While The Torridon is synonymous with real ale at this time of year, we never neglect our wine list. Indeed we are constantly seeking out new and interesting wines for our guests to enjoy.

Today we tasted wines from Little Beauty Vineyard in New Zealand. We were joined by the owner Fleur McCree who showed us her full range of wines and grape varieties including Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Pinot Noir.

Meeting the owner and tasting the wines with her – and the fine wine merchatnt L’Art du Vin – was a great way to find out about the produce and for the team here to enjoy and understand how much effort and hard work goes into making such superb wines.

It was also a great opportunity for Fleur to find out about the places that sell her wines and what our wine list and menus are like. The idea is to compliment each other and we hope that we can achieve that.

One of the bottles we tried, the Dry Riesling (‘bursting with flavours of fresh lime, waxy lemon and honeysuckle. Fine, balanced, refreshing. INTERNATIONAL TROPHY, REGIONAL TROPHY and GOLD, Decanter World Wine Awards 2013’) was out of this world. It is no wonder it won a Decanter wine award.

It was also great to taste the latest vintage of the exclusive, limited edition Black Beauty. The winemaker, Eveline Fraser, previously of Cloudy Bay, uses only the best grapes on the Little Beauty Marlborough resort, a painstaking parcel selection process and a precise oenology methodology which ensures only the best of the best make the cut.

The wines are then aged carefully in French oak in order to add extra weight and depth, giving them an extra dimension to the other little Beaty vintages.

Here is a video of Fleur McCree talking about her wines.

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