FAQ
What's with the name?
Iron & Rose? (The following comes with a mild “wine-speak” warning.) Well, people often pick up a hint of iron when they taste a Barolo, the famous wine of North East Italy and one of my favourites, and a smell which reminds them of roses.
Often worked on a very small scale, the wines are wonderfully varied from vineyard to vineyard, year to year, and grower to grower. They can be truly beguiling, scented wines which have fantastic tension between power and elegance.
Certifications?
Not all of what we sell is certified organic, biodynamic or whatever even though it might be produced that way. Just as not everything that isn’t certified as Fair Trade is unfairly traded.
There are many reasons why a producer might not get certified. Cost is one. But for a lot it can come down to ideals. For example the 2012 EU legislation actually allows for a lot more non-organic additives to be used in the winery (added tannin, gum arabic, gelatin and yeasts for example) than many producers want to use and many feel that undermines the whole system. Also many of the most interesting producers are challenging one set of rules so why join a club promoting another?
The Demon Drink
Far be it from us to tell you how much wine you should or shouldn’t drink but we believe in moderation in everything (including moderation) and think it makes sense to use those weekly units wisely. So buy a good bottle, enjoy it responsibly and make them count.
Because Duty, the tax on alcohol, is a fixed amount in the UK and the cost of shipping and packaging don’t vary that much either, when you spend more on a bottle of wine, more of your money goes on what is in the bottle and a lower proportion goes on tax, transport, glass and cardboard.