Showing 1–12 of 1175 results

  • 4 Kilos 2023

    4 Kilos 2023

    £43.95

    “The eponymous and flagship red 2023 4 Kilos kept the harmonious, elegant and fresh profile that is a constant even in more challenging years. Half of the volume fermented in 2,500-liter oak vats and the other half in stainless steel, then the wine matured in 225- and 600-liter Allier oak barrels for one year. This has a more austere and serious nose than the Motor América/Motor Callet or the Grimalt/Caballero, without that honeyed note; it’s more about flowers, plants and wild berries with a spicy twist. It has a powerful palate, with abundant, fine-grained tannins; it’s nicely built and has a long, dry finish. It has contained ripeness and only 12% alcohol, with a pH of 3.7 and 4.5 grams of acidity. This feels like a long-distance runner, closer to 2021 or 2020 than to 2022. 18,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in May 2025. Drink: 2026-2036. 97 points

    4 Kilos is the quality leader in Mallorca. They keep working on the biodiversity of their vineyards, doing studies of the fauna and planting flowers to increase life in the area and the pollinating agents. All their vineyards (27+ hectares) and wines are certified organic, from which they produce around 80,000 bottles.

    Recent years have been increasingly warm and dry, but they manage to keep contained ripeness and great freshness in their wines. After the very warm and dry 2022—which is in line with 2019—2023 was a cooler year with higher yields, and the fresh and perfumed wines were very promising and elegant from early on. In 2024, there was a reduction in yields of around 40%, but the grapes showed good balance. As for 2025, they had abundant rain, over 500 liters; yields were low but quality was high, and the wines are looking approachable from early on. It is one of their finest harvests, with years like 2000, 2010, 2013 and 2020.

    They also participate in a joint venture with other wineries in the island, Ca’n Verdura, Soca-Rel, Mesquida Mora and Ca Sa Pradina, to save the vineyards from Plà de Buc, a zone of Binissalem in danger of disappearing because of the high real estate value of the land there. The wine from there is called Descornat. This is a new wine from the project Gallinas & Focas from the Fundación Esment.

    They have also been lending a helping hand to young producers under the initiative Vins joves Mallorca by doing a tasting of wines from 20 Mallorcan wineries. The tastings are open to professionals and the public, and this open-door day is a great success, with over 600 visitors at the last one. They are also writing a book about the six most important historical vineyards in Mallorca.

    And on a completely different note, they have produced a wine from Ribera del Duero in 2024! I’m looking forward to it!”

    Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (02/26)

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  • A Barouta O Penedo 2020

    A Barouta O Penedo 2020

    £89.95

    “The red 2020 O Penedo is a blend of approximately 70% Caíño and 30% Brancellao from an old vineyard they recovered in the village of Leiro very close to Emilio Rojo, a terraced east-facing slope on granite soils with a big boulder in the middle. They regrafted many plants from 2016, and they replanted some terraces, as there was a lot of Palomino and Garnacha Tintorera and the place is optimal to produce a red. It fermented with full clusters and a more Mediterranean fermentation, closer to Gredos than Loire, with long macerations and an élevage in a 500-liter barrel for some 16 months. It has 12% alcohol, a full 1% more than the 2021. It has the advantage of two years in bottle, so the wine is more polished and integrated; but the profile is darker and heavier, with a wider nose than the palate, more truffle and earth, more classical but a fresher, medium-bodied palate. There is a big evolution between this 2020 and the 2021, and 2020 was also the COVID vintage… 600 bottles were filled in May 2022. Drink: 2023-2028. 93 points

    A Barouta is a new small project in Ribeiro (everything in Ribeiro is small). It’s a joint venture between Javier Alén, who is the ex-owner of Viña Mein and the promoter of the project, and Dani Landi and Fernando García from Comando G from Gredos and their Chilean vineyard manager and cellarmaster, Roberto Núñez. It was born from their friendship and the experience of working together in Ribeiro over the last eight years as they helped Alén to transform the vineyards and wines of Meín, which was later sold to the Pago de Carraovejas group from Ribera del Duero. They wanted to keep their links with the place and continue with their friendship by working together in something small.

