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    Buying decisions from trend setting trade and The Buyer tastings

    Tasting: Wine
    Boutinot

    Why we were so impressed with the wines on show at the Boutinot tasting

    Greater Manchester’s Boutinot Wines has come up with a winning formula, argues Sarah McCleery fresh from the importer’s London annual tasting. The range includes an above average number of keenly priced wines, with a clear knack for identifying people and places that delivery quality and interest at sensible prices, plus the team itself were really clued  up with with a passion for their products.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Enotria&Coe Annual Tasting 2024 Long Read

    12 on-trend producers shining at Enotria&Coe’s Annual Tasting

    Ugandan rum, AI-generated wine, Coppola’s debut, ‘SuperRomans’ and terroir-obsessed wines from Spain, Lebanon, Greece and New Zealand, Enotria&Coe’s Annual Tasting 2024 seemed to have it all – alongside all its major brands, of course. Peter Dean tasted round the 146 producers, focussing on 12 producers that are new, had exciting new products or were so on-trend they had to have a mention.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Armit

    10 best wines that set the Armit 2024 portfolio tasting alight

    Picking your 10 favourite wines is always a tough call, but when it is from the many hundreds of jewels that sit in the crown of Armit Wine’s 2024 portfolio it is an almost impossible brief. But this was the task we set Justin Keay – to find his favourite wines for working in premium on-trade. Of course, Sassicaia 2021 made the final cut but what of the others? And how many of them were going to come from Armit’s considerable Italian range?

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    Tasting: Wine
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    How Alliance found the key to building a list at its 40th tasting 

    As Alliance Wine celebrates its 40th year, its 2024 portfolio tastings were a perfect opportunity for its producers and clients alike to mark the journey so far. We sent The Buyer’s Mike Turner along to the London tasting to discover the good and the great of the wines on show, and report back on which wines deserve a place on your wine list.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Koshu

    Why now is the ripe time for Koshu wines in the UK

    A positive reception was given to Koshu of Japan (KOJ) as it held its 15th annual trade tasting at 67 Pall Mall in London last month, with ten Japanese producers showcasing their Koshu wines. Leona De Pasquale caught up with producers, UK importers, and Isa Bal MS to discuss the opportunities and challenges for Koshu wines in the UK and why the on-trade should be enthusiastic about Japan’s signature wine grape variety.

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    Tasting: Wine
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    Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 2015 rosé and its still wine belief

    The team behind the launch of new Champagne Veuve Clicquot Grande Dame 2015 rosé believes so much in its quality and structure that they like to decant the wine and serve it in a Burgundy glass so that the bubbles dissipate. Beyond this, this philosophy could be an indication of where Champagne could be headed as a category, as Victor Smart discovered at its UK launch which was accompanied by an eight-course dinner prepared by chef Sally Abé.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Chateau Pedesclaux

    How Cabern-isation is restoring Château Pédesclaux’s true status

    In 2008 , in a blind tasting, Decanter Magazine rated the 2005 vintage of Château Pédesclaux above the wines of Lafite and Latour. A fifth growth and a near neighbour of Mouton Rothschild, the estate has always had massive potential and was always ripe for restoring to former glories. This it duly has been under the guidance of French-Swiss property tycoon Jacky Lorenzetti, who has completely overhauled the vineyards, built a new state-of-the-art winery and changed the style of the wine with a move it calls Cabern-isation. Peter Dean tastes nine vintages of Pédesclaux, picks out a couple of winners and hears from the team how the estate is getting future-proofed for the years ahead.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Bibendum

    Bibendum tasting showcases breakthrough wines by the glass

    Bibendum’s themed tasting events continued last week with Through the Looking Glass, a comprehensive tasting that developed the theme that to flourish and evolve the on-trade must encourage people to try something new, especially by-the-glass which it sees as key to sales. Justin Keay found plenty of wines that that had Drink Me written all over them as he followed the white rabbit down the rabbit hole.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Louis Latour Agencies

    Which were the standout wines at Louis Latour Agencies tasting?

