we always look forward to meeting old and new customers for this event which kicks off the very busy Christmas period for us.

Miles became interested in the wine industry after his father, Roger, planted his first vines in the Hunter Valley, Australia in 1996 and opened his winery, Iron Gate Estate.

After a few years of helping out with the Iron Gate harvest, visiting other wineries and learning about winemaking, Miles and his brother Peter looked into importing their father's wines into the UK and what was available through retail. They soon realised that there was a gap in the market for retailers that specialised in New World wine and started to look into possible locations to open their wine store.

A particular insight that Miles brought was to present wines by their style or flavour, rather than by country, which was the norm in the industry at that time, and something that we continue today.

Miles's favourite wine was Pinot Noir and he enjoyed visiting wineries around the world to see how much the terroir and winemaker could influence the style of a wine. The name Cellar Door Wines came from visiting these small, independent wineries. Miles wanted to recreate that experience with his customers of learning about the winery, the winemaker and helping them find their wine style.

We hope that we have managed to retain Miles' spirit and love of good wine in the bottles we choose today and the service we provide for our customers.

Thank you to Pete and Nicky, Miles's wife, for sharing these precious pre-social media photos.

#2004

13/11/2024

Listen to Penny and Elly on local Hertfordshire radio station this Friday at 10am talking all things wine 🍷.

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12/11/2024

Extended opening hours for November and December- we're here all your festive wine and spirits needs! 🍷 🎄 🥂

02/11/2024

Christmas Wine Tasting - https://mailchi.mp/cellardoorwines.co.uk/christmas-wine-tasting
Friday 22nd November
Last few tickets available!

25/10/2024

Have you tried Orange Wine?
Orange wine is made by leaving the grape skins and seeds in contact with the juice, creating a deep orange-hued finished product. Making orange or amber wine is a natural process that uses little to no additives, sometimes not even added yeast. Because of this, they taste very different from regular white wines and have oxidative and nutty aromas and flavours.
Here are three of our top choice this Halloween 🎃
1. Angus Paul White Blend ‘Orange Wine’ 2022 £17.95

2. Waas Semillon - Skin Macerated 2023 £13.50

3. Solara Orange Wine 2022 £13.95

Come in this weekend and explore our range. Happy Halloween!

11/10/2024

Tickets now on sale! We are hosting two sessions this year: 5:30 to 7:30pm and 7:30 to 9:30pm. Join us for our annual walkabout festive tasting in the heart of St Albans.

08/10/2024

We're very excited to be hosting our first fine wine dinner and tasting, presented by wine TV personality and catered by by Francesc Condal.

An evening of South American luxury not to be missed!

Indulge in the most exciting fine wine region of the world. You will enjoy Latin America’s finest white, Amelia Chardonnay, and Terrunyo Camenere, the wine that put Chile’s signature grape variety on the map. Don't miss out on this unforgettable evening of epicurean wine and food.

The menu and line up:

Jamon Iberico with Catalan Bread
Brazilian Traditional Method Sparkling
First course: Ceviche
Amelia Chardonnay 2022
Interim wines:
Terrunyo Carmenere 2019
Amelia Pinot Noir 2022
Second course: Steak with Chimichurri
Don Melchor 2021
Third course: Basque Cheese cake
South American Dessert Wine

Please contact Penny or Geraldine at the shop directly with any allergies or dietary restrictions. Our contact details are in our bio above ⬆️.

Book your tickets soon to avoid disappointment. The link is in our bio.

07/10/2024

Tickets 🎫 now on sale for our 20th anniversary Christmas wine tasting in the St Albans Museum on Friday 22nd November. There are two sessions 17:30 - 19:30 and 19:30 - 21:30. Book now to avoid disappointment! https://www.eventbrite.com/o/14875782632

03/10/2024

Come Over this October - https://mailchi.mp/cellardoorwines.co.uk/whats-on-17430105...and bring wine!

01/10/2024

We're very pleased to announce that we are finalists in the 'Independent Wine Retailer of the Year’ for the 2025 Drinks Retailing Awards. 🥳 🥂

29/09/2024

Listen again to Penny Edwards and Steve Simpson talking about weekend wine on local radio station Mix 92.6
https://mix926.com/podcast/mix-mornings-and-weekend-wine-with-cellar-door-wines/

The feature wine was an Austrian Gruner Veltliner to pair with Friday fish and chips and Sunday roast chicken!

24/09/2024

We still have a few tickets left for our South African 🇿🇦 wine tasting with McFarlane Wines this Thursday evening. Join us! Click on the link or email us to get tickets.
https://facebook.com/events/s/south-african-wine-tasting-wit/854710509492832/