    They purchased some old vineyards in the villages of Leiro and Cabanelas. The one in Leiro, O Penedo, is very close to Emilio Rojo and has a big granite boulder in the middle that somehow reminded me of the landscape of the vineyard in Gredos. They also bought an old stone building next to Alén’s family house in Barouta, hence the name, and turned it into a very simple and functional winery. There is one white and one red, and the first vintage is 2020. They did the same in 2021; but in 2022, they introduced a new village red, and they are searching for the specific place that could produce a single-vineyard wine. Production will remain small; they only have around 2.5 hectares of vineyards. They started with some 2,000 bottles with the idea to produce between 7,000 and 10,000 bottles per year. Prices are still not 100%. This is a new name to follow in Ribeiro.”

    Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (11/23)

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  • A Pie de Tierra Cruce del Collado 2014

    A Pie de Tierra Cruce del Collado 2014

    £64.95

    “The new kid on the block is the single-vineyard 2024 Cruce del Collado from a plot in the village of El Real de San Vicente, one of the Méntrida villages considered as proper Gredos, with more influence from the mountains. It has old, head-pruned, dry-farmed vines on deep sandy soils. The wine reached 14% alcohol, a low pH of 3.3 and six grams of acidity. It fermented with foot-trodden, full clusters with a long maceration of 60 to 65 days and matured in a 500-liter barrel. It has a slightly deeper color and a more reductive nose, stonier, with freshness, volume and depth. It has fine-grained, classical granite tannins and is serious and harmonious. It’s very good indeed. 600 bottles produced. It was bottled in August 2025. Drink: 2025-2033. 96+ points

    A Pie de Tierra is the project from two young enthusiasts and friends, David Galiles and Aitor Paul. Galiles has roots and family vines in Méntrida and works some 20 hectares, and they have rented a new vineyard in the village of El Real de San Vicente, from which they produced a new wine. They are very happy with the 2024 harvest, which was marked by the frost from April that reduced the crop, but the second generation of grapes slowed the ripeness. They harvested late after some welcome rain in late August that hydrated the soils. In any case, it’s a project on its way up, with each vintage better than the previous one. They used more of their own grapes, and they now do 30,000 bottles. In 2025, they produced a white with Garnacha Blanca grapes.”

    Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (12/25)

    In Stock

  • A Pie de Tierra Ronca de Mazalba 2024

    A Pie de Tierra Ronca de Mazalba 2024

    £54.95

    “The 2024 Ronca de Mazalba comes from a single 1.3-hectare vineyard that was planted with Garnacha 40 years ago on sandy soils with silt and clay and a south-facing exposition cushioned by the influence of a water stream nearby. The frost was less damaging here than in other vineyards. It fermented with 100% full clusters and indigenous yeasts and had a long fermentation of 65 days, with very light pump-overs, just keeping the cap wet. The élevage was in two used 500-liter French oak barrels and lasted 10 months. The wine comes in at 13.5% alcohol, with a pH of 3.4 and very good balance. It’s elegant and perfumed, following the profile of its siblings, delicate and with an ethereal quality. There were 1,200 bottles in this first vintage. It was bottled in August 2025. Drink: 2025-2032. 96+ points

    A Pie de Tierra is the project from two young enthusiasts and friends, David Galiles and Aitor Paul. Galiles has roots and family vines in Méntrida and works some 20 hectares, and they have rented a new vineyard in the village of El Real de San Vicente, from which they produced a new wine. They are very happy with the 2024 harvest, which was marked by the frost from April that reduced the crop, but the second generation of grapes slowed the ripeness. They harvested late after some welcome rain in late August that hydrated the soils. In any case, it’s a project on its way up, with each vintage better than the previous one. They used more of their own grapes, and they now do 30,000 bottles. In 2025, they produced a white with Garnacha Blanca grapes.”

