Closure Type: Synthetic cork

(2024) 100% Listán Negro, a native variety of the Canary islands, this is picked and pressed in very cool conditions with minimum skin contact to produce a wine that is very pale in colour and only 11.5% alcohol. It is made in stainless steel. Fragrant, herbal, very ozoney and crisp, there's a touch of softening peach down, but this is a breezy and featherweight style. The palate follows a similar template, touching of stone fruits, but the whole picture mineral and light, stony, fresh and bright not just because of its acidity, but seems to be inherent in the wine.

(2024) Where Lanzarote goes full hipster, we're firmly in natural wine territory here, a blend of Malvasia Volcánica, Listan Blanco, Diego and Listan Negro, fermented with natural yeasts and spending 11 months in concrete, oak, and chestnut barrels. Vines are between 25 and 120 years old, grown at altitude up to 415 metres. Copper-gold in colour, aromas are of wheat beer, parcel string and lemon, some bitter orange oil notes too. In the mouth fabulous salinity and tons of citrus: orange again and lemon zest. There's plenty of leesy texture here, that wheat and hay-luke impression continuing, in a long and delicious wine in the 'natural' idiom.

(2024) Farmed by four generations, hillside vineyards begin just ten kilometres from Lake Garda. Soft pressing followed by light maceration on the skins and six months in steel barrels. Moderately deep straw/lemon colour, and a sense of mealiness with a hint of almond to the fruitiness. Quite an exotic character to this, both aromas and then fruit on the palate flirting with lychee and mango, copious ripeness and a little phenolic edge adding to the acidity too.

(2024) Sourced from vines over 40 years old, this spent two years in barrel and a further six months in bottle before release. Gorgeous almond-touched, ripe peach and juicy red apple aromas. The palate has texture and nuttiness, again almond and a classic bitter almond nuances, just gently ramping up the intensity into a long finish balanced by a fat lemony acidity.

(2024) A separate company from Carlo Zenegaglia, also reviewed: Vittorio Zenegaglia left his vineyards to two sons, whose descendants now run the respective companies. The third and fourth generation here farm 25 hectares, this from the oldest vines of the estate on calcareous and clay soils. It was fermented in a combination of stainless steel and French oak tonneaux, then spent 18 months in barrel, six in bottle. A little depth to the colour, and an intense peach and jasmine-touched aromatic. The barrel adds just a creamy edge of richness. In the mouth the juiciness is delicious, a mouth-watering combination of zesty grapefruit and lime with a core of nectarine.

(2024) A highly unusual blend for Achaval Ferrer's new entry-level red in their sustainable Quimera range. It mixes Pinot Noir, Malbec, Syrah and, would you believe it, 12% Sauvignon Blanc. All fruit comes from the Uco Valley and the wine is unoaked, the Pinot Noir and Malbec fermented in concrete tanks, the rest in stainless steel. I presume the Sauvignon Blanc is there to lift the aromatics and overall picture, though the nose is solidly fruited, little raspberry and floral notes sit on top with the merest suggestion of something herbal. In the mouth it is creamy and sweet. A plushness is evident, but so is a freshness. The alcohol sits at 14.5% and adds a little heat and richness, but the overall picture is in the red fruit spectrum of cherry, raspberry and ripe red plum, with modest tannins and a long line of acidity. Watch the video for more information and food matching ideas. 

(2024) A blend of Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Syrah, Lebanese producer Ixsir's winemaker Gabriel Rivero spent eight years at Sociando-Malet and says “IXSIR is fundamentally about new world winemaking in an old world country." With vineyards at 1,800m metres, each variety comes from a plot matched for climate and soil type. Pale, if not quite as pale in colour as some, it has plenty of fragrance, with watercolour paintbox and floral aromas, cherry and rose-hip. Quite a heady aromatic profile. The palate is dry, with a peachy, nectarine fruit, a little strawberry and good balance with a peach skin bite of a little grip, citrus acidity and good length.

(2024) Nice and unusual to have a delicate, 11% rosé from the volcanic island of Madeira, made from the local Tinta Negra Mole grape. The colour is a light to medium salmon pink, and it's a very fragrant wine with flowers and pert red berries, a sense of minerality too. On the palate juicy and quite creamy, a pulpy strawberry fruit quality comes through, but it keeps that spritely mineral crispness.

(2024) The noble Barone Ricasoli of Chianti Classico fame makes this pale, peachy pink by blending Sangiovese and Merlot. Attractively packaged, aromas are subtle and citrussy, raspberry and a touch of rose-hip and herbs are all very delicate. On the palate that crisp and linear style might make you think this was a white wine if blindfolded, but lightly smoky berry fruits, touched by herbs and spice, move into that refreshing lemony acidity.

(2024) It's fair to say that Colombard is not the world's sexiest grape. A staple of Armagnac and Cognac production, but rarely seen as 'fine wine', Ian found a 1983 vineyard planted on sand, in the far north of coastal Swartland and has treated it with the care afforded all of his wines. It opens with a delightful peach and Ogen melon suggestion of fruitiness, even hints at lychee and mango, but there's a leesy element and layer of saline that keeps that in check. The palate has real texture given the 11% alcohol, an orange undertow of acidity supporting those creamier, fruity characters. Delightful.