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September sees the release of new vintages from some of the world’s most notable wine estates, from Bordeaux to further afield, including leading names from Italy, California, South America, South Africa and Australia. Releases will take place throughout September and available wines will be added here each day as the month progresses. Keep an eye on this page for some truly iconic wines.
Thursday saw releases from Napa's historic Inglenook Estate: Rubicon 2022 and Cabernet Sauvignon 2022
The 2012 Latour - is this the wine of the vintage? Tuesday saw the Ex-Château release of the 2012 vintage from Pauillac royalty, Château Latour, alongside their second wine, Les Forts de Latour, also from 2012.
The 2012 Latour is a classically styled Pauillac, that impresses with its multi-layered, stunningly complex character. Notes of dark berries and plenty of spice on the nose follows through with a silky, gravelly palate. Latour is a special wine, and this doesn't disappoint. Give it a few years, and watch it blossom into the wine of the vintage.
Today sees the launch of new vintages from a number of Australian winemaking icons, featuring some of the greatest wines produced in this wonderful and varied New World region. We're delighted to share one of Australia's greats, The Armagh Shiraz 2022 from Jim Barry, along with the prestige wines from the Penfolds stable, including the revered Grange 2021.
A bold, expressive, and intense Grange there is a sense of power and confidence to the wine. Rich dark berry fruits, cocoa, liquorice and coffee spice are wrapped together in layers of complexity. There is freshness and focus on the palate with a tension at its core. A powerful, bold wine with a long life ahead of it.
The 707 Cabernet Sauvignon this year is a wine of power and vibrancy. There is a dense core of dark berry fruit with accents of cocoa and cedar spice. There is a richness yet a focus with a persuasive bold finish that demands your attention. A real benchmark, with waves of complexity.
This Coonawarra Cabernet is tightly wound with a brightness and energy that bursts through the palate. Violets, peony, espresso and liquorice waft from the core of red and dark cherry fruit. There tannins are supple and frame the rich fruit with a salinity and fleshiness with a finish that is balanced and delicious.
A slightly flinty nose with notes of white flowers, sea spray, and orange rind. There is a mouth-watering tension here that builds and builds. White grapefruit, acacia, and white peach fill out through the palate with a beautifully fresh finish.
Expressive and open dripping with ripe pastille fruits, the RWT Shiraz is difficult to miss this year. There is some savoury spice of cedar and incense that mingles with the ripe dark berry fruit and a bold and intense finish that beckons you back for more.
Always a favourite from the Penfolds range, the St Henri Shiraz is fabulous. Beautifully expressive with waves of violets, tapenade, incence and cocoa this only grows with air and with time. There is a real sense of balance and harmony, and with ageing this will come together very well.
This is a real knockout wine from the Barry family. The nose itself is worth getting lost in with notes of cardamon, sandalwood, white pepper, and liquorice. There is freshness and intensity with layers of complexity that spiral from the red and dark cherry fruits. There is excellent definition here and clearly a wine for the future.
The big release of the day is the 99-point Seña 2023, undoubtedly one of Chile’s greatest wines (particularly for those who value elegance and purity) along with Y d'Yquem 2023 and Solaia 2022.
A deep and rich Solaia with notes of cedar and mocha spice. The palate is velvety with a real sense of depth and energy. Notes of dark plum, black cherry and violets lift from the glass with a savoury overtone of wild herbs and graphite.
2023 was a hot vintage in Chile but the Seña site benefitted from wide temperature ranges, from day to night, allowing the fruit to retain the fine and lively acid that frames the wine from start to finish. It is a detailed and pure wine, mineral on the nose with flint and graphite notes, overlaid by concentrated flavours of wild strawberry, black cherry and plum. There’s liquorice, sage and bay leaf with some nutmeg and cinnamon, adding nuance and complexity. With beautifully silky tannins and an enduring finish, the result is gorgeous and justifies Seña's position as one of the great red wines of the world.
The first year where Semillon equals Sauvignon Blanc in the blend, the wine has been aged for 12 months in 80% one year old barrels previously used for Château d'Yquem and 20% new oak. On the palate the wine gives notes of white grapefruit, white peach and almond blossom. There is a real sense of salinity and freshness to the wine with accents of fennel and mandarin skin on the finish.
September Releases continues with consistently one of our favourite clarets: Château Tronquoy, and in this case the 95-point scoring 2020 vintage, alongside Blanc de Tronquoy 2020. Also released today is another perennial Lay & Wheeler favourite: Vin de Constance 2022.
