A classic Chablis nose of citrus, oyster shell and sea spray, with some nice orchard fruit in the background. Chris also commented on a 'malted' element he saw in the bouquet. On palate, clean and no sign of premox. Citric and mineral with a wet wool or lanolin element. Slightly minty. Good bright acidity and good Grand Cru level fruit volume. No oak evident (I understand 90% stainless steel). I thought it could be Grand Cru quality and was guessing 2010 and was quite surprised the Chablis was a 2006. It's one of the best 2006s I've had ... the vintage has often disappointed ... Very good. Drink or hold.

My wine had a bouquet of limes and lemons, green apples, chalk and minerals. Tasters were thinking this wine was a 2010 or 2012, and some thought it another Grand Cru Chablis ... Again, no sign of premox on palate ... A dry palate but rich. Notes of lime juice, green apple, greengages, chalk and minerals with honeyed and tropical fruit nuances. Direct, driven and powerful. Serious fruit weight and excellent acidity. Finishing long, parched earth dry and mineral. Superb! Years ahead of it (if it survives premox).

Helen had brought this Pinot Noir back from the US ... a touch of VA provided a lifted note on the nose. Also suggestions of bracken, underbrush and a bit of funk, with mainly dark berry fruit. Young and primary on palate. It really needs 10+ years. Very dark fruited with prominent acidity. Below medium weight, presently quite straightforward. Perhaps it'll blossom into something more interesting with that additional cellar time?

A gorgeous Burgundian nose. Fresh red berry fruit with 'blood and fur', slightly feral complexity. A lot of top 2001s are presently drinking very well aren't they? I picked this wine as a 2001 Vosne. It had good depth of flavour, Grand Cru power and lovely, bright acidity. Raspberries, red cherries and other red fruit and spices dominate the detailed flavour spectrum. It had a lacy lightness in the mouth but with serious grip and fruit weight on the back palate. No hurry needed here. Excellent!

I picked Helen's wine as a 'lesser' Langhe Nebbiolo. It had the aromatic and flavour profile of a Langhe Nebbiolo but lacked the fruit weight or acid profile to be a Barolo. Later I began to doubt it was even from the Langhe because it had an awkward mid palate fruit sweetness that did not seem quite right ... I'm not saying that the Pannell was a 'bad' wine, just that it didn't seem like a 'good' Piemontese Nebbiolo ... It all made sense when this wine was revealed as not Italian. Nebbiolo remains an unusual grape variety where I've yet to be convinced it can be successful beyond its native growing area.

Silvia Altare gave us the 2005 and 2008 Cerrettas when we visited her winery in June. This dinner was a good opportunity for us to assess these wines, and their oak profile, more clinically, away from Silvia's engaging personality ... We pretty much popped and poured these wines, to give us the best opportunity to assess them before any 'Burtonian wall of tannins' descended ... and the 2005, at this time, was clearly the pick of the two ... An attractive nose of spicy dark cherries and blackberries, pretty primary. On palate, elegant and drinking quite beautifully. Flavours of sour cherries, tar and blackberries, with some dark earth and liquorice. Yes, quite modernist in style ... Sleek and seamless with fine grained tannins, but also quite vibrant. The oak or extraction not seeming to me overdone. However, there's a lot of matière, tannin and acid still to resolve here. For some reason it reminded me of a young Dugat-Py. I didn't take the remains of the bottle home but understand that it shut down by the next day. Hold for 3-5+ more years.

An even more primary nose of dark plums, blackberries and espresso. On palate, this was a waste of time opening. It was totally closed, shut down hard on its tannins and acidity. However, it seemed like there was good dense fruit, tons of power, serious structure and good acidity present. It seemed refined and in proportion and to have good potential. However, this closed, it was pretty hard for me to assess. Give it 5-8+ years.

Decanted 5-6 hours before dinner. A nose of dark cherries, blackberries, tar and dark soil, with an off putting burnt toast element. These were these flavours on palate and also menthol but the fruit was overtaken by the oak (the taste reminding me of the smell of my Grandmother's mahogany mantlepiece). No one liked the Scavino very much and there was quite a lot of the bottle left ... The next evening the charred firewood aspect was even more prominent and the finish quite bitter. I was not sure if the wine would come around with time or was already past its best.

A gorgeous, savoury, dusty nose of dark cherry, cassis, cigar box and some Piemontese tar. A beautiful wine on the palate. Quite primary for a 20 year old wine. The fruit sweetness tells you this is not from Piemonte. Blackcurrant and blackberries, as well as brushwood and dark soil on the palate. Also a little savoury mushroom, which is presumably the direction it will go. Excellent fruit volume, structure and acidity. Very good, but there's no hurry to consume this Super Tuscan.