From DECANTER

June 2004
by Andrew Jefford
ANDREW JEFFORD MEETS RICHARD AND JOHNNY WHEELER - WHEELERS' CHOICE

"What, I asked the Wheelers, did they most deplore in the modern wine world? 'The development of mass-market brands and marketing said, 'said Johnny. 'All that clever advertising and marketing of very ordinary wine. We absolutely put quality first; that is the fundamental value for us.'

Fair enough, I thought. But could they prove it - with just two wines, a red and a white, out of the many hundreds on the Lay & Wheeler list? Johnny was forbidden from choosing Champagne Michel Guilleminot (into whose family he has married), and Richard was forbidden from choosing anything from Fromm's Clayvin Vineyard, owing to his part- time employment there as chief bird-scarer. But both in the end chose one wine each from France and New Zealand.

Richard's white choice was the 2003 Staete Landt Sauvignon Blanc(10.45) and his red the 2001 Crozes-Hermitage from Alain Graillot(10.95). Johnny reversed the colour scheme by choosing the 2002 Macon la Roche Vineuse Vieilles Vignes from Verget(11.95) as his white, while his red was the 2002 Quartz Reef Pinot Noir(19.95)