Wines £15 - £30

On the west side of Sicily close to Marsala, is where Rallo Azienda Agricola calls home.

Working organically, the Vesco family focus on creating fragrant crisp Catarratto and perfumed fresh Nero d'Avola from their hillside vineyards. These vineyards are certified organic and are nestled high up in the hills south of Alcamo to take advantage of the slightly cooler temperatures and greater diurnal differences. The vines look down on the town of Marsala where, when the grapes have been harvested, they are taken. Here Andrea Vesco treats them with respect, utilising modern technology to ensure the freshness is retained for the final wines and creating elegant examples of the varieties that are anything but what you would expect from such a hot land.

A heady mix of citrus, grapefruit and tropical fruits, this is well rounded and complex with a long mineral finish.

Cantine Rallo

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.

Earthy and baked red plums on the nose. An almost Burgundian savoury quality on the palate with characteful gamey and fruit richness. Balanced with a bright acidity on the finish.

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

A Rhône Valley style, with fully ripe Shiraz characters of blood plum and ripe black cherry fruit balanced with the exotic Viognier aromas of citrus blossom and rose petal. In Keith's own words ‘Viognier is like Chardonnay on steroids!’ and when married together with Shiraz these two varieties combine magically to produce a palate with richer aromatic charm, warm briar berry spice and a velvety medium-bodied balance. With a rich, ripe black-fruit softness on entry, and smooth roundness and chocolatey softness onto the finish. Adding to the mix is the finely integrated weave of supple oak, and a delicate floral hint of violets and rose-petal resulting in a beautifully complete blend.

Keith Tulloch Wine

A stylish and concentrated Verdicchio with fresh intense aromas of grapefruit and lime, as well as honeyed stonefruit. The palate is fresh and fruity; very approachable, with apple, pear and ripe stone fruit. A mouthfilling minerality adds to the complexity and palate weight.

A delicate and complex Sancerre with great depth of fruit; the boisterous green aromatics often found in Sauvignon Blanc have been skilfully restrained, allowing fruity layers of green apples and lemons to show through.

Gautier Marion is the fifth generation of the family to manage Domaine de la Couvette, tucked into the gently undulating countryside of Southern Beaujolais. If you could picture what a quintessentially small French producer should look like then Gautier's property would come very close. He takes great pride in making wines in the traditional carbonic macerated style using his trusty, old concrete vats, which he uses to age the wines as well. Respecting not only the winemaking traditions, but also their 11 hectares of land and the vines that are up to 50 years old, they demonstrate their commitment by making a fully organic Beaujolais.

Light yellow in colour the wine has a fruity, floral and mineral nose, and citrus notes. An elegant subtle Chardonnay that is supple, balanced and delightfully fruity.

Syrah from Lodi is a bit of an oddity. This one comes from a 16-acre vineyard planted in ’94, when Steve and Lori Felton switched from contract grape growing to winemaking. They named it after their daughter, who, aged nine, declared she’d be the one to look after it. Big and bold, it’s less aggressive than a Barossa Shiraz (despite its 15.2% ABV), sharing the same rich, extracted fruit but with a smoother mouthfeel and silky finish. Though recent vintages have been scooping up medals, Lodi Syrah still hasn’t caught on in the US—so for once we benefit from American ignorance and can offer it well below its true worth. Enjoy

Rich golden orange colour; the perfume on the nose offers fresh aromas of citrus pith, lemon and lime; medium-bodied with a lush, creamy palate of tropical and candied fruits.

Aged in concrete tanks for 6-8 months with skins on. The skins are periodically mixed with the wine to achieve the evolution of a more complex wine, with greater creaminess and freshness.

La Despensa Wines from Chile’s Colchagua Valley is owned, organically-farmed and operated by Matt Ridgway, originally from Dorset, and his Chilean wife Ana

76% Cinsault, 12% Grenache, 6% Mourvedre, 6% Pais

Vibrant cherry-red in colour; wild raspberry, strawberry and herbal aromas, very pure and perfumed. The fruit character continues through onto the palate, which is rich yet fresh and beautifully balanced.

Tbilvino was established nearly sixty years ago, and over this period they have become one of Georgia’s leading producers. Almost dormant at the end of the Soviet era, the winery was acquired by the enterprising Margvelashvili brothers, who set about restoring the facilities, and moving the focus from volume to quality.

Fruit-forward and aromatic, this wine displays the grape’s floral aromas, alongside concentrated flavours of forest fruits and dark plum. The palate is well rounded, with a delicate, vibrant finish.

An impressive, classic Séguret - about as good as Côtes du Rhône Villages gets! The nose is as explosive, plush and opulent as ever, layered with suggestions of exotic spices, cracked black pepper and streaked with vanilla. The palate is instantly appealing, polished and smooth on entry but steeped in depth and texture as the flavours swirl around, lengthen and delight. The lasting impression is satisfying - a big and opulent Grenache-driven wine with obvious oak quality, great structure, length and finish.

Luis Seabra may be a new name on the Portuguese wine scene, but he has already had a hand in crafting some of the Douro’s most exciting wines, working as Dirk Niepoort’s right-hand man from 2004 until leaving to set up his own label in 2012. He is starting small, releasing two whites and one red, with a total production of just 5,000 bottles per wine. Winemaking is minimal-intervention, and the style very much reflects the concentration of care lavished by this experienced winemaker on his tiny output.