    With three tables devoted to Fine Wines, Value Wines and Wines Outside Burgundy, Maison Louis Latour naturally was a major focus at the Louis Latour Agencies portfolio tasting. But with ‘newcomer’ Château Sainte Roseline joining the likes of Banfi, McHenry Hohnen, Viu Manent, Gosset and Frapin, Kate Hawkings found plenty to enjoy from all around the globe. Here she talks to LLA’s chief Will Oatley and picks out 10 of the best that stood out on the day.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Disznókö

    Disznókö: how to get real creative with Furmint food-matching

    In the run up to this month’s Furmint February tasting in London, the team from Disznókö was in town to run a portfolio tasting with a difference. As well as a journey through the varied tastes and styles produced by this famed Tokaj house, the event was a chance to pair a selection of surprising dishes with each of these fabulous wines. We sent The Buyer’s Mike Turner along to find out more.

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    Tasting
    Willm - vignoble 2

    IWSC’s judging team pick the best of the best from Alsace

    “There are Crémants for your celebrations, easy-drinking wines for relaxed occasions and potent, structured wines for pairing with celebratory meals and, of course, there are the terroir wines sourced from Grand Cru vineyards.” That’s the diversity that Alsace can offer which the IWSC hoped to highlight in a special tasting, held in the region and co-hosted with the Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins d’Alsace (CIVA). Part of the judging team was Natasha Hughes MW who shares her highlights from the event. 

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    Tasting: Wine
    Credit.NZW.Inc.Matawhero

    New Zealand Wine’s premium status presented at 2024 tasting

    Earlier this month, on Waitangi Day no less, New Zealand Wine put on its annual trade tasting at Lindley Hall in London’s Victoria. Attended by a host of UK importers and smattering of brave, well-travelled Kiwi winemakers, the tasting was an opportunity to not only try the new vintages and styles produced in these glorious islands, but also a chance to dive deep into the recent performance of New Zealand wines across the globe. We sent The Buyer’s Mike Turner along to discover more.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Fells

    Roger Jones picks his best wines at Fells’ 2024 portfolio tasting

    Always a key date in the diary, last week saw the annual portfolio tasting of Fells which was held this year at IET Savoy Place, with its tall ceilings and huge windows making it an ideal tasting venue. Ex-restaurateur and wine critic Roger Jones attended for The Buyer and picks out his many highlights from the likes of Wiston Estate, Yangarra, Chateau Musar, Famille Hugel, Guigal, Barone Ricasoli, Symington Family Wines, Familia Torres, Vasse Felix and Seifried from New Zealand.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Cork & Fork

    Enotria’s Cork & Fork: matching 4 Italian producers with 4 cuisines

    In order to demonstrate how premium wines work with a range of different cuisines, Enotria&Coe has launched Cork & Fork a series of one-day immersive events where four sets of buyers rotate around four restaurants to learn more about food pairing and the wines themselves. Cork & Fork is one part of an ambitious programme of events this year that Enotria&Coe is running to help market key areas of the portfolio, particularly its Italian and Spanish producers, and to focus on producers’ shift toward lighter styles and more moderate alcohol levels. The Buyer’s Victor Smart joined the first gastronomic jaunt in London’s West End.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Hallgarten & Novum Long Read

    New faces and wines at new look Hallgarten & Novum tasting

    Although it is still early days for Hallgarten & Novum under the new ownership of Coterie Holdings, what was glaringly obvious at last week’s two-day portfolio tasting was how many new wine estates have been welcomed into the fold, and how many new wines were being shown for the first time. Vietti, Pelissero, Sylvain Debord and Ropiteau Frères were some of the new European producers while Leewuinkuil, Brown Brothers and Darren Rathbone’s three Australian wineries (including Yering Station) were some of the New World producers out of the 26 new agencies. The Buyer’s Peter Dean talked to the ‘new kids on the block’, tasted the wines and also highlighted some other new cuvées that caught his eye.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Business France VIN 2024

