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    Tasting: Wine
    Ribera del Duero wines Long Read

    Wines with real altitude – testing 26 new Ribera del Duero wines

    Ribera del Duero has long been a Spanish wine region known for producing some of the world’s finest red wines – powerful wines that are big in flavour, yet fresh and balanced in the glass. The magic ingredient is the altitude of the region with vineyards here some of the highest in Europe outside Switzerland. As white wines and rosados are on the increase so are the number of wineries themselves – growing from eight to 318 over the past 40 years. As a preview to a major Ribera del Duero tasting event in London on November 14, Peter Dean takes an in-depth look at 26 new wines from top-scoring wineries – all unrepresented in the UK – showing a range of styles and the high level of quality that can be found in the region.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Chacayes

    Chacayes shows Francois Lurton as a winemaker ahead of his time

    When Bordeaux’s François Lurton planted vines in the semi-desert foothills of the Andes Cordillera, at an altitude of 1100m there were many people questioning his wisdom. But when people tried his red blend Chacayes, a wine that came from five year-old vines there, many followed his example, even establishing a new Geographical Indication of Los Chacayes – named after the wine. Over a lengthy dinner in London Lurton regales tale after tale about being born into Bordeaux ‘royalty’ and, through his Bodega Piedra Negra, putting ‘inhospitable’ areas of Argentina onto the map.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Bibendum Long Read

    Lisse Garnett: charmed by Bibendum’s South African wines

    Bibendum’s run of imaginatively curated trade tastings continued earlier in the month with Cape and Boot, an opportunity to sample a wide selection of its South African and Italian wines in a reasonably relaxed, albeit crowded, manner. Lisse Garnett threw herself headfirst into the scrum and sampled all she could, focusing particularly on South African white wines from the likes of Graham Beck, Creation, Ghost Corner, Stellenrust, Journey’s End, Shannon Vineyards and Springfield Estate. Here are the highlights.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Hatch Mansfield

    How green credentials shone at Hatch Mansfield portfolio tasting

    The legacy of Hatch Mansfield co-founder Philip Tuck MW was everywhere to be seen at this autumn’s portfolio tasting, not only in the diversity and quality of the portfolio but also in its focus on the winemakers’ ‘green approach’ to their craft. The Buyer’s Geoffrey Dean gets a feel of the key issues in the room and picks 10 wines that he would recommend for on-trade from the likes of Esporão, Cherubino, Kleine Zalze and Esk Valley.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Vouvray

    Versatile Vouvray’s perfect options for restaurant lists

    Vouvray is one of the most historic and highly prized wine regions in France, producing some of the highest quality Chenin Blancs money can buy. With a mixture of unique microclimates and soil structures, the appellation produces both famous sparkling wines as well as a range of still dry, semi-dry and sweet wines, full of character and flavour. We sent the Buyer’s Mike Turner to a recent Vouvray Supper Club in Hackney Wick’s uber cool, zero-waste Silo Restaurant to find out more about the region itself and test the wines’ renowned food pairing prowess.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Voyager Estate

    How Voyager Estate is going organic in Margaret River

    For Voyager Estate converting fully to organic viticulture has been a long time coming. 2023 is the first year of full conversion after almost 20 years since their first experiments began. Owner Alexandra Burt and new head winemaker Tim Shand have also been swimming against the tide – Margaret River in Western Australia, where they are based, has a small minority practising organic and biodynamic viticulture. So why the change? Are the wines better for it? And how do they taste? Heather Dougherty met up with Burt and Shand on a recent trip to London.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Salon 2013

    Didier Depond and the enduring appeal of new vintage Salon 2013

    Champagne Salon has recently unveiled its 44th vintage, the 2013, in the UK market through its long-standing agent, Corney & Barrow. This renowned Champagne house, which crafted only 37 vintages during the 20th century, with an average production of 60,000 bottles per release, enjoys a devoted following owing to its limited production. Despite this exclusivity, global demand continues to surge. Earlier this month, Leona De Pasquale met with Didier Depond, president of Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte, at Corney & Barrow’s London office to sample the latest releases and gather insights from Depond regarding the new vintage.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Gaja white wine

    How and why Gaja is investing in its white wine portfolio

    The Piedmont-based winery of Gaja has forged its worldwide reputation on its red wines but the white wines are not to be overlooked, argues Roger Jones who, in the company of Giovanni Gaja gets under the skin of Gaja white wines such as Gaia & Rey, Alteni di Brassica, Rossj-Bass and IDDA. We also hear about the work in the vineyard and the Alta Langa project which sees already-high vineyards being planted at even higher altitudes.