A bright, lifted palate shows flavours of freshly picked nectarines, peaches and pears, all against a complex backdrop of wet stones, chalk. Graceful and powerful all at once, with a salty, savoury complexity and a compellingly chewy texture which runs through to the lengthy finish

The grapes are sorted, de-stemmed and crushed. Fermentation process started with juice still on the grape skins, whereafter the wine was left on the grape skins for a further 6 months. The clear wine was then racked, blended and bottled. Intense savoury nose with notes of dried citrus peel, marmalade, brown spice and almond skin. Full flavoured and textural on the palate with flavours of apricot kernel and fruit peel followed by a fine bitter orange finish.

A nose of plum, raspberry, violet flower, blueberry, mocha and a hint of spiced. On the palate its fresh blueberry fruit with lots of plum, dark cherries and young blackcurrant fruits. A long fine tannin structure throughout gives an excellent backbone to this food friendly style of Barossa Shiraz.

The 2023 Butler’s Grant Old Vines Riesling is a stunning showcase of the estate’s oldest Riesling vines, planted in 1980 at Butler’s Grant Vineyard. Crafted with wild fermentation and aged six months on lees, this Riesling undergoes 100% malolactic fermentation, resulting in a wine of exceptional depth and complexity.

Westcott Vineyards

Aromas of ripe cherry, plum and vanilla. Bright cherry, strawberry and baking spices on the palate. This pinot is medium bodied with well balanced acidity and silky tannins.

Westcott Vineyards

It’s called Austrian Pepper as you’ll find plenty of peppery spice in it. Perhaps the hottest thing from Austria. It’s not just wine. It is just the most peppery-fruity Grüner Veltliner on the block. Spice up your life!

The Gómez Cruzado winery dates back to 1886 when Angel Gómez de Arteche started to produce and bottle his own wine in Haro, at the very heart of Rioja Alta. This was in the day when the wine trade between Rioja and France passed along the Tudela-Bilbao line, and the key Rioja wineries were located around the station of Haro. The winery sits just 100m from the station to this day.

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.

Stéphane Bourret and his team have improved La Bastide wines’ quality beyond recognition. Despite the pressure of the many tourists ready to buy almost anything at any price, he has chosen a path of quality and hard work. All of the 28 hectares estate is now run using biodynamic methods and the results are a joy to behold, with many of their wines awarded great accolades in the national and international wine press. ‘Estagnol’ is produced from their best vineyards and improves after 3 or 4 years cellaring.

Tradition is hardly sufficient a word to sum up the Perrier family who have lived and worked in the Alps for more than seven generations. Their wine style and dedication to local varieties such as Jacquère has not wavered and like their mountains, they remain resolute. And all the better for it. These are wines are stunning, different and enthralling creating flavour and palates that you would be hard pressed to find anywhere else. Jacquère is a grape variety native to Savoie and is THE wine to have with fondue or raclette.

White gold colour with hints of green. Fresh almond, hawthorn and citrus fruit on the nose. A lively attack on the palate but rounds out with lovely mineral notes and orange zest. Excellent balance between fruit and acidity.

Founded in 1987 but with a pedigree extending back 100 years, Emilio Moro was one of the first bodegas to put the region of Ribera del Duero on the map, so to speak. As their reputation grew, so did their vineyard holdings both in Ribera del Duero and elsewhere and we were delighted to encounter this gem towards the end of last year. El Zarzal is a real treat - 100% Godello from their Bierzo estate it has all the hallmarks of the house with notes of ripe stone fruit and dry flowers, harnessing varietal typicity and harmonious balance with 8 months in French oak foudre adding a beautifully integrated oak influence.

A brilliant yellow colour with hints of green. A bouquet of wild flowers and a salty minerality typical of our regions soils. A fresh and fruity palate; well balanced, aromatic, with intense aromas of citrus, grapefruit and lemon, green peppers and fresh grass.

Daschbosch is one of the country’s oldest wineries, dating back to 1754 and this is one of my favourites from the estate. From 60 year old vines, it’s on the intense side – the fruit has been worked pretty hard to give a real richness and texture with bags of stone fruit flavours balanced by a taut acidity on the finish.

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.

The Chenin, Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay are fermented separately. After blending refermentation takes place in the bottle and the wine is then aged on its lees for over a year.

Crisp and refreshing, vibrant and delicate, this sparkling wine is worth going out of your way to try. Light straw colour, minerally aromas with notes of apple and peach on the nose. Lemon, apple and pink grapefruit on the palate. The mousse is elegant and refined and there is plenty of crisp acidity. The finish is long and dry with attractive biscuity notes.

Classic Provence rosé, expressive and aromatic, blending fresh cherries and floral notes alongside more exotic fruits then finishing with a soft round palate packed with peach and raspberry.

Aged in used barrels so as to impart less characteristics of the oak, yet keeping its softening effects on the wine. No ageing in bottle is necessary due to its natural occurring oxidation, meaning this wine will (if kept properly) last many months after opening, with no change in profile.

In the glass you can really see the beautiful colour of this amber nectar, with citrus, orange peel and ripe apricots on the nose. Followed on the palate by cinnamon, hints of dried fruit, a smooth roasted hazelnut, with a surprisingly persistent finish.

José Maria da Fonseca

Charming and sophisticated Rose Prosecco from one of the region's most quality-minded producers. Zucchetto have made this delicious glass of summer berry joy in a crisp Extra Brut style to ensure maximum refreshment.

Zucchetto