Wine
Roll over: Rich and Intense.
Deep ruby. Pungent red and blue fruit and floral scents are complemented by suggestions of succulent herbs and white pepper. Lively, penetrating and appealingly sweet, showing good depth as well as detail to the black raspberry, cherry and floral pastille flavors. Finishes long and smoky, with supple tannins coming in late. Vinous
Roll over: Excellent nerve and acidity with real cut and potential.
One of the finest wines in the portfolio this year is the 2020 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent, a taut, youthfully reserved bottling of immense promise. Unwinding in the glass with aromas of citrus zest, beeswax, crisp white peach, white flowers, freshly baked bread and oyster shell, it's medium to full-bodied, ample and seamless, with terrific tensioning intensity in a tightly wound format. It's warmly recommended, though patience will be required. Robert Parker.com
Roll over: Excellent nerve and acidity with real cut and potential.
The 2021 Chablis 1er Cru Vaulorent is another of the range's highlights, bursting with aromas of white flowers, sweet citrus oil, white peach and blanched almonds. Medium to full-bodied, satiny and seamless, it's concentrated and complete, with racy acids and a saline, orange blossom-inflected finish. Robert Parker.com
Roll over: A wine for Chablis lovers because of its freshness
The 2021 Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre is a lovely classic, unwinding in the glass to reveal aromas of white flowers, citrus zest, crisp green apple and oyster shells, followed by a medium to full-bodied, satiny and incisive palate that's pure, layered and structured, concluding with a penetrating finish. This will reward a bit of patience. Robert Parker.com
Roll over: This carefully cellared reserve wine is only released a minimum of five years after harvest.
Prophet’s Rock know that great wines begin in the vineyard. That’s why they embrace an approach to winemaking that shares the splendour of the place rather than pronounced winemaking characteristics. The result Iconic wines that invoke Central Otago’s striking, unforgettable beauty.
Roll over: Ferraton Père et Fils is a wine producer located in Tain l'Hermitage in the northern Rhone. It is best known for its red wines made from Syrah and its white wines made from Marsanne and Roussanne.
A ripe, languid style, with a creamy display of melon, fig, pear and quince flavors gliding through, backed by brioche and shortbread notes on the long, caressing finish. Flickers of matchstick and hazelnut in the background add intrigue. Best from 2021 through 2029. 130 cases made. 94 Wine Spectator
Roll over: Very tight and earthy, a worthy and unconventional Amontillado
The most aged of the Palmas series, Cuatro displays powerful, almost fiery aromas of caramel and briny stone fruits. The palate is so charged up and acidic that it's no walk in the park to get through, while nutty flavors of rancio and burnt toast finish with heat. Of all the Palmas wines, this is the one that shows afterburners.
Roll over Bodega Catena Zapata is one of the foremost wine estates in Mendoza
Few red wines can rival grand Argentinian Malbec for drama and grandeur, and this version from the Altamira zone of La Consulta (in the Uco Valley) stood out even amongst its dramatic, strikingly profiled peers. It is jet black, just shot with purple at the rim. Soaringly expressive Malbec rose and tea leaf lifts from the glass with enviable purity, without a trace of distorting oak. In the mouth, it is deep and long: an arrow of fruit yet elegant, deftly textured with a snow of fine tannins, and devoid of alcoholic heat or intrusive, strenuous acidity. A sumptuous, haute-couture Malbec where the vineyard’s untrammeled fruit and inner radiance has been given voice. Decanter
Roll over: Described by Nicholas Bryant (National Business Review) as "the best red wines produced in this country."
Fine "old world" wine of first growth quality from a single vineyard planted in the 1970s at Matakana, Northland, New Zealand. The Antipodean -- "New Zealand's Lafite" -- is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec, with harmony, fragrance, length and seamless integration of character.
