Twelve Wines of Christmas

Dec 4

As the year draws to a close, our wine team busy themselves with the extension of our by-the-glass offering in the form of 12 Wines of Christmas. Now in its fourth year, our head sommelier, Chris Webb, has gathered a dozen bottles, representing the best that the year(s) gone by brought across our tables.

Amongst these special bottles, we have the 2003 Tapanappa Cabernet Shiraz 'Whalebone Vineyard', so named after the discovery of a subterranean limestone cave containing the bones of a 35-million-year-old whale skeleton. With its notes of rich Christmas cake, blackcurrant, warm cedar and subtle peppermint, we recommend enjoying a glass alongside our slow-roasted lamb shoulder with almond and red pepper.

On the brighter side, we look to the blood orange, pink grapefruit and white strawberry notes of the 2024 Terre Nere Rosato, grown on the volcanic slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna. There are few rosés as elegant and thought-provoking as this, with winemaker Marco de Grazia describing the wine as ‘having the body of a white and the soul of a red'. You’ll find seafood a fitting companion.

Von der Fels is a hidden gem of Klaus-Peter Keller’s catalogue. Rheinhessen’s most prominent producer is famed for his single-site Rieslings, and this cuvée is a blend of fruit from these Grosses Gewächse. A true illustration of the excitement that Rheinhessen Riesling can provide - fragrant with mirabelle and mandarin, yet with a stony and sapid undertow - we’ll be opening up every bottle that we have remaining in the cellar.

These are but a few of the selected dozen we’re placing under the Cumulus Inc. Christmas tree this summer. They’re more than just festive; they are mature, rare or of limited production, and we’re lucky enough to have them in our hands and undoubtedly, our hearts.

We can’t wait to experience a whole world of wine with you as the summer stretches on.

Through December, experience the selection through a taste, glass or carafe.