    Top six French wine discoveries from ‘one-stop-shop’ VIN 2024

    French wine trade tasting, VIN 2024, returned to London earlier this month hosted as usual by Business France. Exhibitors included 39 producers seeking distribution and four importers looking to attract a host of sommeliers, retail buyers and consultants to the quality of the wines on show. We sent The Buyer’s Mike Turner along to understand why this means so much for the producers involved, and which producers really shone through on the day.

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    Tasting: Wine
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    Marc Kent: Boekenhoutskloof ’21 is a wine with a spring in its step

    The wines of Boekenhoutskloof are some of South Africa’s finest and best value on the market. From the same team responsible for the phenomenon that is The Chocolate Block and also top-end Côte-Rôtie lookalike Porseleinberg, the Boekenhoutskloof Semillon, Syrah and two Cabernet Sauvignons from Marc Kent and his team are good when young but sensational with age – wines that once bought will be on repeat allocation. Abbie Bennington caught up with Kent at London’s Spring restaurant to hear how the spring-like conditions at harvest have helped turn in wines that are as magnificent as those made in 2015 and 2017.

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    Tasting
    borsa vini italy 2

    Borsa Vini Italiani Dublin brings best of Italy & Ireland together

    No matter how good a country’s wines are and how prepared its producers are to do business in any given market, they will only succeed if busy buyers are prepared to give their time and attention to taste, analyse and potentially put some wines on their list. If that was the target of the Borsa Vini Italiani Dublin tasting then it was a great success, at least in terms of getting a large proportion of the country’s senior buyers to attend. One of Ireland’s senior and most respected wine writers, Martin Moran MW, was also there for The Buyer to assess the opportunities for the Borsa Vini producers in Ireland.    

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    Tasting: Wine
    Orma

    How Super Tuscan Orma hopes to leave its footprint on Bolgheri

    Situated in the heart of the Bolgheri DOC appellation with Ornellaia to the right and Sassiscaia to the left, Orma is a 5.5ha estate that has ambitions to leave an indelible mark on winemaking in the region. Run by the Moretti Cuseri family which owns Tenuta Sette Ponti, amongst others, Orma was in London to show off the latest 2021 vintage alongside museum wines to show how the wine ages and is a good match for hearty Italian cuisine.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Best of Rioja

    Showcasing Best of Rioja at Tim Atkin MW’s breakthrough event

    Tim Atkin MW’s The Best of Rioja tasting in London last week delivered the very finest of fine wines to enraptured city mouths without missing a beat. Terroir-focused beauties dominated the proceedings with whites making an indelible mark on Lisse Garnett and the many educated savvy consumers she met. This was a far cry from the “Rioja is in crisis” headlines that have been regularly appearing in the wine press of late – with splits within the regulatory council, high profile bankruptcies, overstocks and poor grape prices all causing turbulence in the region.