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    Tasting: Wine
    IMG_7347

    Moët has ‘mother of all launches’ for new Collection Impériale

    Back in the spring our Champagne specialist and ex-Michelin Star chef, Roger Jones, was invited for a weekend to Chateau de Saran, Moët’s unique chateau, to get the inside track on the launch of Collection Impérial Creation No 1, the Grand Marque’s major new launch into the ultra-premium Champagne market. Moët rarely invites people to Saran and, once inside, Jones could see why – this is a house which holds so many dreams and hidden stories, which Jones was keen to add to.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Collection Impériale

    Has Moët got timing right with premium Collection Impériale?

    Twenty years before Moët & Chandon’s 300th anniversary, the House is re-entering the ultra-premium game with Collection Impériale Création 1, a multi-vintage Brut Nature – the first in its history. In 2003 Moët did launch the £400 MC3, a failed attempt to trade toe-to-toe with other super cuvées, so what has it learned since then and what makes Collection Impériale different? Sommelier Mattia Scarpazza had an audience with cellar master Benoît Gouez at which he explains the thinking behind Collection Impériale and has an opportunity to taste the new wine.

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    Tasting: Spirit
    Toku Sake

    Perfect timing for Toku – the Sake that came in from the cold

    The news that Frog by Adam Handling has partnered up with Toku Sake this week, joining a growing list of premium on-trade accounts that are taking this new premium sake from Hokkaido, could not have been better timed. World Sake Day, which is being celebrated this weekend, is also the launch date for KANPAI, the UK’s first sake brewery which opens after its soft launch in London Bridge five days ago. Peter Dean talked with Toku’s newly-promoted COO Grace Hunt, tasted the liquid and wonders whether now is the time that the UK finally gets the premium sake bug.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines

    Highlights of Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines 2023

    Following the Australian rugby team’s humbling at the hands of the Welsh, it was a brave host at London’s Australia House last night that opened the door to Welsh ‘boi’ Roger Jones, still wearing his colours and a Cheshire cat-like grin from ear to ear – having hot-footed it from Lyon straight to the launch of Matthew Jukes 100 Best Australian Wines. This is one of Jones’ favourite nights of the year (when the Welsh aren’t playing) and here he explains why – picking out Jukes’ ability to award bouquets to entry level wines as much as ultra-premium.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Wines of Chile

    Wines of Chile tasting proved it’s a country to follow closely

    With little in-depth knowledge of the wines of Chile, Justin Keay went along to the country’s annual generic tasting with an open mind and a set of pre-conceptions. Were the wines going to be power houses made with international grape varieties and produced in staggeringly high volumes? Not a bit. What Keay discovered was a wine scene that is clearly evolving, focusing more on regionality, freshness and tilting away from the old dependence on Bordeaux varieties; although it can still produce these very well indeed, especially at the premium end.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Gosset Celebris 2012

    Roger Jones has a first taste of Gosset Celebris 2012

    The first taste of a new vintage of Celebris is always a big occasion and the launch of Gosset Celebris 2012 did not disappoint. Gosset chose Ekstedt at the Yard in London for imaginative food-pairing, contrasting the wine served straight from the bottle and also from carafe. Who better to taste and rate for The Buyer than Roger Jones, an expert in Champagne and sparkling wine and also a one-time Michelin Star chef himself who, bowled over so much by one sauce served with the fizz, declared it the best fish sauce he had ever tasted.

     

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    Tasting: Wine
    Portuguese Wines - Photo 4 - Mountainous Alentejo

    How best still Portuguese wines are continuing to rise to the top

    The UK’s fascination with wines from Portugal continues to rise. With exports to the UK already growing in the first half of 2023 by a confident 18% in volume and an impressive 44% in value, Portuguese wines are clearly showing their qualities and no longer stuck with the historic reputation of cheap and cheerful and made to a price point. We sent The Buyer’s Mike Turner to the Wines of Portugal tasting earlier this month in London to find out why so many are keen to add Portuguese wines to their shelves and wine lists.

