Intense apple, ginger and spice with a note of Earl Grey, walnut and coffee flavours with dry depth and a hint of marzipan. salted caramel flavours, long and luxurious.” Varietal Verdelho Trophy Winner, IWC Awards 2016
Located on the steep right bank of the Távora River, Panascal is one of the most highly reputed vineyards in the Douro Valley. In the words of a local saying, 'From Roncão and Panascal come the finest wines of Portugal'. The wines of Quinta do Panascal are rich, with voluptuous fruitiness, mouth filling density and a velvety texture. A fat, plump, luscious wine. Full of rounded, ripe jammy fruit aromas. Almost warm 'marmalada' like note to the nose. The ripeness and richness of fruit is reinforced in the mouth with flavours of plump, bursting plums and cherries. Great notes of tobacco, smoky tea (lapsang) and spice. A warm, velvety, satiny wine.
The first new permanent cuvée to be released from Bollinger since 2008! An exciting wine, in their own words this is 'Bollinger's unique vision of Pinot Noir'. The wine is 100% Pinot Noir, mostly from the Grand Cru village of Verzenay, and the base wine is 2015 vintage, with reserve wine in it dating back to 2009 - hence VZ15. Generous fruit is combined with mouth-watering vivacity and releases peach and apricot flavours in the mouth, enhanced with hazelnut and acacia blossom notes. It finishes with a wonderful lively aromatic note reminiscent of yuzu.
No.7 is the second release from the "Collection Ayala" : unique champagnes produced in small quantities and only released when they reach their peak. The cuvée is a blend of 7 outstanding Grand Crus from the Cotes de Blancs and Montagne de Reims all from the 2007 vintage. Two thirds Chardonnay (from Avize, Chouilly, Cramant, Le-Mesnil-Sur-Oger, and Oger) and one third Pinot Noir (from Ay, and Verzy), the wine is aged under cork, as is Ayala's signature, for 11 years and finished with a mere 6g/l dosage. Lively, charismatic, perfect drinking now.
Big heady scent of dark fruit, leather and tobacco. Much more medium bodied compared to some of the recent vintages with good acidity and balance. Length is good with dry tannins, many years of life over which this will be enjoyed
Founded in 1870 and owned by the Meffre family since 1961 Chateau du Glana remains one of the very few Saint Julien properties outside the 1855 Grand Cru Classification. As such it offers great value as everything is carried out to the same standard as a Grand Cru; the vineyards are next to 3rd Growth Ch Lagrange, 40% new oak is used and the grapes are extremely well tended. The 2014 vintage is a lovely wine, now ready to drink and very moreish. Big blackcurrant flavours, good ripesness of fruit and tannin, long and velvety. Lovely
The "second wine" here, the 2016 Le Petit Clos is a very different blend from the 2015; it is now mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with just 4% Merlot and 1% Carménère, while last year it was almost half Carménère. The vineyards are now certified in organic and biodynamic agriculture. The bunches were hand-destemmed, and the grapes fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and a six-week maceration. Malolactic was in barrique, and the élevage happened as follows: the wine spent seven months in new French barriques, and then 71% of the volume was transferred to French oak barriques (22% new and 49% second year), while the rest of the wine was put in oak vats. The élevage was 23 months in total. With the change in varieties, this feels very different from the Clos Apalta—more Cabernet here and more Carménère there. The nose is elegant and nuanced, with herbs, spices and a core of ripe red and black fruit, quite varietal and with integrated oak. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with round tannins and vibrant acidity, making it long and supple.
The "second wine" here, the 2016 Le Petit Clos is a very different blend from the 2015; it is now mostly Cabernet Sauvignon with just 4% Merlot and 1% Carménère, while last year it was almost half Carménère. The vineyards are now certified in organic and biodynamic agriculture. The bunches were hand-destemmed, and the grapes fermented in oak vats with indigenous yeasts and a six-week maceration. Malolactic was in barrique, and the élevage happened as follows: the wine spent seven months in new French barriques, and then 71% of the volume was transferred to French oak barriques (22% new and 49% second year), while the rest of the wine was put in oak vats. The élevage was 23 months in total. With the change in varieties, this feels very different from the Clos Apalta—more Cabernet here and more Carménère there. The nose is elegant and nuanced, with herbs, spices and a core of ripe red and black fruit, quite varietal and with integrated oak. The palate is medium to full-bodied, with round tannins and vibrant acidity, making it long and supple.
