As its name suggests, this is grown on slate soils. It’s a single vineyard Cariñena with impressive elegance and refreshing acidity to balance the high alcohol. Textured, spicy and very Mediterranean with notes of wild thyme and fennel.
Price Range: £30-£50
2009 Vinyes d’Olivardots, V.D.O 2/09 Samsó Sorra, Empordà, Empordà
( €35, 15% )This is sourced from sandy soils, but it’s another single vineyard, old vine Cariñena. Richer, denser and more oxidative in style, this is figgy and slightly dry with a balsamic undertone. More tannic, too.
2006 Elio Grasso, Gavarini Chiniera, Barolo, Piedmonte
( £48, 14%, Lay & Wheeler )2006 is a delicious vintage in Piemonte – less ripe than 2007, perhaps, but more classic in structure. This is still in short trousers, but it’s already approachable, with lifted aromas of tar, red fruits and incense, medium weight tannins, bight acidity and a core of savoury, focused fruit. Needs food to shine.
Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny Port, Douro Valley
( £18.99, 21.5%, Fortnum & Mason, Ocado, Tanners, Waitrose )The received wisdom (at least round my gaff) is that 20-year-old Tawnies are better than the 10-year-old versions, but this wine challenges that. It will improve further in bottle, but it’s remarkable now, an intense, nutty, figgy fortified with more tannin and concentration than commerical Tawnies at lower price points. In short, it’s worth the extra cash: a sweet, yet structured, wood-matured Port with impressive palate length.
2011 Bird on Wire Chardonnay, Yarra Valley, Victoria
( £35-£38, 13%, Naked Wines )The whites were much more impressive than the red from this Yarra Valley estate in 2011. This cool climate Aussie Chardonnay is deliberately made in a fairly wild, funky style and it works: savoury and complex, with subtle oak and notes of oatmeal, honey and lemon zest. Lovely.
2006 Yalumba, The Octavius, Barossa Valley, South Australia
( £48.99, 14.5%, Harrods, Noel Young Wines, Slurp, Winedirect )Serious, strapping Shiraz, but with a feminine side, this is a seriously delicious Aussie red, which encapsulates the best of the Barossa, both modern and traditional. It’s ripe, soft and sweet, with succulent blackberry and raspberry fruit, a hint of coconutty oak and appealing bottle maturation. Spicy, rich, yet very well balanced.
2011 Bird on a Wire Marsanne, Yarra Valley, Victoria
( £32, 14%, Naked Wines )Caroline Mooney’s wines are some of the most exciting things I’ve tasted from Australia in the last three years. This barrel-fermented Marsanne shows the variety’s classic honeysuckle and aniseed notes, well integrated with oak and sustained by bright acidity. Honey and some white flowers add extra complexity and texture.
NV Franck Bonville Grand Cru Champagne, Champagne
( £39, 12.5%, Marks & Spencer )OK, this costs nearly £40, but so do plenty of Champagnes that aren’t anything like as good as this Blanc de Blancs from growers, Herny and Ludovic Beaufort. The wine tastes as good as it looks, with masses of rich, nutty, bready flavours, a lowish dosage and 20% reserve wines to add extra concentration and weight. This is what I’ll be drinking as we open the pressies on Christmas morning.
2007 Nikolaihof Steiner Hund Reserve, Kremstal
( £45, 12.5%, Berry Bros & Rudd )This brilliant biodynamic estate is based in the Wachau on the “wrong” side of the Danube, but this wine hails from vineyards in neighbouring Kremstal. It’s an incredible Riesling: intense, focused and minerally with remarkable texture, density and concentration. Honey, white flowers and a stony undertow, with spice, creamy lees and a finish that lasts for minutes. The wine will develop for at least another decade in bottle.
2009 Ségla, Margaux, Bordeaux
( £39, 14%, Oddbins )Attractive Margaux made in a very approachable style, even for a 2009, with sweet cassis fruit and stylish oak integration. The wine has good acidity for the vintage, with elegant, fine-grained tannins and good palate length. Not a keeper, but attractive now.
NV Taittinger, Prélude, Champagne
( £47, 12%, Fortnum & Mason, Hailsham Cellars, Harrods, Majestic, Wine Rack )If you can’t afford Comtes de Champagne (the 2000 is delicious), this is a more than acceptable substitute at under £50. It’s got lovely toasty, autolytic complexity, notes of grilled hazelnuts and citrus fruit and a very long, satifying finish. A delicious fizz.
NV Taittinger Brut, Champagne
( £37.99, 12%, Majestic, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose, Wine Rack )Taittinger is in a rich vein of form at the moment, from this its non vintage blend right up the Olympian heghts of Comtes de Champagne. This is dry, toasty and well balanced with Chardonnay providing the freshness and lift on the palate. Appealingly dry for non vintage blend, using bottle age rather than sweetness for balance.