    Luis Gutierrez, Vinous (12/25)

    In Stock

  • A. Christmann Aus den Lagen Spatburgunder 2021

    A. Christmann Aus den Lagen Spatburgunder 2021

    £37.95

    “The 2021 Pinot Noir Aus den Lagen was picked in the Konigsbacher ldig and Olberg, in Gimmeldinger Bienengarten, Schlossel, Musbacher Eselshaut und Neustadter Vogelsang. It is a blend of barrels not made in single-site wines. The nose speaks of earth and wet pebble, subtle smoke and tart, smoky cherry fruit. The palate is as translucent, as clear as the wine looks. There is tenderness and freshness, very crunchy red fruit with beautiful tartness. Fine tannins have an elastic firmness. This is an elegant, taut Pinot style with real verve and freshness. (Bone-dry). Drinking window: 2023-2030. 90 points

    Weingut Christmann has made radical changes: “Between 2020 and 2021, we have shrunk the estate by a good 20% – or 5 hectares – so we now have 19 hectares left, all in Erste and Grosse Lagen,” says Sophie Christmann. “We gave up Pinot Gris, Muskateller, Sankt Laurent, most of Pinot Blanc and we already had let go of Gewürztraminer earlier, just to focus on what is most important and what we do best.” But change is more radical than that, especially considering that Sophie’s father Steffen Christmann is the chairman of the VDP: “We changed and optimized the basic structure because we want to make single vineyard wines and one second wine,” she says. This meant abandoning the VDP categories of estate wine and village wine. The move has met with some criticism, from fellow winemakers and clients alike, but for the Christmanns, this is a well-thought through adjustment and in clear contrast to so many local winemakers who try and cover every base, ending up with wide ranges of various varietal wines. “Nobody will miss our Grauburgunder,” Sophie says perceptively. She has a point: every estate has one, and Christmann is known for Riesling and, since Sophie’s arrival, increasingly elegant and fine-boned Pinot Noirs. Steffen Christmann had taken over the family estate in 1996 and started the conversion to biodynamic farming. Geisenheim graduate Sophie Christmann trained with Schäfer-Fröhlich and Bürklin-Wolf in Germany, Château Mazeyres in Pomerol and Jeffrey Grosset in Australia. She followed this with a further degree in agricultural economics in Berlin. Father and daughter devised a way of working together and while he had focused on Riesling, she planned to focus on Pinot Noir. She deliberately added a stage with Huber in Baden in 2017 before joining her home estate full-time in 2018, which she now runs jointly with her father. Pinot Noir is not new at the estate: Christmann made it as far back as 1906 – and sold it to Hotel Adlon in Berlin. The Christmanns farm 19 hectares of which 68% are Riesling, 30% Pinot Noir and 2% Pinot Blanc. For Riesling and Pinot Noir, Erste and Grosse Lagen are bottled separately, and each has a second wine label, “Aus den Lagen,” which are blends of various sites, including those bottled separately. For Weissburgunder only one wine is made, also under the “Aus den Lagen” label, but this is from the single site Gimmeldinger Schlössel, even though it is not named on the label. They slimmed down, and the clear-cut portfolio now amounts to 12 wines. Riesling is hand-harvested, grapes are crushed and pressed directly without prior skin contact, and the juice is fermented without sedimentation in large barrels. They try not to let the fermentation temperature rise above 28°C, and if malolactic fermentation happens, it does so concurrently with alcoholic fermentation. For Pinot Noir, the aim is to harvest at no more than 90° Oechsle, which corresponds with 12% potential alcohol, “so no overripeness,” Christmann says. Fifteen-twenty percent of whole clusters are used in the ferments that follow a cold maceration at 12°C with remontage. The moment the musts begin to ferment, this changes to gentle pigeage, early pressing after 15-16 days of skin contact and transfer into wood, where the wines spend 16-18 months, followed by 3 months in stainless steel before bottling. Christmann notes that the “Aus den Lagen” Piot Noir can have more new oak than the single-site wines as the wine is used to season barrels. For the whites, it is the Pinot Blanc that season the barrels that will later hold Riesling. About 2022, Christmann says that localized June rain helped them get over the hot and dry summer alongside some ultra-local thunderstorm showers. When the autumn rains arrived on 10 September, luckily almost all Pinot Noir had been picked, but the Rieslings “were harvested in rainy, autumnal weather, we had to sort a lot, but Oechsle levels were moderate.” The wines are measured, bright, elegant and fresh. During my visit, I tasted the 2022 Rieslings and the 2021 Pinot Noirs.”

