The phenomenal wines of Jean-Yves Bizot represent the pinnacle of wine quality in a region graced with some of the most sought-after labels in the world of fine wine. Jean-Yves’ strict and uncompromising standards in the vineyards and his enviable old vine parcels in Vosne Romanée combine to offer a stellar line-up of miniscule production red Burgundies built for ageing.
The Bizot cellar in Vosne Romanee.
Jean-Yves is a respected professor of viticulture and oenology in Beaune and lives in Vosne across the road from Henri Jayer’s old residence. He is also a quiet, composed man, uninterested in publicity and completely devoted to his wine craft. In an age where branding often overshadows substance, it’s refreshing to see someone who has never followed the crowd continue to pursue what he loves most – the art of wine.
The wizard of premium Burgundy, Jean-Yves Bizot.
Jean-Yves has an uncanny ability to produce wines that are delicate, feminine, and deeply expressive – wines that stand out at any fine wine tasting. But the true magnificence of his entire range has now acquired a fervent collector and connoisseur following the world over, making his new vintage releases some of the most highly anticipated in the whole of Burgundy.
The modest Bizot house and cellar in Vosne Romanee.
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Vosne Romanee Village 2023
A pristine, impactful nose with intense aromatics of black raspberries, black cherry and polished mahogany with a delicate sapidity over sweet Asian spices, black berry compote and bramble berry complexity. Crystalline and texturally taut in the mouth, linear, energetic and bright with tangy acids, limestone mineral tannins and incredibly focused elegance and precision. A benchmark for the vintage. Drink from 2027 to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Vosne Romanee Lieu Dit ‘Les Jachees’ 2023
Fabulously deep alluring aromatics with a broody black cherry, bramble berry and sweet mulberry complexity laced with exotic Christmas spices, Asian five spice, together with a pronounced limestone minerality. The palate clearly shows an extra gear on the village cuvée, with hints of savoury cured meats, subtle forest floor and earthy blueberry fruits with a wound spring tension, linearity, and bright acid precision. Beautiful clarity and steely purity. Supreme terroir driven class. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95-96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Clos de la Bidaude Monopole above Clos des Lambray Grand Cru. Vineyard.
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Clos de la Bidaude Monopole 2023
A wine that is simply mesmerizingly intense with piercing aromatics of violets, saline crème de cassis, oyster shells and sloe berries with a tightly knit complexity of smoky sapidity, crushed limestone and chalky spice. Piercing and powerful, the purity and intensity of fruit is awesome, the precision, polish, and concentration simply majestic. The perfect marriage of intelligent winemaking harnessing super fruit purity and perfect hillside terroir. A really super impressive success for the vintage. Drink from 2028 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 97-98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Echezeaux Grand Cru 2023
This is a broad complex wine with broody, earthy black fruited aromatics laced with damp earth, savoury black berry, red cherry and a well-integrated sapidity with attractive bramble berry notes. The stony mineral grip is stark, the dry exact fabulously mouth coating and intense. This is a slightly more accessible, generous expression from the Domaine but retains all the allure, purity, and mineral precision of a profound Grand Cru Pinot Noir. Drink from 2028 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95-96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The “Les Jachees” lieu dit vineyard in Vosne Romanee.
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Hautes Cotes de Nuits Blanc 2023
A broody complex white with intricate aromatics of lemon grass, sweet herbs, pithy white citrus, and sweet lemon pastille before notes of honey on warm white toast and grapefruit confit. The flavours are bright and tangy with plentiful nuances of wet stone minerality, honied lemon peel, bon bon rock candy and a dusty, powdery savoury finish. The astonishing concentration an ever-present Bizot hallmark. Drink from 2026 to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot Bourgogne Les Violetts Blanc 2023
This is an expressive white with delicious waxy citrus aromatics, dried herbs, lemon tea, wet slate and delicate leesy lanolin nuances. The intensity is piercing, the texture deliciously tangy, glycerol and concentrated with lemon and lime cordial hints, a crystalline purity and a long, stony, concentrated finish. An incredibly delicious white with plenty of legs to go 12-15+ years. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94-95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Domaine Jean-Yves Bizot wines are imported exclusively in the UK by Musigny Wines. Contact Andrew Pavli to request an allocation.
This old vineyard for the Treinspoor Old Vine Series red was planted in 1974 and lies on the western side of Malmesbury, on route to Darling. Historically Tinta Das Baroccas (the earlier pronunciation) has always had a good, prominent place in the Swartland region (who doesn’t love Allesverloren’s Tinta Barocca with an artisanal pizza!?) This vineyard is located next to the old railway line (treinspoor) and was named accordingly, grown on decomposed Granite and Table Mountain sandstone soils with yields of circa 18 hectolitres per hectare. (In the early days, I was told Eben found this vineyard when he was driving past and saw heavy JCB diggers about to rip up this venerable old vineyard. After discussions with the owner, he offered to farm it offering a considerably higher grape price and so the farmer decided to save the vineyard. But I stand to be corrected on this!)
The very fragile thin skin of Tinta Barocca is prone to sunburn, but in this case, the old bush vines have formed a great framework to keep the bunches sheltered from the intense Swartland sun. The good colour and firm acidity of this variety have made it a favourite component in blends from the outset. However, once a Tinta Barocca vineyard has grown into old age, it has all the complexities and qualities to be bottled on its own. On the Sadie Family website, Eben Sadie suggests this wine can easily age up to 18+ years. On the current showing at almost 13 years old, I would suggest this is a fairly conservative assessment.
