White Wine

"The wine is a vibrant blend delineated from the region’s cooling fog and warm afternoon sunshine to allow balanced ripening of lush varietal flavors and natural acidity that can be derived from our venerated vineyards." - Paul Hobbs Winery

My personal fave vineyard for Pauly wines when young. Slate flavours wonderfully evident behind the white peach and ripe-lime beauty of this poised treat. Impossible ancient family grower, exceptional best-in-a-generation vintage.

For many years, Patrick has isolated his generic vineyards that sit on limestone for this cuvée. From these 0.75 hectares, the domaine produces an unusually complex Bourgogne Blanc, in the mould of a Puligny-Montrachet. The nose is expressive, elegant and powerful with notes of white and yellow fruits, succulent flowers and touches of toast. On the palate, the wine displays fine balance and a lovely body with crisp acidity. The same aromas are found as on the nose. This is an expressive and fresh wine with a long finish.

From the Puligny side of the generic land, which was frosted, but not heavily, this carries 35 percent new oak and has a defined, clear Puligny style, with tight fruit and a kernel of nuttiness. Neatly made, it has substance for a Bourgogne Blanc – indeed, it’s as good as a village Puligny at other addresses.

MATTHEW JUKES, JANUARY 2022, SCORE: 17.5 With nice balance and a forward feel, this is a slightly more refined version than the Bourgogne Blanc VV, and it is very much built along the same lines. Not too ebullient and retaining a degree of restraint, this is a lovely, elegant and forward-drinking wine.

The 2022 Salt River combines fruit from a 32 year old bushvine vineyard in Stellenbosch and another coastal site in Walker Bay. Named for the trendy area of Cape Town that Savage Wines calls home, it drinks more like a Pouilly Fume than a Marlborough Sauvignon, with a real lushness to the palate, flavours of yellow plums, semi-dried pineapple, moringa flowers, a tiny hint of reduction and this amazing intense tanginess. Think sun-ripened yellow peppers blended up, with grapefruit pith and the faintest hint of blackcurrant. Terrific body and stunningly long in the mouth, it's tasting great now, and we're sure it will age with grace too.

White grapefruit, intense tropical fruit, ripe gooseberry and fleshy kiwi fruit over-lay Iona's distinctive herbal and floral undertones. The palate is keenly balanced showing cut green apples and lime marmalade followed by great minerality and length. Vegan.

Bright and fruity Sauvignon from a switched in producer, making flavourful wines for instant enjoyment at a great price.Really great vlaue.

Pascal Fournillon is a sweet-natured man, always happy when people find him in the sleepy hamlet of Bernouil, some 10 miles north-east of Chablis town. His mum also makes the best gougeres if you need further incentive. Pascal's vineyards cover some 23 hectares of land in the appellations of Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru and Epineuil. He is bottling more and more of his own wine rather than selling in bulk and this means we have access to good allocations of Chablis that Pascal is happy to age for us for a few years till it is perfect to drink. This Bourgogne Chardonnay is from vineyards near Chablis and bears all the hallmarks of it; steely, lemony, fine and elegant.

Pale lemon in colour, this Sauvignon Blanc combines aromas of fresh grapefruit and lime, followed by green gooseberry and melon on the palate. Herbaceous flavours marry exquisitely with fresh tingling acidity creating a crisp lively finish.

All the grapes come from the communes of Puligny Montrachet and Meursault and the wine is made by the same super-star team who make Leflaive's famed great whites. Some pedigree, some bargain! Smells like a hint of luxury! Indeed I'd say this is more eminently deployable than many of those Greats, in a mid-week context. All the markers are there: vanilla; nuts; mineral; honey; tarragon etc. but all in a reasonably reserved expression. Jancis Robinson OBE MW "Light nose and lots of vivacious, dancing fruit. Olivier seems to have the recipe … and it's fair value. If I found this in a country pub, I’d be delighted..." Les Setilles was served at Meghan and Harry's wedding.