    Anne Krebiehl, Vinous (12/23)

    In Stock

  • A. Christmann Gimmeldingen Meerspinne Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2023

    A. Christmann Gimmeldingen Meerspinne Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2023

    £74.95

    “The 2023 Meerspinne Gimmeldingen Riesling VDP.Grosse Lage is deep, ripe and complex on the generous as well as saline and pure nose. Wide, refined and very elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied and creamy-textured, seriously and sustainably structured Riesling. The saline acidity is very delicate, and the savory finish is intense and grippy with persistent salinity. The wine is currently closing down but very promising. 12% stated alcohol. Diam 30 cork. Tasted at the domaine in January 2024. Drink: 2027-2060. 95 points

    The venerable domaine in the old center of Gimmeldingen has specialized entirely in Riesling and Pinot Noir under the direction of Steffen Christmann and his daughter Sophie. For their third pillar, sparkling wine, so to speak, the two joined forces with Alsatian Matthieu Kauffmann, a former cellar master at Bollinger, and have been building up the Sektgut Christmann & Kauffmann for several years. On the edge of the Haardt Mountains, which slope down to the Rhine Plain, the winery produces Rieslings and Pinot Noirs in a variety of terroirs, predominantly on lime marl and red sandstone weathered soils, which are among the finest in the entire Palatinate. The current vintages once again underscore this. The 2022 vintage is also outstanding for Pinot Noir at Christmann. The wines have never been more intense, but they have also never been finer, more elegant and better balanced.

    The partly extremely hot and dry 2022 vintage was outstanding for Pinot Noir almost everywhere in Germany and also around Neustadt and at Christmann. It was to be expected that the grapes would be fully ripe and intense in flavors. However, the red wines have never been finer, more elegant and better balanced chez Christmann so far. Due to the generous vintage, the proportion of whole clusters in the fermentations was increased. Thanks to the contact with the stems and seeds, Christmann’s 2022 Pinot Noir red wines have a slightly higher tannin content. “When tasting the fermenting musts, we had the feeling that the extraction was very quick and intense,” explains Sophie Christmann. “So, we pressed a little earlier and separated the young wines from the skins earlier than in previous years in order to retain sufficient freshness in this powerful vintage.” That worked out well. The red wines combine fully ripe and elegant juiciness with serious freshness and structure. The GGs from the Idig and the Vogelsang are fascinating.

    The Riesling ripening process in 2023 is characterized by long periods of good weather but also those of rain. While the rainfall in July and August was still welcome, the weather became a “challenge” in mid-August, says Christmann. The water absorption caused the grapes to become plump, some threatened to burst, others burst. It was not until the start of the grape harvest at the beginning of September that the long, Indian summer set in and turned everything around. Nevertheless, some bad grapes had to be cut out by hand, berry by berry. “It was a harvest in which we would not have been able to pick perfect grapes without the 60-plus hands of our team,” says Sophie. The Rieslings were small-berried and rich in extract, and the fermentations went quickly. The wines are dense, with fine fruit acidity and length.

    With the 2023 Königsbacher Heidböhl VDP.Erste Lage, Christmann has a new Riesling in the portfolio. The Heidböhl continues the Idig grand cru eastward toward the Rhine Valley. Sloping slightly more gently toward the south, this vineyard is slightly cooler than the Idig. The soil consists of a mixture of red sandstone and limestone, giving the comparatively slender Riesling the typical spiciness and stony character.

    Christmann’s Neustadt Vogelsang Riesling, rehabilitated a few years ago, is now, for the first time, as complex as one might expect from a Grosses Gewächs. Wines from this long-forgotten site, which was cultivated in a highly conventional manner after the war, were still being delivered to the Bavarian royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since 2017, the vineyard has belonged to the Christmann and Müller-Catoir estates. Its soil consists of shell limestone that was brought to the surface when the Upper Rhine Rift Valley was formed and is unique in this form on the Mittelhaardt. The Vogelsang slopes quite steeply at an inclination of up to 50% grade from 240 meters above sea level to the south. Due to its location at the exit of the Neustadter Tal, there are large temperature differences between day and night, which provide additional tension in the already fresh and elegant, limestone-influenced wines, no matter if Riesling (2023) or Spätburgunder (2022), which are both great wines.”

    Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (03/25)

    In Stock

  • A. Christmann Neustadt Vogelsang Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2023

    A. Christmann Neustadt Vogelsang Riesling Grosses Gewachs 2023

    £79.95

    “The 2023 Vogelsang Neustadt Riesling VDP.Grosse Lage is from pure Muschelkalk soils and opens with a pure yet intense and mineral as well as sur lie-scented nose of very fine Riesling berries. Round and elegant on the palate, this is a full-bodied, pure, saline and crunchy Riesling whose style is clearly aligned with the Pinot Noir. This is based on vines planted in the early 1980s and a very small part of very young vines from 2019. 12% stated alcohol. Diam 30 cork. Tasted at the domaine in January 2024. Drink: 2028-2060. 96 points

    The venerable domaine in the old center of Gimmeldingen has specialized entirely in Riesling and Pinot Noir under the direction of Steffen Christmann and his daughter Sophie. For their third pillar, sparkling wine, so to speak, the two joined forces with Alsatian Matthieu Kauffmann, a former cellar master at Bollinger, and have been building up the Sektgut Christmann & Kauffmann for several years. On the edge of the Haardt Mountains, which slope down to the Rhine Plain, the winery produces Rieslings and Pinot Noirs in a variety of terroirs, predominantly on lime marl and red sandstone weathered soils, which are among the finest in the entire Palatinate. The current vintages once again underscore this. The 2022 vintage is also outstanding for Pinot Noir at Christmann. The wines have never been more intense, but they have also never been finer, more elegant and better balanced.

    The partly extremely hot and dry 2022 vintage was outstanding for Pinot Noir almost everywhere in Germany and also around Neustadt and at Christmann. It was to be expected that the grapes would be fully ripe and intense in flavors. However, the red wines have never been finer, more elegant and better balanced chez Christmann so far. Due to the generous vintage, the proportion of whole clusters in the fermentations was increased. Thanks to the contact with the stems and seeds, Christmann’s 2022 Pinot Noir red wines have a slightly higher tannin content. “When tasting the fermenting musts, we had the feeling that the extraction was very quick and intense,” explains Sophie Christmann. “So, we pressed a little earlier and separated the young wines from the skins earlier than in previous years in order to retain sufficient freshness in this powerful vintage.” That worked out well. The red wines combine fully ripe and elegant juiciness with serious freshness and structure. The GGs from the Idig and the Vogelsang are fascinating.

    The Riesling ripening process in 2023 is characterized by long periods of good weather but also those of rain. While the rainfall in July and August was still welcome, the weather became a “challenge” in mid-August, says Christmann. The water absorption caused the grapes to become plump, some threatened to burst, others burst. It was not until the start of the grape harvest at the beginning of September that the long, Indian summer set in and turned everything around. Nevertheless, some bad grapes had to be cut out by hand, berry by berry. “It was a harvest in which we would not have been able to pick perfect grapes without the 60-plus hands of our team,” says Sophie. The Rieslings were small-berried and rich in extract, and the fermentations went quickly. The wines are dense, with fine fruit acidity and length.

    With the 2023 Königsbacher Heidböhl VDP.Erste Lage, Christmann has a new Riesling in the portfolio. The Heidböhl continues the Idig grand cru eastward toward the Rhine Valley. Sloping slightly more gently toward the south, this vineyard is slightly cooler than the Idig. The soil consists of a mixture of red sandstone and limestone, giving the comparatively slender Riesling the typical spiciness and stony character.

