(2024) From the Haut Vallée de l'Aude, an IGP appellation around Limoux in the Languedoc. This is made by Burgundy-born Oliver Lemstra and is aged in both tank and new French oak barrels for eight months. The oak comes from the forest of Bertrange on the right bank of the River Loire, due west of Dijon. It's a powerful wine with its 14.5% alcohol, but there's a translucent rim to the garnet colour, and aromas do encompass spice and floral notes as well as red fruits. In the mouth that sweetness of ripe fruit comes through, cherry and bramble to the fore, a hint of the tobacco spiciness again and quite a dry tannic background. Acid is well balanced in a wine that retains some elegance despite the rather high alcohol.
(2024) Typical Douro blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Sousão from vineyards at 450 to 650 metres altitude. The wine spent 12 months in French oak barriques. It has a most attractive tove nose, sweet black fruits with an elegant sheen of vanilla, touches of espresso and, to balance, violet, add layers of interest. A balsamic edge of sweet and savoury character lies o er the rich black fruit of the palate, the whole picture balanced with enough structure, but a hint of sumptuous richness.
(2024) The Boglietti winery was established in 1991, and remains in family hands. Twenty-one hectares in La Morra are farmed by Renato, while son Enzo is winemaker and manager. This Barbera spent nine months in older oak, but there is just a faint charry note against firm red fruit. It has a gravel and cedar sense of taut precision. In the mouth there is plentiful red fruit that is dry and savoury too. A keen raspberry and cherry edge to the acidity, firm, tight-grained tannins and just that touch of creaminess from the barrels add up to a very grown-up, modern and well-balanced wine with time ahead of it.
(2024) From a single vineyard at altitude in Agrelo, Mendoza, just 15% of the wine saw barrels; six months in French and American oak. There's a balsamic, tapenade note here, sitting atop deep plum and bramble fruit, the char of the oak evident too. Blackcurrant emerges once that initial impression subsides a little. In the mouth the sweet ripeness of the Cabernet asserts. Whilst there's a certain creaminess and that layer of oaky spice, this stays quite focused and clean, tannins and acids quite soft but they are there. It's a wine made for a steak I think.
(2024) Vik is the estate's top wine, from a vineyard planted in 2007 in the coolest Millahue zone of the Cachapoal Valley. The blend is 76% Cabernet Sauvignon and 24% Cabernet Franc, aged at least 18 months in French oak, 50% new barrels. It's a very sophisticated wine this, elegantly framed by a high quality, delicate oak, a hint of the Cabernet Franc's leafy, olive/tapenade character, and a wonderfully juicy, intense cassis core. The silkiness of the tannins and precise acidity give the finish excellent, gently spice length. It's a decidedly Bordeaux style, my mind wandering towards Cheval Blanc as I drank it, and surely some excellent cellaring potential too. Note that price and stockist quoted are for a previous vintage at time of review.
(2024) It's always interesting if a wine has a particular human story behind it, and this one certainly has. Winemaker Marty Edwards spent two decades with a larger wine company before being diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 2012, whilst still barely 40 years of age. So he quit the job, and after life-changing Deep Brain Stimulation surgery in 2018, felt well enough to establish Silver Lining Wines, where profits go to support Parkinson's research and charities in Australia. The wine displays its cooler-climate credentials coming from vineyards at altitude in the Adelaide Hills. Whole berries were fermented with natural yeasts and foot trodden, then matured in new and used French oak barriques for 10 months. It has game, olives and plenty of pepper on the nose, a certain roughening tannin adding a welcome chewiness to plush, mouth-filling black fruit. Spicy, well-balanced and satisfying stuff. Watch the video for more information.
(2024) This is not the current vintage of this wine (the 2017 is the one most retailers seem to be stocking), but it just shows how beautifully the wine ages over several years. From an estate very much focused on Bordeaux as a model, it spent 17 months in barrels from top French coopers, 40% new. When I last tasted it in 2019 I noted "serious structure, the deep black fruit bound by firm, gripping tannins and decisive acidity," and while the tannins have mellowed a little since, that wonderful balance of the wine, and that wonderful combination of fruit and structure remains. The intervening five years have also developed its tertiary aromas suggesting game and sweet, damp earth among the more plush black fruits. The current vintage can be had for £17-£18 quite widely, which is surely very attractive for a wine of considerable pedigree and cellaring potential. Stockist and price quoted for the most recent vintage.
(2024) Rich, meaty nose, a little bit baked in character. Quite smooth, but rather one dimensional, a firm, slightly aggressive quality to the acidity, a bit a of raspberry lifts the finish. £13.99, but 'Angels' buy for £12.99
(2024) Cool climate character is good, with herbs, pepper and a certain meatiness. Plummy, the palate perhaps a slightly raw quality, a touch of charry character from the oak adds to that. Tannins are firm and this has reasonable balance overall. £24.99, but 'Angels' pay £15.99
(2024) A Bordeaux blend of 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 18% Merlot, 15% Petit Verdot and 9% Malbec. Sweet, plush and smooth black fruits. A touch of chocolate, plum and earlier depths. Juicy and well balanced blend. Not hugely complex, but very enjoyable. £21.99, but 'Angels' buy at £13.99.
This is not the current vintage of this wine (the 2017 is the one most retailers seem to be stocking), but it just shows how beautifully the wine ages over several years. From an estate very much focused on Bordeaux as a model, it spent 17 months in barrels from top French coopers, 40% new. When I last tasted it in 2019 I noted "serious structure, the deep black fruit bound by firm, gripping tannins and decisive acidity," and while the tannins have mellowed a little since, that wonderful balance of the wine, and that wonderful combination of fruit and structure remains. The intervening five years have also developed its tertiary aromas suggesting game and sweet, damp earth among the more plush black fruits. The current vintage can be had for £17-£18 quite widely, which is surely very attractive for a wine of considerable pedigree and cellaring potential. Stockist and price quoted for the most recent vintage. 