Calvados, Cabernet Blends, Ble...

It's like a Bordelaise immigrant in Friuli. I don't mean these varieties (merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon) are new to the area, in fact the cabernet family have been planted up here for centuries, I mean the style of the wine blends classical cabernet production - modern vinification and small oak elevage - with a local fruit spectrum which offer something different to their spirit home in France. 

Middle weight. Dark cherry. dark berry and leafy aromatic with a touch of earl grey tea. Palate is clean and pure, sweetly fruited but also lithe and direct. Dark chocolate and oak splice are woven into the core of the wine. It's a lovely example, the main feature for me being that it holds excellent ripeness but is also mid-weight and cool fruited. Excellent luncheon merlot cab blend that will age and improve for 10-15 years. MICHAEL MCNAMARA 

Plenty of blackberry, currant and floral aromas. Some mint as well, following through to a full-bodied palate with layers of ultra-fine tannins and wonderful length. This is sophisticated and beautifully crafted with style and personality, displaying its terroir. Extremely well done. Drink after 2025. (96) JAMES SUCKLING

Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2019 Langoa Barton is a very pleasant surprise, singing of Black Forest cake, raspberry preserves and warm blackcurrants notions with suggestions of chocolate mint, forest floor and pencil shavings plus a hint of cinnamon toast. Medium to full-bodied, the palate has jaw-dropping tension and intensity, featuring ripe, grainy tannins and bags of evocative red and black fruits, finishing with a lively lift. The style of this 2019 is worlds away from the also very impressive 2018, showcasing an even brighter, immediately impactful and downright flamboyant side to the estate. Color me impressed! (95) WINE ADVOCATE

Checking in as 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot, and the balance Cabernet Franc, the 2019 Château Langoa Barton offers up a dense purple color as well as notes of blackberries, smoked earth, chocolate, and leafy herbs. This rich, medium to full-bodied effort has an expansive, mouthfilling texture, beautiful mid-palate density, and outstanding length. It's going to have some upfront appeal, but my money is on it benefiting from a solid 5-7 years of bottle age. (95) JEB DUNNUCK

The 2019 Langoa Barton has a very typical Langoa nose, which is a good thing, sporting vivacious black cherries, blackberry, crushed iris, cedar and light blood orange scents lurking offstage. Lovely oak integration here. The palate is beautifully defined on the entry, a structured almost big-boned Langoa with enormous grip on the spicy finish. I love the generosity of this Saint-Julien, one that I suspect will be seductive on release but don't be deceived - it deserves cellaring lest you get a smacked wrist for being impatient. (95) NEAL MARTIN

The 2017 Turpino is quite reticent, which is surprising given the style and personality of the year. Black cherry, pine, menthol, licorice and chocolate develop nicely over time. Readers should give the 2017 at least a few years in bottle, as it is not at all ready to drink now. The 2017 embodies the house style at Querciabella these days nicely. The wine is rich and deep, but not at all overdone. (95) ANTONIO GALLONI

40% Cabernet Franc, 40% Syrah, 20% Merlot grown in a north-facing vineyard in Grossetto in the Maremma. Biodynamically certified. Aged for 16 months in fine- and extra-fine-grained French oak barriques, of which up to 20% were new.
Lustrous deep crimson. Deep red- and dark-fruit nose with hints of dark spice. Savoury rather than sweet or ripe on the nose... Hint of earth and dried moss. Lush red and dark fruit with a muscular structure that is completely integrated with the fruit. Hedonistic, long, and with loads of appeal. Great fun to drink. (17+) WALTER SPELLER MW

Aged in small apple brandy casks for over 12 months, this rich and generous liqueur is a result of blending pressed French and British heirloom apple varieties with our apple spirit.

Complex and well-structured with baked apple and spice, balanced with firm tannins and cask influence.

Our take on the traditional aperitif from North-West France – enjoy as such or serve with blue cheese or dessert. WILLIE SMITH

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I can't remember a Haut-Batailley this tannic, yet the tannins are savory and very ripe with beauty and purity. Full-bodied, chewy tannins and a long and intense finish. (95) JAMES SUCKLING

The grand vin 2018 Château Haut-Batailley is a beauty and is comprised of 59% Cabernet Sauvignon and 41% Merlot brought up in 60% new French oak. It's an attractive, elegantly styled wine that has lots of juicy Merlot notes of black cherries, graphite, scorched earth, and spice. Rich, medium to full-bodied, beautifully balanced, and with terrific purity on the palate, this brilliant Pauillac is going to be approachable in just a few years and will evolve gracefully. This wine hit 14.3% alcohol with 3.61 pH and an IPT of 81. My money is on it being one of the best to date from this estate. (95+) JEB DUNNUCK

The 2019 Haut-Batailley has a precise and quite understated bouquet with mineral-rich black fruit, cedar and mint, just a very slight floral note developing with aeration. The palate is medium-bodied with graphite infused black fruit, classic in style, very well balanced with wonderful tension. It fans out effortlessly on the finish. Superb. Tasted blind at the Southwold annual tasting. (95) NEAL MARTIN

