We’ve always been proud to post our manager’s personal recommendations online but this summer we’re going one step further with a wine that was actually made with the help of a Majestic manager.

In 2006, 6 Majestic staff went on a trip to Australia and visited Mount Langi Ghiran, the prestigious winery in Victoria. As part of the experience, they had a go at making a blend with the help of winemaker Dan Buckle, and as a bit of fun they had a competition to find the best blend. After a day in the cellar and lab, Gavin Peterson, manager of our Epsom store, came out on top.

A bit of fun maybe, but the wine itself is serious stuff – the fruit is sourced from vineyards that would normally produce Mount Langi’s Cliff Edge Shiraz. In fact, it is sufficiently impressive that the winemaking team and our Australian Buyer, Matt Pym, agreed to bottle a limited edition of 600 cases of the Manager’s Blend, which has recently arrived in-store.

I tasted it alongside the “regular” Cliff Edge and was seriously impressed – it’s a younger wine (from the 2006 vintage) so you’d expect it to be fresher and more focused, but there’s a lovely glossiness to the fruit and really nice structure. Gavin’s a popular guy and this wine is likely to be very popular with Majestic staff, so hurry down to your local store and beat them to it.