The Sadie Family Ageing Guide:
Treinspoor VERSION 1: 1-4 years; VERSION 2: 10 – 18 years
“The reality is that Tinta Barocca is a big temperament grape with the demeanour and makeup to age. The entire being of this grape and liquid construction is made for the future. It drinks well young with a big steak and a plate of triple-fired potato chips, but as a wine on its own or down a white tablecloth and some fine dining, it requires the wait.” – Eben Sadie
Sadie Family Wines Die Ouwingerdreeks Treinspoor 2013, WO Swartland, 13% Abv.
This is a really impressive wine that shows an incredibly vibrant red cherry and red plum skin colour in the glass. Tasted from a Zalto Universal glass, the aromatics continue to evolve over one, two, three hours with top notes of gentle spicy leafy sapidity, hints of crushed Granite dust, red currants, red plum skins, dried herbs, and freshly sawn oak notes. On the palate, the wine shows an intricate juxtaposition between a gently mellowing textural savoury bottle age alongside fresh, vibrant, pithy cherry fruits, red plums, and salty red liquorice candies. You get the sense that the tannins were once fairly rustic, but now with the benefit of time, show a chalky liquid minerality – fine grained, creamy and soft but still an imposing element of the wine’s structure. This is a beautiful expression of Tinta Barocca. If you are lucky enough to still have a few bottles in your cellar, start drinking now and over the next 10 years. But certainly no rush! I am very pleased I managed to “lose” a case of this wine in my cellar. This was my first bottle of six.
With Abrie Beeslaar departing the Kanonkop Estate in August 2024, we are nearing the end of his winemaking stewardship. The 2022 vintage offered up a cold and wet winter which was ideal for late but even vine budding. The wetter and cooler weather in the Cape persisted through Spring, with a slight heat spike towards the end of January. Later veraison and cooler growing conditions made the 2022 vintage a memorable one for the Kanonkop team with structured, elegant, age worthy wines produced.
Grapes for the Paul Sauer were fermented in open top concrete fermenters at 29c, the floating skins punched down by hand every 2 hours during fermentation. The juice was drawn off the skins after 5 days. After malolactic fermentation, the wine was matured for 24 months in 100% new 225 litre French Nevers oak barrels before bottling.
Kanonkop Estate Paul Sauer 2022 Cape Bordeaux Blend, WO Simonsberg, Stellenbosch, 13.35% Abv.
I tasted this new release Paul Sauer several times at Cape Wine 2025 in September but finally found a quiet moment on my return to London to open a sample bottle that had been settling in my cellar for several weeks. This is a big, powerful cuvee and young vintages are easily interfered with and often suffer bottle shock. But on opening, this classy blend of 55% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Cabernet Franc and 18% Merlot was absolutely singing. Plush, textured, and multi-layered, the aromatics showed a newfound clarity, purity and intensity boasting saline crème de cassis, back cherries, blueberry, maritime kelp, iodine, and black liquorice with an underlying new French oak kiss. Sourced from six older blocks on the estate, the palate shows a vibrant freshness together with an opulent accessibility before tightening up on the long, saline finish that’s layered and harmonious with tart black currant, damson plum and spiced cranberry nuances. Elegant, seamless, and pretty profound, this is undoubtedly another must-buy vintage for Paul Sauer lovers. Drink from 2026 to 2048+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Kanonkop Estate wines are imported into the UK by exclusive agent Seckford Agencies.
There are few more beautiful regions in the southern Rhone Valley than Beaumes-de-Venise. This enchanting wine regions is towered over by the striking Dentelles de Montmirail peaks, limestone outcrops from the Jurassic era, the sloping vineyards of this tiny southern Rhône cru and its five picture postcard villages possessing a true classical beauty. With a mosaic of complex soils situated on slopes at altitudes as high as 600m, this region seems to tick all the correct boxes for a new generation of wine drinkers looking for quality, individuality, and affordability, all presented with a rich historically storied past.
Interestingly, Beaumes de Venise was one of the first French wine regions I visited on my return to Europe from South Africa in 2000. Coming five years before the appellation changes in 2005, the region was firmly dominated by sweet Muscat wines with red wines very much an afterthought – the red wines living in the shadow of more notable up and coming villages like Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Rasteau, Sablet, etc. I knew it was beautiful as a region and incredibly complex geologically, having hiked the Dentelle de Montmirail trails… which normally means it should be perfect red wine terroir as well.
Beaumes-de-Venise’s world-class Vins Doux Naturels (VDNs), sweet wines fortified to 15%, aka AOC Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, might be what the region is best known for, but as I discovered during a recent three day tasting trip to the region, there is so much more to discover and explore about this beautiful part of the southern Rhône Valley.
While the regions Muscat Beaumes-de-Venise VDN sweet wines need no introduction, having been served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the Cru status for the reds wines was only conferred on Beaumes-de-Venise reds in 2005. These must be an assemblage of at least 50% Grenache and 25% Syrah, with other Rhône varieties permitted such as Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Counoise.
White varietals like Viognier, Marsanne and Grenache Blanc can also be added but must make up no more than 10% of the blend. In practice, the majority of producers stick with Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Currently, the INAO is still considering the AOC’s application in 2022 to include dry white wines under the same Cru designation.
