August 2024 - Wines of the Year
I was playing my regular Thursday night football last night and it struck me as I was driving home that it was dark already at 9pm. I know time flies but where has the year gone? It seems that summer is almost over as soon as it has begun and, whilst I don’t want to wish the rest of the year away, I thought that a quiet period in late summer was probably a good time to start reflecting on my favourite wines of this year (so far). Here are my top picks, in no particular order, and we'll add more as we go.
Pago de Carraovejas El Anejon 2019 - £110 – an absolutely sensational red from a top producer in Spain’s Ribera del Duero. Plenty of beautiful forest fruit, spice and smoke, yet so silky, balanced and long that you can’t help but go back in for more. Stunning now and will probably get even better in bottle. Buy here
Bodega Cerron La Servil 2021 - £28 – sometimes a wine comes along that completely takes you by surprise and La Servil is one such wine. This brilliant producer is working organically and biodynamically, and adopting traditional methods in order to make wines that have a true sense of place and time. 96% Monastrell (a variety that I’m not normally a huge fan of), this has a massive amount going on – wild strawberries, dark cherries, vanilla, meat, leather, mushroom, balsamic, chocolate, spice, liquorice and herbs. It’s fantastically complex and delicious, and exactly the sort of wine that makes us love what we do. Buy here
Crystallum Ferrum Chardonnay 2023 - £41 – we’ve sold the fine wines of Peter-Allan Finlayson since his very first vintage and, whilst the Ferrum is a more recent addition to the portfolio, I think it could well be their best white yet. It’s slightly richer than the excellent Clay Shales with lovely pure citrus fruit with tropical hints and a touch of creaminess on the finish. Balanced with lovely fresh acidity and a good mouthfeel, this is New World Chardonnay at its finest. Buy here
Dawson James Chardonnay 2018 - £55 – I can’t understand why this wine is still flying a little under the radar (as is their Pinot Noir). It consistently wins awards, tastes sublime, ages wonderfully and isn’t silly money for a wine of such quality. Tasted blind you may well even mistake it for top end Burgundy, which would be two or three times the price. Try for yourself. Buy here
Chatto Bird Pinot Noir 2021 - £64 – we love New World Pinot Noir so we’re always excited when we find a new favourite. If you like By Farr, then give the wines of Gavin Chatto a look. Only 2600 bottles are made of this stunning wine and it’s world class Pinot Noir, showcasing Tasmania as a region that is up there with the best of them. Aromatic with crunchy red fruit, hints of rhubarb, spice, minerality, texture, fresh acidity and great length. Clearly New World but with Burgundian finesses, a class act. Buy here
Conti Costanti Brunello di Montalcino 2019 - £92 – awarded the perfect 100 points in a Decanter magazine tasting of Brunellos, when we tasted the sample bottle, it was easy to understand why. Exceptional with an array of bright red and black berry fruit, forest floor, leather, flowers and aromatic tea, this is so harmonious and balanced already that it’s hard to believe that it will improve further – but we’re assured it will do. Elegant, textured, layered, balanced, multi-dimensional and long, this wine has it all.
2019 now sold out – please register your interest HERE in case we manage to snaffle some more