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Not posh or sophisticated but very appealing - warm earth and herbs with a meatiness right in the middle!

Vibrant and youthful colour with cherry jam and red berry fruit characters. The palate is warm and generous, packed full of polished berry fruit, a touch of spice and a bitter plum twist on the finish. Tannins are gentle and add structure to this substantial, spicy red.

Monte Schiavo

Vines grown on limestone and clay soils, vinified and aged in concrete.

Deep, earthy, incredibly tight in its youth this will certainly benefit from a few hours in a decanter. Upon opening up the herbaceous, spicy notes and elegant shapes come to the fore.

Mouthwatering stone fruit, lemon, herbs, a hint of passion fruit and subtle notes of gooseberry. The grapes chosen for this wine are from Oliver's oldest and finest vines.

Weingut Oliver Zeter

Zesty and bright with ripe peach and grapefruit notes on the nose followed by a palate of zippy grapefruit and lemon zest with a pleasingly long finish.

The name of this unusual Bourgogne Pinot Noir refers to the latitude of Burgundy, and it is a blend of out best Bourgogne Rouge, Cote de Nuits Village, Marsannay and Vosne-Romanee.

Enitely made from the Sardinian Nuragus grape, which historically does not have the best reputation, this is hand-harvested, fermented with 24 hrs' skin contact in stainless steel. Aged in steel for 11 months on fine lees, unfined, unfiltered. A noble, deep, complex white wine, for lovers of Xarel.lo or whites from the northern Rhône.

Lazio may not be the first region to spring to mind when considering sources of top Italian white wines but they’ve been making wine for 2,000 years so they must have learned something over time. On hillsides half an hour south of Rome, Imperatori have just 8ha on which to work their magic. They make a really wonderful Cesanese, a cracking Frascati and this Trebbiano Verde, all nuts and minerality with a fabulous texture and richness on the finish.

"Zweigelt you say, Chris? Isn’t that an Austrian variety?” Absolutely, well spotted but this comes from t’other side of the planet in Nelson, New Zealand. Admittedly, Hermann Seifried was born in Austria but grew up amongst orchards rather than vineyards whilst his Kiwi wife, Agnes was raised on a sheep farm. Nonetheless they were amongst the first to plant vineyards in the south Island back in 1973 and I recall well a fabulous visit there in 1998. Whilst Hermann and Agnes remain key members of the team, the day-to-day running of operations is now handled by children Heidi, Anna and Chris. The vineyards now extend to some 330 hectares and the range includes this gorgeous New Zealand expression of Zweigelt – it’s every bit as spicy and bright as its Austrian cousins but maybe just a little more lush and rich

From one of the Best Chateaux in the Cotes de Castillon owned by Bordeaux royalty Stephan von Neipperg (also owner of Bugarian producer Enira, a particular favourite of Ed), this second wine is plush with ripe autumn berry on the nose and a palate with intense bramble notes and a smotth long finish.

This ‘croquant’ Cinsault is bright and deliciously enjoyable. Unoaked, vibrant redcurrant and raspberry fruit with a wild, delicately tannic herbaceous edge.

Maybe it’s just me but I can’t help thinking that when you’re given a name like Clay Shannon you have a certain responsibility to take on the mantle of a western hero and line up alongside Doc Holliday and co at the OK Corral. But that wasn’t really an option for Clay so instead, he holstered his pistols and went into battle for the planet, setting up a regenerative organic vineyard in Lake County, north California back in 1996. His property now extends to 2,000 acres up in the mountains, 1,000 of which is left untouched as a wildlife wilderness whilst the rest is one of the country’s largest regenerative farming systems. I’m sure Doc and the boys would be proud There’s ripe orchard fruit, a little cream, a touch of vanilla and a bright, citrus-edged finish that keeps everything honest.

• Colour. medium red with purple hints.
• Bouquet. the nose shows spicy notes with red berries and cedary oak.
• Palate. the palate is medium bodied. Sweet rich fruit and soft velvet tannins result in a well structured wine with a long dry finish.

Redman Wines

Aromas of plums and cherries mixed with peppery spice and a touch of tabacco leaf. The palate is juicy and fresh with soft red fruits and a hint of green pepper. A really easy drinking Merlot.

Vibrant crimson red with purple hues. Fragrant fresh cherries, red liquorice, supported by hints of chocolate, cinnamon and earthy aromas. On the palate there are sweet cheery, plum and mulberry flavours with hints of cocoa wrapped up in soft and silky tannins.

Beautiful rose-pink colour. The nose is truly inviting, packed as it is with red fruits like strawberry and cherry. The exuberant fruit continues on the palate, highlighted by a creamy mousse. Fresh and flavoursome with an intense mid-palate and moreish finish.

As the pale ruby colour suggests, this is not a blockbuster, over-extracted expression of Garnacha. Red fruit Flavours give way to gentle tannons and a bright seam of acidity. There are subtle herbal notes but balance and elegance are the key things here.

