Showing 1165–1175 of 1175 results

  • Vassaltis Gramina 2023

    Vassaltis Gramina 2023

    £67.95

    “Vassaltis Vineyards is a modern, well-known property run by entrepreneur Yannis Valambous. His father came to Santorini during summer holidays and purchased land on the inland. When he died, Yannis inherited four hectares. This was in 2009 or during the aftermath of the Greek financial crisis that made headlines the world over.

    Thanks to his business background, Yannis knew that his country could offer more. “Greece was in dire straits, and I knew that it needed to explore its competitive advantages that transcend drachma, euros and dollars” he explains. Wine was one area in which Greece could excel. “The idea filled me with so much creativity,” he says. By 2012, he had acquired permits to build his winery in Vourvoulos. He created a beautiful space facing the sea with a spacious tasting room (that serves food and wine).

    Today, with 2024 being his 10th harvest, Yannis has two goals. The first is relevancy for Assyrtiko and the wines of Santorini. The second is sustainability related to both the environment and the finances of running a business. His hope is to make Santorini Assyrtiko a mainstream wine enjoyed around the world.

    He has been planting new vineyards over the years and now counts 25 hectares (between estate and leased plots). The portfolio contains 11 wines. Production has been dropping due to climate hardship. In 2022, Vassaltis Vineyards produced 90,000 bottles, and in 2024 that number fell to 25,000 bottles. The goal, he says, is 60,000 bottles. The 2024 vintage saw record low yields, and the winery will not be making its Nassitis, Plethora and Vinsanto as a result.”

    Monica Larner, Vinous (12/24)

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  • Vassaltis Santorini Assyrtiko 2023

    Vassaltis Santorini Assyrtiko 2023

    £35.95

    “This is the proverbial bread and butter wine by Vassaltis Vineyards, with 25,000 bottles created. The 2023 Santorini Assyrtiko is fermented in steel tank, with eight to 10 months on the lees in steel with frequent stirring. The grapes do not come from a specific site; however, old vines (60 years old and more from the island’s typical sandy soils that are poor in nutrients) are given priority. It offers a fleshed-out mouthfeel with medium fruit weight and pretty aromas of summer peach, oat bread and sea salt. Proprietor Yannis Valambous says the idea is “to grow the body of the wine,” and his emphasis is on mouthfeel. You feel those results in this vintage. Drink: 2025-2035. 94 points

    Vassaltis Vineyards is a modern, well-known property run by entrepreneur Yannis Valambous. His father came to Santorini during summer holidays and purchased land on the inland. When he died, Yannis inherited four hectares. This was in 2009 or during the aftermath of the Greek financial crisis that made headlines the world over.

    Thanks to his business background, Yannis knew that his country could offer more. “Greece was in dire straits, and I knew that it needed to explore its competitive advantages that transcend drachma, euros and dollars” he explains. Wine was one area in which Greece could excel. “The idea filled me with so much creativity,” he says. By 2012, he had acquired permits to build his winery in Vourvoulos. He created a beautiful space facing the sea with a spacious tasting room (that serves food and wine).

    Today, with 2024 being his 10th harvest, Yannis has two goals. The first is relevancy for Assyrtiko and the wines of Santorini. The second is sustainability related to both the environment and the finances of running a business. His hope is to make Santorini Assyrtiko a mainstream wine enjoyed around the world.

    He has been planting new vineyards over the years and now counts 25 hectares (between estate and leased plots). The portfolio contains 11 wines. Production has been dropping due to climate hardship. In 2022, Vassaltis Vineyards produced 90,000 bottles, and in 2024 that number fell to 25,000 bottles. The goal, he says, is 60,000 bottles. The 2024 vintage saw record low yields, and the winery will not be making its Nassitis, Plethora and Vinsanto as a result.”

    Monica Larner, Wine Advocate (12/24)

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  • Vega Sicilia Unico 2006

    Vega Sicilia Unico 2006

    £280.00

    “I tasted the 2006 Único again, and it’s clearly the best Único produced in the last few years, to which I don’t find much logic, as on paper 2004 and 2005 were better years in Ribera del Duero. However it is, the 2006 is a fantastic modern Vega Sicilia in the making, powerful and clean, still very young and marked by the élevage with a whiff of American oak and a creamy texture in the palate. It should age very well for a very long time. I’d wait to pull the cork, even if it’s drinkable and quite showy already. This is the current vintage in 2018, even if the 2007 and 2008 were released before it and even before the 2005. In 2019 they will release the 2009. 93,993 bottles, 2,552 magnums, 165 double magnums and six imperials were produced. Drink: 2020-2035. 98 points

    I tasted the 2018 releases from Vega Sicilia some time ago and published the notes before the wines hit the market—in the Interim End of January 2018 Issue—but I also wanted to include the notes here with the rest of the Ribera del Duero wines. I’ve tasted the wines again, but the tasting notes and scores are mostly the same as my previous findings/notes published in January 2018.”

    Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (238)

    Bonded pricing available

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  • Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Cote de Lechet 2023

    Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Cote de Lechet 2023

    £34.95

    Review to follow

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  • Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Les Lys 2023

    Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Les Lys 2023

    £34.95

    Review to follow

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  • Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2023

    Vincent Dampt Chablis Premier Cru Vaillons 2023

    £34.95

    Review to follow

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  • Walgate Blanc de Blancs 2020

    Walgate Blanc de Blancs 2020

    £47.95

    “The 2020 Blanc de Blancs is crafted from West Sussex-grown fruit, fermented in oak barrels where it remained for a year on lees, undergoing full malolactic conversion before tirage and the second fermentation from grape juice. A lovely note of fresh creamery butter is gently suffused with the scent of hayflowers and an enticing echo of pine resin. The palate is fresh, fizzing excitedly with tiny, spiky, lively bubbles, highlighting that cold butter purity as well as those lifted herbal notes. This wine has smoothness, balance, freshness and wonderful aroma, with a beautifully scented nature that lifts it completely out of the ordinary, ringing long alongside lemon and butter. It is pure, clean-cut and has lovely personality. Dosage is 6 grams per liter. Disgorged: March 2025. Drinking window: 2025-2035. 93 points”

    Anne Krebiehl, Vinous (01/26)

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  • Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling Feinherb 2021

    Willi Schaefer Graacher Riesling Feinherb 2021

    £29.95

    “The 2021 Graacher Riesling feinherb shows a pure, bright and coolish bouquet with just-ripe fruit aromas intermingled with flinty and discreet oak notes that complete the nose beautifully. Bottled with 17 grams per liter of residual sugar, this is a dense, round and intense, beautifully textured and balanced Riesling with a stimulating, saline and finely tannic finish. This is a beautiful off-dry Riesling that is already a rounder and also slightly more complex Graacher (predominantly Himmelreich) compared to the dry selection. This 2021 should be cellared for 6 or 7 years, but it has the potential to refine over decades. 10.5% stated alcohol. Screw cap. Tasted in July 2022. Drink: 2030-2050. 93 points“

    Stephan Reinhardt, Wine Advocate (08/22)

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  • Wine & Soul Guru 2023

    Wine & Soul Guru 2023

    £38.50

    “The nose of the 2023 Guru is clean, precise, elegant and nuanced, very insinuating and subtle, corresponding to a cooler vintage that delivered one of the finest versions of this white, which ranks among the most elegant in Douro. It has the serious and mineral mouthfeel from the Douro schist soils, finishing dry and long, with an almost salty twist. It has a moderate 12.5% alcohol, denoting contained ripeness that translates into white flowers and wild herbs and a pH of 3.39, parameters of very good freshness. The oak is neatly integrated. 21,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in June 2024. Drink: 2025-2035. 95 points

    Husband and wife Jorge Serôdio and Sandra Tavares keep producing some of the finest whites from Douro and a collection of modern reds from over 40 hectares of vineyards. The whites were from 2023 and 2021 and the reds from 2022, cooler years for the whites and warmer for the reds.“

    Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate (04/25)

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  • Wine & Soul Pintas Character 2020

    Wine & Soul Pintas Character 2020

    £32.50

    “The 2020 Pintas Character is a field blend (over 30 grapes, but the majority are Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Nacional) from old vines aged for 18 months in 90% used French oak. It comes in at 14.7% alcohol. Another super Character, this isn’t just a simple second-fiddle to the Pintas. It has evolved into a fine wine in its own right. It has ripe (but not overripe) fruit, enough freshness and controlled power. It tastes great and should continue evolving well. Drink: 2022-2037. 93 points

    A lot of people complain about the 2020 vintage, hot and difficult, but Wine & Soul had a fine year, often propelled by the ability to harvest small crops quickly. Consistency, even in difficult vintages, is often the sign of a great winery.“

    Mark Squires, Wine Advocate (07/22)

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  • Wine & Soul Vintage Port 2018

    Wine & Soul Vintage Port 2018

    £69.95

    “The 2018 Pintas Vintage Port is a field blend from old vines (88-year-old vines and more than 40 different grapes) and comes in with 96 grams of residual sugar. It spent 19 months in old casks. Powerful, concentrated and precise, this intense Porto is not terribly expressive on opening—it shows dry, closed and serious, the fruit taking a back seat to the old-school power. Unevolved, this seems potentially brilliant, but it is going to need some extra time. You might be able to approach it in eight to 10 years, but a lot more time would be helpful—not so much to resolve the tannins, although they are formidable, but to allow the fruit to develop and assert itself. It doesn’t seem as fresh and as balanced as the wonderful 2017, but it might have as much concentration and power, maybe more (they weren’t here together). A few days later, it demonstrated better better balance too, as the fruit poked its head up and asserted itself a bit, while the alcohol took a back seat (it actually has less than the 2017). Let’s start here, but it looks like another terrific Port from this producer, one of the finest 2018s so far. It won’t be fun to drink young, though. There were only 2,000 bottles produced. Drink: 2028-2070. 97 points”

    Mark Squires, Wine Advocate (10/20)

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