February Mixed Dozen 2024 - Mighty Half Bottles

Particularly good intensity to be found in the 2022 Clare Valley Rieslings.

Lime, pink grapefruit, bath salts, a little spice, thyme and generally good waft of perfume. It’s intense, with a grapefruit pith and gin and tonic flavour, lime/lemon sorbet, a stony chalky feel, clean acidity, excellent length, with a pleasing quinine and lime zest tang to close. Classic Watervale. A terrific vintage for this wine. GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

Salomon Undhof is a figurehead of the Austrian wine history. White wines have been produced here from some of the best ‘Grand Cru’ locations along the Danube for 225 years. Well-known vineyards like Steiner Kögl, Pfaffenberg, Lindberg or Wachtberg … Thanks to Bert Salomon, the winery today mainly stands for excellent dry Rieslings and Grüner Veltliner - long-lasting, elegant wines for which the house is famous. PETER MOSER, Falstaff, August 2019

Classic looking white pepper with fresh cut apple and bosch pear squeezed with a little lemon twist and sprinkled with soft, green herbs. Certainly not light but not big or bold. Comes with a gentle grip and lick of phenolics. Zingy finish with a flourish of green tree fruits and a little mineral twang out the back.

MarkHandpicked fruit was whole bunch pressed into tank. After cold settling overnight, juice was racked to another tank for fermentation. Parcels left on yeast lees until June to gain mouth feel and complexity, then bottled.

This Red Claw Pinot Gris has lovely freshness, lifted floral aromas and clean, crisp fruit flavours.  Showing a hint of nashi pear, subtle spice and a long, finely textured palate. 

The 2022 Soave Classico is a total pleasure on the nose. Sweet smoke and mint nuances complement tropical green melon notes. This soothes with its soft textures while stimulating the senses with a zesty mix of brisk acidity and candied citrus. It tapers off crisp and clean with an inner floral resonance as lemon oil traces slowly fade. I would drink this any night of the week. What a treat. (Lot# 15.02.23) ERIC GUIDO, Vinous

Pieropan remains one of the greatest estates in Soave and their entry level Soave is one of the best value whites in Italy. We have not wavered on this in many, many years. Soave, east of Verona: encircled by the original enclosures of the town and dominated by a 13th century fortress. At the heart of the Classico zone lies the Pieropan property, which dates back to 1890.

Too easy to sit back and relax with a glass of this just-right wine. Not overly complex but well composed and flavoursome. Some funky sulphides add to the enjoyment with leesy texture and an intriguing bourbon-malty character. JANE FAULKNER, Halliday Wine Companinon

Never judge a book buy it's cover right? Mostly, you see the colour of this and you at least know you are on good footing to begin with. It's pale, like a blush of peach. Properly dry with a splash of sweet citrus, mandarin, ripe red grapefruit, a just tart orange aspect and then some lovely peach notes. All this is underpinned by a bright, clear, palate cleansing freshness and a nice pithy texture that licks at the sides of your mouth. It's long and energising, it both slackens the thirst with its buoyant, uplifting feel and engages the old taste buds and sets the salivary glands quivering. Who doesn't love Rose like this? It's so enjoyable to drink.

There's no mistaking the purity of fruit at the center of the bouquet - red cherries and ripe sweet plum, some raspberry and baked strawberry suggestions. Oak layers in some complexity and spice and the varietal signature is enhanced by a fine layer of mineral silty soil scents. Taut and youthful on the palate with a core of red berry fruit flavours, plums and tart strawberry. Tannins and acidity accentuate the youthful mouthfeel adding foundation structure and power. While drinkable today I suggest you cellar this wine till late 2023 and try again. Excellent drinking from early 2024 through 2030+. CAM DOUGLAS MS

What's not to love about this latest release from the legends at Ata Rangi!? While the Crimson was always a nice wine it seems the last 5 or so years this "entry level" bottling has moved more in line to be sister wine to the estate release. The quality seems to have hit new heights and whether it is old vines or tweaked winemaking we are happily enjoying the fruits of their labour.

The perfume fills up the nostrils. It smells good. Appetising. Bright cherry, sweet orange, raspberries. They are on the firm side, crunchy, fresh. Damp earth and violets lay underneath. Then chewy texture with wet clay tannins fills the mouth. It’s just pure cherry juice that makes for an excellent thirst quencher and I’m pretty sure it’s also good for your health. KASIA SOBIESIAK, The Wine Front

From one of the greats out of Beaujolais at the top of his game and from a stellar vintage. The Griottes is sourced around from several sites around Pierre-Marie's home town and blended together. These wines see no oak essentially (some very large and very old) and are all about purity and freshness but with lovely deliniation and transparency. The Griottes also comes out of the gates racing and is a hedonistic joy to drink.

Under the same ownership as Champagne Roederer for a couple of decades now, Delas Frères recently opened a new winery and enotourism facility in Tain l'Hermitage. It's a brilliant, modern facility that should be on the list of things to visit when in town. Winemaking is in the capable hands of Jacques Grange and Claire Darnaud. ROBERT PARKER, The Wine Advocate

Ventoux is the name of the Village and only a select number of high-quality villages are allowed to put their name on the label. This is a bit of a hit from Delas and offers a more light and pretty version when compared to the CDR bottling. Nice purity stuffed with plenty of crunchy red fruits, think cranberry, raspberry and strawberry. There are flecks of ground pepper and vanilla spice in a lithe and lifted package. Another great release.

Greve in Chianti. 100% Sangiovese. Certified organic.

The 2020 Chianti Classico is bright, fresh and nicely lifted, with terrific precision and energy lending quite a bit of character. Bright red Sangiovese fruit, spice and a touch of blood orange are front and center. Even so, the 2020 appears to still be recovering from its bottling. That should not be an issue in another 6-12 months' time. This is the first vintage that includes fruit from parcel in Greve's Lamole district. ANTONIO GALLONI, Vinous

Medium ruby hue, with a bright and racy nose that’s full of pretty berries, redcurrants, fresh strawberries and potpourri. Medium-bodied and naturally juicy on the palate, showing lots of crunch and drinkability. Fresh, transparent and silky. Drink or hold. JAMES SUCKLING

2020 is a powerful vintage; it's structured and textured, the oak is very nicely integrated (12 months in barrel, but the powerful wine absorbed it completely), and it's powerful with 14% alcohol and a pH of 3.55, a little darker than in previous years. The tannins are very fine with a subtle chalky texture. There were 2,319 barrels that resulted in 672,000 bottles, 10,000 magnums and some larger and smaller formats. It was bottled from April 2022. LUIS GUTIERREZ, The Wine Advocate

The Costamagna family have dedicated their lives to Barolo production since 1841. Their long history began in the XIX century with Francesco Costamagna, carried on in the 1960s by Claudia Ferraresi and Giorgio Locatelli. Today, their son Alessandro keeps things ticking from their base in La Morra, Rocche dell'Annunziata: The Estate consists of 14 hectares of vineyards with 5 of those hectares in the sub-zone named Rocche dell'Annunziata.

Ruby red color. Deep raspberry and rose scents, well combined with spicy sensations. The tannic sensation is balanced and features a good potential, contributing to a captivating harmony. Due to its pleasant character, it is easy to pair to many foods. It pairs with white meat, chicken, medium-aged cheese. Its tannic finesse makes it also good with fish stew or soup and with spicy dishes.