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    Instataste

    Tasting with pictures View All
  • Social Slider

    • Trying to understand the attitudes to alcohol and drinking behaviour of  #GenZ  and  #Millennials  is the big conundrum for the drinks industry. But that is what a new study by  @carter .felicity  @ericaduecy  & Roger Brooks hopes to uncover. Here are the key findings on  @thebuyer11  https://www.the-buyer.net/insight/what-gen-z-and-millennials-think-about-beers-wines-and-spirits/  #wine   #beer   #spirits   #drinking  Link in bio.
    • Great visit yesterday to meet Susanna Busi Jacobson and Douglas Jacobson who own a family-run, single vineyard estate in the High Weald of East Sussex.  @busijacobsohn  makes 4 sublime English sparkling wines from Burgundian clones of the three main Champagne grapes - gastronomic, low dosage, all with a bright, pure style.
    • Classic Ribolla Gialla made in a hands-off style – letting the grape really express itself. The wine has that baked apple in the foreground with tangerine and a bit of fresh thyme, in the mouth it’s medium weight, broad shouldered, lots of depth and flavour with decent acidity but fine balance. This is great for people who like this style of Italian white wine but want it with a bit of difference and attitude. Don’t think it’s a natural wine but it leans that way – the flavours are pure and clean. I liked it. A ‘labour of love Wine’ – one of two – made by Ukraine’s former head sommelier now at Corrigan’s Mayfair. You can find it in this restaurant or through Propeller Wine.
    • A new complex white from Lebanon wine producer IXSIR using local white grape Obeidy with Muscat and Viognier (roughly a third of each). Very light yellow gold, the aromas are fascinating and pretty – floral, grassy, ripe orchard fruit, brine – in the mouth the wine is fresh, generous, a slight oily character, with ripe juicy fruit, and a pleasing bitter orange/ grapefruit pith note on the finish, dry stone texture also. I liked it. Some of IXSIR’s vines sit at 1,800m which they claim to be the highest in the Northern hemisphere (sounds about right!). They also pride themselves on the low carbon footprint of their wines – their underground winery is truly spectacular.
    • First release of this ultra-premium 100% Sangiovese from a relative newcomer in Brunello, Poggio Antico, that is just one of two producers distributed by La Place in Bordeaux. The grapes hail from a 550m+ single hilltop vineyard, with three different vinifications in tulip-shaped concrete tanks for the fruit grown on the distinctly different soil types. The winemaking is low intervention with gentle extraction after five weeks skin contact. The wine is then aged for two years in a mix of 25hl casks and Austrian oak, then it goes back into concrete for six months, bottled and released in April 2024. There’s a beautifully restrained power here – it feels like it’s getting ready to unfurl with time. It is clearly still very young – approachable nonetheless – it has a fabulously vibrant, powerful, intense nose, both complex and inviting. You find red cherries, freshly picked and made into cherry pie,
    • Very classy ‘grower Champagne’ a Brut NV rosé that has no Pinot Noir in it – only 88% Chardonnay and 12% Pinot Meunier, made as a red wine. It’s one of four wines in the Terre d’Emotion series – each terroir-focussed and hugely impressive – I urge you to seek them out. Pale salmon pink with saffron golden highlights, fine bead; Expressive nose with some complexity mixing ripe, red berry fruits and blood orange, raspberry tart; lovely fresh attack, mineral-charged, pure and lively; I get fleshy raspberry and crunchy rhubarb with a beautifully crisp and precise finish. The 6.5 g/l dosage is just right – giving a balanced wine that is fruity but beautifully elegant. With a full body and refreshing freshness it makes a great aperitif. Charpentier is a new producer to me – one that is based in Charly-sur-Marne and is fully organic after having started practising biodynamics
    • An attractive halfway house between Old and New World Pinot – between ripe, lush Russian River Valley fruit and a more unpolished, rustic expression. Sensitive farming, whole cluster and wild yeasts give the wine a real connection to the terroir – ripe black raspberries, creme de mure, red liquorice, nice and earthy, with a lifted herbal quality. The wine is medium bodied, the palate warm, welcoming, fine-grained ripe tannins, a rasp of acidity and with a good degree of complexity for 20 year-old vines. The £70 RRP will put some off I fear, but it’s a name to keep an eye on.
