This is one of the best vintages yet of this modern Veneto blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Sangiovese, partly made using the Ripasso technique. The chalky soils of this excellent vineyard are apparent in the freshness and minerality of the wine. It’s compact, yet still bright and nuanced, showing subtle oak, good structure and flavours of bramble and blackberry, with a savoury, earthy twist.
Food Match: Cheese
2009 CVNE Imperial Reserva, Rioja
( £20.49, 14%, Berry Bros & Rudd, Cambridge Wine Merchants, Majestic, The Co-operative, Wimbledon Wine Cellars, Wine Rack )CVNE’s Imperial is one of Rioja’s best value, ageworthy wines. This is still an infant and will need at least another five years in bottle to come close to its best. Dense, concentrated and sweetly oaked with a chalky undertone adding freshness and bite to the plum and raspberry fruit flavours. Traditional Rioja at its youthful best.
2000 Domaine Cazes, Ambré, Rivesaltes, Languedoc-Roussillon
( £15.95, 16.5%, Prohibition Wines )At only £15.95 a half bottle, this has to be one of the best value fortifieds on the market at the moment. It’s a mature, salty, rancio-style wine made from Grenache Blanc and Macabeu that’s mid way between a Sherry and a Tawny Port in style. Try it poured over vanilla ice cream or with a walnut tart.
2013 Sybille Kuntz, Riesling Kabinett Trocken, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
( €17.50, 12.5% )The Riesling grapes that go into this cuvée come from a series of old vines sites in the Paul Valley close to the River Mosel. It’s another very assured performance, with a richness that’s almost remiscent of the Pfalz. Musky and faintly exotic, with lovely weight and density, sustained by tangy acidity. The balanced between slight sweetness and acidity is very well judged.
2013 Sybille Kuntz, Riesling Auslese Feinherb, Mosel
( €39, 13% )The best and oldest parcels on the Niederberg-Helden Einzellage are used to make this remarkable wine. It’s on the dry side for an Auslese, with 51.9 grams of sugar, with the concentration and slaty minerality beautifully entwined. Floral and appealingly honeyed, with notes of nectarine and ripe pear sustained by citrus- and pink grapefruit-like acidity
2013 Sybille Kuntz, Riesling Beerenauslese Edelsüß, Mosel
( €95, 12% )What an incredible bottle of wine. Sybille Kuntz is better known for her dry than sweet styles, but this shows that she’s equally adept at both. This comes from mostly ungrafted vineyards planted in the 1920s in Niederberg-Helden. It’s an exotic wine all right, but the tropical fruit flavours of pineapple and mango are tempered by acidity and extract. A Riesling that lingers tantalisingly on the palate.
2012 Innocent Bystander Syrah, Yarra Valley, Victoria
( N/A, 13%, Liberty Wines )Phil Sexton’s Yarra Valley winery is one of the most innovative in the region. It’s got a lot of tourist appeal, but it’s wines are deadly serious, too. This is a typically elegant, refined red, with fine-grained tannins, subtle pepper spice and plush raspberry and blueberry flavours and a minerally, refreshing finish.
2013 Neudorf, Chardonnay, Nelson
( £14-£15, 14% )A lightly oaked Chardonnay that still shows all the Neudorf hallmarks: weight, power, spice and complexity, with sweet stone and tropical fruit underpinned by acidity. The oak, as ever, is deftly handled here, showing notes of cinnamon and nutmeg spice.
2013 Neudorf, Twenty Five Rows Chardonnay, Nelson
( N/A, 14% )Produced in small quantities from Tim and Judy Finn’s vineyards in Nelson, this lees-aged Chardonnay sees very little oak and is made in a “Chablis” style. It’s a subtle, herbal white with notes of baking spices and citrus and appealing texture and concentration.
2013 Neudorf, Moutere Chardonnay, Nelson
( N/A, 14% )The top Chardonnay from Neudorf and one of the best examples of the grape in New Zealand, this is an aromatic, textured, beautifully balanced white with seamless oak integration. Pear, melon and nectarine fruit are intertwined with flavours of cinnamon and citrus-like acidity. This will age well, too.
2012 Massolino Nebbiolo, Langhe, Piedmont
( N/A, 14%, Liberty Wines )Fascinating to taste this wine under screwcap and cork and perform a contrast and compare job. They are both excellent, as you’d expect from a top producer in an outstanding vintage, but I slightly prefer the brightness and purity of the screwcapped wine. Fresh and elegant, with pure raspberry and cherrystone fruit, subtle oak and the chalky minerality that’s so typical of Serralunga.
2014 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough
( N/A, 13.5% )Is Cloudy Bay finally back on form after several lacklustre vintages? So it would appear from this latest release. It’s still a little pricey for what it is, but it’s appealingly fresh and refined, with subtle nettle and gooseberry fruit, a hint of struck match and a long, tapering finish.