Stockist/Retailer: Laithwaites

(2025) Made from Malvasia Puntinata, this wine has loads of honeyed opulence, loads of texture, in a succulent style. Touches of that honey over sherbet lemon and peach bit with a dry extract savouriness. it's an intriguing wine in some ways, fresh and appetising with only 12.5% alcohol, and yet with texture and mouth-filling presence. Full flavoured, Commice pear into peach, with fine acidity to freshen the finish. £13.49 as part of a mixed dozen.

(2025) Emilia-Romagna’s version of a Super Tuscan? That's according to Laithwaites for this Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese blend that is £17.99 as part of a mixed dozen. The wine was aged in French oak barrels for 11 months and, having left the grapes on the vine for a month later than normal, it has an almost Amarone touch. Chocolaty, spicy, a prune-like (but most definitely not stewed) character has sweetness and intense blueberry richness. The palate too has an Amarone intensity of dried fruits, spices and mocha, and that hit of sour cherry acidity. The barrel ageing has added softer, vanilla and cocoa touches in a big, bountiful wine with enough structure to offset the fruit sweetness.

(2025) This Languedoc red is vintage 2019, so rather nice to have a wine with a bit of tertiary development. Montpeyroux is a 'Cru' on schist soils in the foothills of the Pyrenees, this blend of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah from vineyards that lie between 140 and 280 metres altitude. Dark, spicy and deeply fruited, there's some cherry and raspberry lift over plummier, chocolate depths. The palate is smooth, dense and spicy with quite a long finish, the tannins well on their way to being fully resolved but, along with good acidity, freshening the finish. £16.99 as part of a mixed dozen.

(2025) From Rheinhessen, this comes from a family winery and brothers Peter and Fritz May who have travelled widely: Peter having worked in Marlborough, Fritz with Geoffrey Grosset in Australia and in Austria. There's quite a luscious aspect to the nose honeyed with nectarine, even a hint of Botrytis. The palate is relatively simple, though enjoyable, the medium-sweet palate of very ripe apple and pear balanced by just enough acidity.

(2025) Named after Anges Seifried, this is always a treat of a moderately priced dessert wine, fully luscious and sweet with a candied fruit quality, and yet nimble with its slicing core of citrus acidity keeps things fresh on the palate. The honey and lime of the nose translates to a delicate, fully sweet but light palate, shimmering acidity prolonging the finish. Price for a half bottle.

(2024) From Henry and Kaye Laithwaite’s 6.5ha estate in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, the vines grown on a specific chalky plot. Half was fermented in barrel, and the wine aged on its lees for four years. This wine impressed, a little buttery toast and biscuit but fresh and direct, the crisp fruit suggested on the nose carrying on to the palate, A modest dosage of 6.2g/l enhances the freshness as ripe English orchard and citrus fruit run through to a balanced, focused finish. £37 by the mixed dozen.

(2024) A full 24 months on the lees before release of this wine made from 100% Chardonnay grown in Vertus, Côtes des Blancs. It is made for Laithwaites by Paul Goerg, a well-regarded co-operative. On the nose a certain yeasty meatiness, nutty, with red apple fruit. The palate is quite sweet (though the wine is Brut), and that is the dominant feature through to the finish. There is a nice level of acidity in the finish, a little hint of the nut husk dryness helping that. £27 by the mixed dozen.

(2024) 'Miru Miru' means 'bubbles' in Maori, here created by a traditional method blend of 49% Chardonnay, 48% Pinot Noir and 3% Pinot Meunier. Very toasty on the nose this wine, hot buttered toast and hazelnut, everything about it says 'approachable' with a peachiness to the fruit. On the palate it has some sweetness to the fruit, in a soft, rolling and attractive style that drinks easy and finishes with enough lemony acidity to sharpen up the picture. £17.99 by the mixed case.

(2024) I very much enjoyed this 100% Trebbiano from Abruzzo, made in stainless steel and fresh as the proverbial daisy. Lime and blossom on the nose, a breezy whif of ozone freshness. In the mouth the fruit is ripe and sweet, but retains that citrus and cool, crisp Asian pear bite into a long, clean finish. (£8.99 MIX 12)

(2024) I rather enjoyed this unusual Sauvignon Blanc from RedHeads Wine, unusual because the fruit comes from Coonawarra, a territory normally associated with Cabernet Sauvignon. Unoaked, I liked the suggestion of lime peel and melon skin on the nose that added a certain savoury character rather than just overt fruit. Fruit is there, some gooseberry, grapefruit and just a hint of more tropical passion fruit, and the acid balance in this 12.5% wine is good.