    • Good to see Chianti Classico being made in a contemporary, easy-to-drink style. This, the second vintage of this early drinking 100% Sangiovese, is a winner. Made from young vines (planted in 2019), with only one year maturation and minimal wood contact it is fresh, pure and quite frankly gluggable. Pale purple, you pick up red and blue fruit on the nose, drying Mediterranean herbs; in the mouth the wine is fresh, light with wild sour cherries, crunchy blue fruit and keen acidity. It calls out for food – a hearty sugo or wild boar stew – it does need a bit of balance.
    • Toku or ‘Toku – Superior premium Junmai Daiginjo Sake of Hokkaido’ to give it its unexpurgated title – really does have a sublime purity, one that is immediately apparent as soon as it enters your mouth. The nose is subtle as you might expect with distant notes of dried white petals, honeydew melon, a suggestion of musk. In the mouth you get a sensation of fresh snowmelt (disarmingly light on its feet) with lychee, white peach, white melon, a hint of marzipan and that familiar undertow of pure sake spirit, which then flatlines on the palate and ‘finishes’ like an eternal piano note – the length is insane – with a ‘playful’ lift of fruitiness – white peach and lychee again. Toku builds textually, subtly, starting off with a viscous, oiliness then seems to get fresher and lighter in the mouth, ending on a chalky note. It really goes on
    • To mark today’s  #pinotnoirday  we raise a glass with a lovely ripe, textured, full of freshness and acidity Emma Pinot Noir from  @creationwines . That beautifully captures the unique growing conditions of South Africa’s Hemel-en-Aarde wine region flanked by fynbos-clad mountains and a wine that shows the cooling influence of the breezes from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Perfect end to the week and a wine that also encapsulates the huge strides taking place in South Africa to make benchmark wines from classic grape varieties like Pinot Noir.  #creationwines   #pinot   @wosa_za   @carolyn_creationwines 
    • Super Tuscan Bordeaux blend that offers a lot of bang for your buck at a considerably lower price tag. Big and fruity, super soft tannins, but with great balance achieved through the freshness of the acidity. Tenuta Prima Pietra is situated 450m up on volcanic, quartz-lined soils – the highest vineyard plot on the Tuscan coast. The terroir with its cooling sea breeze is evident particularly in the wine’s fresh, tight finish. A blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, the wine sees 18 months in 50% new French oak with the varieties vinified separately for the first 10 months and then the final 8 after blending. Mulberry fruit, blackberry jelly dominate the fruity nose, in the mouth the wine is generous, concentrated red and black fruit, lambs blood, fine-grained and soft tannins - a cranberry crunch evens things out with a pleasant grip on the finish.
    • Crisp, fresh and bright as a lemon. Very happy to raise a glass to  #worldverdejoday  Spain’s most popular white grape variety and pretty in demand in the UK too. Verdejo’s home is in DO  #Rueda  in northern Spain and it really comes into its own in the hot summer months. So ideally timed for - cross fingers - a balmy weekend. If want to find out more go to doRueda.com and follow  #tasterueda  to find out where you can yourself a bottle or two. Cheers!  #wine   #winetasting   #spanishwine   #spain   #whitewine   #tasterueda   @charlotte .l.hey
    • Debut vintage for this first white wine from one of the most iconic wineries on the Douro. Fruit is grown on the Levante vineyard which is the highest East-facing plot so just gets the morning sun. The wine is a mix of Arinto and Viosinho fruit, vinified in a mix of French oak and steel vats and then both varieties aged in barrel; apart from Boavista winemaker Carla Tiago, there is an oenology credit also to Jean-Claude Berrouet (Petrus). To look at the wine is pale straw yellow with green highlights; from the first aromas out of the glass it is clear this is a serious wine, with herbal notes to the fore, merged with apple and pear; on the palate the wine is vinous, textured and gastronomic, a citric grip and lovely presence in the mouth. Although the abv is a modest 13% abv, there is decent heat on