The uniqueness of Beaumes-de-Venise’s terroir lies in its complex geological diversity, with four soil types: Triassic red earth, grey Jurassic earth, Cretaceous white earth and blond Miocene earth. The emergence of the Dentelles de Montmirail brought the Triassic deposits to the surface around the village of Suzette, whose soils are ideal for Syrah, providing richness, suppleness and longevity. Grey Jurassic earth is found north of the village of Lafare, being made up of silt, clay and sand which is perfect for Grenache. Cretaceous white earth around the village of La Roque-Alric, with its marly clay-limestone soil, is good for both Syrah and Grenache, which are grown on terraces, or ‘banquettes’, that boost groundwater retention. Blond Miocene earth’s clay-sand soils are best for Muscat, providing finesse, freshness and floral aromas. This blend of soil types gives Beaumes-de-Venise wines distinctive complexity and balance.
Beaumes de Venise celebrating 100 years – 80 years for sweet wines plus 20 for the red wine appellation.
For the UK market, there is definitely a significant opportunity for the red blends focusing on Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvedre. Most interestingly for me, despite the 14 to 15 % alcohol levels on the wines, they all retained incredible purity, freshness and focus more in keeping with wines that are 13 or 13.5% abv. But the limestone soils and altitude definitely bring something special to the wines. In the wider wine market, there is undoubtedly plenty of interest in the UK for the £16.99 to £22.99 price point wines that should see consumers getting a very accomplished red wine showing fruit purity, concentration, and structure.
AOC Beaumes-de-Venise Red Tasting:
1 Domaine Sant Amant 2024
Enticing sweet herbs, Xmas spices and black berries with a dusty stony, mineral undertone. Fresh and crunchy, texture shows tension, acid frame and lovely red and black fruit clarity with a tangy finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
2 Domaine Pierre Rougon 2024
Full of dark broody black berry fruit aromatics with a dusty limestone minerality. Lovely pithy mineral tannins, restraint and grip but fine grained and full of energy with a saline liquorice kiss on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
3 Sarl Persephone Domaine Suzette 2024
Deep earthy black berry fruits with damson plum, black cherry and sweet bramble berry spices. The texture is fleshy and compact showing depth and breadth but also a creamy black fruited depth with plush powdery tannins and a saline intensity on the harmonious finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
4 Domaine Caroline Bonnefoy 2023
Intense perfumed aromatics packed full of sour plum, peach skins, violets and lavender fragrance. Bright and fruity, the palate is tangy and mouth watering with a sweet / sour acidity with soft fleshy layers of red and black berry fruit on the finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
5 Domaine de Fenouillet Terres Blanches 2023
Dark broody nose with exotic black cherry and wild strawberry notes. The texture is sleek and polished, the tannins fine grained and powdery, finishing with chalky, grippy mineral tannins. A real terroir feel to this wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
6 Domaines des Bernardins 2023
The aromatics are dusty and savoury with sappy spicy notes, peppery black berries, and a smoky flinty hint. The palate is fruity and bright full of red and black berry fruits, tangy acids and a sappy brambly finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
7 Domaine des Garances Alazard 2023
A delicately perfumed aromatics showing musk, lavender, potpourri, black plums, red currants and black cherry. Palate shows crisp acids and notable delineation with wild strawberry and bramble berry fruits over a stony limestone minerality.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
8 Domaine du Grand Montmirail Terres Blondes 2023
Piercing and pure fruited with violets, lavender, red cherries and red berries. Crisp, pure and very focused with an impressive textural precision. Very impressive balance. Real class.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
9 Domaine La Ligiere Les Garennes 2023
Deep broody complex aromatics show herbs and spices, black berry fruits, musk and lavender. The palate is plush and ripe with a sweet sour acidity alongside plummy red and black fruits, bramble berries and hints of breakfast brown toast.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
10 Domaine Raboly Clement V 2023
Delightfully perfumed nose of dried violets, potpourri and lavender alongside red and black berry fruits. The palate is crisp, pure and taut, full of energy and tension, polished marble tannins, tangy acids and a sleek harmonious long finish showing class and pedigree. Wow!
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
11 Famille Petitjean Les Contreforts de Montmirail 2023
Bright fruity nose showing raspberry ripple, strawberry confit and sour red plum with a smoky mineral hint. Deliciously tangy and red fruited, the finish is long, characterful and delicately salty.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
12 Famille Petitjean Tradition 2023
Dark fruited aromatics showing damson plum, bramble berries and garrigue spice. There’s a focused precision on the palate, crisp acids and an accessible, long, fleshy finish with soft pliable tannins.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
13 Domaine Pierre Rougon Les Vins Pierre Rougon 2023
Attractive aromatics of damson plum, black currant, violets and salty cassis. The texture is polished and tight knit, sleek, balanced and fine grained with creamy red and black fruits and a harmonious blackberry fruited finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
13B Jean Pierre Cartier Rouge 2023
Shows a melange of perfume and lavender, musk and bathroom soaps with potpourri and garrigue spices. The palate is fleshy and creamy, full but accessible and deliciously chalky and tight grained with a powdery grippy mineral finish. A serious effort!