Plenty of blueberry and chocolate aromas and flavors. It's full and chewy with a powerful finish. Tar and graphite at the end. Solid core of fruit and tannin here. One of the most structured I have had from here. Cazes family making the difference. (96) JAMES SUCKLING

The Cazes family has turned out a beautiful 2019 Château Haut-Batailley. It has the pure, clean fruit and aromatics of the vintage as well as medium to full-bodied richness, plenty of cedary spice and tobacco notes, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. It's largely in the same classic, elegant, concentrated style of the 2018 and is going to reward 5-7 years of bottle age. (95+) JEB DUNNUCK

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

What really impresses here is the tannin framework, which displays refinement and power at the same time. It's full, yet very polished, racy and long. Loads of blackberries and walnuts with crushed grapes. 88% cabernet sauvignon and 12% merlot. (97) JAMES SUCKLING

The 2020 Durfort Vivens has turned out beautifully, unwinding in the glass with aromas of dark cherries and berries mingled with hints of licorice, baking chocolate and mint. Medium to full-bodied, deep and fleshy, it's layered and concentrated, with lively acids and broad structural shoulders, its generous endowment of powdery tannin asserting itself on the youthfully firm finish. More tightly wound than the extroverted, charming 2019, the 2020 will demand patience, but it's a very strong performance for this estate. (95+) WILLIAM KELLEY

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Lots of mulled cherries, blueberries, iron, and bouquet garni emerge from the 2020 Château Faugeres, a rich, focused, yet fruit-loaded barrel sample that has a good sense of purity and elegance. I was able to taste two bottles, both showing medium to full-bodied richness, with one having slightly more precision. Both showed great mid-palates, and this is certainly a beautiful wine in the making. Two to four years should do it well and it’s going to have two decades of longevity. (95) JEB DUNNUCK

A ripe, rich red that delivers loads of crushed-berry, chocolate and walnut character, as well as fine tannins through the center palate. Layered texture (95) JAMES SUCKLING

The 2020 Faugeres offers ripe black plum and boysenberry fruit on the nose, which is extravagant and verging on ostentatious, though somehow it maintains focus and delineation. The palate is medium-bodied with red cherries, boysenberry, cola and light allspice notes on the entry. Well balanced with impressive depth toward the fleshy finish, leaving a lick of dark chocolate on the aftertaste. This is a fine Faugeres that should be afforded 4–5 years in bottle NEAL MARTIN

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

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Pre- Arrival 5 bottles available

The 2022 Haut-Bages Libéral is huge and explosive right out of the gate. A rush of dark red cherry/plum fruit, rose petal, blood orange, incense, licorice and mocha saturates the palate. Saline notes extend the mid-palate and finish effortlessly. This is one of the most exuberant, ample wines I have tasted from Claire Villars-Lurton. I would give the 2022 a number of years in bottle to shed some baby fat. Today, it tastes almost like a barrel sample! The purity and primary intensity of the fruit is remarkable. The Haut-Bages Libéral was raised in a combination of 40% new oak, 40% once-used barrels and 20% a mix of concrete and amphora. This is one of the under-the-radar gems of 2022. (97) ANTONIO GALLONI, Vinous.com

Round and smooth, so pure, like silk, just so beautifully textured straight away with clear bite, bright fresh upfront fruit - tangy strawberries, raspberries and black cherries with powdery, chalky, and tense tannins giving both the frame but also a charming appeal. It's intense but controlled and finessed. Maybe lacking a touch of fruity fleshiness right now but the Cabernet is at the fore, giving the backbone and the seriousness. So well executed -a shining star of an estate with such beautiful pure wines. The pH and alcohol is low with the acidity coming from the chalk and limestone terroir, all well integrated giving an elegant, very drinkable aspect while still having underlying power and direction. Crystalline with exceptional energy.  Drink 2028-2045. GEORGINA HINDLE, Decanter

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The 2022 La Dominique is gorgeous, elegant and gracious. Dark red/purplish fruit, mocha, lavender, spice and new leather abound. A wine of exquisite finesse, La Dominique is positively stellar in 2022. All the elements are so well balanced. I especially admire the wine's energy and class.   (96) ANTONIO GALLONI, Vinous.com

Displaying an opaque purple-black color, the 2020 La Dominique needs a fair bit of swirling and coaxing to unlock enticing scents of crushed black cherries, black raspberries and ripe plums, plus beguiling nuances of violets, aniseed and cedar chest, with a waft of cardamom. The medium to full-bodied palate is tightly wound with loads of bright, crunchy red and black fruit layers, supported by finely grained tannins and plenty of freshness, finishing long with a gorgeous array of energetic mineral sparks. A property on the upward swing, this delicately crafted, beautifully restrained expression of the vintage comes highly recommended. LISA PEROTTI-BROWN, Wine Advocate

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More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

More product information will be added here soon! In the meantime, if you do have any questions at all about this product or others in our store, you can contact us by phone or email. Our friendly and experienced team are always happy to assist - we love drinking, selling, talking about and being in and around wine!

