Le Petit Ballon Wine Subscription October 2017 – The Best of British

Le Petit Ballon Wine Subscription October 2017 – The Best of British

I’ve been enjoying my Le Petit Ballon wine subscription service for quite a few months now and it’s just as exciting every month. It’s lots of fun trying new surprise wines every month and, of course, it’s very convenient that they arrive delivered to your doorstep!

You can find my previous reviews of Le Petit Ballon boxes here.

The service works like this:

• Every month you receive two bottles of wine carefully selected to match the profile that you’ve provided by taking a wine quiz when you sign up. The wines are chosen by expert Jean-Michel Deluc, former Sommelier Chef at The Ritz.
• There’s usually a theme for each month which is always fun!
• With your wine, you also get The Gazette magazine which is a little publication that tells you everything there is to know about wine without all the waffle!
• For each bottle, you get an information card with information about the wine and access to tasting advice and tips in the form of posts and videos.
• Your wine is delivered to your home which is very comfortable and can you imagine anything better arriving at your doorstep? No, me neither.
• There are two monthly subscription options: Grape Expectations (£24.90) with two great value wines or Age of Raisin (£39.90) with two prestigious labels for connoisseurs
• You can pause or cancel your subscription at any time.
• You can also enjoy 20% off the range to stock up your wine cellar if you wish to buy more.

My subscription is set to contain wines of any colour per my preferences after taking a quiz when signing up. The October box had a red wine and a white wine which is perfect as I love trying both types.

Let’s start with the red one which was a Château des Annereaux L’Âne Mort Bordeaux 2016. It’s an organic wine that is strong and rich but fresh and young too. It’s very fruity and vibrant and a spicy at the same time. It’s got a dark ruby, almost purple, colour and the texture is very pleasant. It’s got an alcohol content of 14.5% which is a bit stronger than most wines but it’s still not overpowering and a joy to drink, especially after a bit of airing. Great with a cheese board!

The white one was a Marianne Wine Estate Makena 2017 from South Africa. I’m really enjoying sampling white wines at the moment as I usually go for reds when buying wine in store or out in pubs or restaurants. I’m loving discovering the world of white wines and Le Petit Ballon are definitely helping me to try new ones! This one is very fruity and fresh, but also quite powerful for a white wine which is interesting.

The floral, honey and citrus flavours might make you think it’s too summery for this season but it’s not. It works very well now too and is delicious with vegetable meals and goat’s cheese.