Fine Wine

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.

Violet and cranberry on the palate. Firm, tight tannins that give plenty of chew. Powerfully concentrated finish with some piquant spice.

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.

Complex nose, with nuts, tree fruit, some wax and honey too. Broad, creamy nose, yellow pear, peach, citrus. Very fine acidity. Quite full bodied and fleshy. Rich and persistent, very fine palate with lots of intensity and length. Sublime!

There have been Lamys growing vines in St-Aubin since 1640 - today it is run by Olivier Lamy. Olivier is representative of a new breed of Burgundian grower keen to progress. He worked at Méo-Camuzet before taking over in 1996 from father Hubert. Olivier ceased supplying négociants in 1997, grubbing up and selling off peripheral vines, keeping only the best and oldest sites. Currently he is experimenting with different planting densities in a quest to capture even greater expression of terroir. The domaine produces both reds and whites and now has 16.5 hectares of vineyards, mostly in St-Aubin but a few parcels in Chassagne-Montrachet and a tiny plot in the Grand Cru Criots-Bâtard-Montrachet. Yields are kept low and a recent innovation has been the introduction of selection tables in the cuverie to ensure that only the healthiest and ripest grapes are used. Vinification is traditional and the wines are matured in oak casks (20-30% new) for 12 months before minimal filtration and then bottling. The quality is very high and is often superior to many wines from more fashionable villages that sell at twice the price.

Young super-star winemaker in Marsannay.

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.

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.

Several vineyards planted between 1974 and 1980. One of the most exceptional, exciting (yet reliable) rising stars of Burgundy. Allocations are tight, as ever. The 2018s are beautiful, as ever. Yet the wines are still remarkably affordable, and for the same old reason: he's based in the Côte Chalonnaise. As one local vigneron put is "you'd think these vines were on another planet, not 8km from those of Puligny". The vineyards of the Chalonnaise will always suffer, reputationally, from being in the 'wrong' department: Saone-et-Loire rather than Cote d'Or (the border is 2.5km south of Puligny) Anyhow, neither nature nor winemaking genius respect political boundaries - good news for us.

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

Tight and crisp, with the 10-15% oak giving it a smooth, creamy texture and yet a juicy finish

Price check Berry Bros £75 One of the finest estates in Burgundy. This is from a single 1.5-hectare plot in the lieu-dit Le Bas de Combe whose location next to Vosne-Romanée is borne out by this wine’s open, lifted bouquet which would be more Vosne than Nuits but for that engaging hint of spice. The oak (50 percent new) is well-integrated and there’s a pleasing roundness to the palate - indeed, this is remarkably complete for such a young wine

"Elegant and fleshy red fruits are married to power but balanced by a push of acidity through the finish that seems to tiptoe through the tannins." Jane Anson, Decanter 91 points

Very attractive nose of white orchard fruit, pears even a hint of quince and a floral note. The same on the palate but with a sweet citrus note giving added juiciness. Subtle red apple fruit, full, perfectly balanced oak. Youthful but approachable right away. Fresh and vibrant, this is delicious, and great value!

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.

Big, rich and velvety like a decent Margaux should be with a modern glossy feel on the palate. Designed for earlier drinking as a second wine, with extended barrel ageing. Delicious fruit, ample weight and body, ripe tannins.

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"