(2023) From clay loam soils, fruit is gently pressed then racked to both French oak casks and stainless tanks. Toast, vanilla and spices on the nose, a touch of flintiness and cool apple fruit. In the mouth this has a fat lemony fruit and acidity, more of that toasty character and a full texture. It stays relatively lean, just hinting at a peachiness on the mid-palate.
(2023) This comes from grey clay loam, and is made from the Mendoza clone with its 'hen and chick' tendency. It was fermented and aged 10 months in 500-litre French oak, 28% new barrels, and partially with wild yeasts. A lovely quality of oak here, fragrant and honeyed, with ripe stone fruits and lemon giving freshness. On the palate there's a soft, crushed almond quality to this, creamy in fruit and texture, a fine citrus core of acidity extending the finish. Price and stockist below are for an earlier vintage.
(2023) The Chardonnay was whole bunch pressed and barrel fermented with 100% wild yeast. It spent eight months on lees, with partial malolactic fermentation. There's plenty of toast here, almost a cracked wheat character, quite subtle lemony fruit and a touch of stony flint. In the mouth more punchy than the Yering Station for example, a more vivacious blast of citrus juiciness and higher acid, though lacks a little of the latter's elegance. Price and stockist below is for the 2021 vintage.
(2023) Some granite and ironstone influence on the clay loam soils here, the wine whole bunch pressed and fermented with indigenous yeasts in 500L French puncheons. Matured for 10 months in barrel (20% new) it did not go through malolactic and there was no batonnage. Very clean and mineral and fruit driven on the nose, the oak less prominent on this one. Very juicy and ripe in style, though the sharpness of the acid structure gives lovely focus, a rounding touch of barrel character easing the finish. Stylish.
(2023) From grey silty loam soils, this was whole bunch pressed to French oak barrels; 228-litre and 500-litre, 30% new oak. Wild and cultured yeast were used, but there was no malolactic fermentation during 10 months in barrel. Fine oak aromas along with cool and precise lemon and nutty Cox's pippin apple fruit. Flint here too. In the mouth it fairly bursts with juicy flavour, moving from nectarine to lemon, the vanilla touch and smoky spice of the barrel plus alert acidity giving lots of character and lots of pleasure in this.
(2023) From silty loam soils, half the juice started fermentation in tank, the remainder was wild fermented in barrel (French oak hogsheads, 30% new oak). Malolactic occured in barrels, with lees stirring, for around nine months. There's a sour orange and lemon, invitingly grown-up note on the nose here, some toast and a core of apple fruitiness. Lovely sweetness to the palate fruit, smooth and supple texture too. Plenty of juiciness, a vivacious citrus streak and again that pithy, savoury acid character pushing the finish. Concentrated and age-worthy I suspect.
(2023) From the superb Rioja house of Rioja Alta, an Albariño from their own vineyards that is a very careful selection of the best fruit. It has real punch and vibrancy, the nose exotic with floral, mango and lychee notes in a very perfumed style showing nectarine fruit too. In the mouth it has texture and that combination of quite luscious fruit verging on the tropical, with swaggering acidity to keep the whole picture balance with a salty hint of freshness in the finish.
(2023) Hard to believe that the 2000 vintage of this same wine was my 'Wine of the Week' 22 years ago, but here we are in 2023, not 2001, and the wine is better than ever. From the north of Italy, Pinot Grigio is the ubiquitous pub wine with oceans of refreshing but undistinguished stuff exported to the UK each year. But there are producers of superior quality products, and this still moderately priced example fits that bill. CAVIT is a giant cooperative that dominates wine production in the Trentino region, the Tyrolean part of Italy close to the Austrian border. They are leading lights in research and improving quality, and here we have a Pinto Grigio with the requisite lemons and limes aromas, touched with florals, but the wine is stamped with quality: a little more texture on the palate than you might expect, racier, punchier flavours, but still light on its feet and with perfect acid balance. Watch the video for more information and food-matching ideas.
(2023) A blend of 60% Viosinho and 40% Gouveio, this Reserva was fermented and aged in French oak barriques, half of which were new barrels. There is a nutty, almondy sheen aromatically, with a spicy and vibrantly orange and lemon freshness. There's a citrus peel sense of grippiness. In the mouth it's the mineral and salts decisiveness that is striking, a burgeoning, juicy citrus core, but all the time the creamy, crushed almond character adds to the weight and texture. Long and delicious.
(2023) From granite soils in the south of the Minho, the Vinho Verde region, this is made by. The hugely experienced Rui Cunha. A single varietal Vinho Verde, it is drybwith no sign of 'spritz', quite a fat, generous lemony character, nuances of dill-like leafiness, even a hintbof almondy nuttiness. Textured on the palate, this has some slippery weight and rounded, lightly orange fruit with a crisp acid finish. Most enjoyable.