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
14 Vignerons des Dentelles Dom Venitia 2023
A dark fruited plummy smoky bramble fruited aromatics. The fruits are cool and compact, polished with fine grained tannins and gentle, soft integrated acids with a delicately toasty, brûléed finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
15 Domaine de Durban Vieilles Vignes 2022
Tight dark fruited aromatics. Sleek texture. Beautifully complex and polished.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
16 Domaine de la Pigeade Hurlevent 2022
A wine with impressive minerality and precision alongside aromatics of limestone, garrigue and spicy black berry. Impressive purity and precision on the palate, a definite winemaking focus and know how that elicits the best of this wine’s terroir. A polished, harmonious style with real minerality.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
17 Domaine des Garances Jas du Chene 2022, 14.5% Abv.
50% Grenache and 50% Syrah aged in concrete and stainless steel vats. Exotic aromatics of cherry rock candy, red plum and sour cherry. Follows to a deliciously pure, crystalline palate with sleek silky tannins, glassy fresh crystalline acids and a beautifully harmonious finish with a delicate brûléed tasty twist. Very impressive finesse.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
18 Domaine Raboly Jean XXII 2022
Deep broody black fruited aromatics showing plum and black berry, musk and potpourri spice. Texture is cool, fleshy and pure, harmonious and balanced with silky tannins, a fleshy black berry core of fruit and a long, chalky finish. Very mineral and seriously classy!
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
19 Domaine Saint Amant Grangeneuve 2022
An intricate aromatics with raspberry and red currant top notes over deeper, broodier black currant and damson plum baritone fruit notes. Full and plush in the mouth, the acids are tangy and the tannins sweet, soft and accessible, finishing with a mellow sweet and sour complexity.
(Wine Safari Score: 92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
20 Earl Saint Roch Cuvee des Sens 2022, 15% Abv.
60% Syrah and 40% Grenache. Smoky meaty savoury aromatics with hints of cherry rock candy, macerated blueberry fruits and musk hints. The palate shows a fleshy depth and concentration, accessible ripeness and generous depth with a long, plush, sweet black fruited finish. Packs a lot of punch and intensity.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
21 Earl Saint Roch Cuvee des Taus 2022
A delightfully fragrant aromatics boasting violets and potpourri, black cherries, musk and lavender. The fruits are tangy and bright in a red and black berry melange. Polished tight grained marble tannins are supported by a fresh acidity and a generous, harmonious fruit length.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
22 Vignerons des Dentelles Confidence 2022
The aromatics show dusty, herby garrigue spice with musk and cinnamon spice. Cool and compact on the palate, the tannins are fine grained, chalky, and soft with a drying mineral finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
23 Gaec de Benquillon Rene 2022
Perfumed aromatics with pink musk, talc, lavender and potpourri. The palate is bright and tangy, the acids crisp and the tannins chalky and mineral. Massive fruit concentration and intensity make this a very impressive wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
24 Famille Soard Domaine de Fenouillet Yvon Soard 2021
Deep dark notes of black cherry, liquorice and black berries. Stony mineral texture with linearity and chalky tannins. A more mineral, classically restrained expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
25 Domaine de Garances Le Pas de L’Aube 2021
75% Syrah and 25% Grenache from a single plot. Complex aromatics of black berry, saline cassis, liquorice and black olive. The texture is cool and tight knit, with polished stony tannins, a chalky minerality and a drying intense finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
26 Domaine Saint Amant Cuvee Nathalie 2020
20% new barriques with up to 8 year old barrels with a 3-4% Viognier portion blended and Co-fermented. Aromatics full of black cherry, kirsch liquor, and salty black liquorice. The black fruits are zippy and vibrant, the texture chalky and mineral with a long, tangy salty finish. Plenty of intensity here.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
27 Famille Petitjean Felibrige 2020
A more savoury meaty black fruited aromatics with cherry and cured meats. Palate is mineral and taut with stony tannins and a chalky finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 91/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
28 Vignerons de Dentelles Trias 2020
Deep broody aromatics boast black cherry, black berries and saline spice. A notable minerality belies the palate with fine grained chalky tannins and a fresh, bright acid finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Star performers from Domaine Raboly, a young premium micro-site boutique producer.
I first met Donovan Rall at the Cape White Blend Conference in 2009 at Forest 44 in Stellenbosch where Ian Naude had assembled 80+ of South Africa’s greatest winemakers to listen to Eben Sadie, Peter Fischer and myself, talk about the farming, production, and marketing of world class white blends. During one of the intermissions, this giant Viking came up to me and introduced himself. Donovan had worked for several months in London with an ex-colleague of mine at the Harvey Nichols department store fine wine section in Knightsbridge, London.
Offering me two bottles of his by then long sold-out maiden release Rall White Blend, he asked me to drink one and let him know what I thought, and also if I could please take the other bottle back to London for his old colleague to enjoy, which I of course obliged. The maiden vintage turned out to be the first of three consecutive 5 Star Platter Guide wines that he eventually went on to produce. Donovan’s white blend became a cult wine over a handful of vintages and is still today established as one of the best on the market, as was confirmed by this vintage 2012.
Donovan Rall pouring his wines in London.
Rall White Blend 2012, WO Coastal Origin, 14.5% Abv.
The second of three bottles I found in my cellar, this bottle represents an even fresher and more vibrant expression of this flagship white blend from Donovan Rall than previous bottles. A nine barrel blend of Chenin Blanc, Verdelho, Chardonnay and Viognier, the aromatics are focused, crisp, cool and incredibly vital with hints of buttered popcorn, lemon biscuits, and savoury leesy notes before a crushed Granite, sweet quince and yellow orchard fruit complexity emerges. Despite the 14.5% alcohol, the palate is fresh, pure and intense with a tangy layering of orange peel, passion fruit, honeycomb, guava roll and an enticing, piercing liquid minerality on the finish. An astonishing bottle with harmony and textural finesse, that goes a long way in explaining why top Cape White Blends are such a successful global phenomenon!
