95+
Keermont Topside Syrah 2018
"Syrah lovers could spend a long time discussing the relative merits of Alex Starey's single parcel Syrahs. I have a very slight preference for Topside in 2018, partly because its cooler terroir on Stellenbosch Mountain was well suited to the drought conditions of the vintage. Restrained, focused and built to age in bottle, it has sage and oregano perfume, savoury tannins, refreshing acidity and minerality and flavours of plum, raspberry, red cherry and tobacco leaf." - Tim Atkin MW
Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2018
"Poggio di Sotto hits it out the ballpark once again with an extremely elegant interpretation that shows the incredible depth and nuance Sangiovese can achieve, even in an uneven vintage such as this. The certified organic 2018 Brunello di Montalcino reveals a dark ruby hue and mid-weight concentration. Indeed, the wine is lighter and brighter than most, despite Brunello's mandatory five years of aging before its commercial release. The tannins are silky and melt over the palate. Along the way, the wine offers high notes of red cherry, cassis and blue flower. This 38,000-bottle release carries a very high price tag, but your high expectations will be met." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Poggio di Sotto Brunello di Montalcino 2017
"Made with certified-organic fruit, the 2017 Brunello di Montalcino is an impossibly graceful wine from a challenging vintage. This bottle defies the odds—and the dry heat of the growing season—to reveal soft layers of cherry, cassis and more vibrant fruit. It glides clear over the palate with silky momentum, and you only notice the tannins at the very end. Even those should soften and integrate as this collectible wine continues it bottle evolution. Production is 19,000 bottles." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Bodegas y Viñedos Pintia 2018 – 3.L
"The 2018 Pintia comes from a cooler and wetter vintage when the grapes were picked between September 20th and October 7th, and it fermented in their new fermentation room where they feel they can be more precise. The wine still has 15% alcohol, with a pH of 3.82 and 4.6 grams of acidity. It had a shorter élevage this year and matured for 10 months in French and 18% American oak barrels, 81% of them new. The nose is very expressive, with bright cherry fruit, and the wine is fresher than the norm in the region, with integrated alcohol and oak, reflecting a very cool year, floral and perfumed. The palate is medium-bodied and reveals very fine and elegant tannins. This has to be one of the finest vintages of Pintia. 251,512 bottles, 14,144 half-bottles, 6,543 magnums and some larger formats produced. It was bottled in April 2020." - Luis Gutiérrez, The Wine Advocate
Champagne Pol Roger Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill 2015 Magnum
"The 2015 Brut Cuvée Sir Winston Churchill shows off the savory side of the vintage to great effect. Hints of dried pear, sage, mint, dried flowers, lemon oil and chamomile open gradually in this mid-weight, lithe edition of Pol Roger's tête de cuvée. The 2015 unfolds nicely with time in the glass, but I wouldn't think of opening a bottle anytime soon. Readers will find a nervy Winston Churchill marked by notable freshness and vigor more than size. This is a fine effort in a vintage that has proven to be far trickier than most observers originally envisioned. Dosage is 7 grams per liter. Disgorged September 2022." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2022
Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Pinot Noir 2022, "Family Vineyards is an equal combination of north and south-facing sites and is correspondingly self-assured and well balanced. Fermented with 20% whole bunches and aged in 29% new oak, it has lovely weight and freshness, goji berry, pomegranate and wild strawberry flavours and precise, granular tannins." - Tim Atkin MW
Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2018 Magnum
"Impressing from the first tilt of the glass, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino makes itself known, with a heady burst of exotic spice and crushed ashen stone giving way to dried black cherries and grilled herbs. This combines the energy of the vintage with the dark balsamic-tinged fruits of Montalcino’s southern reaches, as zesty acidity maintains balance throughout, and flinty minerals saturate toward the close. It finishes long, savory and structured, yet its tannins are more rounded than anticipated, creating both a classic feel, but also leaving a mouthwatering sensation that tricks the taster back to the glass for more. Easily one of the top wines of the vintage, the 2018 is not to be missed." - Eric Guido
Bruno Rocca Barbaresco Riserva Currà 2015
"A release of 3,824 numbered bottles (including various collectors' larger formats), the 2015 Barbaresco Riserva Currà draws its fruit from the nearby village of Neive. This wine is just terrific, showing beautiful intensity and elegance. The warm and sunny 2015 growing season is easy to recognize in the broad, rich aromas and the open-knit texture of the mouthfeel. The wine opens to a dark garnet color with some brick red too. There is a point of evolution with licorice and earthy truffle, but the wine maintains its freshness and very fine tannins." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2022
Newton Johnson Family Vineyards Chardonnay 2022, "Blending three different components from both sides of the Upper Hemel-en-Aarde Valley, this is a beautifully judged Chardonnay from a South African master of the variety. Voluptuous and textured, yet focused and energetic at the same time, it has struck match top notes, 22% new oak, citrus and vanilla spice flavours and a pithy, salty finish." - Tim Atkin MW
Il Poggione Brunello di Montalcino 2018