The 2020 Tronquoy is one of the best wines we've tasted from this estate. It offers cocoa dusted cherry, graphite, wild herbs, green tobacco. Sleek and sinewy in the palate, a modern style with a lot of energy and precision while notes of graphite, violets and black tea add complexity. Very pure and sinewy in style with iodine and kelp notes – lovely tension and fluidity. A wine you'll want a few cases of for the years to come.
A blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Gris it is a very fine white that gives flinty notes with ginger and lemongrass. On the palate thare are flavours of peach skin, apricot, with a hint of green mango and guava. A touch of waxiness, grilled pineapple, and stone fruits comes through on the mid-palate with a zesty saline finish.
The 2022 Vin de Constance is generous and expressive with notes of rose, lychee and Turkish Delight. There are layers of complexity with flavours of white peach, a little ginger spice and acacia. There is richness on the palate with notes of dried apricot and honeysoaked melon. This is a wine that offers salinity and drive through the palate, with a charm that feels immediate and long-lasting. -
The 2023 Almaviva is a blend of 74% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Carménère, 5% Cabernet Franc and 2% Petit Verdot. It is expressive and spicy with notes of wild herbs, incense, and smoked cedar wood. The fruit is rich with juicy dark berries and violet detail supported with a bright line of freshness. There is a charm and roundness on the palate with fleshy and supple tannins. Generous and layered with complexity there is a fine spiced note on the finish.
Today sees the release of the legendary Masseto 2022 from Tenuta dell'Ornellaia, which truly demonstrates the magic of Merlot. Also featured today are Masseto's second wine, Massetino 2023, Clos Apalta 2022 and Le Petit Clos 2022 from Domaines Bournet-Lapostolle, and Château Haut-Brion 2014.
A finessed style of Masseto that opens with such an enticing nose of coffee, dark chocolate, and incense. The palate is silky and open knit with flavours of blood orange, dark cherry and plum with seamless and refined tannins. There is freshness and nuance to the wine that is really captivating and a finish that is fully of intensity.
A wonderfully floral wine with plenty of spice, there are flavours of dark cherry, cocoa nibs and liquorice. The palate is fresh and detailed with a mid-weight feel in the mouth and silky and charming finish that shows a lot of delicacy.
The 2022 vintage was a slightly cooler vintage with a longer growing season which helped to gradually build complexity in the fruit. The wine is deep and intense with spiced notes of cedar, sandalwood and mineral accents of graphite. There are brightness and focus to the dark cherry fruit with a vibrant structure and energy that runs to the finish.
The second wine of Clos Apalta, the 2022 is a blend of 59% Carmenere, 33% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Merlot and 3% Petit Verdot. There are flavours of dark berry fruit, violets and tapenade which clothe the supple, powdery tannins. This is a juicy, enjoyable wine with plenty of genorosity and lift.
Unsurprisingly always one of my favourite tastings, the opulence of the Château coupled with the warm welcome never fails to impress. Fortunately, the wines lived up to their side of the bargain. Possibly comparable to the 2001, the 2014 is deep ruby colour, with a smoky, tobacco, earth, cassis and blackberry nose, silky tannins and fresh cherry and cassis on the palate. Made from 50% Merlot, 39% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc, the complexity and attractiveness were once again simply incredible.
With 52% of production going into the first wine, La Mission bucked the trend on the left bank, preferring Merlot to Cabernet in 2014 - and therefore making a blend of 54% Merlot, 45% Cabernet Sauvignon and 1% Cabernet Franc. An elegant, lifted nose precedes an intense palate of ripe black fruits supported by ripe, fine grained tannins and a long mouthwatering finish. This is stylistically comparable to the 2001: a long term prospect, this is a magnificent, majestic wine.
September Releases kicks off with Californian royalty Opus One - one of the true First Growths of Napa, earning a distinction as a Napa wine with a Bordeaux soul.
Also released: Overture 2022, the second wine of Opus One, meticulously crafted with the same know-how as the Grand Vin, using organically grown fruit from estate vineyards.
The Opus One 2022 offers savoury spice on the nose with cedar, cocoa dusted cherry, dark chocolate. Slightly darker black fruit profile with cassis, and dark cherry fruit. There is a certain exuberance and power here yet salinity and freshness to balance. The tannins give some grip with a sinewy feel, and there is a graphite note on the finish. Quite fine and directional in style with dense blue fruits.
Quite a flamboyant nose of exotic spice, incense and star anise. There are notes of violet and pomegranate that mingle with aromas of kirsch, liquorice, and cocoa. There is freshness and energy, with plenty of flesh and substance – silky and supple tannins and long fruit focused and defined finish.
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