The 2021 Coleraine exhibits a commanding presence and majestic poise. The bouquet reveals classic aromas of cassis, dark plum and violet with whispering nuances of cedar and cigar. There are hints of warm spices, compounding the pleasure upon inhalation. The palate is bold and graceful at once, enhanced by plush texture and multi-layered mouthfeel, beautifully framed by refreshing acidity and fine chalky tannins. Robust and substantial with a great line and length, which seem to go on to infinity. This youthful wine is already impossible to resist, but time will reward those who can wait. In sports, they often talk about ‘The Greatest of All Time’, or 'The GOAT'. This 2021 Coleraine is undeniably THE GOAT of New Zealand wine. (100) SAM KIM, Wine Orbit

56% Cabernet Sauvignon, 32% Merlot, 12% Cabernet Franc. Because I care, I just nipped down to the cellar to open a bottle of the 2020 Coleraine to compare and contrast with the 2021. The 2020 is packed with tannin, texture, earthiness, and power, while the 2021 is brighter, a bit more frisky in acidity, with more leafy perfume. A little more flamboyant, but equal. It’s not a competition, more of a love in. The 2021 may well be the ‘better’ wine in time, though it’s kind of hard to tell, and may just come down to personal preference.

Dark and intense, lots of perfume, red and black fruits, tobacco, a leafy pop that’s pure varietal class, creamy oak, lead pencils, aniseed and spice. Medium to full-bodied, a flood of flavour, super ‘mineral’ feel to the acidity, tannin is superb, and the finish is so long. Light but so dense. There’s a fresh raspberry juiciness here too, and an extra dimension of tension and energy. All the graphite and presence. Incredible wine. (97+) GARY WALSH, The Wine Front

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One of Australia’s great cabernets. This from a cooler season highlights and accentuates the typical bright red fruits and blue fruit mix, especially on the nose. It’s aromatic and perfumed with an African violet scent. The palate as always is so exquisitely balanced and refined. Since 1989 the cabernet has been augmented with the floral bright fruit of cabernet franc and the darker robust black fruits of petit verdot. The palate delivers with a gentle restraint yet there is power deep within. The chalky tannins define a long and focussed finish. A deceptive medium bodied wine that will cellar for many years. (98) RAY JORDAN

The 2023 Coleraine comprises 80% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot and 5% Cabernet Franc. This cuvée is not made to a recipe, rather as a selection of the best from each vintage. In 2023, due to the weather induced by Cyclone Gabrielle, which landed in early February (the second or third), the strongest performer was the Cabernet Sauvignon due to bunch architecture, small berries, thick skins and, in this case, the low-vigor rootstocks and the chicory in between the rows. Te Mata invests heavily into research and development in the vineyards, which really assists in a vintage like 2023, which imposes challenges. The elevation in all aspects of this wine from the already tremendously impressive Awatea is significant. Here, the tannins have a finer grain, the fruit is more persistent and the package is far more integrated and seamless. With raspberry, iodine, crushed shells, nori, pressed flowers, new lead pencil, tobacco, bramble and cassis, it is magnificent. Raw cocoa and the gentle and subtle creep of game/gristle/blood and sweet marrow indicate its direction later in life. I love this wine. I think I write that every time I taste it. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. (98) ERIN LARKIN, Wine Advocate

Stunning bouquet ... engaging and captivating. The palate exhibits immense concentration and
presence, superbly enhanced by silky texture and layers of chalky tannins. The acidity is perfectly pitched and provides freshness to this long-living wine. A wine of meticulous precision and undeniable sophistication. (98) SAM KIM, Wine Orbit

Deep bright purple-red colour leading into a stylish bouquet of sweet mulberry and other berry fruits, violets and cassis, succulent and mouth-filling, with masses of fine emery-like tannins that run the length of the palate adding authority, structure, length and refreshment to the aftertaste. Concentrated, superripe blackberry, cassis and mulberry flavours; oak tucked discreetly into the background. (98) HUON HOOKE, The Real Review

Really delivers as you might expect from this excellent concentrated and powerfully frame vintage in Margaret River. It’s dominant cabernet with smaller portions of merlot, cabernet franc and malbec. Typical of this wine since switching to biodynamics, it is bright and brilliant with a nervy tense energy to drive the palate. The succulent fruit is harness by fine chalky tannins and neatly played oak of which 55% was new. A wine of extraordinary elegance and poise with a few of many decades. (98) RAY JORDAN

Needless to say, Margaret River enjoyed another superb vintage with the 2022 season. Slightly cooler, Cullen report that it was a vintage of “immense perfume and texture”. The wine is a wonderfully vibrant purple in colour. The nose gives up plums, cassis, spices including nutmeg, chocolate, mocha, bay leaves, cigar box notes – think a freshly opened box of Cohiba Siglo VI – and near perfect oak integration. This is finely balanced and exhibiting immense length on a palate that sees the emergence of aniseed, mulberries and coffee beans. An alluringly supple texture with the silkiest of tannins, though plenty of them – there really is some grip here. This will easily sail through fifteen to twenty years in a good cellar. (98) KEN GARGETT, Wine Pilot

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