93

2019 Domaine des Deux Vallées Clos du Petit Beaupréau, Savennières, Loire Valley

( £20.85, or £18.50 by the case, 14%, Haynes Hanson and Clark )

There’s so much good South African Chenin Blanc on the market these days that it’s easy to forget about the variety’s home turf in the Loire Valley. This comes from what is arguably the best appellation in the region for dry styles – Savennières. Grown on sand and schist, this is a superb, single-parcel wine from Philippe Socheleau, with a lovely combination of weight, freshness and minerality. Very lightly wooded, it has flavours of citrus, cream, green apple and fennel and a long, engaging, bone dry finish.

BuyDrinking window: 2021-28Similar Wines: £20-25, 90-94, France, White, Chenin Blanc
93

2018 Kellerei Kurtatsch Schiava Sonntaler Alte Reben, Alto Adige

( £16.45, or £14.50 as part of a mixed case, 12.5%, Haynes Hanson and Clark )

I enthusiastically recommended the 2017 release of this wine, but I make no excuse for doing the same thing with the 2018. Schiava, otherwise known as Vernatsch, is the grape variety behind this wonderful, old-vine red from a brilliant co-operative in the Italian Alto Adige. Showing the Alpine freshness of a vineyard at 400 metres, it has top notes of rose petal and summer pudding, a core of redcurrant and wild strawberry fruit, racy, palate-tingling acidity, stony minerality and a long, textured, refined finish. Something to remind you of the last days of summer.

BuyDrinking window: 2020-25Similar Wines: £15-20, 90-94, Italy, Red, Schiava