"Super aromas. Creamy and toasty oak at first, underlayed by citrus and jasmine. Fresh acid, creamy lactic flavours, fab fruit" AA, Feb 2021

Pale yellow with green hints.bruised apple. Quite fleshy ripe fruit with tesing juicy acidity. Lot of texture and length. Ripe stone fruits and mouth watering long finish. Wine Merchant Top 100

Franco Lourens spent some years working with the great Chris Alheit before settling to focus entirely on his own range of wines. This is a breathtakingly self-assured range and almost in the blink of an eye places Franco into the very top bracket of top-end New Wave SA producers. Franco is a leading light of South Africa’s New Wave and champion of old-vine Chenin, among others. He is inevitably set to join the likes of Chris Alheit, Eben Sadie, Adi Badenhorst, Duncan Savage et alia in the shimmering constellation of New Wave South African stars. BUT - and here's the rub - since Franco is still relatively unknown, the prices do not yet reflect how sensational the wines really are. Since mid-2020 Franco has shared cellar space with another great new vigneron Lukas van Loggerenberg in Paarl. "35% Verdelho, 21% Chenin Blanc, 19% Colombar, 18% Grenache Blanc (five days skin contact) and 7% Palomino – sourced variously from Stellenbosch, Swartland and Piekenierskloof. Expressive aromatics of pear, peach and citrus plus floral perfume and hay while the palate has good fruit definition, well integrated acidity and a gently savoury finish, some light phenolic grip adding interest. Subtle and intricate". 94/100 winemag.co.za

From sites around Walker Bay. The nose is exotic and enticing with notes of naartjie, apple, green melon and pineapple while the palate is rich and creamy with tangy acidity lending balance, the finish nicely savoury. A smart effort

Classy white from Lake Garda. Dry but rich, creamy, opulent.

This is El Porvenir's emblematic Torrontes. They have been making this wine since 2004 and it is the result of 3 different harvest days in search for good acidity, freshness, intensity in the aromatics, and nice weight in mouth. Wine of elegant colour with shades of bright greenish yellow. Fresh and fruity character, intense and typical, with an interesting floral aroma that brings memories of roses. Yellow with bright greenish tonalities. Good character with nice citric notes. Good structure, balanced and with a very nice acidity.

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

The Schoenenbourg Grand Cru dominates Riquewihr, the village next to Hunawihr. This marl-limestone and gypsum hillside favours Riesling. Very fruity; stone fruit, peach, and apricot forward. 8-10g/l RS. Persistent. Soft.

A remarkable opulent nose of tropical fruit and subtle notes of smoke from the wood barrel. Striking on the palate for its perfect balance between creaminess and acidity. An engaging and persistent wine.

Citrussy, subtle oak influence and a bright yet creamy palate. With moderate alcohol, focussed, crisp citrus fruit and a mouthwatering finish, this is an accomplished, truly modern style of this noble variety

Only the very best wines reveal their secrets to truly reflect their origin. Celeste Verdejo is a modern-style wine, fresh, and intensely aromatic. The estate-owned vineyards, close to the river Duero, are handled with great care and respect in order to give this wine greater complexity and highlight the character of the variety from this particular zone in DO Rueda.

Arneis has been grown in Piedmont for maybe 500 years. Crisp, taut, dry, citrus, un-oaked , notes of pine and lime - a classy dinner wine.

Natural, organic Macabeu from a beautiful vineyard in Calce, Roussillon. Grown with great care and wildly fermented and aged in old oak barrels. Floral, racy and minerally with soft texture and generous apple and apricot fruit. Just lovely. Vincent Carreras has been working in wine industry for 13 years. For nine years he worked for a winery in the south of the Roussillon – Andy Cook’s Mas Cristine and Coume del Mas. Working in the vineyard, cellar and commercial activities – the whole shebang! For four years now he has been employed by a family winery based in Maury - Clos des Vins d'Amour. Who work 25 hectares organically in the west of Roussillon. Mostly in commercial activities, but also working in the cellar. Alongside this, in 2016, Vincent started a new project - Domaine Odyssée. The 3.5ha of vineyards are in Calce and Baixas, in a heart of Roussillon. The sites are small, but unquestionably some of the most beautiful we have seen. Vincent draws on the experiences mentioned above and his time in New Zealand (2011), Argentina (2012) and Bordeaux 2011 to help fully realise what he has there in his exceptional terroir. Vincent works organically, using no weedkillers, no chemical products. He works by hand and with organic fertilizer (he is in conversion right now). He harvests his parcels by himself with friends and family. In the cellar, Vincent’s philosophy is a minimum of intervention – “To keep the fruit and the terroir”. The wines are extracted gently with just a little pump over. No filtration, no fining. The only preservative is a little dose of sulphites in very low quantities at bottling “It is important for me the stabilise the wine in respect of the future customers”.