Domaine Parent has long been a leading producer of premium wines in Burgundy. Moving to the modern era, Domaine Parent is recognised as one of the first growers to sell their production in bottle rather than in bulk. Now run by 12th generation custodian Anne Parent, the domaine continues to produce some of the most eye-catching wines in Burgundy and specifically in Pommard as Anne prepares to hand over the reins of winemaking and marketing to the 13th generation – her niece Constance Fages-Parent.
The new 2023 Burgundy releases.
As Anne prepares for a slightly more sedate mentoring role in her semi-retirement, she recently returned to London with Constance to showcase the domaine’s new 2023 releases in bottle alongside a seductive array of back vintage wines for collectors and connoisseurs. Having tasted the 2023 releases last November in Burgundy at the domaine with Anne, it was fascinating tasting the full range again in bottle, after the wines have had extra time to harmonise, flesh out and integrate. While tasting the En-primeur samples, it immediately became apparent that the Parent 2023 wines were among the most serious expressions of the vintage, revealing depth, concentration and ample structure in this more accessible, charming Burgundy vintage.
Anne and Constance in London.
During her tenure, Anne Parent has been a trailblazer in biodynamics and a real force for strict vineyard management. Hence, the domaine has managed to stay very much at the top of the tree in the Burgundy quality hierarchy. Tasting the 2023 releases and a superb selection of back vintages in London merely served to reconfirm the domaine’s true “first growth” standing in Pommard.
The 2023 New Releases from Domaine Parent:
Domaine Parent Bourgogne 2023, 12.5% Abv.
A true introduction to the joys of the Parent wine range. Pure, bright and deliciously red fruited showing red currant, red cherry and wild strawberry nuances. The entry is zippy and fresh, the palate delicately chalky with powdery accessible tannins and deliciously tangy acids that lend a mouthwatering succulence. Silky, soft and ready to enjoy in its youth. Drink from 2025 to 2032+.
This is a blend of lower slope Volnay and Pommard vines of over 50 years in age. Full of intricate black berry fruits, this wine displays depth and complexity, a delicate smoky limestone minerality and a spicy, mint-tinged salty cassis finish. Accessible but still very serious. Drink from 2026 to 2032+.
(Wine Safari Score: 91+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard Les Noizons 2023, 13% Abv.
The delightfully complex aromatics show a beautifully expressive side of red and black berry fruits, black cherry, pink musk and salty cassis. Impressively chalky tannins, seductively bright crystalline acids and a pithy, black fruited finish. Pure class with superb balance and persistence. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
Beautifully dense, dark smoky aromatics full of limestone dust, pithy cherry skins and earthy red berry fruits. The palate is restrained but fleshy with a glycerol opulence, silky powdery tannins and a long, focused, incredibly precise finish with polished marble tannins. A very complete wine. Drink from 2026 to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins 2023, 13.5% Abv.
The aromatics are dark and aromatic with notes of black cherry, salted liquorice, and creme de cassis. The fruits are taut and powerful, tight grained and mineral laden with an impressive core of concentration, a liquid minerality and a lovely long, compact length. Power packed and broody. Drink from 2026 to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Argillieres 2023, 13.5% Abv.
The aromatics are laden with red berry fruits, red plum and earthy savoury notes. Delightfully fleshy and fresh on the palate backed by mouth watering acids, a glycerol mouthfeel and an accessible cherry fruited finish. Creamy, succulent precision with super purity and accessibility. Drink from 2026 to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnieres 2023, 13.5% Abv.
From 85-year-old Pinot Noir vines grown on brown and red clay soils that offers a more generous expression. Shows dark and alluring aromatics of black cherry, kirsch liquor and damson plum, liquorice and saline creme de cassis nuances. There’s a translucence to the fruit purity, crystalline acid brightness and a beautiful precision that shows some similarities to its neighbour Les Croix Noires. Massive concentration, opulence and depth. Very special site. Drink from 2026 to 2040.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Epenots 2023, 13.5% Abv.
The 2023 sees 40% whole bunches used with 40% new French oak from fruit grown on a lighter, finer grain of clay soils without much depth. The intricate aromatics show incredible precision and focus, power with elegance, with smoky limestone notes, satin soft tannins, and a generously long, concentrated finish. An utterly compelling offering. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Corton Grand Cru Les Renardes 2023, 13.5% Abv.
The complex aromatics shows red and black berry fruits, black orchard fruits, with high toned perfumed notes of kirsch cherry, purple rock candy, and blue berry nuances. The concentrated fruit envelops your palate, coating your mouth with silky powdery precision, before a long, persistent, focused classical finish. Drink from 2026 to 2040+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Corton Grand Cru Blanc 2023
From Chardonnay vines grown on deep limestone soils on the hill of Corton, just above the Les Bressandes vineyard. The wine is rich and expressive, full of ripe citrus fruits, buttered toast, honeycomb and leesy biscuity nuances. Sleek and bold in the mouth, there is a polished accessibility, a classy light touch elegance, bright racy acids and a long, distinguished, concentrated finish. Quite tight at the moment so might need a few more years in the cellar. Drink from 2027 to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
An impressive selection of Parent back vintages.
