Podere La Brancaia is one of Tuscanys leading wine estates, each year winning national and international awards. The winery is located in the heart of the Chianti Classico zone at Poppi, in Radda in Chianti, and draws on its own fruit from Poppi and La Brancaia in Castellina. A selection of their best Sangiovese, with 20% Merlot, matured in barriques (half new) for 16 months, followed by 6 months in the bottle. Loaded with ripe fruits of dark cherry and plum, the Merlot gives the wine mid-palate depth and richness to make this a great wine for drinking now or cellaring over the short term.

91% Merlot, 7% Cabernet Franc, 2% Cabernet Sauvignon. A velvety nose of black fruit and wood; morello cherry, cocoa and ripe blackcurrent.

A Gold, 92pt beauty. Château La Clarière is blessed with 50 different vineyard plots, all ideally situated on the superb limestone plateau from where both Saint-Emilion and Castillon’s finest wines hail. However, the grapes from the Enclos single vineyard, literally five metres from Saint-Emilion’s priciest Grands Crus Classés, have always been kept separate. It’s a vineyard surrounded by hedgerows, shrubs and dotted with trees – its most biodiverse; farmed organically too. All Merlot, carefully fermented on the estate, with regular plunge down and a year’s ageing in part new and part seasoned French oak barrels, it’s a very fine, velvety claret. Open early and preferably decant. It will make a very handsome partner to roast red meats or a cheeseboard.

Dame de Boüard is the second wine of Château Clos de Boüard. Another expression of the Clos de Bouard terroir. This wine has aromas of ripe fruit, roasted aromatic herbs and hints of sweet spices. Its velvety tannins, fruity character and lovely volume on the palate give it a hedonistic character that is immediately accessible

In every wine region there are hidden gems, and Bordeaux is no exception. Chateau Chantecaille Clauzel is a tiny (0.4ha) patch of vines right on the border between St-Emilion and Pomerol, wedged in by vines owned owned by Chateaux LEvangile and La Dominique. Illustrious near-neighbours include Cheval Blanc, Petrus and Gazin. Chance, a proud family history and local politics account for its survival. If the cards had fallen differently Chantecaille Clauzels fruit would be incorporated in a much more famous and much more expensive wine. Chantecaille Clauzel is essentially Merlot, with a little Cabernet Franc. The wine is vinified in stainless steel and matured in seasoned barriques (just five or six of them) at the Clauzel familys nearby Chateau Guillot Clauzel.

Vibrant and intense dark cherry paired with generous juicy dark fruits. The palate is balanced with layers of vanilla and hints of mocha supported by fine-boned tannins and underlying oak complexity.