Day Two

The altitude here means it is picked late: one part at the end of October, and the other parts on November 10th and 11th. The resulting wine is so complex and intense, with an explosive palate of apricots, sea spray, and so much freshness. This is incredibly ripe, but is impeccably balanced with intense acidity. It’s a spectacularly pure, long, wine: one of the best we’ve tried this year.

Always one of our favourite from the Penfolds stable, Bin 128 is known for its silky, elegant and restrained style, being from the cooler climate of Coonawarra. Bramble-like fruit mixes with savoury, gamey, leathery complexity, and some herbal notes add to this wine’s fresh style. There's more structure here than you might expect and it rewards cellaring.

72 year old vines. Lovely freshness here, dark fruit, tension, power, salinity and nervous energy. This is intense and powerful, with loads of salinity: so mineral, but also lots of burnt orange peel, and some almond kernal. It’s so complex and very well balanced: an astonishing Barolo from a real magician.

The 2020 Château Figeac is one of the wines of the vintage. Incredibly refined and almost haunting in its aromatics, this is so mineral, focussed, and utterly beguiling. The finish lasts an age: this is one of the longest, purest, most complex wines we've tried this year. You have to have it.

The Durantou stable of wines are, once again, not to be missed, and this is the perfect example. So much going on here, with lots of bright fruit, crunchy tannins, and a long, stony finish. For the medium term this will surprise and delight. Stock up.

Thibaud Chevré is a seriously exciting young talent in the Loire. His father spent a magnificent career working with Thierry Germain, and this wonderful vineyard - Clos de l'Ecotard - was the first parcel the father-and-son team bought. It's found right on the edge of the Saumur’s border with Anjou, and its highly active limestone and clay soil produces taut and nervous wines that reverberate with tension and energy, even in warmer years. They only use horses to plough it, but the extra hard work is worth it. The 2021 sees them realising the toil of the past decade, bringing to fruition a truly magnificent Chenin Blanc. It is so expressive, bursting with chalky, saline drive, and a flash of green pineapple freshness. A brilliant Chenin Blanc from a formidably good year for Loire whites. Exclusive to Lay & Wheeler in the UK.

This is one of the finest sites of the Côte Blonde, and it produces a wine of huge elegance and subtlety, although you’ll want to tuck it away for a few years before pulling the cork.

Tasted April 2023. Incredible and ethereal in style, with subtle floral, bramble notes on the nose, cedar and spice on the palate. Light graphite around pure black fruit. There's a velvety texture and very fine, ripe tannins. Richer chocolate texture towards the long, refined finish. 13.65% alcohol.

Tasted April 2022. The best wine we've tasted from Berliquet, the 2021 is full of dark, brooding fruit. There's a powerful earthiness to the complexity in this wine, and plenty of chalky, cool freshness on the finish. Really well balanced, pure and concentrated.

Lovely intensity and power. There's so much depth and concentration here, spanning floral notes to deep dark fruits, bound up with lovely tension and elegance. This is beautiful. The finish is nicely balanced with a cool, saline finish and more spice and flowers. Quite brilliant.

The nose is already inviting, showing power and deep cherry fruit. There’s amazing drive and energy on the palate, with black fruits, spice and fine tannins. The power is undeniable, but it’s so elegant and finessed.

Tasted from a barrel sample sent to the UK, the 2019 Tertre de la Mouleyre has a beautifully floral, elegant nose. There's a purity here, and depth to the dark fruit. Notes of violets, silky tannins and plenty of crushed rocks on the finish. Beautifully structured and poised, this is classic claret at its zenith. Wonderful.

Known for its vibrant, exuberant style, the 2008 from Château Coutet is a triumph. It is full of white peach, grapefruit and now, with age, a lot of developed marmalade, dried apricot and gingery spice notes. There is still so much energy in this, and the zingy acidity helps keep it incredibly fresh considering its high levels of sweetness.

Le Gréal is a unique wine, and one that has built up a loyal following for its decadent, statuesque style. 2021 is a departure from the norm. Unlike all previous vintages back to 2009 that have been made from 100% whole bunch fruit, this is 90% destemmed. It feels less massive than previous years, more juicy, bright, and balanced, though it has an echo of the wine’s signature spicy notes thanks to the 10% whole bunch Guillaume has kept in the blend. It harks back to a style Guillaume says was last found in the 1990s. It may be unlike the wines we’ve come to love from this domaine, but actually, is a delicious iteration in its own right. In spite of its slighter style, it should age fantastically. One thing that remains constant is the fruit’s origin: 90% is drawn from the lauded Le Méal parcel, at 10% from Les Gréffieux, on the Hermitage hillside, from vines dating back to the 1920s. A small amount of co-planted Marsanne amongst the Syrah adds freshness and mollifies the tannins.

The 2018 Cupano Brunello di Montalcino is a stunning wine from this corner of Tuscany. Notes of blood orange, of morello cherries, and of spice all swirl from the glass. The nose entices you in, while the palate dazzles with its balance and purity. There’s that core of fresh fruit, while there’s also incredible complexity brought by a savoury minerality and sweet spice from the 5% new oak. This is a really beautiful iteration of the vintage, showing elegance and refinement, but with no loss of concentration.

A brilliant 2019 from Chateau de Ferrand, located on the end of the limestone plateau in St-Emilion. Offering bright bramble fruit with cedar and baking spices on the nose, this has the supple tannins and concentration to age gracefully. Cabernet Franc brings a floral freshness to the wine adding to its refined and elegant style.