Domaine Parent Back Vintages:
Domaine Parent Pommard Les Croix Blanche 2019
A fabulous perfumed aromatics bristling with saline cassis and black cherry notes. The palate is pure silk, delightfully fine grained yet still powerful with great depth, intensity and length. Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Croix Noires 2019
Beautifully intense aromatics are packed full of red and black cherry, black sweet plum and a delicate sappy note in the finish. There is a classical 2019 breadth and depth, with opulent red and black fruits, a tangy acids and the signature tight knit silky tannins. A wine with great presence and depth. Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Argillieres 2019
A wine with clear opulence and fruit forward density, aromatically brimming with red and black cherry, wild strawberry over a delicate limestone minerality. The wine shows a beautifully supple depth and concentration, fabulous generosity, a fleshy, spicy peppery depth but with great length. Really quite superb. Drink now to 2036+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chanlins 2018
This 2018 shows a slightly more earthy savoury black fruited aromatics with hints of gun smoke, sappy spice and peppery wild strawberries. The palate is incredibly polished, fairly strict and linear but beautifully polished with silky tannins and a soft, tangy generous acidity. A more ethereal expression. Drink now to 2035.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Chaponnieres 2018
An intricate aromatic melange of savoury red berry fruits, sous bois, tilled earth and subtle dusty limestone hints. There is incredible tension and precision on the palate with a very fine grained linear texture, savoury red orchard fruits, and a beautifully focused, harmonious finish. Plenty of class on display. Drink now to 2038.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Pommard 1er Cru Les Epenots 2021
Beautiful intensity is written all over this wine, with aromatics of violets, red and black berries, black cherries and saline notes. The acid intensity matches the fruit focus and precision with piercing depth, a strict structure but also fabulous concentration. Wow. A real beauty. One for the cellar. Drink now to 2038+.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Grand Cru Corton Les Renardes 2020
This reveals a classical Burgundy nose showing stewed wild strawberries, red cherries, salty red liquorice with an underlay of earthy, herby, spicy sapidity. The palate entry is deliciously sweet fruited with an enticing interplay between savoury red fruits, frais des bois, sweet creamy supple tannins and a peppery, spicy, gun smoke mineral finish. Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Parent Corton Grand Cru Blanc 2020 (Magnum)
This is a really impressive white full of pedigree and precision. The aromatics boast lemon and herb spice, sweet crystallised lemon peel and lemon Bon Bons. The delicate leesy notes follow to the palate that shows a notable freshness, well integrated tangy acids, and a long, long, dry honeycomb finish. Drink now to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Archive vintages served alongside a delicious meal at Medlar, Chelsea.
The Domaine Parent wines are imported into the UK by Burgundy speciality merchant Musigny Wines. Contact: Andrew@musigny.wine to request an allocation of new 2023 releases and back vintages.
The De Schepper family owns five wine estates in Bordeaux as well as the De Mour negociant firm that is tasked with distributing their wines, more often than not, direct to international merchants and retailers. In my experience of tasting and reviewing their wines for the past decade, this is a firm that prides itself on its values, based on human expertise passed down through generations, technical mastery of all stages in the winemaking process, as well as upmarket product ranges developed via exclusive partnerships.
Within their product range, the special pure Cabernet Sauvignon cuvée of Château Haut Breton Larigaudière was created and named “Le Createur”, a literal translation of the family name of the owners “De Schepper”, a name of Flemish origin, in honor of Emile De Schepper, who bought the estate in 1964 and started the extensive renovation of the château. “Le Créateur” is an endless and tireless search tor the perfection of the personality of a specific vintage. I recently cracked a bottle of their 2015 vintage to assess how this pure Cabernet Sauvignon is looking after 10 years from vintage.
Chateau Haut Breton Larigaudiere Le Createur 2015, Margaux, 13.5% Abv.
This pure 100% Cabernet Sauvignon shows a beautifully complex and intricate aromatics of fresh violets, black cherry, dried bay leaf spice, red currants and black plum with hints of tilled earth, black tea and fresh tannery leather. The palate displays a beautiful crunchy freshness and definition with powerful linear tannins and a stony minerality supported by layers of creme de cassis and black berry fruits, a delicate wood spice, freshly brewed tea and delicate herbal notes on the long creamy finish. Drink this classy wine now and over the next 10+ years.
“Comando G, apart from being a cartoon series from the 1980s (known as Gatchaman in English), is also Comando Garnacha (Garnacha Command), a couple of friends convinced that they can produce some of the best Garnacha wines in the world from the Gredos mountain range. What started as a pastime has become the point of reference for the area, one of the main advocates for bringing back Garnacha, and also one of the most exciting success stories in the Spanish wine world over the last decade.” – Luis Gutierrez in The New Vignerons (Planeta Gastro) 2017.
A Comando G line up at the Winery.
Comando G is the brainchild of Daniel Gómez Jiménez-Landi and Fernando García. When they started in 2008, there was initially a third partner in the company – Marc Isart. Daniel, Fernando and Marc all grew up in the 1970s and 1980s with legendary cartoons such as Mazinger Z, Heidi, Marco and Gatchaman (Comando G in Spain). When the time came to give a name to their project, they set up their own fictional series, Comando Garnacha, which would eventually be responsible for producing some of the best Garnacha wines in the world. After all, there aren’t that many world class wines made exclusively from Garnacha grapes… Chateau Rayas in Chateauneuf-du-Pape probably being the most famous internationally.
Daniel Landi pouring his Comando G wines in London with his importer Les Caves de Pyrene.
Daniel Landi started his career in 2004 at Jiménez-Landi, the old family winery in the village of Méntrida, where he gradually found his way from Tempranillo, Syrah and Merlot to some magnificent top-class Garnachas from the Gredos area. In the early days, Comando G was a 5,000-bottle hobby project with a lot of potential.
The Rumbo Al Norte vineyard – Pictures by Riaan Potgieter, the Judgement of Wimbledon Grenache Tasting Convenor of judges.
