Roberto Voerzio La Serra, Barolo
M Chapoutier Le Méal Ermitage
Deep red garnet with violet highlights. Ripe fruits and powerful tannins, mellow, stewed blackberries, can be cellared for a considerable time.
M Chapoutier Le Pavillon Ermitage
Chapoutier Le Pavillon Ermitage should be considered the perfect Hermitage wine. Reminiscent of the 1991, the 2006 Le Pavillon has a wonderful opaque colour of dark purple with a brilliant nose of smoky oak, cassis and truffle. In the mouth the wine truly sings with remarkable flavours of licorice, blackberry and intense dark cherry. The tannin precision and length of acid are truly exceptional and will help this behemoth of a wine cellar up until the 2040s!
Artadi Vina El Pison, Rioja
The 2 ha El Pison vineyard was planted in 1945 on a gentle sloping site in the shape of an amphitheatre with deep sub-soils. Made entirely from Tempranillo, El Pison is a very rich and intense age-worthy style typically showing great purity of fruit and abundant chalky tannins that benefit from additional cellaring.
Domaine Mongeard-Mugneret Grand Cru
One of the finest and most ethereal of all Burgundies, Domaine-Mugneret Grands-Échézeaux comes from a small 1 hectare plot of old vines averaging in age between 40 and 70 years. Silky and intense with a beguiling perfume of violets, fresh cherries, earth, leather, forest floor and truffle, the wine shows lovely volume and density with the structure to age gracefully over many years.
Château Pontet-Canet Pauillac
Château Pontet-Canet is a classic large Pauillac property that adjoins the Mouton Rothschild vineyards that in the past has struggled to get fruit richness into their wines until Michel Rolland was called in. The wines of the past 15 years have produced lovely, voluptuous reds with ripe fruit and brilliant balance. The 2009 is quite simple a stunning incarnation of Pontet-Canet and quite possibly their best wine ever produced! A 'tour de force' of the highest standard, layers of concentrated fruit along with sublime oak integration see this biodynamically farmed vineyard reach Bordeaux perfection. Will age comfortably for the next 50 years.
Château Léoville-Barton Saint-Julien
Château Léoville-Barton is one of the oldest Château's in Saint Julien with the Barton family still owning the estate some 175+ years since they took stewardship of the property. Always a finely perfumed wine is produced with rich and powerful tannin that gives way to beautiful fruit and richness of flavour with aging. This is especially the case when speaking of the remarkable 2009 vintage which is being classified as one of the very best of the past 100 years. Take advantage of such a vintage with wines like Léoville's that won't break the Bordeaux bank.
Château Léoville-Poyferré Saint-Julien
The times ahead for Château Léoville-Poyferré are very exciting indeed. After many years of changing ownership, the fortunes of the vineyard have also ebbed and flowed. With the younger generation of the Cuvelier's now at the helm, the results speak for themselves. No more so than the quite exuberant 2009 Léoville-Poyferré which has seen the estate produce what is possibly the greatest wine to have been produced there. Close to perfection in so many ways, the layer upon layer of complex flavours is something to behold. Blackcurrant, graphite, espresso, mocha, menthol, blueberry to name but a few. A modern Bordeaux classic in the makings.
Chateau l'Eglise Clinet
Giaconda Estate Vineyard Chardonnay
Golden hue with a bright green rim. A complex signature of reductive characters; meal, the 'good dirt' and matchstick complimenting hazelnut and peach notes infused with lemon zest and ginger. The palate is taut and compact with a strong mineral edge drawing out white peach fruit. A powerful and assertive example of Chardonnay that combines multifaceted flavours with latent power. The finish is compelling: minerality and acidity combine to a rapier-sharp finish.