Wine Region: Vipava Valley

(2007) Big barrels. A great vintage - could pick as late as they wanted. Still a full, rich ruby colour. Lots of cedar and pencil-shaving finesse, with plum and fine cherry, and a background of tobacco and some chocolaty notes. Plenty of fruit on the palate, with a gamy, meaty edge to very ripe, creamy, plum and cherry fruit. That lovely cedary, Bordeaux-like finesse is evident, with fine, supple tannins and good structure. Drinking beautifully, but has time ahead of it.

(2007) Bold, quite brassy colour. Big, sweet, plush and attractive nose, with buttery toast nicely balanced by a real depth of fruit sweetness. An almost minty, mint humbug ripeness and richness here. That ripeness and sweet edge familiar on the palate too, with bold, quite oily fruit cut through by very nice mineral acidity. That purity and ripeness of fruit comes through.

(2007) Fermented with D47, an old Burgundian yeast. Fine nose from barrel, with very clear, forward melon and pear fruit. Nice sense of delicacy and finesse here. The palate has fine, ripe but taut and racy white fruit. Very nice balance and life.

(2007) Partly French oak, partly Slovenian. No obvious toastiness, with much more honeyed, complex, dried fruit and oatmeally qualities. On the palate this has a very rounded, composed, harmonious quality with the fruit and oak resolved, and a lovely integrated acid structure. Savoury and fleshy, this has bite and a depth of fruit sweetness. Powerful, with a touch of oxidised quality, dried apricot and more exotic fruit notes, but a very profound. 14.5% Alcohol not obtrusive.

(2007) Fermented and aged in large wooden vats, with around 10% skins. Very aromatic, much more lifted, bright tropical fruit. Very nice elderflower punch and notes of lychee and tangerine. On the palate the vivid quality of the ripe fruit comes through, and there's just a hint of that grip from the skins. Lovely quality and style here and beautifully vibrant and fresh

(2007) This has a lovely waxy nose with nuttiness and a beautiful fruit quality suggesting candied peel, preserved figs and a honeyed, smoky minerality coming through. Delicious fruit quality on the palate too, where the sweetness of the fruit really comes through with plenty of vivacity and a mouthfilling waxy richness. Lovely tension from quite high alcohol, a hint of terse minerality and some warming oak and spice. A revelation.

(2007) Half from new plantings, half from Pinot grafted onto 15-year-old Cabernet roots. First vintage. Not hugely aromatic but a little suggestion of earthiness and then truffle and soft summer berries emerges. On the palate delicious fruit sweetness, with a dense and creamy quality, and a lovely, refined acid and tannin structure. Very good and highly promising.

(2007) Very nice dusty, redcurrant and slightly green nose, but lovely spice and pepper, and red cherry fruit. The oak is slightly resinous and raw, and the fruit is a little shy, but it has some good fruit at its core, with a crisp, light acid structure adding freshness and tang. Quite juicy and savoury, and a nice food wine style.

(2007) A subtle tea, cedar and Sandalwood spice. The nose is not at all green, with subdued but dense cherry fruit. On the palate that tight structure of dense fruit, tight-grained tannins and some grippy character work well together. The oak is firm and not too toasty, adding structure and a firm, liquoricy quality.

(2007) Vivid pink-rimmed crimson colour. Big, plush oaky nose laden with Sandalwood, cinnamon and toast. composed cherry and red plum fruit beneath. The palate is crisp-edged and firm, with a racy herbal, menthol and cranberry fruit quality. Acidity is good and the tannins are rather mean and grippy, giving this a slightly lean quality. The oak seems a touch overpowering for this level of fruit.