(2025) Just bottled, so un-labelled and not released at time of tasting, this promises to be a cracking vintage of the always lovely FMC Chenin. It is now in the UK at around £40 per bottle. The creaminess of French oak, about 50% new, is apparent in a wine aged for a year in barrel on the lees. The fruit is pristine, already hinting at honey, with ripe and juicy yellow apple and a hint of apricot. One of the world's great Chenins.

(2025) This is a brand new wine, a Palomino/Chenin field blend from a 1959 vineyard in Piekenierskloof that is also the source of the fruit for 'Dirty Little Secret". Ken explained that when the Chenin was first planted it was done with little expertise and soon some plants failed. Palomino was known to grow easily and reliably even in hot, dry climates, so all of the empty spaces in the vineyard were filled with the variety. A really beautiful wine, natural yeast fermented, with a citrus peel hint of extract and zestiness, a mouth-filling texture, a perfectly balanced finish with zippy, dry and mineral acidity.

(2025) I'm not sure if the winemaking for Pelorus has changed since I first tasted and enjoyed it 25 years ago, but today it has a moderate dosage of 7g/l which enhances its crispness, and the addition of reserve wines plus a minimum of 24 months on the lees gives it plenty of biscuity richness too. The lemony freshness of the Chardonnay dominates the nose, gentle toast filling in, before the palate broadens slightly, the Pinot Noir perhaps giving an ounce of more substantial fruit while the toast and acidity balance very nicely into the finish.

(2025) The 40th vintage of Cloudy Bay's iconic Sauvignon Blanc is a really good one. It remains a first class example of the style it, arguably, created. From a vintage of below average yield due to Spring frost followed by drought, just 1.5% of the blend was fermented in large oak barrels, the rest in stainless steel. Part of the ferment was with wild yeasts. It burst with grapefruit and peach on the nose. A background hint of elderflower and green bean is a signature of this wine, but appearing here in a relatively restrained form as fruit is very much to the fore. Full-textured and full-flavoured on the palate, it is a wine that bursts with juiciness and exuberance. You'd be crazy to pay the supposed RRP of £32, but it's not hard to find in many independent retailers or on a deal at larger players for around £21.00. Still quite expensive, but it is also very good indeed.

(2025) From a 0.7h single vineyard 2km from the sea planted in 2016 on soils rich in calcified fossils. Incisive acidity with notes of spice and white fruit as well as strong hints of salinity. Elevage in older barrels and stainless steel. A beguiling Chardonnay. (Geoffrey Dean)

(2025) Bouza was the first winery to plant Albariño in Uruguay - in 2001 with cuttings from Europe on decomposed granite, limestone and clay soils. Each plot is vinified separately - whole-bunch pressed in stainless steel with 15% seeing second fill French oak. Vibrant freshness with aromas of white flowers and jasmine, with white peach notes and a citrus core as well as some salinity. (Geoffrey Dean)

(2025) Feom the Don Miguel vineyard, this is whole-cluster pressed and barrel fermented wirh indigenous yeast. The wine was aged on its lees in French oak barrels, 33% new, for nine months. What an attractive nose: Caramac, nut husks and wheat add interesting nuances to nutty apple. On the palate, nutty, rich, with a succulent core of ripe fruit, honeyed, with delicate lemon blossom acidity and fine texture and length.

(2024) The first still wine from sparkling wine maestro Dermot Sugrue and his wife Ana is as quirky as its name. It is in fact the first issue of a solera of Chardonnay, the 2022 component aged in small barrels, the 2023 in large barrels, with a proportion made in an oxidative style. It displays a flinty, herbal character but elegantly smoothed by almond and creamy ripe, honeyed apple. The palate shimmers with vibrant sherbet lemon and ripe grapefruity vivaciousness. It has a flinty drive and freshess, a bittersweet ripple of citrus, the finish long and intense like a blood orange straight from the freezer.

(2024) A blend of fruit from the warmer soils of the Wairau Valley and cool, dense clay of the Southern Valley, this was fermented with wild yeast in French oak barriques and matured for eleven months. Oak seems restrained this vintage to very nice effect, just a sheen of buttered toast and oatmeal over pear and lime fruit. The palate has textural richness, hinting at exotic nectarine and mango, but that balanced by fresh, zippy lemon acidity. The majestic 'mixed six' price of £28.49 is the one to be on. Independent merchants also have it for £30 - £33. Watch the video for more information.

(2024) From vines at 400 to 600 metres altitude, this was partly fermented in large oak casks, and partly in smaller barrels. It was matured in large French oak casks. Surprisingly aromatic, a sheen of almond over nectarine and lime, a smoke, cracked river stone background. Just off-dry, this is very much more Alsace Pinot Gris than Pinot Grigio, rich and full, luscious mango to nectarine, with a rasp of grapefruit and lemon acidity to give balance and definition.