There is no mystery here. Mont-Redon’s Lirac sits squarely between its Côtes-du-Rhône (q.v.) and its CHNF in price and style. Lirac has more intensity, more grip and more earthiness than the baby Cotes-du-Rhone and it also has another year under its belt. This is a sumptuous wine with benchmark Southern Rhone garrigue note of wild thyme, rosemary and lavender. I adore it and it is a must with stews and hotpots.
Matteo Correggia passed away ten years ago and the wine world lost one of its most devoted and hard-working young stars. Untrained he learned everything about growing and making wine from friends, neighbours and other great winemakers. He is one of only a handful of people to put Arneis on the map as a serious white grape producing stellar wines in Piemonte. His wife now runs the estate and the wines are sensational – Matteo has left a stunning legacy. Interestingly when he died an asteroid was named after him and it orbits in a very similar trajectory to another asteroid called Roero! This beautiful little story should make you remember his name – his wines will mean you’ll never forget it! This Roero Arneis is, on the one hand, delicate and perfumed and on the other, intense and vigorous. You must taste this wine.
Made predominantly from old vine Syrah, by contrast to the Sarrazine which is a classic Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre blend, the wines from Le Clos des Cazaux are perfect examples of why the wines from the Rhone offer the best value, in red terms, of any in France. They will both last for a decade - this might seem bonkers, but it’s true and I will go further. There is something very special about these wines because they seem like they are from a bygone era. There is no obvious modernity employed and they are like tasting a wine from a century ago – I simply adore this pair way beyond purist taste terms.
I am not using the word ‘legend’ lightly when I talk about Elio Altare. His Barolos are sublime and his mentoring of the young guns in Piemonte has changed the landscape forever. But his lesser wines are often overlooked and this is a travesty. This Dolcetto (Italy’s answer to top Cru Beaujolais?) is a work of art. It’s the most dramatic version I can remember and it has no oakiness or tannin getting in the way – just rip-snorting, black fruit and spice. Hero-worship was never this easy or affordable.
Giuliano Corino runs the historic family estate in the Barolo sweet-spot of La Morra these days and he makes only 250 cases a year of this scintillating Arborino cuvee. Two years in new and used French oak is the only winemaking technique to report, because everything else is absolutely by the book and natural. The purity and nobility of the Nebbiolo grape is evident in this imperial wine. 2003 was a hot vintage and it was the first one which Giuliano made without his brother Renato who started off his own operation. It was trial by fire – or rather the sun – because these wines have a unique concentration and a massive ability to age. Just to prove that not all Corino wines have to dent the credit card, this delicious, inexpensive Dolcetto is spot on when you are charging through salamis and cheeses with the team in front of a decent match on the telly.
Equal thirds of Carignan, Grenache and Syrah make this a hearty beast and you will see that Les Sorcieres casts a pretty significant spell on your taste buds as you sink into a glass of this wine. Compare it to a rich Southern Rhone red (of a similar blend) at your peril. This wine is 100% Roussillon and with that you gain more briar, smoke, tar and soil. This is a living, breathing, animal, not a polished creation and it is utterly sensational.
Made predominantly from old vine Syrah, by contrast to the Sarrazine which is a classic Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre blend, the wines from Le Clos des Cazaux are perfect examples of why the wines from the Rhone offer the best value, in red terms, of any in France. The 2007 vintage was a perfect one and these two cuvees have never tasted so exact and rewarding. They will also both last for a decade. This might seem bonkers, but it’s true and I will go further. There is something very special about these wines because they seem like they are from a bygone era. There is no obvious modernity employed and they are like tasting a wine from a century ago – I simply adore this pair way beyond purist taste terms.
I have tasted, drunk and sold Palliser wines for 23 years. This iconic estate in Martinborough, in the North Island, is run by a truly great man – Richard Riddiford. His wines are always on the lists of the most discerning restaurants both in London and New Zealand. His slate-y, taut Sauvignon is a far cry from the fruit-bombs emerging from Marlborough. Its crystalline notes of lemon, lime and fresh cut herbs realign your taste buds and send a shiver down the spine. I love this wine. In addition I have sourced a dribble of his easy, soothing, rhubarb and pineapple-kissed Riesling. It is not one to age, but one to guzzle, dousing chilli-heat or tamarind in epic style during all-day buffets. The Pinot Noir here is one of the finest in the land. Still brilliantly priced after all of these years, this is a wine which concentrates fully on the soil and not the fruit. It is centred, Zen-like, with no frills or unnecessary adornments, just honest, dark, berry fruit and exactly the right amount of oak.
This is one of the best value Pinots in the world, and it is made by one of the most revered winemakers in the country, the great Tim Knappstein. Velvety smooth and darker than many Pinots, this is a brilliant wine. Red Burgundy must be on the lookout with wines like this being made Down Under. Please get in quick, because the stock is very limited and this wine will move, as always, at warp speed. It has amassed a following among Q Wine hardliners which could almost mean it is sold en-primeur next year! Now that would set the cat among the pigeons.
