What to drink this summer

From the team at Lalu, Lara and Luisa, this is stunning. So perfumed and elegant, it shows a whole new side to Barbera. Long, savoury, and beautifully fresh, it's not to be missed.

Wow. What purity and focus, and also such silky tannins. This is a brilliant red. Notes of pomegranate and rose petal, and lots of blood orange add to the core of red fruit. The tannins are talc-like, and there’s such focus on the palate. This is outstanding.

A cool climate Cabernet Sauvignon, with very refined tannins, a little clove spice and lifted lavender notes, and a lovely core of dark fruit. Pieter is so talented when it comes to this grape variety.

A brilliant cool climate Shiraz from the By Farr team in 2019. Bright and fresh with sappy berries alongside some riper black fruit. There’s some black pepper and earthiness and a silky texture.

2009 is quite rightly celebrated as a top vintage in Bordeaux, known for generous fruit and weight. Lovely blackcurrant, black plum and red cherry fruit here, with spicy, peppery notes on the nose and rich, mocha on the palate with a velvet texture. There's great balance with a tensile, mineral seam running through it and matching the intensity of the fruit.

This 100% Merlot is juicy, pure and sumptuous. Here, clay soils retained moisture throughout the long dry summer of 2016, meaning that this has remained balanced and fresh. With a long, well-defined finish, this is surely the best Marsau ever.

This Grenache is produced by Marco Cirillo from two 100+ year old vineyards from the renowned Barossa Valley. Full of rich fruit and spice, the palate is generous with intense and classically Grenache characteristics. It’s smooth, rounded, and generous with fantastic texture from 12 months maturing in old foudres. A true bargain, this is a wine that can be enjoyed now, or well into the future.

Claudie’s father, in his days of running a plant nursery with access to a huge range of plant material, planted seven different clones of Pinot Noir in this 2.5 hectare site. Now at 45 years old, this diversity, twinned with the quality of vineyard husbandry, means the vineyard is thriving. The different clones call for pruning and harvesting at different times, but it’s an effort worth making, as the wine is texturally sophisticated, juicy, and full of Pinot nuance. So balanced and extremely drinkable.

This Nuits premier cru combines the sweet red fruit of the 2013 vintage and the savoury structure of the commune. As it has evolved in bottle it has developed complex sous-bois aromas of undergrowth, spice, and leather, still with its Pinot red berry fruit driving along to a long, elegant finish. It is cool and understated, with particularly fine tannins supported by a little oak that integrates seamlessly.

This is so much more than your average Côtes du Rhône. It comes from the vines that surround the cellar, sitting just beyond the northern border of Châteauneuf. It is so textured and fresh, with energy, purity, and density. Its juicy red fruits combine with a lovely salty minerality making for a charming, drinkable style.

This comes from many parcels dotted around the central and southern part of the appellation. Sylvain intelligently handles his fruit: the young vine bunches are destemmed, while the older vines’ stems are kept intact, combining them to produce a highly juicy, perfumed style. A glossy style bursting with fruit.

The 2019 Capisme is a stunning Langhe Nebbiolo, from a great vintage. Powdery tannins, lifted fruit, and a long, savoury finish all combine to craft a Nebbiolo that would not look out of place in a lineup of Barolos.

The 2016 El Sacramento Viña Leizaola is an absolute stunner. Finessed and focused, there’s a beautiful nose of wild flowers and spice, with a core of brilliantly fresh fruit. This is long, savoury, and wonderfully balanced. A stunning Rioja.

An Italian red we love, this comes from just down the road from Elena's winery, from a 70 year old vineyard that belongs to one of her grandfather's friends, that was going to be pulled out. Elena volunteered to farm it, and this is the result. It's herbal, tarry, and so complex. Utterly delicious.

This 2016 Barolo from G.D. Vajra was bottled exclusively for Lay & Wheeler, and is from a blend of vineyards all planted on the Tortonian soils of the west of the Barolo zone. The resulting wine is perfumed and pure, with incredibly silky tannins, notes of rose petal and terracotta, and a core of cherry fruit. There’s the structure for this to last decades if you’ll let it, but it’s already delicious. It’s a wine we couldn’t be prouder to have secured: make sure it’s in your cellar.

Just the second vintage, and produced in miniscule quantities, this is floral and lifted, with lovely purity of fruit, and a juicy, fine-boned finish. Serve this at cellar temperature for a totally delicious Syrah.

Gianfranco's young vine cuvée, this has notes of ripe plums, prunes, and lots of store cupboard spice. The tannins need time to soften, but put this with food and you'll be richly rewarded.

This is the best iteration of this wine we've tried, from a great vintage. Notes of blood orange and ripe cherries, with a structured palate and a juicy finish. This is so delicious today, but will age well, too.

Ben Glaetzer balances bright freshness with powerful ripe black fruit in this Shiraz and Cabernet blend from the northern end of the Barossa Valley. It has a lovely herbal lift on the nose, with vanilla and chocolate complexity giving richness to this serious generous wine.

This comes from an historic, low-yielding 16-hectare site. The Mount Edelstone vineyard is home to dry-grown, ungrafted centenarian vines which sit on ancient soils at 400 metres above sea level. The wine is matured in 80% French and 20% American hogsheads (19% new, 81% seasoned) for 18 months prior to blending and bottling, after which the wine ages for a further three years before release. The 2016 is astonishing in its purity and complexity. There’s such remarkable length here, with a savoury, saline finish that lasts for minutes. A tour de force. Bravo.

A bottling that pushes the boundaries of what high-quality Beaujolais can be: grapes spend an enormous seven months macerating in large clay amphorae, creating a textured, explosive wine that’s spectacularly delicious.

The 2019 Apla is really fragrant and peppery, with amazing purity to the palate and a lovely touch of grip. It’s a blend of Xinomavro, Limniona and Mavroudi, and comes from vineyards across the very north of Greece. Made with elegance in mind, it’s a brilliant summer red, with added depth: akin to a very good Cru Beaujolais. Utterly delicious.

Silky and elegant, La Montesa comes from a single, organic vineyard and in this vintage is made entirely from Garnacha. The result is full of crunchy red berry fruits, orange peel and woody herbs. It’s broad and mouth coating, but not overly rich. It’s bright, lively, and fruit-driven and lovely to drink.

This is so perfumed and floral, with notes of blood orange, fresh cherries, and an incredible sense of place. There's nervy acidity and a wildness here; this is benchmark Etna from Rory and his team.