A serious wine of real complexity that balances fine tropical fruit with lively citrus in a pure and precise whole. Delicious now but easily capable of developing and improving further over then next decade, possibly even more

A serious wine of real complexity that balances fine tropical fruit with lively citrus in a pure and precise whole. Delicious now but easily capable of developing and improving further over then next decade, possibly even more

St.Bernardus Tripel is a traditional abbey beer that follows the classic tripel style. In the Watou region a tripel is often referred to as a ‘Bernadetje’. A fine tribute that pays homage to Bernadette, the youngest daughter of Evariste Deconinck, the man to whom the monks of Abbaye Sainte Marie du Mont des Cats sold their Belgian property in 1934.

St Bernardus

Nose: Powerful nose dominated by red berries and delicate oak aromas.
Palate: Powerful attack. Round and supple tannins.

E.Guigal

Maison Roche de Bellene

Wood aged muscat from Australia, delightfully smooth and nutty with huge helpings of ripe plums and damsons fruit. A good alternative to Tawny Port.

Stanton & Killeen

Pioneers of the Waipara Valley the Sherwood family have been working this land for over 30 years.

Waipara is a region with great potential that is still to be realised fully, with greater extremes of frost and warmth than its close neighbours, Marlborough and Nelson. Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris are a special focus here with a fresh regional style of their own. Perfect counterpoints to some of the more famous regions of NZ.

Careful fruit selection, cool fermentation and extended lees contact has produced a Pinot Gris with intense pear and peach aromas with hints of elegant florals. The wine has a smooth mouth-feel with refreshing length and finish.

Sherwood Estate

Founded in 2020 by Santi Degasperi (Descorchados Winemaker Revelation of the Year in 2022) and Nicolás Monforte (recognised as Tim Atkin’s Young Winemaker of the Year in 2024) Nakkal is one of Uruguay’s foremost “natural” wineries. Named after the Nakkales, ancient priests of the lost continent Atlantis who, apparently, guarded the knowledge, energy and wisdom of humanity for centuries. Among its principles, to intervene as little as possible with the sole purpose of guaranteeing collective well-being so that’s nice. Tannat has established itself as Uruguay’s “signature” grape and frequently expresses itself as a big, larger than life character but in Santi and Nicolas’ hands it’s gone through a bit of a training programme and is much lighter with ripe red fruit to the fore and much softer tannins. Try it lightly chilled

Stunning Pinot from the Talinay Vineyard. Winemaker Felipe Müller planted the best, limestone rich slope with a field selection from Vosne Romanee and Gevrey Chambertin. This is the first vintage and has already been hailed as one of the best Pinot's from Chile.

Two massal selections from Vosne-Romanée and Gevrey-Chambertin were planted ungrafted and with a very high density of 12,500 plants per hectare on a steep slope (30%) inside the Talinay estate vineyard. It's a unique 1.15 hectares of vines that were planted in 2012, and the first commercial wine was produced in 2018. This site has some of highest concentration of calcium carbonate (limestone) in the Talinay vineyard. It’s fermented with 40% whole bunch, with native yeasts and then matured in used French oak barrels for 12 months.

The nose is attractive with brooding cherry fruit, floral lift and an underlying stoney minerality. The palate is taught with delicious red berry fruits, layered upon precise minerality and freshness. It’s a very long and clean wine with extremely fine, chalky tannins.

This wine has a subtle, pale gold color with fine, persistent bubbles. It is delicate, with aromas of peach, white flowers, vanilla pod, and brioche on the nose and flavors of fresh fruit and honey on the palate.

Champagne Taittinger

This wine has a subtle, pale gold color with fine, persistent bubbles. It is delicate, with aromas of peach, white flowers, vanilla pod, and brioche on the nose and flavors of fresh fruit and honey on the palate.

Champagne Taittinger

The Taittinger Vintage Brut is exclusively produced from first press wines, blended from 50% Chardonnay and 50% Pinot Noir. The Grands Crus make up a significant proportion at 70%, while the other selected villages are all classified as Premiers Crus. Ageing in the cellars for 5 years enhances complexity and helps the wine to flourish.

The vivid, lively nose exudes fruity and floral aromas, with a white blossom bouquet orchard flowers, lime blossom, honeysuckle) punctuated with aromas of fresh fruits (lemon, peach) giving way to almond notes with a hint of brioche. The palate is crisp and wonderfully precise. With citrus influences, it offers a truly excellent balance of structure and sophistication. The finish is complex, with both elegance and length.

Champagne Taittinger

In years when a Taylor’s Vintage is not declared, the decision may be taken to bottle a Single Quinta Vintage Port. This is made entirely from grapes grown on the Vargellas property and bears the name of the estate on the label.
A Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port is generally more early maturing than the declared Taylor’s Vintages. Often quite approachable when young, they will nevertheless mature well for many years if laid down.

This is top class with so much perfume and flower aromas. Violets galore. Full body yet refined and tight with very powerful and polished tannins. This is racy and linear. Turns juicy, fresh and medium sweet. Reminds me of the excellent 1967 Vargellas.
Score: 95 James Suckling