Welcome to BOTTL

Our brand new site is here! Now it is even easier to find the wine you love. 

At BOTTL our aim is to make the process of wine buying simple; the understanding of wine terminology easy; and the drinking of wine incredibly enjoyable. We believe we can do this, not by telling you what you should drink, but by helping you choose what you drink, all the joys of your local wine shop at your fingertips, giving you the tools to get to the wine you love, without the dread of our presence breathing down your neck to make a decision. 

So how does it work? There are three subscriptions you can choose from. They are each designed for a different type of drinker. Some of us love to choose our own wine, some love a quicker fix (just send me the wine already!) and others want to be led by the wine aficionados (that’s Matt and I when it comes to BOTTL). So quite naturally we have a Choose Your Own subscription allowing you to select colours and styles you wish to fill your box with and then browse at your heart’s content. We have Spin the Bottl for those wanting a quick fix and a budget specific random selection of our entire list. And finally we have What We’re Drinking where we choose the six wines in your BOTTL box based on what we are sipping at that time of year – the only choice here is whether you want it with fizz or without.

We also have a whole page dedicated to telling you every detailed step right here. And we’ve made a handy video here too!

After all this you might be wondering why you should trust this start up wine subscription service rather than the tried and tested giants such as Majestic, Naked, Virgin and Laithwaites. Firstly, they all started somewhere but secondly and most importantly, we’re not here trying to reinvent the wine wheel or tell you what to drink but just make it better and more tailored to you. To Drink Differently with BOTTL means to have a simplified choice rather than a never-ending wall of wine, top quality wines to choose from rather than hit and miss mass produced juice, unbeatable flexibility allowing you to choose how often your box is delivered rather than an arbitrary monthly subscription and finally to build your confidence in wine through simple terminology of style: FRESH. JUICY. RICH and quality: GOOD. GREAT. SUPERB. SENSATIONAL. We also have handy BOTTL Labels stuck to each bottle telling you all the key facts about the wine, what to pair it with and whether its a GOOD, GREAT, SUPERB or SENSATIONAL wine so you know when and who to open it with!

We’re the founders and you can check out our credentials as your new suppliers of wine here. We might not be masters of wine in the official sense but we feel we have pretty good palates so we take pride in curating a small but wide ranging list. Of course, you’ll just have to get cracking and start your subscription to be the judge! Remember to use code BOTTL20 for 20% off your first box.

Cheers,

Phil and Matt.

BOTTL’s aim is to make wine a healthy part of your lifestyle. Healthy?! Surely wine is the opposite. Well of course anything with alcohol content has to be drunk in moderation but remember, wine, when made well, is a beautiful expression of the best nature has to offer. With the abundance of cheap wine on the supermarket shelves which cannot easily be tracked to a vineyard, winemaker or farmer, it is easy to see wine as a drink that gets you drunk but we hope BOTTL can change that perspective and part of how we want to do that is through our wine tips.

This space is a chance for us to share with you the terminology, philosophy and stories behind the bottles. We will keep it brief and straightforward, we’re not here to pontificate on wine for our amusement but instead redefine the way we talk about wine, unlock the processes that make the wine taste the way it does, help you feel confident pairing, discussing and recommending rather than nervously retreating to the old faithfuls: ‘Malbec’ or ‘Sauvignon’ please! Nothing wrong with those grapes of course, but there’s so much more out there to explore and we want to share it with you, in typical BOTTL style: concise, direct and overwhelmingly enjoyable.

Wine shouldn’t simply be an afterthought in the supermarket aisle or a blurry hangover the day after. BOTTL: It’s wine, without the headache. And where you can learn as much or as little about wine as you wish.

If you have anything you want explained or written about then get in touch at hello@bottlwine.co.uk and we’ll write a blog post about it.

Here’s to drinking differently!

Phil and Matt.

A classic Japanese-fusion dish but instead of the traditional pork or chicken I’ve decided to give it a whirl with aubergine discs making this meal 100% vegetarian whilst keeping 100% of the flavour. Aubergine, in my opinion, is the perfect candidate to stand in the place of meat – especially when fried. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

Suggested Wine pairing

Loimer Riesling

INGREDIENTS

Fried aubergine

2 Aubergines

Breadcrumbs (I blitzed up old sourdough) – 100g

Plain flour – 2 tbsp

Water

Salt & Pepper

Quick-pickled sesame cucumbers

1 cucumber – sliced into 1cm semicircles

Sesame seeds – 1 handful

Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

Rice vinegar – 1 tbsp

Salt – 1 tbsp

Sugar – 1/2 tsp

Chilli flakes – sprinkle

Sticky rice

Japanese Sushi rice – 320g

Mirin or Rice vinegar – glug

Katsu sauce

1 onion – finely chopped

1 carrot – finely chopped

2 garlic cloves – minced

Ginger – 1 inch minced

Fresh coriander bunch (stalks and all) – finely chopped

Garam masala – 1 tsp

Turmeric powder – 1 tsp

Chilli powder – 1/2 tsp

Curry powder – 1 tsp

Coriander powder – 1/2 tsp

Sesame oil – glug

Flour – 2 Tbsp

800ml veg stock

Mirabelle plum jam – 2 tbsp

METHOD

1.

Preheat oven to 180C – fan-assisted oven.

2.

Measure out your rice and wash in a bowl of water, rinse and repeat until the water is clear. then allow the rice to soak for a minimum of 15 minutes in fresh water. This ensures the rice cooks evenly.

3.

In a bowl combine plain flour, salt and pepper with some water until you get a runny paste. Slice the aubergines into 2cm thick discs, dunk in the paste and then dunk in the bread crumbs and in a heavy based pan fry in some olive oil until lightly golden on both sides. Do this in batches then place the aubergine discs on a baking tray, pop in the oven and cook for 10-15mins.

4.

Whilst the aubergine is cooking away, in a saucepan on a medium heat fry the onion, carrot, garlic and ginger in the sesame oil until soft, then add the fresh coriander and all of the powders and cook until caramelised. Now add the plain flour and mix until a paste forms and then add the veg stock and jam and gently whisk together, cover and simmer on a low heat until the sauce has combined.

5.

Add the washed rice to 450ml fresh cold water and bring to the boil. Then simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes with the lid on. Turn off the heat, add a generous glug of Mirin or rice vinegar and leave to stand for 10 minutes with the lid on before serving.

6.

For the quick-pickled cucumbers combine the cucumber semicircles with the soy sauce, rice vinegar, salt and sesame seeds. Gently scrunch the cucumbers in your hand so that they break down ever so slightly. Sprinkle with chilli flakes to garnish.