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Roll over: Chanson Pere & Fils en Bourgogne (Domaine Chanson) is a wine producer and négociant based in the central Burgundian town of Beaune
Moderate wood frames fresh and ripe aromas of plum, black raspberry, pretty floral and just turned earth. The delicious and impressively intense middle weight flavors possess a really lovely mouthfeel if not quite the same power on the harmonious, firm and built-to-age finish where the only nit is a touch of warmth. Promising. 91-93 Burghound
Roll over: Leeuwin Estate is one of the five founding wineries in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia.
The 2020 vintage in Margaret River was moderate to warm and will be forever remembered for the incredibly compacted harvest period, which started two weeks earlier than the 2019 harvest before it and was all wrapped up by Easter—that's largely unheard of. The 2020 Art Series Chardonnay leads with power and density, not unlike the 2018 before it. Tight and green in the glass, you get salted pear, white peach, nectarine, red apple skins, preserved citrus and crushed shell. The wine has minerality and tension within the confines of the opulent fruit. Staggering length, as usual. The winemaking remains relatively consistent across the years: hand-picked fruit from Block 20 and 22 (planted in 1976 and 1978, respectively). Thirty percent of the cuvée was whole bunch pressed to 100% new Burgundian oak, while the balance was destemmed, crushed and pressed to 100% new Bordelais oak. Sulfured post-ferment in order to discourage malolactic fermentation, both components remain in barrel for 11 months. Super wine. Robert Parker.com 98points
Roll over: “The first real red wine to come out of New Zealand” - wine writer Nicholas Faith
Fine "old world" wine of first growth quality from a single vineyard planted in the 1970s at Matakana, Northland, New Zealand. The Antipodean -- "New Zealand's Lafite" -- is a blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and malbec, with harmony, fragrance, length and seamless integration of character.
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Roll over: Bold and structured
Polished and stylish, with a velvety feel to the waves of plum, blackberry and black cherry fruit that glide through, carried by well-embedded notes of loam, ganache and tobacco. Solidly built, showing ample grip for the cellar, but seamlessly integrated, with the fruit holding the upper hand through the finish. Best from 2022 through 2037. 140 cases made. Feb 2020 Wine Spectator
Roll over: "Floral nose, with fruity aromas enhanced by intense mineral notes and developing lightly smoky touches. Very round on the palate, both full-bodied and refined." - William Fevre
The 2021 Chablis Grand Cru Les Preuses is pure and ethereal, mingling notes of citrus soil, wet stones and white flowers in a youthfully discreet bouquet. Full-bodied, satiny and suave, it's refined and glossy, with racy acids and a saline finish. Robert Parker.com
Roll over: Soulful white. Argentina's answer to Montrachet. James Suckling
The nose of the 2020 White Bones Chardonnay is an explosion of thyme and rockrose, aromatic, open, expressive, outspoken, showy and exuberant. It also has notes of white flowers and citrus, pine needles and incense, continuously developing new layers, curry, something smoky, more and more aromatic herbs, nuanced, complex and with a magnetic attraction that makes you go back to the glass over and over again. This was harvested all at the same time, whereas it was sometimes harvested over four different moments in the past; so this is a bit different and an extraordinary year for this wine, transcending the conditions of the year, with lower alcohol and pH (12.5% and 3.1) than the 2021, despite coming from a warmer year. This is very tasty and long, stony (more than White Stones!) and very persistent. Amazing juice! 5,760 bottles produced. Robert Parker.com
Roll over: Soulful white. Argentina's answer to Montrachet. James Suckling
I had the opportunity to taste two vintages (2020 and 2021) of the top whites side by side and could see the differences of the two years quite clearly, as the wines express the natural conditions of the year quite faithfully. The 2020 White Stones Chardonnay is riper than the other three wines; it's a very good wine, but it shows the warmer year with a rounder mouthfeel, faintly creamy, still a little closed in the nose, which slowly reveals yellow fruit and some spice. The palate is quite gentle, with 13% alcohol and very good balance. 7,500 bottles produced. Robert Parker.com
