Stockist/Retailer: Cheers Wine Merchant

(2024) The blend here is Grenache Blanc, with Roussanne and Clairette, the wine fermented in 300 and 400 litre oak barrels, new and older wood, where it ages for six months before bottling. Nutty, creamy and chalky on the nose, it's a delicate but quite intense aroma, followed by a similarly yin and yang palate: there's no shortage of lightly toasty vanilla notes, and the fruit is ripe and mouth-filling, and yet this 13% alcohol wine has a lightness and finesse about it too.

(2024) From bush vines, fruit is predominantly from Stellenbosch, Paarl and Swartland. The wine is unoaked but sees extended time on the lees. The nose has ripe pear and apple, but hinting at more tropical character. The palate has creaminess and light waxiness, with a similar fruit profile and good balance.

(2023) The Monastrell (Mourvèdre) is grown in certified organic vineyards at 700-900 metres above sea level. Vines are bush-trained and unirrigated so yields are naturally low. A new optical sorting system uses a system of cameras and computers to select only fruit in excellent condition - an expensive sign of a quality-conscious producer. The wines spends four to five months in American and French oak barriques, second and third fill. It has a little hint of transparency on the rim, suggesting a wine that's not too heavily extracted. Aromas are of fresh berries and spices, a hint of something like pomegranate as well as richer aromas. In the mouth this is really juicy and mouth-watering stuff, the fruit is ripe and sweet, but there's plenty of acidity and a grainy hint of tannin, the barrel ageing adding just a warming undercurrent.  

(2023) An organic certified wine from granite and schist soils in the Alentejo, a big blend of Alicante Bouschet, Aragonez (Teempranillo), Syrah, Trincadeira, Cabernet Sauvignon and Touriga Franc. Having fermented each variety separately, the blend is aged 12 months in American (60%) and French (40%) oak barrels. A lovely nose, so fragrant with wild strawberry and black cherry notes, a potpourri of spicy, floral overtones and a creamy underlay of oak. In the mouth it combines sweet, ripe and glossy fruit with a bit of solid structure. There's an intensity here, a bittersweet concentration that dries the mouth with extract, tannin and acidity. This should soften over five or six years in the cellar, or match it to a  steak or something from the char grill now.    

(2023) A mixture of vineyards here, aged 18 to 40 years, and a mix of clones. The oldest blocks of fruit were fermented directly in oak barrels, other blacks transferred to oak after malolactic fermentation. Barrels came from both Bordeaux and Burgundy coopers, 47% new. Darkly hued, there's concentrated cassis and ripe black plum here, mint and cocoa in support. The palate here flows beautifully with ripe and juicy blackcurrant fruit, but the integration of the tannins and acids here, and indeed the creamy dark tones of the barrel, is excellent. That gives this a seamless character as it flows towards the finish. Highly drinkable.

(2023) Grenache, Cinsault, and Tibouren is the blend, typical of the Golfe de St Tropez where vineyards sit on red clay and limestone, with some elevation. Grapes are harvested at night to preserve freshness. It has quite an intense nose, of cherry lips and  strawberry, and a little suggestion of salty minerals. In the mouth concentrated and peachy, with small intense red berries and quite a decisive pithy acidity. Full flavoured and concentrated style, perhaps best with food.

(2023)

Angeline Vineyards has the knack of producing beautifully pitched wines, that are easy and approachable, without being dumbed down or inelegant. This has a delicious character, creamy and almond, with the merest hint of flintiness and very good fruit. The palate has succulence and fruit ripeness, very good texture and a ripe, lime or orange acidity, and a long, crisp, but creamy-textured finish.

(2022) A blend of Semillon, Sauvignon and Muscadelle, this opens with classic Botrytis notes, barley sugar and orange, leaf tea and lemon with a slick of vanilla. The palate has medium to full body, that hint of meatiness that Botrytis often lends, full glycerine sweetness and a fat, lemony thrust of acidity. Compete and expressive.

(2022) Another homage to Provence fro Paul Mas, this is pale salmon pink and pretty, with confectionery and floral-touched ripe red berry aromas. A pleasant hint of sweetness is subtle and helps cement this wine's sippable, crowd-pleasing credentials.

(2021) Hollick is one of the great names of the Coonawarra region of South Australia, famed mostly for its distinctive 'terra rossa' soils and Cabernet Sauvignon in particular. This is a wine that underwent an almost miraculous transformation with a little air and a little time: on first pouring a tasting sample there was a dustiness and rawness on the nose, some cedar and a suggestion of eucalyptus, but it felt shy on fruit. However, I suggest decanting this wine for a good couple of hours before drinking, as returning to it next day the fruit was much more to the fore, plum and cassis, sweet fruit building on the mid-palate. After initial misgiving, the wine seemed to blossom and become more smooth and fleshy. In the end, a very pleasing bottle. Note the stockist quoted has this on offer at £9.99 at time of review. Watch the video for more information.