92

2011 Vinyes dels Aspres, Empordà

( E13, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )

Sourced from the frontier village of Cantallops, this is a rich, powerful, wild wine that is almost unruly on the nose and palate. Even for a young wine, this is starting to show secondary notes of honey and marzipan, but there’s massive concentration and acidity to back it up. A slow burner of a wine, very dense, minerally and herbal with a salty, food welcoming finish. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-16Similar Wines: £10-£20, 96-100, Spain, White, Grenache Blanc
93

2010 Terra Remota Camino, Empordà

( E14, 14.5%, El Celler Petit )

A fruit salad blend (if that doesn’t sound pejorative) of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Garnacha, Tempranillo and other varieties, this is another delicious release from this brilliant winery. It’s like a cross between a red Burgundy, a new wave Rioja and a Châteauneuf, with silky tannins, sweet raspberry and wild strawberry fruit, lovely oak integration and a lift of acidity and white pepper. Superb winemaking with noticeable French flair and finesse. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-16Similar Wines: £10-£20, 91-95, Spain, Red, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Other Reds, Syrah/Shiraz, Tempranillo
91

2011 Arché Pagès Satirs Blanc, Empordà

( E6, 13%, El Celler Petit )

Made by one of the best young growers in Empordà using only Macabeu, this is outstanding value at only E6 a bottle. It’s quite weighty for an unoaked style, capable of bottle age and great with food. Pear and some honey with refreshing lift from aciity a minerally undertone and a whiff of Mediterranean herbs.  

BuyDrinking window: 2012-14Similar Wines: £5-£10, 91-95, Spain, White, Macabeo
89

2010 All Saints Estate Marsanne, Victoria

( £14.9, 12.2%, Cockburn & Campbell )

A light, refreshing, herbal, honeysuckle-scented Marsanne from All Saints, favouring mealy, citrus fruit over oak influence. The wine is tangy and well-balanced, light enough to enjoy as an aperitif as well as with food. Experience shows that Victorian Marsannes age extremely well. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-20Similar Wines: £10-£20, 86-90, Australia, White, Marsanne
91

2008 Marimar Estate Pinot Noir La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California

( US$39, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )

This doesn’t quite scale the same heights as this winery’s recent Chardonnay release, but it’s still an impressive West Coast Pinot, appealingly priced by the standards of some California reds. It’s a full bodied style with flavours of ripe red fruits and sweet vanilla oak and a touch of leafy forest floor. The alcohol is a little intrusive on the finish perhaps, but this is still a Pinot with depth and flavour.

BuyDrinking window: 2012-14Similar Wines: Under £5, 91-95, United States, Red, Pinot Noir
94

2009 Marimar Estate Chardonnay La Masía Don Miguel Vineyard, Russian River Valley, California

( US$35, 14.5%, Contact the winery for details )

This is the most elegant Chardonnay I’ve tasted yet from this Green Valley winery, marking a step change in freshness, minerality and balance. The wine is still Californian in style, but the oak and acidity are nicely intertwined adding a refeshing backrop to the pear and citrus fruit. The lees work is exemplary, too. A wine that wouldn’t look out of place in a line up of top Meursaults. Bravo. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-15Similar Wines: Under £5, 91-95, United States, White, Chardonnay
94

2011 Palacio de Fefiñanes Albariño, Rías Baixas

( £15.19, 12.5%, Waitrose )

This is consistenly one of my very favourite Albariños (and Spanish whites for that matter) from the historic Fefiñanes winery. It’s spritzy, perfumed and refreshing with that Riesling-like crispness that you get in the best Galician whites, notes of pear and stone fruit and a long, satisfying, palate-tingling finish. The taste of (green) Spain. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-14Similar Wines: £10-£20, 91-95, Spain, White, Albariño
88

2011 Three Choirs Regalia, Gloucestershire

( £6, 12%, Asda )

The focus is rightly on English sparkling wines, rather than the unfizzy stuff, but this fruit salad blend of five grapes is well worth trying, especially at only £6. It’s got that classic English bouquet of hedgerows and elderflowers, combined with some stony, minerally notes. On the palate it’s crisp and just off dry with crunchy acidity and bright grapefruit and green apple flavours. An excuse to buy British, or rather English. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-13Similar Wines: £5-£10, 86-90, England, White, Madeleine Angevine
91

2010 Luis Pato Vinhas Velhas White Wine, Beiras

( £10.95, 12%, The Wine Society )

A taut, minerally, screwcapped white blend from a producer whose white wines age really well and are just as good as his more famous reds. Fresh, unoaked and slightly smoky with hints of jasmine and ginger spice and a long, satisfying finish. Portugal’s answer to Chablis, with a hint of Riesling thrown in, this proves that local grapes like Bical and Cercial are capable of producing thrilling, bottle-matured white wines. 

BuyDrinking window: 2012-17Similar Wines: £10-£20, 91-95, Portugal, White, Bical, Cerceal, Sercialinho