Fine Wine

Berene Sauls has a very unique story. Growing up in a small village in the Overberg, Berene admits that she came from a beer-drinking community, and wine was never really on her radar. Her first exposure was at the age of 19, when she began working for the trailblazing Hamilton Russell family as an au pair. Lasting only a month, her talents at childcare aside, Anthony Hamilton Russell recognised her drive and thought a job working in the winery office would better suit her. Thrown in at the deep end knowing really nothing about wine, she was soon exposed to every side of the business - assisting with exports, bottling and labelling, driving forklifts and picking during harvest too, as well as on the side, "growing and developing a palate that wasn't there!" Her curiosity kept her rising through the ranks, and fifteen years after starting her career, Anthony offered her the opportunity to make her first wine, aided by proficient head winemaker Emul Ross. She leapt at the opportunity, and the rest is history. She named her business Tesselaarsdal for the small village that she grew up in, and if you look closely at the label, you can make out two people walking across the mountain. This is Berene and her grandmother. From unirrigated vineyards on the Hemel-en-Aarde Ridge, and this is just her third release! Crisp acidity and lean minerality underpin notes of melon and tangerine fruit and accents of lime blossom. A triumphant expression of terroir, this medium-bodied, cool climate wine is both silky and fresh and boasts a long, elegant finish.

One of the most legendary Stellenbosch wines. 76% Cabernet Sauvignon, 17% Cabernet Franc, 7% Merlot aged for 24 months in new French oak barrels, rather like a fine classed growth Claret. Complex, layered and intense aromas of cassis, plums, spiced oak and cigar boxon the nose. The palate is rich and supple, with seamless fruit / oak integration, delicate tannins and a fine seam of acidity. Layers and layers of plush fruit explodes in the mouth with concentrated flavours of tomato cocktail, black and red fruits, and stewed meat. A wine of immense purity, depth and freshness. A subtle note of mint on the finish completes a wine filled with detail.

70% Merlot, 30% Cabernet Franc. Attractive, complex fruit nose. Black fruits and some toasty oak, cocoa. Ripe and juicy flashy, plump, well built but not OTT.

Outstanding Chianti Classico Riserva from the cooler north west of Chianti. Grown on soils very similar to Felsina's vineyards in Berardenga, this cooler terroir in Argiano helps produce a wine of great energy, elegance and inherent harmony. La Vigna di San Martino ad Argiano is the personal project of Giampaolo Chiettini. Giampaolo spent a good number of years working alongside Paolo di Marchi at Isole e Olena where he fell deeply in love with Sangiovese and honed his skills and became a very highly regarded winemaker of the region. Antinori and Ca' del Bosco have also used Giampaolo's services over the years. He still consults and makes wine for the outstanding Castagnoli and brilliant newcomers Ejamu amongst others. This personal project comes from a beautiful, tiny (1ha!) vineyard in Argiano in the San Casciano Val di Pesa commune. Organic Sangiovese grapes are destemmed and gently crushed then undergo wild fermentation with natural yeasts. The wine is bred in used tonneaux. Giampaolo's trained, light hand in the cellar has helped produce a really rather wonderful Chianti Classico Riserva. This 2021 knocked us out. Immense energy and focus to the wonderful fruit and character. Only 2,000 bottles produced. This wine proves utterly marvellous drinking now, but shall age gracefully and beautifully for many years. We can't wait to follow the evolution! The Chianti Classico Riserva 2021 was one of only a handful of wines to scoop the score of 17.5/20 from Walter Speller on jancisrobinson.com in the "Chianti Classico Riserva 2021" section of his full report on 2021 and 2020 Riserva and 2021 Gran Selezione, published earlier in 2024.

A full-bodied, textural style reminiscent of Southern Rhône whites. Aromatic and intense, with crystalline white fruits and spice with a long finish. Intruiging and very impressive.

First planted in 1860, the ‘Hill of Grace’ vineyard has been in the Henschke family since 1891, with Cyril Henschke producing its first single-vineyard Shiraz in 1958. Planted at 400 metres above sea level, this 4-hectare vineyard is named after the Gnandenberg Lutheran Church opposite (‘Gnadenberg’ translates to ‘Hill of Grace’ in German). The site’s original ‘Ancestors’ vines are now approximately 160 years old and remain at the heart of the ‘Hill of Grace’ vineyard, alongside a small selection of ungrafted ‘Centenarians’ (vines over 100 years old), ‘Survivors’ (vines over 70 years old) and ‘Old Vines’ (over 35 years old). The 2019 vintage was aged for 18 months in oak hogsheads, of which 20% was new and 80% seasoned (90% French and 10% American). 19.5+ points – Matthew Jukes, March 2024,MatthewJukes.com 97 points – Sarah Ahmed, March 2024,Decanter.com 19.5 points – Jancis Robinson MW, March 2024,JancisRobinson.com 97 points – Erin Larkin, April 2024,WineAdvocate.com 99 points – Dave Brookes, April 2024,WineCompanion.com.au 97 points – Huon Hooke, February 2024,The Real Review

