MoneyWeek

MoneyWeek – 2021 Niederhäuser Klamm, Riesling Kabinett, Dönnhoff, Nahe, Germany
There are only a handful of cases of this wine loitering around cellars in the UK, so I expect that only early bird MoneyWeek readers will benefit this week. Huge apologies if you miss out, but I couldn’t bear to leave this wine out this week because it is nothing short of phenomenal. Let me set the scene. I tasted a range of scintillating 2022…

MoneyWeek – 2022 Nosiola, Lavis, Trentino, Vigneti delle Dolomiti, Italy
It has taken me 17 years to feature a Nosiola in this column, and I am delighted that this day has come because this is a stunning version of this ultra-rare white grape, and it is also mind-blowing value for money. Cantina Lavis was founded in 1850 by the Cembran family. It has operated as an elite cooperative since 1948, so they know about crafting…

MoneyWeek – 2022 Flint Vineyard, Bacchus, England
It’s funny how things go. I called in a set of newly released samples from Ben Witchell, Flint’s winemaker, as I have done the last couple of years around this time, expecting to wax lyrical about his superlative 2022 Charmat Rosé (£24.99, www.flintvineyard.com; £24.75, www.bbr.com). It is a stunningly pretty wine made from eleven different…

MoneyWeek – 2021 Dunleavy Sparkling White, Extra Brut, Somerset
I tasted Ingrid Bates’s new Dunleavy sparkler a couple of months ago and had it queued in my list of forthcoming MoneyWeek candidates when a second encounter with this enchanting wine hurried it up to the top of the pile. I was dining at the fabulous Pasture restaurant in Bristol when I noticed this wine in the by-the-glass collection. …

MoneyWeek – 2021 Suavis, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Mormoraia, Tuscany, Italy
The eternal quest for affordable, exciting, uniquely delicious, GPS-accurate white wines continues. There used to be a vast selection of wines on our shelves in the key £10-£15-mark, but recent non-sensical duty increases, sky-rocketing transport costs, increased profit margin requirements, and multiple other unavoidable annoyances have pushed thousands…

2022 The Society’s Grüner Veltliner, 2.25L Wine Box, Niederösterreich, Austria
First, the technology behind modern-day wine boxes is bang up to date, so you can expect these wines to last a couple of weeks in superb nick. Keep them in the fridge, and you can extend this further; in fact, The Wine Society quotes six weeks in their literature. Having said this, if you need six weeks to drink the equivalent of three bottles,…

2022 Côte-de-Brouilly, Cuvée de l’héronde, Domaine Vavril, Beaujolais, France
I have just returned from my annual pilgrimage to Piemonte, in North-West Italy, to taste every elite bottle I could find to finish my 2023 Piemonte Report. The weather was unseasonably warm, so every red wine I ordered in restaurants would have been ruined at 35C air temperature were it not for the ever-excellent bar staff, sommeliers, and front-of-house…

2022 Reyneke, Biodynamic Chenin Blanc, Stellenbosch, South Africa
I enjoyed ‘Encounter South Africa’ earlier tasting this month and found many new wines to raise the pulse and keep this country front of mind when restocking your cellar. I set myself the challenge of picking the finest estate on the day, and it must be said, with four near-perfect wines in the portfolio, that Reyneke romped home…

2020 Rocafosca, Priorat, Costers del Priorat, Spain
This week, six of the best from one of London’s finest merchants, Jeroboams. Most of these wines are brand new, so check out the Jeros website, where you can enjoy stunning drawings by my great pal, Zebedee Helm while learning more about this sextet. My lead wine, Rocafosca, is all about the black slate soils in which the mighty Grenache and…

2021 Journey’s End, Destination Chardonnay, Stellenbosch, South Africa
I love scoops! Sneak previews of outstanding wines keep me on my toes in this business, and I am fortunate to taste sensational wines nearly every day. My most recent epic discovery was with Rollo Gabb, owner of Journey’s End and his winemaker Mike Dawson, at his newly renovated Quo Vadis Restaurant in Soho, London. While my featured Chardy…

2021 Yering Station, The Elms Chardonnay, Victoria, Australia
The Elms Chardonnay pays homage to the skilful winemaking at Yering Station and the idyllic Victorian climate. This timeless and refreshing white wine gives global Chardonnay styles a much-needed wake-up call with its silky-smooth, gentle and elegant flavours. This is the perfect white wine for elite aperitif duties, carefully-constructed starters and…

2021 Cullen, Diana Madeline, Margaret River, Western Australia
I rarely recommend wines with no definitive retailer at the time of my filing copy. In fact, in 872 columns, this is the very first time. The reason for this rule-shredding manoeuvre is the imminent release of the 2021 vintage of Diana Madeline. You will have been bombarded with 2022 Bordeaux releases of late, and so to redress the imbalance, here…