Organic Wine

A single vineyard Sangiovese, from the area of Rufina, the 2019 Vigneto Bucerchiale is intense and pure with incredible concentration and freshness. Old vines dating back to 1968 allow the wine to have a concentration and complexity that's rarely seen in the region. This is a remarkable wine that stands up to many of the top wines of Tuscany’s greatest estates.

This is such a juicy, inviting delight. It has wonderfully primary floral notes, and Cabernet Franc’s structured freshness. Zappy and delicious, and brilliant if served a little chilled.

Casimir is a blend of fruit from the younger vines of the domaine grown across a few parcels. Like the Chaillot it is made with 100% whole bunch fruit, and aged in old oak barrels, using minimal sulphur dioxide additions. There is plenty to get excited about here, particularly if you like the wilder side of Cornas, as this cuvée plays with volatility in a beautiful way.

This is the pinnacle of the Balthazar cellar - a Cornas that defines Franck’s style for making complex and ethereal Cornas from old vine fruit. The 2021 shows impressive tension, with a superbly long, silky finish. This is Cornas at its very best.

This village wine is 100% destemmed and has a sapid, redcurrant, spiced pomegranate character, with long, lightly structured tannins holding it together. This is a great entry point for one of Pommard’s most promising new voices.

Over the past few years, Valdaya’s Mirum has skyrocketed to the very top echelon of Spanish wine. The grapes for Mirum are from to highly-prized parcels of old bush vines planted at 850 metres. In 2021, this showcases the very best of Ribera del Duero with a richness of purple fruit and sweet spice, with layers of rosemary, and garrigue. The chalky tannins frame the fruit beautifully, and the wine’s acidity is juicy and energetic.

Telmo Rodriquez is one of Spain's most celebrated winemakers, and he trained with some of the best in the world, including in Bordeaux, before settling back in Rioja and pioneering the modern exploration of terroir in the region. Yjar is his top wine, and comes from around 3.8 hectares of his family estate Remelluri. It's elegant in style, with fine-grained tannins and fresh bramble fruit.

Franck Balthazar is making some of the most exciting and sought-after wines in the Northern Rhône, gaining an army of fans for his low-intervention, whole-bunch, cool and balanced Cornas Syrahs. Franck buys organically grown fruit for this Côtes du Rhône from the southern Rhône village of Séguret. It’s a classic blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah. It shows incredible intensity for a wine of this level, and as a result is mind-bogglingly good value.

This classic, old-school Châteauneuf from Jean-Paul Versino is one of the bargains of the list. It comes from a blend of 27 plots, making for a balanced, complete, and inviting Grenache-based Châteauneuf. It is dry and savoury, with the gorgeous combination of red berry fruit, dried herbs, spice and just a hint of licorice. It will drink well from early on, and evolve into an earthy, complex wine in the cellar.

This parcel sits at the bottom of the Hermitage hill on alluvial soils. In 2022 it is fleshy and full, with notes of fragrant red and black fruit, game and cracked black pepper. It is detailed, pure, elegant and complex. Utterly charming.

50-year-old Syrah vines grow in the high terraces of shingle and clay on the Hermitage hillside. This is rounded, with a voluminous texture and superb notes of dark fruits, black cherry, smoked meat, leather and a hint of dried rose petal. There is impressive complexity, with layers that build and build.

Coming from a 65 year old parcel, on the all-granite soils of lieu-dit Les Bessards, Le Pavillon displays cassis, blackberry and cracked black pepper notes. On the palate, the tannins are fine and swept along with fresh acidity, underpinned with a lovely, smokiness. This is a captivating Hermitage.

Les Varonniers comes from Chapoutier's oldest vines (60+ years) in Crozes, grown on south-eastern facing granitic soils. The elegant palate is packed full of cassis, black pepper and smoky notes and despite the cooler nature of the vintage there is wonderful ripeness of fruit. Drinking beautifully now, but with the capacity to go on.

Baron Louis is Montfaucon's flagship red, and is a testament to Rodolphe’s efforts to preserve local traditions and old rare varieties. The base is a classic 50% Grenache. But the other half is made up of floral Cinsault, powerful Mourvèdre, fresh Counoise, and fruity Carignan. The fruit is rich and creamy, with black plum, cherry and bramble. There's a purity of fruit this year but some subtle woody herb hints on the palate. The good value for money here cannot be overemphasized.

Made from 18 grape varieties, white and red, all picked when ready and fermented in the same tank, meaning a long continuous ferment. This results in a very complex wine with layers of spice, truffle and earth. One year in barrique before resting in concrete and bottle.

100% whole-bunch lifts this village Pommard up a notch or two. It’s such a fragrant and appetising style, and the best we’ve seen from Joannes since he took over in 2019. It is a great entry point for one of Pommard’s most promising new voices.

Tasted April 2023. 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc. Complex and energetic with lots of layered aromatic blue fruit and raspberry. Red cherry, black cherry and plum make a juicy, concentrated mid-palate and there are cooler, saline notes towards the finish.

Tasted April 2023. 100% Merlot. Anne-Laurence, who makes Chateau Marsau, has further increased the use of foudres this vintage to 80%. The remaining 20% is in old barrels, amphora and vats. There's an incredible amount of texture and savoury-tinged fruit on the palate as a result. Fragrant and lifted on the nose, and linear with lots of the chalky, refreshing salinity we love in Marsau. Ripe and focused tannins, present but fine and silky. Yields here were low but the wine really shows the benefits of their regenerative approach in the vineyard. This is a very expressive wine that sings of its people and place.

Tasted April 2023. 100% Merlot. Anne-Laurence, who makes Chateau Marsau, has further increased the use of foudres this vintage to 80%. The remaining 20% is in old barrels, amphora and vats. There's an incredible amount of texture and savoury-tinged fruit on the palate as a result. Fragrant and lifted on the nose, and linear with lots of the chalky, refreshing salinity we love in Marsau. Ripe and focused tannins, present but fine and silky. Yields here were low but the wine really shows the benefits of their regenerative approach in the vineyard. This is a very expressive wine that sings of its people and place.