Finally at 1pm on May 5th the Aldeby Wines site was launched

It has been a long time coming, but here it is, a new web site for a new online wine merchant.

I am going to be specialising (to begin with) in the wines of the South of France. Why? Well from 2004 to 2008 I was one of only two people to study for and gain a degree in Wine and French, making the two of us unique in the UK. As a part of the course I was required to spend a year in France, and I was lucky enough to be able to sort out a year working for the Ravaille brothers at L'Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup, possibly the best domain in the AOC just north of Montpelier. It was here that I learnt and worked on all aspects of the wine trade from a producers perspective. Yes I even got to do the piegage!

Bottling is a tiring job

I also managed to get myself dragged around a lot of other producers for a chat and to taste their wines. When I came back to the UK and finished my course I decided to set up and to import and sell wines from Languedoc. And today I officially launch on the wide world! You will see from the site that the wines are not the cheapest, but they are all made by quality focussed producers, and offer (inmy opinion) great value for money.

The best known domains I import are Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup, Plan de l'Om, Domaine Grangeon and Chateau Raissac. But check out Domaine des 1000 Roses - fantastic wines from a fully organic (certified) producer, and Chateau d'Exindre where the Muscat is pure and complex and sunshine in a glass!

Of the unknowns, they all make good wine, but Lionel Maurel at Mas d'Agalis is a star in the making. Sensational wines, that are so complex and so well balanced.

Please comment on the site here or via the comments page (even if you don't buy anything!) and wish me luck - I'm going to need it!