The Association of Small Direct Wine Merchants

A new company, we recently began to import wines from small quality focussed producers in the South of France. Currently working with twelve domains, our philosophy is to find winemakers who really try to get the best from their vines. We are currently the only company who imports wine from these domains into the UK.

The Wines

The wines on our list reflect the great diversity of wine produced in the region: red wines from the traditional Syrah and Grenache dominated blends of the Pic Saint Loup, to varietal wines made from the well known international varieties like Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon; great white wines, perhaps Languedoc's best kept secret, from pure Chardonnay and Viognier, to blends of Roussanne, Marsanne, Grenache Blanc and more, all with a lovely freshness, complexity and balance.; rosés that are intensely fruity or more serious and fantastic with (summer) food. The one thing all our wines offer is great value for money, we are convinced that wines of this quality would cost much more if they came from more fashionable regions.

The Domains

The range of producers we work with have been carefully selected, as some of the best in the region. They are all small, or even tiny, and they all focus on careful production of wines that represent the place they come from. All of the producers use as little chemicals as possible on their vines and in the cellar, with several adopting organic principles, and others going even further by growing vines and making wines according to biodynamic principles. The domains were identified through significant amounts of research, tasting and talking while Ian Webb, our director, was spending 12 months working at L'Ermitage du Pic Saint Loup, an outstanding wine producer to the north of Montpellier.

Our Passion

We have been passionate about wine for many years, and having spent much time visiting wine producing regions, attending tastings, and drinking a great range of wines, in 2004 Ian gave up work, he was a systems engineer, and returned to University to study Wine and French. Four years later he graduated as one of only two people in the UK with this degree, this, his WSET Diploma, and a desire not to go back to engineering lead to him deciding to launch Aldeby Wines on the UK wine scene. The focus of the company on wines from Languedoc and the South of France is also easy to explain - 25 years visiting the region and twelve months working there - a love of the place - the warmth of the people - the discovery of a large number of passionate, committed winemakers making lovely wines - need we say more!

We Love to Talk

We are always happy to talk about wine, so please feel free to contact us on 0116 274 2980 or through the web site. Should you not be particularly interested in our wines, we would still like to hear from you - we are convinced that we will be able to persuade you that these great wines are worth investigating. We are happy to arrange tastings for clubs, associations or groups of friends, at any level from "An Introduction to Wine and Wine Tasting" to hardcore "Wine Geek" tastings - just give us a call.