Fernando and Daniel worked around the clock to make great wines and grow the project. They sought minerality, freshness and elegance in their wines through biodynamics and by revitalizing the vineyards by returning to old traditions. Their conviction is that “great wines are grown, not made.” They are winegrowers devoted to their land, who understand Garnacha and work with whole clusters. At the time of launching Comando G, as well as until quite recently, Garnacha was looked down upon as an inferior cultivar. In villages in the Gredos area, such as San Martín de Valdeiglesias and Cebreros or Méntrida, most wine was sold off in bulk. Gredos as we know it today simply did not exist.
The geographical zone of Gredos is split between three different provinces (Ávila, Madrid and Toledo) belonging to three different regions (Castilla y León, Madrid and Castilla – La Mancha), and three appellations of origin – Vinos de Madrid, Méntrida in Toledo, and Ávila, which falls under the generic appellation of Vinos de la Tierra de Castilla y León. Comando G, together with the majority of producers in Gredos, set up an association called Garnachas de Gredos with the aim of correcting the mistake of taking a political rather than geographical approach to the appellations.
70+ year old Garnacha vines in Rumbo Al Norte vineyard.
With firm proposal to create the Sierra de Gredos appellation, Comando G suddenly found themselves alone in this endeavour as most of the growers in the Ávila part of Gredos opted for the creation of a new appellation within their province, calling it Cebreros after the village with the most land under vine there. Despite this, Comando G, given their totally terrorist approach, wanted to explain and label their wines showing their geographical origin rather than their political one. So, after all, Sierra de Gredos is simply “the appellation that could have been.’
Daniel Landi eventually left the family winery in 2012 due to differences in opinion on how to run the business, leaving behind a brand built over years of hard work in the global market, keeping just a small personal project called Dani Landi which produces just over 15,000 bottles between four reds produced from the seven hectares under vine which he owns in different villages. Las Uvas de la Ira comes from a mixture of Garnacha from El Real de San Vicente, while there are three single-vineyard reds, all Garnacha but from diverse locations, soils and with different profiles: Cantos del Diablo, also from El Real de San Vicente, El Reventón from slate-textured soils in Cebreros, and the most recent, Las Iruelas, also from slate soils in the village of El Tiemblo in the province of Ávila.
In a short space of time, Comando G went from being Dani and Fer’s hobby to becoming their main project. Since 2012, the year they built a small, simple winery in Cadalso de los Vidrios, this became their permanent project. With no plans for new wines beyond the current range, their work now focuses on a better interpretation of the vintages and a better knowledge of each of their vineyards. Work in the vineyard is key. At Comando G, they produce up to 75,000 bottles, all sold out on allocation. Production quantities vary significantly by cuvée and vintage conditions, but the below is a good rough guide:
Village Wines: (e.g., ‘La Bruja de Rozas’): This is their highest-volume wine, with approximately 40,000 to over 56,000 bottles produced in recent vintages (e.g., 56,487 bottles in 2022, 40,943 in 2023).
Premier Cru Wines: (e.g., ‘Rozas 1er Cru’, ‘La Breña 1er’): Production is more limited, with volumes around 5,000 to 15,000 bottles per wine (e.g., 15,238 bottles of Rozas 1er Cru in 2018; 874 bottles of the first vintage of La Breña).
Grand Cru / Single-Vineyard Wines: (e.g., ‘Rumbo al Norte’, ‘El Tamboril’): These are the most limited and exclusive, with production often well under 2,000 bottles per year (e.g., 1,712 bottles of Tumba del Rey Moro in 2021, and less than 2,000 bottles of Rumbo al Norte).
The plot they named Rumbo al Norte, a piece of land which faces north in the tiny village of Navarrevisca (Ávila) at 1,200 meters above sea level, is one of the most striking vineyards conceivable. The landscapes in some parts of the Gredos mountains and the province of Ávila is scattered with Granite boulders, conjuring up images of giants playing with Granite marbles and their game has been interrupted and they’ve left them scattered, as if they didn’t have time to tidy up. Rumbo al Norte itself means ‘heading north’ and in this unique site, vines can be found amongst the huge boulders, tucked into the most unlikely spaces. In this unique, cool north-facing plot of 0.3 hectares in the area called La Breña, the soils are shallow decomposed Granite and Sandstone planted with 70-year-old Garnacha vines. Historically, there was no clonal selection used so the vines are a mixture of clones making them all slightly different as well as being a mixture of younger and older vines as dead plants were replanted over time. Due to the small size of the plot with a marginal climate, only around 1,000 bottles are produced each vintage. The conditions result in grapes with high acidities, making fresh, vibrant, mineral laden wines with moderate alcohol levels.
The Rumbo Al Norte Vertical line up.
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2010, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Sadly Corked. No Score.
Luis Gutierrez inspecting the corked 2010 Rumbo Al Norte.
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2013, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Cooler vintage.
Stewed strawberry compote, red plum and pithy red currant. Deep and dense, there is incredible structure and focus, tight, mineral and with gravelly tannins, glassy red and black berry fruits, with a long, granitic, dried herb finish. Serious effort, taut, tight and young.
(Wine Safari Score: 96+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2015, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Warm vintage.
Sweet opulent nose of Seville oranges, violets, pink musk, cherry blossom and bramble berry spice. Silky and smooth, this has a certain ease and elegance, soft creamy supply dry mineral tannins and long, focused finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2016, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Cooler vintage.
