£100-500 per bottle

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.

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.

Le Gréal is a unique and special blend, and the signature wine of the Sorrel domaine. 90% is drawn from the lauded Le Méal parcel, at 10% from Les Gréffieux, on the Hermitage hillside. There is a small amount of Marsanne co-planted amongst the Syrah that makes it into the blend, adding freshness and mollifying the tannins. These Sorrel vines date back to 1928 and produce exquisite concentration. This is an astonishing wine, and consistently one of the hottest tickets in the Northern Rhône. It is fragrant, concentrated, powerful and poised. It demands cellaring, and will reward many times over for those who can wait.

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.

From one of the most famous sites in Neive, this shows the classic character of the commune. Very delicate and fragrant, this shows the classic tar and roses that we love in so much great Nebbiolo. Very pretty, and alpine tinged.

Tasted April 2023. 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 24% Merlot, 5% Cabernet Franc, 1% Petit Verdot. 15% abv. 100% new barrels. Tightly-wound at this early stage with bright red fruit as well as concentrated blackcurrant. St-Estephe's characteristically austere tannins are there, creating a rich, serious feel on the palate.

Spottswoode is an historic Napa property, that is steadfast in its approach stylistically. Here the team craft consistently fine, elegant, savoury Cabernet from its unique spot in St Helena year after year. At the same time, they are bang up to date with their practices in the vineyard, looking holistically at their sustainability measures, planting cover crops, encouraging native flora and fauna, and farming biodynamically. In 2020 they've created a full-bodied, ripe and rich wine with their trademark finesse and supple velvet tannins. One of the true winners of the 2020 vintage in Napa.

The 2020 Léoville Las Cases is a blend of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Cabernet Franc and 8% Merlot, ageing in 80% new French oak barriques. We haven't yet had the chance to taste it, but given the considerable critical acclaim, we can't wait to do so.

The 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon Bin 707 is a blend from the varied solis of Coonawarra, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Padthaway and is matured for 16 months in new American oak hogsheads. Coonawarra is becoming more and more of the signature here, giving lots of fresh cassis and refreshing herbal character. It's built to age, with a firm, muscular structure but a lot of complex flavour to match, and it should soften into a brilliant 707 with time in bottle.

Philipponnat hold back a proportion of each vintage from their outstanding single vineyard Clos des Goisses, and age it sur lattes in their cellars. For those who love the complexity and vinous power of old Champagnes, there is nothing better.

Tasted April 2023. 2022 feels like the culmination of what the new team at Troplong, led by Aymeric de Gironde, have been working towards. The inate power of the vintage has been tamed by their methods throughout the growing season, and the result is a spectacular representation of Troplong Mondot. Juicy fruit, but not extreme or overly ripe. Rich, but impeccably balanced. There are fresh herbal flavours, lifted violet notes and salinity on the finish. There is plenty of tannin but the texture is silky, and slightly powdery. Brilliant.

A brilliant vintage for Haut Bailly, made in their beautiful state of the art cellar. There’s so much aromatic complexity with tons of floral notes and fragrant berry fruit. The blackberry, currant and raspberry carries onto the palate with incense, violet, pepper, woody herbs and mineral tones. Smooth as silk on the palate with just a little minerally grip on the finish. Powerful and concentrated but in a lithe, vibrant, refreshing frame.

Château Palmer created this blend as a homage to the days when Bordeaux proprietors would often blend in Syrah to add heft to their Cabernet. Syrah lends the wine a smooth, broad texture, precise tannins, velvety mouthfeel and notes of black truffle. This 10th vintage is characterized by an unprecedented high proportion of Petit Verdot (44%) in the blend and no Merlot.

The 2019 Troplong-Mondot is a simply brilliant wine. On the nose there's pure, focused fruit, as well as plenty of fragrant floral notes, and lots of spice. The palate is silky and suave, with so much latent energy. This will need time, but will be astonishing.

RunRig is made from six parcels, with some from Lyndoch and some from Ebeneezer sub-regions. This is full of powerful and impressive lifted black fruits of blackberry, plum and cherry with underlying dark chocolate complex undertones and spice. There's a creaminess on the palate, with vanilla, cola and mocha, an d great depth of flavour and balance to the fruit. The tannins are powerful, layered and integrating well. An impressive RunRig.

The prestige cuvée from one of the Southern Rhône's greatest estates.