£20-50 per bottle

Pol Roger is a Champagne house with a huge following, thanks to its much loved Brut non-vintage. This cuvée, Pure, is only made in tiny quantities, and is a relatively recent addition to the portfolio, being released for the first time in 2018. It is the house's only zero dosage wine. Chalky, lean and racy, it's the gin and tonic of the range: a great aperitif for livening up the palate.

The second wine from Spottswoode Estate in 2020 has a lot of the same richness and fragrance of their estate wine. There's plenty of savoury quality on the palate, with rose petals and aromatic, musky spice. Fresh with more red fruit and blueberry than the estate wine, it's a brilliant way to experience this celebrated estate at a more accessible price, with earlier drinking potential.

Superb old vine Grenache and surely one of the wines of the vintage. Traditionally made, raised in large oak foudres, this wine has layer upon layer of fresh and dried fruit interlaced with savoury elements such as Ibérico ham and white pepper. Very long and complex.

Iron Heart is a north-facing block, and the result is a meaty, spicy, iron-rich Shiraz. There's lot of black olive flavour, and initially on the nose, lots of heady, rose petal perfume. Elegant and complex in style.

Intensely perfumed with pure aromas of raspberry, black cherry and red cherry. Light mineral hints of reduction on the nose, and a firm structure at this young age. Incredible concentration and intensity for its modest 11% alcohol.

Just 5.9ha in size, Croix de Labrie is a real insider's tip. It's plush, opulent, and powerful. But in 2020 it also has impressive freshness - and a slew of high scores.

Château Quintus has been owned by Clarence Dillon since 2011: it takes its name from the Franco-Roman tradition of always calling a fifth son Quintus. The top wine, gets better every year, and is showing more and more of the breeding that makes the owners’ Pessac wines so highly prized.

From the same vineyard on the far west coast of the cape as Eben Sadie’s Skerpioen. This Palomino is savoury, fresh, and beautifully balanced. It’s a curious, long-lived white that’s seriously impressive.

The warm and low-yielding 2020 vintage has delivered an intense and tightly woven iteration of Tom Cullity, named after Vasse Felix’s pioneering founder. Dried sage and blackberry supported by layers of cracked pepper and hot gravel.

This is the top wine from the historic Wirra Wirra winery, one of the pioneers in McLaren Vale. Chook Block is from a single biodynamically farmed vineyard plot and is only released in the top vintages. There's lots of complex, ripe fruit here with red and black cherry, raspberry, cassis and mulberry, covered in dark chocolate and spice. There's more leathery notes as the palate continues, and iron-filing-like mineral notes. There's plenty of oak character and bold structure around the core of dense fruit. Long and concentrated on the finish.

52% Shiraz, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 12% Cabernet Franc and 11% Merlot sourced from vineyards across the Eden and Barossa Valleys. The vines are anything from 50 years of age plus, and the result is a rich, concentrated wine that really punches above its weight. Ripe, silky, fine-grained, with explosive violet and cracked black pepper on the nose.

The grapes are sourced from a mix of vineyards in several communes in Barolo that provide layers of complexity in the wine. Expect red cherries, blood orange and wild strawberry notes combined with liquorice and black tea aromas. The tannins are well-integrated and provide great structure to the wine's silky core.

Eduardo Acosta, originally from Tenerife has found his adopted home in Sicily and is making groundbreaking wines on Etna. Dominated by Nerello Mascalese, the wine has 10% from a white and red field blend. Pirrera is a single vineyard parcel on the north side of Etna and is planted at altitude (850 metres) with old vines contributing to the concentration and purity. Displaying delicious red fruit perfume, cherries and liquorice spice combined with extremely fine tannins and refreshing, zesty acidity.

With vineyards planted in the late 90s and early 2000s, the vines are starting to get some age and this is seemingly having a great impact on the wine with quality going up every vintage. Based on Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon the wine is more on the red plum and bramble profile, with a firm tannin structure. Savoury leather and sweet clove spice add complexity, with a vibrancy from the acidity creating balance

Fossacolle is in the careful hands of Stefano Bambagioni who has brought a new lease of life into this 4 hectare property. The Riserva isn't produced every year and only small volumes are made with a selection of the best plots from some of their older plantings. Savoury in its profile with coffee, black olive and clove notes with hints of dried red berry fruits.

The 2020 Macan includes some Graciano and Garnacha for the first time. This is a charming Rioja that opens with flavours of dried dill, red cherry, wilted rose, and a dusting of cocoa. The palate is fleshy and vibrant with a long and poised finish.

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.

Notes of verbena, white flowers and wet rocks this is a wine with impeccable balance. A real tightrope of sweet, salty and sour this so lively on the palate, with pulses of salinity. Citrus and stone fruit with some fresh herbs too, the finish is graceful and fluid – a true Saar Riesling.

Chapoutier is an undisputed master of Syrah in the Northern Rhone, and this is their excellent blend from the deep south-west of the Côtes du Roussillon. It is juicy and structured, with the warmth of Grenache singing through. Grenache 65%, Syrah 35%.

The most powerful, intense wine in the Courbis cellar. This is planted straight onto the granite, and has deep, brooding fruit, with notes of iron oxide and lots of spice on the finish. Brilliantly balanced.

Unlike the rest of the Breton range which is grown on granitic soils, this comes from the famous pierre bleue soils of Mont Brouilly. The parcel is actually owned by good friend, and Lay & Wheeler favourite, Jean-Claude Lapalu. J-C looks after the vines during the year, and he and Breton pick the parcel on the same day, with Breton buying half the grapes. The wines the two men make couldn’t be more different in style. This version is lightly scented with ripe strawberries and cinnamon. There’s a little light grip from some fine tannins that are woven through the symphony of sweet red fruits. It is a delicious expression of Beaujolais, one with some gentle body and sweet ripeness, but no heaviness at all.

Porusot is one of the finest vineyards in Meursault, with an enviable south-east exposure. Its stony soils make taut, age-worthy Chardonnay.

63% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 4% Petit Verdot and 3% Cabernet Franc. One of the standout successes of this tricky vintage in Bordeaux, this is a rich and concentrated 2007 from one of our favourite Bordeaux producers Branaire Ducru. It's mature and drinking now, with some fresh red cherry fruit remaining amongst developed leather and tobacco, as well as lots of stony, mineral notes. The tannins are fine and resolved, and it finishes long and minerally.