A bit tired, but still enjoyable. This had a nice nose, with typical meaty notes of blood and iron, and then a touch of leathery, barnyard accents stretched over a core of dark fruit - plums and prunes and a really deep draw of cassis. There was a hint of oxidative soy aromas in there, but not quite enough to throw the bouquet off-kilter. It all came together quite nicely actually. The palate seem a little less mature than the nose suggested. While drying out just that little bit, it was still very alive, with juicy cherry tomato-like acidity (telltale Snagiovese here) and some fine brambly tannins framing a mouthful of sweet dried plums and prunes, and more secondary flavours of earth and iron filings. There was still some grip here, especially on the finish, which ended with a little drying linger of bittersweet herb. Lots of character on this wine. It was maybe just very slightly past its best, but there this was still quite enjoyable.

Decent, but rather disappointing when unblinded - I would expected more from a Bertheau 1er Cru. The nose was choked-full of sweet red fruits - cherries, raspberries, and then some sweet vanilla from the new oak; almost like a compote, even bubblegum-like at points, if not for an odd touch of funk, and then a waft of perfumy flowers. The palate was a little funky and frizzy (with a hint of secondary fermentation), with savoury meat underpinning more of the sweet red-fruited tones picked up on the nose. A bit like pork stew mixed with the ripest cherries and raspberries, even a touch of dried strawberries. While it had the purity of fruit that marks Bertheau's wines for me, it seemed to lack some of the effortless clarity and transperancy of better vintages. Pleasant enough though, if just coming across as rather simple on first pour; a bit of a pretty, but rather air-headed first date. Given a bit of time and air, one could tell that there was actually a lot of substance underneath all that sweet fruit, but this really does need plenty more time in the bottle to shed all that baby-fat. There was still a layer of fine powdery tannins coating the mid and back palate as well, just before the wine unfurled into a decent finish with sweet fruit and spice mixed together with some flowery accents. Try again in 2018-2020.

Pretty decent. The nose started out with a rather subtle brush of dried woody herbs and cassis, before opening up just a little into higher-toned aromas of red fruits infused with some savoury meaty notes, some new oak showing in smoky spices and a little toasted vanilla bean accents. Shy at first, but with some floral tones starting drifting out as we got to the end of the glass. The palate had a nice body to it; juicy and well-balanced, without having noticeably fresh acidity, it showed full-bodied red-fruited flavours of cherries and wild berries seasoned with lots of lovely spice. There was a nice clarity too, at least until the finish, were there was a quite a bit of oak influence on an otherwise pleasant linger of dried plums and prunes, with some very South of France accents of woody bramble and garrigue. Too much oak for its own good I thought, but this was a fairly nice, supple wine, which was drinking quite well. Very good value at its price.

A thoroughly modern Tuscan wine - this was 70% Merlot and 30% Sangiovese - a world away from Conti Costanti's more famous Brunello and Rosso di Montalcino bottlings. Pretty good though. It had a lovely blue fruited nose, with blueberries and cassis, violets, a touch of green wood, and then a little sprinkle of baking spices and some earthy notes, all this playing against a little oaky vanilla hint in the background. A beautiful bouquet. The palate dense and plush, with ripe, sweet cassis leading into a midpalate that had a nice bit of moreishness to it. It had a very pure finish too, with a crunch of dark fruit kissed with woody tones and a touch of bramble. The wine could probably have benefitted from a few more years in the bottle yet, but it was already starting to feel well-resolved - this was all quite nicely round and well-shaped, with a nice, easygoing sense of freshness to it, and powdery tannins that lent a the wine a nice, but not overly intrusive firmness.

