Ben Franks: Spotlight on Wolf Wines – Bath’s exciting new indie wine shop

Spotlight on Wolf Wines – Bath’s exciting new indie wine shop

It feels like wine has rarely been more exciting than it is today. Amazing new regions are emerging in markets like ours, from Asian and Eastern European wines to South American countries producing excellent wines like Uruguay. But there’s also some awesome craft wineries that are starting to prop up on indie wine shop’s shelves.

The all new independent wine shop, Wolf Wines, which has popped up in the Green Park Station is one of the exciting pioneers of craft wine. The shop’s founder is Sam Shaw, who found his love for wine while working for Majestic before deciding to go it alone and start getting wine lovers excited about great wines again.

His shop sits in one of the small wooden cabins along the main corridor stretch of the station, framing his array of delicious wines to tempt in anyone passing by. It’s refreshing to see wines with a difference, but also to see Sam working together with other new winos like Rob Malin’s When in Rome wines. Sam now offers customers the chance to fill up their empty When in Rome bottles with the delicious craft wines from handpicked Italian producers.

But there’s another selling point to Sam’s new venture: his palette. I’m generally not a fan of South African Pinotage. I find it often either lacks the fruit and body to justify the bitter coffee notes that all too often overpower the wine, or the bitter notes are too little to be anything more than a grainy distraction from the warm plump South African fruit.

Yet Sam has chosen a marvellous example of Pinotage from Diemersfontein. In fact, he has two. I started with the entry level Coffee Pinotage (around £12). I’ll be honest, when I opened it I found the acidity of the fruit and the bitter coffee pairing unpleasant, so I left it overnight. Coming to it the next day, on Sam’s advice, I was stunned to find I drank the bottle with pure glee. Balanced, soft, juicy and well integrated coffee notes made for a pretty great wine at £12. I’d recommend it to anyone with the patience to properly decant it for a couple of hours or simply open it up the night before.

So if you love wine and you’re getting a bit tired with the supermarket’s ever uninspiring selections, give Wolf Wines a go. I’m confident Sam will find you a wine you’ll love.

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Ben Franks

I’m always on the look-out for new wine lists to try and I’m here to help any restaurant or pub who think their wine list needs a seasonal update. For more information or to get in touch about some more of my favourite wine & dine destinations, call Ben Franks Wine on +44(0)7545353147.

For wine recommendations and free-to-view tasting notes visit www.benfrankswine.com or follow him on Twitter @BenFranksWine