Chateau Fargueirol is on great form and offers traditional Chateauneuf du Pape at a superb price. Ripe and garriguey nose with impressive concnetration but a nice easy going texture and ripe tannins that means it can be enjoyed young or after 3-10 years of cellaring.
Not surprisingly, virtually every St.-Estephe I tasted was at least very good, and this is another example of an impressively endowed, dark ruby/purple-coloured wine, offering good cassis fruit, chunky, heady flavours, and soft tannin.
Cassis, licorice, dark plum. Sumptuous ripe fruit on palate. Ruby, plums, liquorice and red fruit. Ripe full tannin. Integrated. Fresh acid. Warm heat from alcohol but enough acidity and elegance to be of interest. Split between the Margaux and Haut-Médoc appellations, Château d'Arsac is comprised of 112 hectares, 54 of which fall within Margaux.
"The 2003 Taylor’s has a lovely ripe, primal bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, vanilla and marmalade...The palate is medium-bodied with very composed, refined tannins that belie the heat of that summer. There is wonderful focus here and fine tension, the finish offering precise notes of black cherries, mulberry, cloves and white pepper. This is one of the finest Ports of a precocious vintage"
95 points Neal Martin, The Wine Advocate
The Fargueirol estate is named after the area of land called Fargueirol in the northern sector of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, which is known to have some of the best terroir. The Revoltier family have 15ha of vines in this lieu dit and a further 15ha in other plots. They have just 1 hectare of white grape vines planted to Clairette, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. The Clairette sees some oak fermentation while the other grapes are fermented in stainless steel. The wine is bottled young and can be enjoyed in it syouth or up to 5 years of age. It combines a succulence of ripe tree fruit with some leesiness and minerality.
"Saline, restrained aromas. Lightly toasty, a little floral, then apricots and peaches. Long, mineral, and toasty. Great persistent acidity throughout. Yum." AA, Feb 2021
Remi Jeanniard is the 'real deal' and a treasure for the Burgundy lover. An undeer-the-radar producer making fantastic wines in the heart of Burgundy's greatest vineyards. And they are affordable.
"Fruit compote on the nose. Big and juicy. Quite charming and floral at the same time. A lot of structure, creamy towards the finish. Tannins even stay on the teeth." AA, Feb 2019
Nicely mature Pomerol made from 95% Merlot. Plummy,vanilla nose with velvety tannins and ripe bright fruit. Great with steak.
From south-facing slopes at Château Ferrand, this generous wine has a beautiful deep pomegranate colour and typical scents of violets, ripe plums, cherries and blackcurrants. There is plenty going on besides these fruity and floral notes, with suggestions of cedar, old leather, truffles and coffee beans roasting.
In the mouth, there's a delicious, silky smoothness of elegant and perfumed fruit, with, again, supporting flavours of coffee and herbs, with supple tannins in a long, satiny finish.
The 2014 Domaine de l'Eglise has a lifted bouquet with blackberry, raspberry coulis, mint and menthol aromas that are quite intense and seem to gain vigor with aeration. The palate is well balanced with smooth, velvety tannin. It demonstrated more complexity than its stablemate La Croix du Casse, with hints of truffle and dark chocolate lacing the finish. It might lack a little finesse, but this Pomerol is undeniably packed full of flavor.
Alternative label to Ch Haute Breton Larigaudiere, and much easier to say, this is classic Margaux at an affordable price. This wine is a deep ruby-red with intense, refined ripe red fruit aromas and elegant notes of vanilla and violet. It starts out powerful on the palate with a long, fresh aftertaste..