This was surprisingly delicious. It was a bit volatile on the nose, but really pretty, with a bit of meaty funk at first that blew off to show red fruited and cola aromas along with a perfumed touch of roses, some smoke, and nice iron-infused mineral notes. Quite lovely. The palate, was still nicely structured, so that one could barely tell the age of the wine, with juicy acidity and firm tannins framing a succulent mouthful of really pure, high-toned red fruit and cola notes. This was actually quite an elegant, giving wine in spite of its chewiness, what a mid palate sap and succulence that almost reminded me of taking a bite off a peach - sweet, pure, delicious fruit here - a mix of the red-fruited on the attack with almost sur-maturite stone fruited tones. The finish was a touch on the shorter side, teasing the back-palate with a bit of meatiness, but otherwise this was so pleasurable. Delicious and surprising stuff.

This is one of those surprises that Burgundy throws up every now and again - an old village from a humble appellation, decent rather than great vintage, and unknown winemaker - yet somehow really delivering a lot of charm and enjoyment, The nose was really pretty - with lots of sweet hawthorne fruit and floral notes lined with some ferrous mineral notes. With time, a waft of fresher red fruited tones came out as well. A beautiful aged red Burgundy bouquet. The palate was yummy too. Clearly starting to thin out a bit, but still having oodles of charm, with notes of red cherries and haw flakes, with some orange peel and slightly earthy, mushroomy hints. There was still bright acidity, and some silky tannins that gave the wine just a light grip at finish. Lovely stuff. Such a blushing beauty of an Aloxe village.

A little half-bottle carried back from Montenegro. Simple, but really quite pleasant - a great pairing for seafood. The nose was very saline, with neutral white fruit and citrus hints washed with a salty sea spray. There were the same very neutral, clean tones on the palate, but with some depth as well, with notes of stewed white fruit flesh lined with savoury seashell and a little line of flinty, slightly bitter minerality. This was extremely well-balanced, with its bright acidity and savoury seashell minerality making it an absolutely perfect perfect for some canned Spanish clams that we had alongside.

One of the very few Grauburgunders (aka Pinot Gris) that I have had from Germany - this was really quite nice. The nose was quite Riesling-like, with a bed of chalky mineral and lying wafts of tropical fruit sweetness, all this drizzled with a little bit of petroleum. It was definitely not Riesling-like on the palate though. This was really oily textured, almost buttery, with sweet tropical notes dancing over a core of peach fruit - the veritable Rheinhessen fruit basket in terms of flavours, with plenty of depth and power to boot. But make no mistake though, in spite of all those suggestions of sweetness, this was actually very dry - bone dry in fact, with a very mineral core that showed lots of intensity and drive to it. Plenty of juicy acidity too, all of which gave this quite textural grip and also a lovely sense of definition all the way into a decently long finish. I was quite impressed by this - it would be interesting to try it again in another 5-6 years to see how it ages.

A decent village Chambolle, but not a style I enjoy. It had rather intense nose, with plenty of oakey notes alongside sweet wafts of ripe red cherries and raspberries, deeper blueberry notes, and then drifts of orange peel and sweet flowers. The oak disturbed me a little on there. Same thing in the palate as well, which had sweet vanilla and coconutty oak character from the get-go. Thankfully, there was decent material under that. This was clearly made in a more extracted style, but while ripe, it was not candied sweet, with notes of tart sour cherries, some darker fruit, and a blast of spice, all this still in a grip of some muscular tannins and lots of juicy, lemony acidity. Decent finish had a bit of wet stone mineral about it. All in all, a bit too worked and oaky for my tastes, but there is some merit to the wine. Still very primary when we had it - I would put it aside for another 4-5 years to see if the fruit can outlive the oak.

An unusual red from the Jura, which gave it geek appeal, but in truth - this was drinkable rather than good. The nose was a little off-putting at first, with plenty of sulphur and funk, which took some time and swirling to blow off slightly and reveal bright red fruited strawberry notes, and something rather green and stalky smelling - perhaps lying in the middle of the spectrum between dried leafy vegetables and pu-er tea. The palate had a nice shape and texture to it, with a teeth-coating grip from fine-boned tannins and some lovely juicy acidity framing Gamay-like flavours of strawberries with a tart hit of red wine vinegar, again with some leafy funk in there. Interesting, but not one I would go out and drink again.