    Christmann’s Neustadt Vogelsang Riesling, rehabilitated a few years ago, is now, for the first time, as complex as one might expect from a Grosses Gewächs. Wines from this long-forgotten site, which was cultivated in a highly conventional manner after the war, were still being delivered to the Bavarian royal court in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Since 2017, the vineyard has belonged to the Christmann and Müller-Catoir estates. Its soil consists of shell limestone that was brought to the surface when the Upper Rhine Rift Valley was formed and is unique in this form on the Mittelhaardt. The Vogelsang slopes quite steeply at an inclination of up to 50% grade from 240 meters above sea level to the south. Due to its location at the exit of the Neustadter Tal, there are large temperature differences between day and night, which provide additional tension in the already fresh and elegant, limestone-influenced wines, no matter if Riesling (2023) or Spätburgunder (2022), which are both great wines.”

    Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (03/25)

    In Stock

  • A. Rodda Smith's Vineyard Chardonnay 2024

    A. Rodda Smith’s Vineyard Chardonnay 2024

    £62.95

    “Adrian Rodda is a rising star on the Beechworth scene. His close work with Mark Walpole of Fighting Gully Road has helped Rodda rapidly rise to the ranks of the region’s elite. While Rodda crafts a range of wines, his finest touch is no doubt with Chardonnay from Beechworth and other parts of Victoria. His winemaking avoids overt intervention, except for regular early sulfuring to prevent malolactic ferments in Chardonnay. Though he comes from a winemaking background, Rodda spends plenty of time in the vineyards, particularly Smiths, from which he sources much of his fruit. | particularly like the personality in these wines. They are uniquely situated at the subtle end of the spectrum, indicative of a confident winemaker who is very comfortable in his own skin and knowns exactly how to get where he wants to go.”

    Angus Hughson, Vinous (02/25)

    In Stock

  • A. Rodda Whitlands Chardonnay 2024

    A. Rodda Whitlands Chardonnay 2024

    £37.95

    “Adrian Rodda is a rising star on the Beechworth scene. His close work with Mark Walpole of Fighting Gully Road has helped Rodda rapidly rise to the ranks of the region’s elite. While Rodda crafts a range of wines, his finest touch is no doubt with Chardonnay from Beechworth and other parts of Victoria. His winemaking avoids overt intervention, except for regular early sulfuring to prevent malolactic ferments in Chardonnay. Though he comes from a winemaking background, Rodda spends plenty of time in the vineyards, particularly Smiths, from which he sources much of his fruit. I particularly like the personality in these wines. They are uniquely situated at the subtle end of the spectrum, indicative of a confident winemaker who is very comfortable in his own skin and knowns exactly how to get where he wants to go.”

    Angus Hughson, Vinous (02/25)

    In Stock

  • A.J. Adam Dhroner Has'chen Riesling Kabinett 2022

    A.J. Adam Dhroner Has’chen Riesling Kabinett 2022

    £35.95

    Review to follow

    In Stock

  • A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese * 2019

    A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese * 2019

    £55.95

    “Based on grapes with 50% botrytis and selected twice—in the vineyard and on a sorting table in the boutique winery—the 2019 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese * is clear and concentrated on the delicate and elegant nose that reveals fine, slatey-piquant raisin and Riesling fruit that is pure and flinty. On the palate, this is a crystalline, very fine and filigreed Auslese with a salty-piquant, precise and lemon-fresh finish. This will be a Gold Capsule next year since Adam joined the VDP earlier this year. Tasted at the domain in September 2020. 94 points

    Andreas Adam is a member of the VDP starting this year, and from the 2020 vintage, he is also the producer of at least one Grosses Gewächs, maybe more. Andreas and Barbara Adams cope quite well with difficult vintages like 2019. Although the yield was only 45 hectoliters per hectare (instead of an average of 50-55 hectoliters per hectare) due to the strict post-rainfall selections, the qualities are again excellent, especially the fine and very fine Auslese selections and the Beerenauslese from the Dhroner Hofberg. Botrytis wines are not exactly the goal of the Adam siblings, but they could not be prevented last year. They even harvested an ice wine during the blood moon night on January 20 of this year. A Reserve wine from the Dhroner Hofberg from the 2018 vintage is also new. Otherwise, the other dry wines of the 2019 vintage are also excellent.“

    Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (10/20)

    In Stock

  • A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese 2011 (375ml)

    A.J. Adam Dhroner Hofberg Riesling Auslese 2011 (375ml)

    £55.95

    Review to follow

    In Stock