Young and full of energy, Marco Marengo is one of a handful of gunslingers in Piemonte who are upsetting the more established producers with their excellent, spotlight-grabbing wines. With only 3.5 hectares of vineyard these wines are desperately rare, and this incredible Neb, made from off cuts of his illustrious Barolos is a head-turner. Decant it and treat it as you would a top flight Barolo at five times the price and I guarantee that you will amaze your guests with the elan and breeding in this wine.
One of the lesser-known areas in Tuscany, Carmignano is certainly worth a detour because there are some real surprises to be found, though none of them are as exciting as Mauro Vannucci’s estate. With state of the art kit and a desire to rally challenge to the establishment his wines are starting to tread on the toes of some of the ‘Super-Tuscans’ and with a more remote postcode and less history to lean on he can do this at eminently affordable prices. Il Sasso is a staggeringly good red which you must get to know.
I met Brian Franklin, the man behind Apsley Gorge, nearly ten years ago on one of the most wild and wet days I have ever experienced in Australia. I say Australia, but Tassie is a long way from the mainland and the weather is savage down there. Brian had been fishing and we ate the freshest of fish and a few abalone and downed a few of his superb Pinots. He has fine-tuned his winemaking over the intervening period and he now makes some of the most exciting Pinots in Aus. This wine makes a most fascinating comparison to Tim’s below – both sensational, but it just goes to show you that this grape tastes of where it comes from, and thank goodness for that! The last thing that we all want is another Cabernet or Shiraz on our hands. In fact Pinot Noir is the fussiest red grape of all.
Silky smooth and wonderfully briary, this is an evocative wine which is sure to impress fans of NZPN (and we have a lot of those)! You are unlikely to have seen this wine anywhere else unless you dine in the finest restaurants in Wellington – that’s the one in New Zealand’s North Island, not the various Wellies in the UK! Marjory and Edward Leung make Ma Maison and I was delighted to meet them in early 2010 when I was invited to speak at the world Pinot Noir Seminar – Pinot 2010. Despite the fact that this is a new name to the panoply of Kiwi Pinots it was a favourite among the cognoscenti. Great wine, great find, great price and already a mass of fans on our books!
One of the most underrated red wine villages in Burgundy, Santenay has a superb Southerly position and with its rich soils and fabulous history you’d think that the wines would command higher prices, but even this terrific Premier Cru vineyard from a top class Domaine doesn’t really trouble the scorers. No worry – we can all just crack on and enjoy the wild berry flavours and warm soils of Santenay safe in the knowledge that this won’t last forever, but while it does we’re in the driving seat!
Naudin is the leader, by a long stretch, in the HCdN world with the most evocative, ethereally scented Pinot Noirs which build and build in the glass and amaze the drinker. We still have a few cases of his muscular 2005 left, but this magical 2006 is more typical of the style which I look for in this wine. Rather than spending twenty pounds on a dodgy ‘Village’ wine from a no-hoper Domaine, try your hand here and see what truly mesmerising Pinot Noir is all about.
Situated in a prime spot in St-Estephe and owned by a Cazes (of Lynch-Bages fame) this is a very smart wine which is already drinking well, but will hold for another five years. I adore well-chosen 2002s not only for their value (particularly in the light of the 2009 releases) but also for their succulence of fruit, control and classicism. This is a benchmark claret and one which will appeal more to the David Nivens in our fold than the Daniel Craigs.
Brilliantly situated this vineyard touches Volnay Clos-des-Chenes on its eastern side and that makes it the noblest of all in the tiny village of Monthelie. Super-smooth, just starting to drink and creamy and involving, this is a suave wine with a hypnotic aroma and intense but not heavy demeanour. The vale afforded here is exceptional, simply because the village is not Pommard or Volnay on the label. Considering its pedigree and also Eric’s own consummate skills this is a very clever wine and one which should wow any conscientious Burgundy fan.
Not a head-banger of a Zin, like those 16 percenters that get massive scores from over the pond, but a wonderfully smooth, cultured, sensual style from the great Doug Nalle. With sweet, Christmas spices on the nose and a swirling mass of summer pudding notes on the palate, this is a beautiful wine which craves the attention of carnivorous dishes and a cultured, wine savvy audience. Made in microscopic quantities, this is a cult wine in the US among seasoned Francophiles and yet we have still managed to snaffle a few cases for our Californian wine fans.
The Tollots are an engaging family and their cellar is a wonderful haven of bright, red-fruited wines with precise aromas and ever-deepening flavours. At the top of the Aloxe ladder sits this smart, compact Premier Cru Les Fournieres, with its spicy, cherry fruit and keen, direct flavours. On the border with Corton itself the soil may not have the gravitas of its near Grand Cru neighbour, but the flavour intensity lacks nothing. Just starting to drink, but with a decent decade ahead of it this is as good as Aloxe gets and it is a benchmark Tollot-Beaut red – brimming with hedgerow fruit.
Philippe Drouhin presides of a vast portfolio of staggeringly serious wines in his dark, cold cellars. We have a very smart selection for you to feast on. The Gevreys are pagan, brooding, elemental and genius. Slow to wake from their slumber they are from another age and I adore their authenticity and might. The two Grand Crus, from neighbouring villages are both from the taut, introspective 2004 vintage and they are finally rousing from their reverie. With another ten or even fifteen years ahead of them there is no need to rush to drink them, but both are sensationally priced, so don’t dawdle!
