Cellar Raids: Day Three

The 2018 Riserva is yet another stunning iteration of this wine from Querciabella. Notes of damson and wild cherry on the nose, while the palate is silky, juicy, and impressively long. This is drinking beautifully already, but will surely age well, too.

A famous vineyard in Barolo, in Serralunga, made by the Vajra family. This is brilliant, with talcy tannins, loads of fresh and fragrant fruit, and a long and pure finish. Really beautifully done.

From Jean Stodden's most famous vineyard, this is incredible in 2019. There's so much going on here, with spice and dark fruit, and a hint of liquorice, too. The finish is mineral and so well defined, and goes on for an age. With elegance yet power, this wouldn't look our of place in a line up of Burgundy Grands Crus.

The 2018 Rathfinny Classic Cuvée is a stunning fizz from a remarkably beautiful estate. There’s a richness on the nose that comes from the perfect growing season: ripe citrus and a hint of redcurrants, while the palate is tense, chalky, and impeccably balanced. This is beautifully delicious today, but will also age wonderfully.

This cuvée is an homage to Stéphane's father, André (dédé/DD) who began making this wine. It is a blend of Pinot Noir, Trousseau and Poulsard which is made in a "glouglou" style without sulphur for easy drinking. Its long, gentle fermentation and ageing in hundred-year-old foudres preserve the natural freshness of the varieties. It is bottled with a little more CO2 than most wines to compensate for the lack of added sulphur dioxide. This provides a prickle of freshness, and a quick carafing might be advised. This quintessentially Jurassic red is wonderful for early, easy drinking.

A traditional Côte-Rôtie that sees Yves coferment 10% Viognier with his Syrah, there’s nice balance here between floral lift and meaty richness. With its energy and texture, it’s complex but easy to drink. This is very fine indeed.

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.

Pure, juicy apple fruit and a creamy texture, with light mealy notes. There are plenty of flinty, reductive notes with bright acidity keeping it fresh and zippy.

65 year old vines here give incredible depth of flavour, as well as a beautifully balanced thread of acidity. Long and textured.

The 2019 Syrah from Boekenhoutskloof comes from the Goldmine property, planted on brown schist, and Porseleinberg, on blue schist. The resulting wine is wonderfully perfumed - like great Côte-Rôtie - but with a touch of added ripeness. There’s dark berry fruit and a hint of tapenade, and then silky tannins that last an age. This is an astonishingly good Syrah from the team at Boekenhoutskloof.

A new project from Querciabella, all the fruit comes from high altitude vineyards on the Ruffoli hill, in the commune of Greve. Classically made, this is a profound, complex, ageworthy wine from Querciabella. There’s so much going on here, and the texture is astonishing. A new benchmark for Chianti?

This comes from old vines planted in the historic vineyard. It is undeniably powerful, and would benefit from a few years in the cellar.

A classic example from this cooler region in the hills above the Ladoix-Serrigny in the Côte de Beaune. It is peachy and smooth, quite grapey in style, with lovely roundness and a silky texture.

The origin of the word "Cras" comes from "rocky hillsides", a term often used to describe a vineyard whose soil is made of rubble and pebbly stones. This parcel's soil is gravelly with a high quality red clay that is very typical of Pommard. Pretty cherry and wild raspberry fruit combine with rose petal on the nose. The fruit continues to sing on the palate and is juicy, sappy and generous with a long, mineral finish. This is lovely.

From the Vosne side of Nuits, bordering the town.This is silky but with plenty of grip and structure. Long: a very good village wine.

One of Eva's Grand cru sites, this site is always more floral and instantly inviting on the nose. Expect white blossom, grapefruit and white peach supported by hints of honey and ginger. The acidity is nervy and the saltiness continues on the finish, proving to be a rather delicious wine.

Quite steely and reductive now, thanks to a long fermentation until November 2022 on the fine lees. This gives it masses of volume on the palate with rich juicy fruit. There’s zingy acidity here and a dry, chalky finish. Lots of savoury lees character makes it appetising and lip-smacking on the finish.

Always one of our favourite wines here, the Bressandes is a masterpiece in 2018. Incredibly dark with cherries and flowers, and a mineral tang here. This is so complex and pure.

High on the slope and bordering Vosne, offering elements of the two communes. It’s incredibly mineral, as you’d expect from this poor soil. Limestone and gunflint, with crunchy red fruit and flowers, and loads of energy on the finish.

From the vineyard behind the house, the 2016 Barbaresco from Manuel Marinacci is a joy. Vibrant yet concentrated, with notes of spearmint, straweberry, and a hint of quinine, it's a long, pretty, delicious nebbiolo.

This is elegant and fine from Mastrojanni in 2014. Floral and citrus on the nose, with blood orange and a sprinkle of pepper. A Brunello defined by freshness and purity, this is charming, and remarkably delicious.

The 2016 is an absolute delight, it displays bright damson, red and blackcurrant fruits as well as layers of clove and cinnamon spice with a touch of smoke and leather. The tannins are present but are so well integrated with the wine’s concentrated core.

