A delightful example, with lovely fruit, character and texture.

Grenache Noir and Carignan Noir from a single vineyard in a lieu-dit in Maury that is aromatic, expressive, lifted and pure. Seamless but focussed Maury Rouge from the master Daniel Laffite.

A very special cuvee made just from the best Chardonnay grapes from the excellent 2019 vintage. Fine mousse with lovely brioche aroma and fruity palate.

Classically made Champagne with Chardonnay grapes sourced from Grand Cru vineyards on the Cotes de Blanc This wine spends 36 months ageing prior to disgorgement. Top quality Grand Cru Champagne with full flavoured intense developed citrus and floral aromas. There is a joie de vivre about this wine that makes it very easy to drink and enjoy. Very good value.

The second release of this cuvee from the brilliant Daniel and Cathy Laffite based in Tautavel. These guys have some of the most beautiful vineyards we have ever seen, and they are worked with utmost care and respect in an organic way. Glorious Grenache and Carignan deliver so much pleasure with beautiful fruit, great minerality and supple, savoury tannins. DELICIOUS.

55% Sauvignon Blanc 45% Semillon Certified Organic.Tropical nose with some smoke. Good weight and viscosity with a lightness of touch too. Sweet but not cloying.

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A True Blouge has arrived. In our opinion, the very best of the light red/mixed grapes/blouge style. It’s sappy, herbal and aromatic, the fruit is lythe, alive, long and lifted. Colour is extraordinary, but with the interest and complexity in the wine - it’s not just pretty coloured glou glou - it’s really vinous and interesting. Serve cool. It's made by Vincent Chansault who's day job is to make the brilliant Domaine Gayda wines. This is from his personal project in Minervois La Liviniere. It's a co-ferment of a single, 70yo co-planted vineyard in La Liviniere Minervois of Cinsault (red), Bourboulenc (white) and Grenache Gris (pink). Fermented wild in whole-bunches. 2,000 bottles produced. We have a nice chunk, but it won't last forever. One of the wines of 2025. Definitely the wine of the summer!

55% Sauvignon Blanc 45% Semillon Certified Organic.Tropical nose with some smoke. Good weight and viscosity with a lightness of touch too. Sweet but not cloying.

Another great but unsung white wine of the Roussillon. A blend of Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu. Outstanding wine that is intense and tangy from the high elevation vineyards. This cuvee ages gracefully for 10++ years. A bargain bottle from breath-taking vineyards that are beautifully worked by the master Eric Laguerre.

Proper Crozes-Hermitage style Syrah - nice bright berry fruit, a bit of a dark chocolate bite, nice crisp acidity and tannin, tastes almost cool/minty. A satisfying meat wine.

Deep coloured, the wine exhibits dark ripe fruit characters as well as truffle, spice and subtle toasted oak on the palate. A fulsome, structured and well rounded Pinot Noir with a soft acidity and generous mouthfeel

Carte Blanche offers intense floral tones (honey) and notes of ripe sweet fruits (caramelised apple), and warm sugar almonds (frangipane). Dosage adds a rich, creamy texture with great length but without being heavy. The freshness of the wine supports this length bringing a well-balanced and highly persistent wine. Carte Blanche reflects the traditional style of the fine wines from Champagne of the 19th century. It is a soft and creamy champagne, releasing a pure fruit that gives it a lovely vibrant character. After a few years ageing in the cellar, it has reached perfect maturity and, thanks to the Louis Roederer art of blending, shows astonishing freshness and subtlety.

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 2022 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 2022 Chianti Classico Riserva is an intense, brooding wine. Super-ripe cherry, tobacco, new leather blood orange and cinnamon lend an exotic flair. This complex, dynamic Riserva has a ton to offer, starting with its considerable character. It's one of the most pleasant surprises of my tastings for this report. The Riserva is on the riper side of things, but its personality is so distinctive". Antonio Galloni July 2025 Drinking Window 2025 - 2034 91/100

Simon Coulshaw makes natural wines: no cultured yeast, enzymes, chemical tannins or fining product and farming with respect to the environment, although the domaine isn't certified organic.

Very rare, very low production. One of the legendary white wines of the Roussillon grown at elevation (500m) in a vineyard called 'Le Soula' (the name adopted by the neighbouring estate Eric Laguerre was once involved with) high in Saint-Martin-de-Fenouillet, on granite soils. Mineral, taught, fine and long with beautiful texture. A blend of Marsanne, Roussanne, Rolle, Grenache Blanc and Maccabeu. Outstanding wine which can age gracefully for 25++ years. Beautiful vineyards that are beautifully worked by the master Eric Laguerre. After first visiting the vineyard back in September 2009, we are very happy to now be importing the wines from Domaine Laguerre exclusively to the UK market.

This modern, crisp white demonstrates bright citrus characteristics on the nose, while offering deliciously vibrant apple fruit flavours and a zesty twang courtesy of the Sauvignon Blanc on the palate. A long clean finish with hints of grapefruit.