“Impressing from the first tilt of the glass, the 2018 Brunello di Montalcino makes itself known, with a heady burst of exotic spice and crushed ashen stone giving way to dried black cherries and grilled herbs. This combines the energy of the vintage with the dark balsamic-tinged fruits of Montalcino’s southern reaches, as zesty acidity maintains balance throughout, and flinty minerals saturate toward the close. It finishes long, savory and structured, yet its tannins are more rounded than anticipated, creating both a classic feel, but also leaving a mouthwatering sensation that tricks the taster back to the glass for more. Easily one of the top wines of the vintage, the 2018 is not to be missed.” – Eric Guido
BLANKbottle Pseudonym 2022
"The kind of wine that would appeal to red Burgundy drinkers looking for a few cheaper alternatives to their favourite tipple, this ethereal, delicate, layered Cinsault comes from a 73-year-old vineyard in Darling. Fermented with 70% whole bunches, it's a refined delight, all red cherry, raspberry, pomegranate flavours underpinned by the grip and slight austerity of decomposed granite soils." - Tim Atkin MW
J.L. Chave Sélection Hermitage Blanc Blanche 2019
"Another incredible white from this family is the 2019 Hermitage Blanc, a powerful, concentrated, and remarkably pure Hermitage that has laser-like focus as well as textbook Marsanne notes of quince, green almond, powdered rock, licorice, and spice. It’s still tight, focused, and inward at present, yet it reminds me of the 2018 with its purity and rare mix of power and elegance. It’s worth trying a bottle any time over the coming 3-5 years, but after that, I’d recommend waiting until after 2031. 98+" - Jeb Dunnuck
David & Nadia Chenin Blanc 2022 Magnum
“This is the biggest production Chenin Blanc from David and Nadia Sadie, sourced from eight different old-vine parcels and now amounting to 16,000 bottles. Granite-based with other components on shale, clay and limestone, it’s a nuanced, effortlessly balanced white with notes of aniseed, oatmeal, wet stone and pithy citrus and yellow apple fruit.” – Tim Atkin MW
BLANKbottle Orbitofrontal Cortex 2022
BLANKbottle Orbitofrontal Cortex 2022, "The barrels I like", is how Pieter Walser describes the selection process for this Chenin Blanc and Verdelho based blend with 46% Clairette Blanche, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and a soupçon of Viognier. Lightly skin fermented, it has top notes of wild flowers and wet stone, citrus, pear and grapefruit flavours and a finish that lingers on the palate. Delicious."- Tim Atkin MW
BLANKbottle My Koffer 2022
"One of two remarkable Cinsaults in the BLANKbottle line up, My Köffer comes from a parcel of river stones in Breedekloof, picked in three stages to maximise complexity. Bolder and broader than Pseudonym, it has impressive concentration and depth, savoury tannins, some clove and pepper spices and layers of plum, strawberry and black cherry. Delicious." Tim Atkin MW
Paolo Scavino Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata Riserva 2016
"This is a stunner. The Paolo Scavino 2016 Barolo Riserva Rocche dell'Annunziata is a beautifully balanced and memorable wine that will continue to delight for years to come. It is compact and silky in texture with abundant and very lively aromas of dark fruit and wild cherry. The Rocche dell'Annunziata vineyard is located in La Morra. This is a gorgeous wine that awards lots of emotion. Production is 6,800 bottles." - Monica Larne, The Wine Advocate
Elio Grasso Barolo “Ginestra Casa Maté” 2018
"From a vineyard located across from Gavarini Chiniera, this is a slightly more robust and concentrated wine. The 2018 Barolo Ginestra Casa Maté sources its fruit from a position at a slightly lower elevation with a bigger component of clay in the soils. The south and southeast-facing hillside is also more open to the horizon. These conditions give the Ginestra Casa Maté a broad texture and rich flavors of black and purple fruits. The wine is compact with dense texture that will relax over the next 10 years of age. Production is 12,000 bottles." - Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate
Domaine du Clos Naudin Vouvray Moelleux Réserve 2018
"This cuvée has a residual sugar of 130 g/l, with an acidity of 4.5 g/l, and it was bottled just one month before tasting. Youthful purity on the nose, an aromatic profile which suggests finesse, with notes of white peach, freshly crushed pear and crisp white apple flesh. The palate carries a delicious intensity, showing the same pure and finessed style, as well as wonderful complexities redolent of vanilla, wild red fruits, mango and peach too. This is delicious. A pretty amazing wine with astonishing potential." -Chris Kissack, The Wine Doctor
Keermont Fleurfontein 2021
"Consistently among the Cape's sweet wine elite, this is an unusual blend of Sauvignon Blanc and 24% Roussanne. Naturally fermented in French and Hungarian oak, it has layers of passion fruit, pineapple and mango, intense 225 grams of residual sugar and a tangy, tartetatin finish. The volatile acidity is commendably low for the style." - Tim Atkin MW
Château L’If Saint-Émilion 2019
"The 2019 L'If is the sort of wine I would like to spend hours with. There is just too much to it. At times the 2019 is opulent and quite racy, and yet in other moments its the underlying minerality and tension in the wine that are most evident. Black cherry, herb, incense, licorice and mocha gradually open over time. The 25% Cabernet Franc comes through nicely, both in the wine's aromatic profile and overall structure. L'If is a wine to buy and cellar for a decade or more. I loved it." - Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Keermont Topside Syrah 2017
Keermont Single Vineyard Series Topside Syrah 2017, "Topside is all made with the 470 clone and hails from a single vineyard with a westerly aspect that sees very little sunshine in the mornings. Denser and firmer than its stablemate Steepside, this a dark, inky, brooding Syrah with fig, damson and Asian spice flavours and lots of stony grip." - Tim Atkin MW