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    Tasting: Wine
    2023 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction

    What wines to bid for at 2023 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction

    The 2023 Cape Winemakers Guild Auction that takes place on October 6, will be the 39th since the cream of the South African wine industry decided to club together and make special, one-off wines that showcase the depth and breadth of Cape wines to an international audience. To date the auctioned wines have become collectors treasures and have also showed up on the secondary auction scene. To give potential bidders the inside track on this year’s event, South African wine expert Roger Jones flew back from his Rugby World Cup antics to London to join CWG chair Gordon Newton Johnson and others for an exclusive tasting of 40 of this year’s top wines.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Borgo Maragliano

    How sparkling wine is coming of age in the foothills of Piemonte

    UK wine drinkers have a distinct thirst for the sparkling wines of Italy. Whether from the juggernaut of Prosecco, the luxury of Franciacorta, or even the critically acclaimed Trento DOC, Italian bubbles are a seemingly permanent fixture on the wine lists or shelves up and down the country. The Buyer’s Mike Turner argues that Alta Langa DOCG, producing high quality sparkling wine from the famed hills of Piemonte, deserves to join in the fun. He visited Carlo Galliano at Borgo Maragliano to find out more about some of Italy’s oldest sparkling wines.

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    Tasting: Wine
    British wines

    Justin Keay takes the pulse of British wine & WineGB tasting

    A Col Fondo served straight from a 20-litre keg, in which the secondary fermentation took place, was one of the many highlights of the annual WineGB tasting that gave Justin Keay an opportunity to feel the pulse of the British wine industry. Producers are bullish, with more of them smiling now about the 2023 growing season after a warm September… and there are plenty of newcomers showing impressive wines, 10 of which Keay picks out to put on your buying radar.

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    Tasting: Wine
    DSC01617

    Why Pinot Noir from IGP Pays d’Oc is ‘the great alternative’

    Think of quality Pinot Noir wine regions and you could be forgiven for thinking of Burgundy, California, Germany and New Zealand before you think of the South of France. So the chances are you might not think immediately of the Languedoc-Roussillon where IGP Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir comes from because of the heat. And yet the variety of soils, micro-climates and lay of the land in the region and the freedom of expression that is allowed with IGP Pays d’Oc has resulted in a vast choice of high-quality Pinot Noir at barely credible prices. Which is why Peter McCombie MW called his recent masterclass on the subject – ‘IGP Pays d’Oc Pinot Noir – the great alternative’. Peter Dean reports.

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    Tasting: Wine
    Bruno Paillard Blanc de Noirs

    Why Bruno Paillard’s 1st NV Blanc de Noirs takes a new direction

    For a Champagne house so in love with Pinot it is curious that it has taken 42 years for Champagne Bruno Paillard to release a new Blanc de Noirs since its first one way back in 1981. “You have to start somewhere'” Alice Paillard tells Peter Dean, as she explains why she eschewed opulence and sweetness in the Bruno Paillard Blanc de Noirs MV and opted instead for refinement with a very low dosage – a true sommelier’s cuvée if ever there was one.

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    Instataste

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    • 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.
    • Under-the-radar, natural and biodynamic Bordeaux blanc made in Barsac from a blend of 90% Semillon and 10% Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle grapes vinified in cement. The nose is complex and offers honeysuckle, wild meadow flowers, sweet Comice pear; the palate is at first quite lively, mineral-charged then has a waxy ripe citrus mouthfeel with hints of papaya. Delicious, fresh, gastronomic and worth seeking out.
    • Hundred Hills, Blanc de Noirs 2019, With this extraordinarily good 100% Pinot Noir from a boutique winery in Oxfordshire there’s no denying that English sparkling really has come of age – the quality of the fruit and winemaking is right up there. The wine is sourced from a single South-facing plot, the grapes having 100 days hang time in what was a long dry vintage. Everything is in its right place. Vigorous bead, tiny bubbles, the aromatics are heaven-sent, complex with red berries and ripe orchard fruit, meadow flowers, raspberry Mivi, shortbread; the attaque is sharp and incisive, broadening with a youthful and ample creamy mousse on the palate – delicious layers of flavour that reflects the nose but also has a distinctive red apple note and ripe nectarine. The acidity is firm, structured, cleansing with a lovely balance between crisp, clean and dry on the tongue and deliciously ripe