Davide Bottai is the fourth generation to produce wine at Castellaccio, an eleven hectare estate that historically sold its grapes as bulk. Even before Davide’s recent transformational changes, the winery was already a pioneer, having converted to organic farming in 2013 at the behest of his grandfather and the previous management team. The vineyards are all high elevation for the Chianti Classico DOCG, all between 500m and 700m above sea level where sandstone and quartz dominate the soils. The eleven hectares are split between Lamole and Lucolena, including some of the highest vineyard sites, and, THE very highest vineyard site in all of Chianti Classico. All of the beautiful fruit from these outstanding, unsung and nearly-forgotten terroirs see wild fermentation in concrete before aging in various vessels - 25hl, tonneau or untoasted Burgundy barrels. The Coste di Felice 2024 sees fruit from vineyards in both Lamole and Lucolena - organic, 100% Sangiovese. The grapes are hand harvested. Grapes are sorted further and softly crushed. The wine sees a natural, wild ferment in cement tank, and after completion, is run off to large old botti (wooden cask} to age for 12 months before bottling. The wine rests for a further 6 months in bottle before release. "For me, this 2024 is a masterpiece" Davide Bottai on Chianti Classico DOCG Coste de Felice 2024, March 2026. Wow! What gloriously pure aromas of orange zest and flowers backed up by red fruit and savoury elements. Simply glorious spring time stuff. On the palate, the attack is a similar injection of bright red fruits - so pure and seamless - until the pitch-perfect acidity, wonderful bitter notes and glorious rasp of beautifully done Sangiovese tannins kick in. This is energetic, salty, mineral wine of the highest order.

Outstanding Chianti Classico Gran Selezione 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. ".... one of the most pleasant surprises of my tastings for this report". Antonio Galloni July 2025 "The 2022 Chianti Classico Gran Selezione is laced with intensely spiced dark cherry, leather, menthol, licorice, dried herbs and incense. It's another powerhouse from this small estate in Barberino. I don't see the Gran Selezione as meaningfully more complex than the Riserva, but it is darker and more powerful in style, with a bit more of a slightly oxidative character as well". Antonio Galloni July 2025 Drinking Window 2025 - 2035 Score 92/100

Vicentini is a family business where Agostino works with his wife, Teressa, and their children Emanuele and Francesca. Based in San Zeno, a village at the mouth of the Val d‘Illarsi which resides inside both the Soave and Valpolicella DOCs, but is outside of their respective Classico zones. But don't let this last point cloud your vision to their outstanding wines produced in two distinct and great terroirs. The first terroir is on volcanic rock within the Valle dei Ciliegi, here the land is largely responsible for their "Valpolicella" and "Soave Casale". The second terroir is on limestone in the commune of Terrelunghe, where Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave are grown for the 'Terrelunghe' Soave. Organically farmed 30++ year old vines of Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave trained using the traditional pergola system deliver beautiful stone fruit with a lemon lift along with a touch of sweet almond and gorgeous aromatic, leafy herbs. Absolutely spot-on Soave! SO DELICIOUS.

Davide Bottai is the fourth generation to produce wine at Castellaccio, an eleven hectare estate that historically sold its grapes as bulk. Even before Davide’s recent transformational changes, the winery was already a pioneer, having converted to organic farming in 2013 at the behest of his grandfather and the previous management team. The vineyards are all high elevation for the Chianti Classico DOCG, all between 500m and 700m above sea level where sandstone and quartz dominate the soils. The eleven hectares are split between Lamole and Lucolena, including some of the highest vineyard sites, and, THE very highest vineyard site in all of Chianti Classico. All of the beautiful fruit from these outstanding, unsung and nearly-forgotten terroirs see wild fermentation in concrete before aging in various vessels - 25hl, tonneau or untoasted Burgundy barrels. A unique expression of Sangiovese - a wine that is direct, with great tension and a vertebral column. Coming from the northeast slope of Lucolena, the "Lama della Rinascita" produces the most lively Sangiovese of the vintage totalling only 600 bottles (as single tonneau). This is the coolest, wettest microclimate of all of Castellaccio’s sites that brings a wine of sharp focus, a great mineral, saline profile. A wine of rock, where crisp red fruit dances with electric tension - a pure vision of Sangiovese from Lucolena magnificently realised.

Lots of Chianti character and bang for your buck here. The hand-picked grapes ferment for 10-15 days in stainless steel tanks at a controlled temperature of 28-30 °C. There is no wood maturation A great mid-week option for your spaghetti bolognese or pizza. Chianti Montespertoli is one of seven sub-denominations incorporated in the Chianti DOCG since 1984. It is located just south west of Florence in the heart of Chianti-shire. Fattorie Parri is a family winery, started when Novello Parri bought the first estate, called Tenuta Corfecciano in 1950. In the following two decades, the family successively bought Tenuta Ribaldaccio, Tenuta Il Monte and finally in 1971 Il Urbana, where the winery is now located. Of the total of 180 hectares of estate, 60 are planted with vineyards, 35 with olive trees, grain is produced and the rest is planted with forest. All in all, a classic Italian company whose roots literally lie deep in the soil of the Tuscan landscape. The daily management of the 3 companies is in the hands of Luigi Parri, together with his nephew Andrea and niece Paola Cantini. Oenologist Giorgio Tarzariol has been responsible for making the wines since 1972.

This full-bodied, cedar and richly tannic wine finishes with flourishes of cherry and vanilla. It's a bit modern and ripe but frankly delicious. Dom. La Lôyane: The Winemaker Established at the foot of the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce sanctuary in Rochefort-du-Gard, not far from the ancient marshes drained by monks in the Middle Ages, this estate, founded in 1994 from the merger of three small holdings, has demonstrated great consistency in quality. Succeeding his parents, Jean-Pierre and Dominique, Romain Dubois and his wife, Laure, now sole proprietors of the estate, have created a new cellar and converted the 20 hectares of vines to organic farming. A (very) reliable asset.