It’s the acidity that makes this a very special wine, with amazing freshness alongside a silky, precise finish. There’s loads of tension, and notes of oyster shell and ripe pears. Brilliantly complex and balanced.

Les Hâtes sits in the middle of the village, surrounded by premiers crus on well-draining soil. It is so red-fruited and floral - bursting with grenadine and red currant aromas - that you’d be forgiven for thinking it probably has a high proportion of whole bunch fruit. But, in fact, David says only 3-5% whole bunches went into the tank. The floral character is a natural expression of the site, and makes it a delicious introduction to the village for first-timers.

The nose is reticent at first, but with time and aeration, aromas of pure blackcurrant, violets, cocoa bean and smoke emerge. On the palate this is a wine of grand stature. There is a ripe sweetness and multilayered depth to the fruit which offsets the fine and insistent grip of the tannin. This wine is classically Haut-Brion in its broad and powerful nature, alongside a lightness of touch, elegance and precision. There is a hidden depth to this wine, with just a touch of nuance and detail evident at this young stage. The incredibly long finish is an early testament to the potential that this will evolve into great wine with time.

Fresh red and black berry fruit with black cherry and tons of development already in the form of roasted hazlenut, truddle, espresso, earth and tobacco. Fine, ripe tannins are densely packed and create a rich feel on the palate. Lisa Perotti-Brown, writing in the Wine Advocate, awards (96-98) points for this "beautiful" wine.

This wine showcases a generosity of cranberry, pomegranate and bright red plum fruit, underpinned by a juiciness and ripeness on the palate. The tannins are supple and the wine offers immediate drinking pleasure.

Located in Monforte d'Alba, the grapes are sourced from the vineyard of Bussia, one of Barolo's most sought after Cru. The 2016 is a spectacular vintage, wonderfully approachable, yet a wine that will age beautifully. Expect sweet and savoury spice combined with rose perfume and red cherry notes. Tannins are firm but fine grained and balanced with concentration and bright, lively acidity.

From a plot planted in 1948, this has strawberry on the nose, touch of spice, and is silky and almost Pinot. There’s notes of pomegranate, lovely acidity, mouth watering and very long, flowing tannins, and a very fine and silky finish. Luminous

Sebastien’s Chardonnays get better and better every year. This is from the limestone soils of the village of Astheim, far from the estate's cellar in Burgstadt. It’s pure and focussed, but with just a little fat on the bones. Lovely.

Instantanée is a single vintage Champagne that is made every year in order to take a “photo” of that year, the domaine explains. This 2017 is citrus-edged, with a firm and bracing backbone of acidity. It's a blend of roughly equal parts Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from across Ludes, Villedommange, Rilly-La-Montagne and Brouillet. It spent 6 years ageing on lees before disgorgement, and the wine has taken on weight and structure in that time.

Bright and aromatic on the nose and palate with a softness to the texture despite plenty of bright acidity. Golden apple and pear fruit flavours with fresh lemon. Juicy on the mid-palate with some richness before a more savoury finish. Grown on granite soils, there’s a crystalline purity and elegance.

This is a blend of two parcels and is the hidden gem of Sorrel’s range. 20% comes from Bessards, and 80% from Les Plantiers, just below Le Méal. These vines produce fruit with real power, and this wine has a great presence. But the floral tones and salty fruit make it more accessible than the Gréal, and mean it should start to open up a little earlier.

This is a blend of two parcels. Just over half (55%) comes from a village parcel, but the other 45% comes from the 1er Cru Clos Rousseau vineyard, which is an extension of the vineyard of the same name in Santenay. It is so bright and energetic, with a crunchy texture and well-handled tannins, giving it bite, but no hard edges. This is vibrant, red-fruited, light-bodied, crisp Pinot Noir. 15% whole bunch fruit gives it a sweet and lifted air.

One of the best terroirs among Morey’s premiers crus, this comes from 40-50 year old vines. Wild and stony, there are notes of almond kernels and fresh berries. There is such focus here, and a long and savoury finish. Brilliant, and so well priced.

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.

The second wine of L’If, from the Jacques Thienpont stable, shines in the fantastic 2019 vintage. It’s a blend of Merlot and Cabernet Franc and comes from three hectares of young vines in the L’If estate. It’s aged in 50% new oak for one year, and the result is a lovely balance of bright red berry fruit and creamy texture. Vibrant and complex on the palate, it has sweeter spice notes like licquorice and a fresh minty character on the finish.

“The Lafleur is a blend of 45% Merlot picked on 1 and 2 October, and 55% Cabernet Franc picked on 9 October. Leaving the wine to open up over 5 minutes you can discern a distant marine influence that suffuses the black fruit: small dark cherries and boysenberry. The palate is medium-bodied with very good structure. The tensile tannins are immediately recognizable and as Baptiste mentioned, reminiscent of classic vintages such as 1988, 2001 and 2004. It is a masculine Lafleur, upstanding and perhaps even slightly aloof, but there is great penetration and focus towards the saline finish. If you want a more flamboyant Lafleur then head for the 2009, but if you appreciate a more reserved Lafleur then head here.” 93-95 points Neal Martin’s Wine Journal, eRobertParker.com