Fine Wine

Single vineyard, great value edition from this epic estate. Parker 91 The Grenache-dominated 2014 Châteauneuf du Pape Piedlong has a distinct saltiness, as well as terrific Grenache charm in its sweet strawberry and raspberry fruit, dried flowers and sandy/loamy soils notes. It is impeccably balanced, has no hard edges and very polished, fine tannin. I like it now, but it will keep for a decade.

Parker 93 "Plummy and rich... full-bodied, velvety, everything you might expect from this benchmark estate". 7th generation, they produce only Gigondas, and only a single cuve each year. Hearty stuff at 15.5%!

An absolute classic. Parker 94-96/100. Vinous 93-95. Suckling 98. Richard Hemming, jancisrobinson.com 17+. John Livingstone-Learmonth 4.5*

Parker 94 "Two wines that blew me away were the old vine Gigondas cuvees! The 2011 Gigondas Domaine du Clos des Tourelles shows shocking depth and concentration in the vintage, with full-bodied power, beautiful ripeness and sweet tannin. Showing plenty of cedar, spice and meaty dark fruits, it is one serious Gigondas to drink over the coming decade or more."

Beronia has blended modern and traditional touches to create a fine gran reserva with spice, vanilla, coconut, tobacco and dried berry aromas.

Parker 93+ ...5% of the barrels were produced with American oak at the Vega Sicilia cooperage. The new winery was 100% ready and now has much better facilities. The élevage lasted 12 months, and this has contained ripeness and integrated oak. The year had freshness and balance and helped to produce lighter and more expressive wines, like this one. This has to be one of the finest vintages for this cuvée.

Ripe red fruits combine with interwoven oak to give touches of spice, cherries and a hint of licquorice. A beautifully elegant, lasting finish. 12 months in French oak & 6 months in American oak

El Valiente is a fruity wine but maintaining the essence of Bodegas Valdaya, with floral memories, such as violet and balsamic. It maintains the classic elegant character of their wines but offering a more fruity and lovely profile. Very fresh with a delightful velvety texture. This is everything you want in a quality Spanish wine, wonderful nose, sumptuous fruit and elegant oak all working in harmony with each other.

Quite a stunner. Lemon, sweetcorn, pear, grapefruit, greengage, honeysuckle, fresh flowers all bursting out. Balanced acidity, oak, and freshness, the full package, then a lean spicy finish. Totally delicious.

Medium to light in body this wine is expressing a nice funk to fruit ratio. I love how savoury Pinot can become in mother Burgundy.

This Meursault comes from one of the best-located plots in the village, surrounded by the premier crus Les Charmes and Les Genevrières. The terrain is gently sloping, a mix of clay, silt and limestone slabs. From an excellent vintage known for its classic white Burgundy characteristics this wine is now fully ready to drink.

The youthful Pierrick Bouley, 5th generation winemaker at this estate in Volnay is getting a reputation as a wunderkind in Burgundy. From vines planted next to the two fields designated as Meursault rouge. Mid ruby, fruity nose of sweet cherries. Fruit forward, concentrated, terrific texture. Really quite ethereal. This has all the class of a very good Volnay, made by a young winemaker who has a superb grasp of the potential of his vineyards.

Lightish cherry red. Scented red fruit and silky tannins. Sweet red fruit, delicate but upright. Harmonious and reflecting its origin. Juicy finish.

Shiraz is a variety chosen for its property of expressing a sense of place, and in this instance, vineyards surrounding Waterford in Stellenbosch. No new wood is used in the making of this wine, using 225L Old French oak barrels, 4th fill and older. Whole berry fermentation and soft extraction methods (pumpovers only) have brought out the purity in the wine. Concentrated red and dark fruit with warm earthy aromatics can be found in this Stellenbosch Shiraz, accompanied by plum fruit and leather spice undertones. The 2016 vintage produced a lovely soft and velvety textured Shiraz, with the slight addition of Mourvèdre (12%) to build in a little tension in the finish of the wine.