    • Waving the flag for the UK at  #Eurovision  with this bright, zingy, ultra fresh, slightly tart and very dry English dry Rosé from  #Folc   @drink .folc who have been championing premium English Rosé for the last five years thanks to its founders,  @elisha_folc  and Tom Cannon. This 2022 vintage is packed with acidity, flies around the palate and is a very welcome difference to the homogeneous, fruity Provence roses that dominate the category. Its a blend of nine grape varieties: all sourced from family-run vineyards in Kent, East and West Sussex, and Suffolk, including Pinot Meunier, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Precoce, Bacchus, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, and small amounts of Ortega, Rondo and Reichensteiner. The Cannons are also keen to make a sustainable wine and the new Folc’s bottle is made from 100% recycled glass and claims to have a 42% lower carbon footprint than non-recycled glass, with all its packaging also
    • From one Coronation to another. Thanks to  @chateausiran  for opening this bottle at lunch yesterday to toast Queen and future King. The wine was almost past its tertiary stage - everything you might expect from a 70 yo Claret - but the acidity was still there rock solid.
    • Bright, crisp, dark fruits, plums,crunchy on the palate, nice fresh acidity and a wine that can work with a myriad of dishes and going to work well with Easter Sunday Roast Lamb. Good example of what Cotes du  #roussillonvillage  AOP can do named after an indigenous flower that apparently retains its structure and colour long after picking. All of which also comes through from this old vine wine made from a blend of century-old Syrah, Mourvèdre Grenache & Carignan. Hides its chunky 14.5% abv very well. Made by  @liamsteevenson  MW and  @balthazarphwine  Benoit Bousquet using traditional winemaking skills to bring out rustic Roussillon for  #Bousquet &Fils  @immortellewines   @vineyard_productions   #wine   #frenchwine   #sommeliers   #winetasting  RS
    • Austria is in a very good place right now viticulturally – there’s an energy here and a wisdom about the best way to do things – for the wines but also the long-term health of the soil. There’s also real dynamism about grape varieties used – brilliant Grüner, Riesling and Blaunfränkisch of course, but also many more besides like this stunning Pinot Blanc from a quality-driven family of 5th-generation winemakers. All their wines are good but special mention goes to their Pinot Blancs of which there are three, the “Alte Reben” coming from 90 year old vines, the fruit rests for three days on skins and is part vinified in large oak and amphora. Greenish-yellow, ripe and rich with Williams pear, orange zest, green tea – plenty of power here but finesse and balance at the same time. Outstanding.
    • One of only 10 Masters of Wine actually making wine and the only one in South Africa, Richard Kershaw is fastidious about individual clones and vineyard plots. This outstanding Clonal Selection Chardonnay is a case in point – with fruit sourced from four clones in 11 sites with each batch vinified separately. He's making wine in Elgin whose cool climate gives great natural acidity to ‘tip the needle’ towards Burgundy. This is clean, precise, elegant with a refreshing 13.5% ABV and white fruit profile, teamed up with a mineral charge that keeps perfect balance. There is decent breadth – it’s not lean – and I liked it a lot.
    • There’s not many times in your life when you utter the words “The Romanée-Conti please” as the sommelier pours you a sample. The 2020 is an extraordinary wine that expresses itself as the most perfect manifestation of a Pinot Noir that is possible to make - impressive given how hot the vintage was (Burgundy’s hottest ever). Massive, beautiful power with an effortless confidence – fresh, vinous, pure, complex, rounded, delicate, layered, savoury – a mass of beautiful contradictions that meet with utter harmony and balance in your mouth. “Everything is perfect” my notes say – both as a descriptor of the wine and a state of mind. The Nadia Comāneci of Pinot.
    • Intense, inky dark (largely) Bordeaux blend from Bolgheri DOC that delivers good power and VFM. With 50% Merlot you expect fruit and the wine delivers ripe, black damsons and blackcurrant by the spade but with 30% Cab Sav and equal measures Petit Verdot and Syrah you also get a wonderful complexity and layers. The nose has tobacco, balsamic, bitter chocolate, while the initially warm, open palate has a tension and texture and a young (slightly green) tannic grip which manages to balance the wine well – there is a freshness which belies its 14.5% ABV. Intense yes, concentrated yes but also well put together – with or without food.