Cellar Raids: Day Four

Bramble fruits,red cherry and violets are supported by licorice and pepper spice aromas on the nose. There is a silkiness on the palate and the tannins are fine grained in this accessible and delicious wine.

Slightly closed but fresh and silky, with lovely energy to the fruit. Very nice energy, here, good weight and power, but with a fine thread of acidity, very silky and pure, really good dry extract, and fine balance. So driven and saline and focussed. Love the phenolics here, incredibly complex and long.

Like La Bretonnière, this vineyard is also within Vouvray, but cannot use the AOC name since it is vinified in Montlouis. It comes from a south-facing slope, and Jacky and Jean-Philippe are careful to get the picking date right here. Too early and it loses its drama, too late and it feels overweight. In 2020 it is distinctly pithy and dry, agile and long.

Crozes-Hermitage is the sweet spot of the Delas offering. This is their no-nonsense, great value, fruit-driven Syrah with notes of anise and red berries. Sadly in 2019 some of the parcels were badly hit by the June hailstorm, so volumes are severely reduced. But thanks to the fragmented layout of the holdings, some were left unscathed, and quality remains as high as ever.

This vintage’s Gaby rouge has really impressive energy, with the smoke and texture of the oak enlivened by fresh acidity and peppery Syrah.

This old vine cuvée takes the prize for ‘hidden gem’ of our Chablis range. It comes from 40- to almost 70-year-old vines scattered across seven parcels, with a variety of soil structures and exposures. Due to the size of the harvest in 2021, Romain blended his Chablis grapes into this cuvee too. It is mineral, zingy, green-appley-fresh and concentrated, with great drive and depth. This may be a wine of humble communal classification, but it has a profound character, and deserves special attention.

Vines were planted in in Blagny, one of Meursault's highest vineyards, in 1984 and this shows in the focus, energy, and vertical character of this wine. Delicate flowers and lovely citrus precision. Very good indeed.

From the middle of the slope, from vines 45 years old which Brian says act like they’re 75 years old, given how little fruit they yield. 30% whole bunch. Smells so good: expressive, fine, and good delicacy.Floral, slightly peppery and seductive with lovely tannins. There’s a slightly tonic note on the finish, and wonderful length. Very impressive.

Tasted April 2022. Rich, powerful, and inky with concentration of blackberry, raspberry, pepper, and dark chocolate flavours. Spicy, clove notes from 50% new oak. There’s a real lift and elegance to this to carry that generosity, possibly from some careful use of whole bunch fermentation. It finishes long, with saline flavours balancing the richness of this seriously impressive Moulis.

From two vineyards on Craig & Anne’s estate, the 2019 Main Road and Dignity features incredible depth of fruit, with beautiful blackcurrant, red currant, graphite and cedar notes. The finish is mineral and long, and the potential for ageing is spectacular. Yet again, this is a star of the cape. Don’t miss this.

The first single vineyard they made was the Skaliekop, from a vineyard planted in 1985 on the Paardebosch farm. This vineyard is an anomaly: an island of schist on the normally granite Paardeberg. Indeed, the name means hill of Shale, and this gives a mineral, reserved character to the wine. This has notes of fennel and lime blossom, and the potential here is outstanding.

Albarello is the Italian for bush vines, and this comes from 100% Nerello Mascalese from up to 90 year old vines planted at 650 metres. It sees no oak, but is complex, silky and vibrant. This will age brilliantly: such a pure, mineral expression.

To truly understand what Luca’s all about, look no further than the 2016 Lessona, from a great vintage. This is incredible pure and energetic. There’s a lightness and delicacy that you don’t find in the Langhe, but also a nobility to the tannins. Long, mineral, and incredibly pure: remarkable.

From one of the most famous sites in Neive, this shows the classic character of the commune. Very delicate and fragrant, there’s so much rose petal character, and a lovely salinity on the finish. This is a very pretty Barbaresco.

This comes from a spot at the very top of the Bussia vineyard, producing a fresh, elegant expression of this great vineyard. There are notes of peach skin and fresh cherry, with mulberry fruit, and a touch of orange peel adding complexity. The finish is complex and very long, with notes of crushed rocks and tar. Very impressive.

One of the greatest vineyards in Barolo has produced a stonking wine in 2011. Juicy, rich strawberry fruit and rendered tannins craft a wine with amazing mouthfeel, and a purity that’s rarely seen. Brilliant.

Exotic and smoky and spicy. Lovely fruit and juice, amazing purity and silky fruit, lovely tension and finesse, comes in waves with salinity and length, this is just so elegant and finessed, with outatanding poise. Wonderful.

The 2014 Tillington is just the fourth vintage of this defining single vineyard wine released by Nyetimber. It is now firmly established as the British Isles’ greatest wine. The site is found in West Sussex, and the vines here thrive in the greensand soils. The nose is shy at first, but very pretty, with a delicate floral note, and with some air, a vinous energy. The palate shows, of course, supreme acidity twinned with creamy texture which holds the orchard and hedgerow fruit notes together in perfect harmony. This is a superb release from Nyetimber, with the greatest ageing potential of any English Sparkling Wine we know.

For those seeking sleek Cornas that has the body and structure to age but the open fruit to approach from youth, this is your wine. It is the most refined of the Courbis Cornas wines, and with a well-judged 40% new oak wrapped around the sweet fruit, giving it savoury, toasty depth.

This comes from four neighbouring lieux-dits on the Côte Blonde: Lancement, La Triote, Le Combard and Le Mollard. They share a high proportion of white schist in their soils, making for an intense and savoury expression. It is glossy, black-fruited, with a fresh, tense length.

Pure is 100% Grenache, all from 100 year old vines on sandy soils. The result is very intense, and, as the name suggests, pure. There's tons of black fruit here, surrounded by rich, chocolately textures and spicy flavours. This needs time in bottle to weave together, but already impresses.

Blagny sits high up, above the heart of the Meursault commune. This altitude brings a focused freshness to the wines. It has notes of honeydew melon, with a richly mineral seashell note - not unlike Chablis - on the nose. The soil is very white limestone up here, and this makes for a scintillating palate. It feels straighter than the Grands Charrons, in many ways, more like a Puligny in profile than a Meursault.

This is a steep site with very high limestone soils. It always produces a nervous, tight wine that can do with a year or two in bottle before the floral notes can blossom.

The 2021 Monts Luisants, from one of Morey's most celebrated vineyards, is lovely in 2021. Lots of whole bunch spice, and there's a fragrance and purity here, too. Very nicely balanced.

This is pale ruby and has a deliciously cool crystalline nose of blue and red fruit. It’s a restrained and understated Pinot. The palate is peppered with some grippy tannins which support the earthy fruit well. A nice minty lift on the finish gives it a mineral tang.

A simply gorgeous cuvee, we couldn't resist this when we tried it in Burgundy. There's dark, cool berry fruit and a chalky texture, with a precise finish that lasts for minutes. A great vineyard produces a great wine.

This Prulier's deep core of black cherries is very much a testament to the great age of the vines there - at 80 years old, the fruit they produce certainly does not lack density or richness. Behind this full body, tannins take a back seat, but are still very much doing their job in the background, bringing a lot of precision to the wine. The finish is powerful and spicy: an excellent Pruliers.