This domaine's showpiece wine is made using the best Chardonnay grapes, fermented and matured in French oak. Burgundian and silky in style, "Lemon zest and lemon juice to the fore here, a bright, zesty expression, with pear and apple too, lightly on its feet....it has lovely freshness". Natalie Earl, Decanter Magazine From jancisrobinson.com Certified organic. From four plots of 26 to 46-year old vines grown amongst oak trees at 350m and on rolled pebbles and limestone. Hand-picked and hand-sorted, low-pressure pressing, free-run juice only. Malolactic fermentation is in 225-litre oak barrels, which is where the wines are aged. Gentle lees stirring for the first four months. Unfined. Château Rive-Blanques now belongs to Pierre Bories’ Artisans & Partisans group of estates. "Rich, nutty (even a little caramelised) and streaked with fresh garrigue. As with their Dédicace Chenin, the acidity feels softer and more muted than I’ve come to expect with R-B wines, but there is a firm hazelnut and walnut framework around the fruit, so the texture and structure is there. Touch of liquorice on the finish gives it a nice twist". 16.5/20

Croft is one of the most distinguished and highly regarded of all the Port houses. Founded in 1588, it is also the oldest. The rich and powerful 2003 is a fine example of this excellent vintage. Sweet, aromatic and impactful, with a ripe, sumptuous palate and supple, rounded tannins.

Second wine of the brilliant Ch la Lagune 3rd Growth Haut-Médoc Grand Cru. The nose is fruity and offers a certain juiciness, power and purity of fruit. There are notes of pulpy/crunchy blackcurrant, crunchy cherry and more slightly wild strawberry with hints of nutmeg, pepper, spice and a subtle touch of fresh tobacco. The palate is fruity, balanced and offers freshness, minerality and a fine smoothness. On the palate this wine expresses juicy/acidic blackberry, juicy/acidic Bigarreau cherry and slightly redcurrant notes combined with hints of lily, blueberry, nutmeg and discreet toasted and mocha notes.

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

The debut vintage in 'bottle' for Chemin de Moscou 'Reflet'. The previous few years have only been available as a special release magnum. Grenache-led with Syrah following along in a fine style. The wine is deep, smooth and beautifully sweet-fruited, but like its opposite, the classic Chemin de Moscou, the wines shows tremendous focus of line and length. The wine impresses very much now, but due to the controlled focus at its heart, it shall live a long time in the bottle.

Marcelo creates award winning wines in Valle de Uco, Argentina and in Pomerol, France. His two great passions in life are his love for making music and for making fine wines. This wine is sourced from the Vineyard in Tunuyán, Valle de Uco where the soils are loamy-silty of alluvial origin with gravel in the subsoil. A rich Chardonnay with pleasant light yellow color, good structure and great acidity. The nose is an enticing, full fragrance, lemon dance of sea salt and delicate fresh notes. This wine is all about texture and preserving the subtle and delicate characteristics of the varietal. It's bouquet is full from a creamy mix of pears, peaches and very refined toast that finishes with a film of citrus covered cashews. A very pleasant gentle entry In the mouth. It's natural acidity makes it an elegant wine in the middle mouth with a long and persistent finish. A simply delicious chardonnay. Hand-picked, 82% of the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks without going through oak barrels to preserve the varietal freshness. Only 18% ages 6 months in French Oak barrels (1st and 2nd use) in order to increase its complexity and persistence

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate 93/100 "Cyrille Portalis has crafted an outstanding 2022 Bandol Rose. With a harmonious bouquet and aromas of red berries, spices, iodine, jasmine, wild strawberry and menthol, it’s round and supple, medium to full-bodied, layered and textured, with mineral acidity and an ethereal yet lively finish. This blend of 80% Mourvèdre and 20% Cinsault tastes like the essence of Bandol rosé." Noted US wine critic Jon Bonne “Their rosé remains a standard bearer for all the feral intensity of Mourvèdre and quality has been on an upswing for the past decade”. Eric Asimov, New York Times. “Perhaps no Bandol is as resolutely old school as Château Pradeaux. It’s an uncompromising wine, displaying Bandol in its fully untamed state, and it’s a personal favorite” jancisrobinson.com of the 2019 vintage 17.5/20 "Deep coppery terracotta colour. There is nothing remotely ordinary about this rosé. Savoury, muscular, intense. A wine that belongs in the same class as the Viña Tondonia Gran Reserva rosado and the Menat Ji Jian rosato. Complex and profound; a wine that first unsettles you and then leads you to a new viewpoint. Rose hips and oolong, Seville oranges and redcurrants, radicchio, beetroot leaves, strawberry tea. Something almost vermouth-like. Long, resolute finish. Don't drink it too cold – 10–15 minutes in the fridge is enough. It deserves food. It will age. (TC)"

90% Merlot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Malbec. Opaque ruby colour in the glass. Coffee and blackberry on the nose with a hint of incense. The palate has massive concentration and richness, with dense and powerful black fruit to the fore. Richly tannic but matched by the weight and ripeness of fruit, this is not for the faint-hearted. Despite the richness, it is not as excessive as some iterations in the past. Impressive, ageworthy, but warming.