Quite serious. 30% whole bunch fermented. Herbal and floral, with clearly defined fruit, a myrtle character, and a stony edge. Plenty of extraction with silky tannins and moderate power. Gilles Remoriquet is not a winemaker who rests on his laurels. He is forever looking for ways to improve his wines. Most recently he has been to the Jura to see a specialist about selecting the right blend of manure and has bought a second sorting table which eliminates under-ripe berries by flotation! Cuvaisons are long, giving a light colour yet concentrated, intense fruit flavours. Remoriquet is one of the top estates in Nuits but the prices have yet to catch up. At the top of the range the Vosne-Romannée 1er Cru au dessous des Malconsorts is situated next to La Tâche and tastes like it is!

Remi Jeanniard’s neighbours say that he and his wife are always in the vineyards; even on 2nd January, they were seen out pruning the vines. Remi has just over 7 hectares of vines in and around Morey-St-Denis. The vines are much older than average, with all of his Vieilles Vignes village bottlings being at least 50 years old. This gives a natural concentration to the wines which are both well structured and elegant. Dried fruits, figs, cherries, currants, and violets. Exciting. Less plush than the jeunes vignes, but more vibrant and intense. Supple tannins. Tasted at the Domaine, January 2020

Les Noizons lies just below the Premier Cru Pézerolles vineyard. It tends to produce lifted, delicate renditions of Pommard and the 2017 from Domaine Denis Carré is a case in point. The nose majors on crunchy red berry and floral aromas, while the palate is characterised by refreshing acidity and chalky tannins. Let it shine alongside roast game or a simple leek and Gruyère tart. Drink now to 2027.

From substantial holdings in four different crus, the Bouchard Beaune du Chateau evinces a wonderful sense of richness and polish, suggesting vanilla-scented, honey- and lemon- and apple-filled pastry.

Something of a summer farmyard on the nose. Multi-layered, honest, 100% drinkable. Jancisrobinson.com "Big and bold. Pretty sweet and tarry. Nice dry finish. Arguably a good halfway house between new and old styles of Oz Shiraz"

Made by all female star team of owner Lindsay Hoopes, Anne Vauter (ex Screaming Eagle) and Jennifer Rue this has richness and eleganc in equal measure. Extended barrel ageing has softened the wine, as has some bottle age, making it exquisite to drink now. It will keep but why wait?

Chateau Montelena’s Napa Chardonnay showed that the new world could create classically balanced and complex wines in its own voice, and that from the right sites and with perseverance, the results could equal anything made the world over. Through fads and trends, Montelena has never changed in its philosophy of bringing the sunshine of California in a style that is structured, balanced and age worthy. In 1976, in what is now memorialized as “The Judgment of Paris”, Chateau Montelena Napa Valley Chardonnay was the top-ranking wine against four white Burgundies and five other California Chardonnays in a blind tasting with a who’s-who of the French food and wine industry judging. And as they say, the rest is history. The wine opens with fresh peach, apricot, and honeydew amidst citrus blossom and rose water. The diversity of aromas in this vintage is astounding as the floral characteristics begin to take center stage with time in the glass along with ample fresh pear and cinnamon. The palate is lush viscous, and driven by lemon curd, the palate leans toward creaminess but with enough bright acid, green apple, and toast to bring balance and finesse. The ripeness of the vintage drives the mouthfeel as the flavors exude freshness and vibrancy, a unique combination. The finish is concentrated and persistent, again stone fruit appear, albeit in candied form, along with a hint of white pepper and plenty of orange zest.

Steve Kistler, started as a winemaker at Ridge (long-term fave of ours and true California royalty) in the 1970s. He and his dedicated long-standing team founded this winery in his favourite coastal one in eastern Sonoma, cool and perfect for gloriously complex, aromatic Pinot Noir. His skill and dedication are peerless, his wines a sensual joy. Very rare, we only get a few dozen a year from the tiny UK allocation. A must-try Parker "The 2018s from Occidental are simply magnificent" "While everyone knows of Steve Kistler’s remarkable chardonnays, I believe his pinot noir will ultimately prove even more historic." - ROBERT PARKER, JR.