England's top winery's top wine. Named after their entry in the Domesday Book in 1086. Easily the equal to the best of luxury cuvee Champagne.

Les Gravières premier cru is on Santenay's border with Chassagne-Montrachet. It gets a bit more sun than most of the commune, and is one of the best Santenay vineyards, for both reds and whites. While the excellent Vincent Girardin is better known for whites, this Pinot is nonetheless reliable, and good value for Burgundy in this particularly good vintage. Plenty of red berry fruit, with earth and subtle spice. It is tangy and vibrant, still youthful. Soft and with lots of savoury interest.

England's top winery's top wine. Named after their entry in the Domesday Book in 1086. Easily the equal to the best of luxury cuvee Champagne.

Natural, Organic, Biodynamic Macabeu, fermented and aged in barrels, racy and minerally with soft texture and generous fruit.

FRACTAL is a collaboration between Will Lowe MW and winemaker Nick Lane whose expertise graced the cellars of Dom Perignon and Cloudy Bay. An extraordinary still English white wine with a pioneering approach to winemaking. Zesty English acidity drives the depth created by a unique secondary fermentation method with Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, Ortega, and Pinot Gris all contributing to the profound complexity. Gently oaked and delicately refreshing, this wine offers a smoky nose of ripe peach, elderflower and honeycomb, a dense palate with pistachio, grapefruit, and gooseberry. Perfect for pairing with seafood, salads, or enjoying on its own, Fractal Sequence 002 showcases the artistry of modern English winemaking.

This Roboul cuvée exudes lifted fruit aromas in abundance with blackberries, blueberries, pomegranates and also gentle garrigue notes. On the palate it is velvety with curious, beautiful interest. There is a perfect balance between alcohol and acidity and it ends with a striking freshness. It's a marvelous wee wine. Full bottle 1,341 g. Single vineyard. 60% Mourvèdre (20 years old), 40% Grenache (30 years old) on pudding stone, clay, sand and limestone tuffeau. Hand-picked; whole-bunch, spontaneous fermentation; minimal cap work; very gently pressed. Fermented separately because the Mourvèdre ripens so much later than the Grenache. 12 months in old oak barrels of 600, 500 and 400 litres. "If I’d not known what this wine was, and put it to my nose, my first guess would be Pinot Noir, Tasmania. Rosehips. Nectarine skin. Hibiscus tea. Morels. Then, after tasting it, I’d change my mind. I’d wonder if this was Cinsault, one of Alex Milner’s wraith-like beauties, perhaps: the bruised rose petals, the jasmine tea, the taste of prickly pears and dust and pungent-peppery-green at the back of my throat. Then I smell garrigue - cistus, broom heather, wild thyme, the smell of the wind blowing through holm oaks and twisted pines and I am in the south of France. This is the fey child of Roussillon. This is a wine that dances in the thin places". Very Good Value. Tamlyn Currin on jancisrobinson.com 18/20 jancisrobinson.com

17.5/20 Jancis Robinson "90% Tempranillo, 10% Garnacha. Each variety and area were fermented separately in stainless-steel tanks, always with the grape’s own yeast and with spontaneous malolactic conversion. Typical fermentation temperatures of 25 °C, with short macerations. Aged for three-and-a-half years in Bordeaux barrels of French oak, half new and half used, with further blending and then further ageing in bottle. Lustrous dark crimson. Complex and utterly echt, with a long life ahead of it. Really serious wine."

On the nose, notes of dark berries and plum supported by hints of licorice and a floral lift. Dark and brooding on the palate, with tightly wound layers of rich, black and blue fruits with hints of dark chocolate and spice, finishing long with savoury tannins

UKAN is the new project of the youngest generation of the famous Eguren family. Ukan is a small winery that follows the Bordeaux model and is focused in producing a great wine in very limited quantities. Founded by Koldo Eguren, fifth generation of the family, with the winemaking collaboration of his cousin Eduardo. Together, they seek to reflect the Rioja Alavesa landscape into a unique wine using knowledge acquired from previous generations and adding a younger, more contemporary vision that both have learned in their international experience. The foundation of the project is in the vineyard, where a sustainable and ecological viticulture is practiced. This care for detail is spread into the elaboration process, fully hand-crafted, that takes place in the winery located in Laguardia. UKAN 2020 is the flagship wine, with an excellent second wine called Senderos being the only other wine made. UKAN is a complex, full-bodied, elegant and well-structured wine. Somehow it manages to be very drinkable but has a lot of ageing potential. Deep violet-red to the eye, this wine has a bouquet of blackberry, dark chocolate and caramel. It is luscious on the palate, offering polished tannins wrapped around black cherry, mocha, anisette, violet and butterscotch flavors that wind down to a licorice-infused finish. Highly recommended and freshly arrived in the UK.