This shows a broody, earthy lavender note, with spicy red currant and pithy forest strawberry compote notes. Cool vintage on display here revealing intense, tighter, silkier tannins. Simply superb.
(Wine Safari Score: 99/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2017, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Warm, hot year.
This shows an intriguing melange of dusty gravel, dried herbs, gravel, dried herbs and dried orange peel. The palate is structured and mineral, focused, taut and tight but slowly opening its grip on this tight vintage. Finish is mineral, austere in comparison and stony, but certainly imposing.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2018, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Cool year.
The 2018 is a complex offering of struck flint, smoky herbs, green leaf, and picante notes of red and black berry fruits. The texture is impressive, silky, polished and quite fine, laden with bramble berry fruit complexity, stewed strawberry, and liquid mineral slatey tannin finish.
(Wine Safari Score: 98/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Comando G Vino de Parcela Rumbo Al Norte 2020, Villanueva de Avila, Sierra de Gredos, Spain
Slightly unusual, dry & warm vintage.
A frenetic wine, fragrant and complex, rich, mineral, and taut. This is still an embryo, fragrant, perfumed and fine grained, delicately fruited but plenty of minerality, gravel and granitic spice. Not showing its best, super young but plenty of age worthy potential.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Many thanks to Luis Gutierrez for joining the Rumbo Al Norte vertical tasting in London in 2025.
The Marques de Murrieta estate in Rioja, Spain, is one of the truly historic and symbolic wineries profiling the best of Spanish winemaking. Founded in 1852 by Luciano de Murrieta, Marqués de Murrieta has been under the ownership of the Cebrián-Sagarriga family since 1983. Situated in the heart of Rioja. The estate has been a pioneer in the region, introducing techniques over the years that have become synonymous with the rich, aged wines of Rioja. Today, Marques de Murrieta continues to blend the old with the new, producing wines that are both deeply rooted in tradition and forward-thinking and modern in their approach.
All the grapes are sourced from the bodega’s own vineyards at Ygay near Logroño, which were recently extended to 300 hectares. Traditional grape cultivars are favoured including Tempranillo, Graciano, Mazuelo, Garnacha Blanca and Viura (Macabeo), many of which are now starting to disappear from the Rioja region. The estate’s flagship wine, Marques de Murrieta Castillo Ygay, is a prime example of the owner’s premium winemaking philosophy, offering a rich, complex profile that evolves beautifully with extended ageing. From the meticulously tended vineyards to the state-of-the-art winery, Marques de Murrieta embodies the very best quality Rioja has to offer, creating wines that are celebrated the world over.
Tasting with Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, the current Count of Creixell.
The Vinos de Rioja Crianza Etiqueta Blanca (white label) was a Vino de Crianza wine (designated to be aged at least one year in barrel and one year in bottle) that was primarily made from Tempranillo grapes, though other traditional red grape cultivars were also grown on the estate and were thought to have occasionally been included. The wine was aged in American oak barrels for at least two years, which was a traditional method for the winery and a longer aging period than other wineries at the time. While I don’t know what the very first vintage of the Etiqueta Blanca was, I have only physically seen vintages as old as 1967 on tastings though it is suggested by some that the label goes all the way back to 1925. The last vintage Marques de Murrieta produced was the 1982, which is considered a legendary vintage for this classic wine. I remember talking to Vicente Dalmau Cebrián-Sagarriga, the current Count of Creixell, and he mentioned that the Etiqueta Blanca was often aged in barrel and bottle for much longer than required by the appellation and indeed could have qualified as a Rioja Reserva in reality.
Regional Overview:
The Rioja designation area, located in northern Spain in the Ebro valley, is divided into three production sectors: Rioja Alta, Rioja Baja and Rioja Alavesa. The Rioja vineyard occupies approximately 60,000 hectares spread on both sides of the Ebro over around a hundred kilometres and is bordered by the Cantabrian Range to the north and the Sierra de la Demanda to the south. Three autonomous communities inhabit the designation area: the Rioja itself, Navarro and the Basque Country.
Marques de Murrieta Ygay Vinos de Rioja Crianza Etiqueta Blanca Cosecha 1971, Rioja, Spain
This was the second of four bottles I own (my birth vintage), originally bought from merchant Gareth Birchley when he working as the fine wine manager at Berry Brothers and Rudd. The storage has been exceptional, and the ullage levels are all in the lower neck. In the glass, the colour shows opaque hints with ample powdery sediment and a very developed maroon red colour with old mahogany overtones. The aromatics are sweet, stewed and almost pungent with tertiary notes of balsamic, polished mahogany wood, old leather sofas, and leather backed library books over vanilla pod, sweet dried cherries, stewed strawberry compote, blood orange zest, sweet Christmas spices and aged sous-bois herbal characters. Beautifully evolved and complex on the palate, the wine retains a seductive level of sweet fruit opulence, tinged with a tangy sweet-sour acidity and notes of dried fruits, stewed red berries, soy sauce, strawberry jam, cloves, cured meats, and earthy, savoury spicy tilled earth nuances. While obviously evolved and tertiary, the wine does not feel fragile, and indeed I recorked the last quarter of the bottle and drank it later that day having not oxidised any further from opening. This wine has that sweet, seductive glow of aged red wines that retains a broad enough appeal for even novices to enjoy and savour. The tail of the finish has a delicately bitter orange, dry rancio grippiness that merely accentuates the flavour persistence on the palate. A wine of this style has now become almost ageless, and I will certainly be in no rush to drink my last two bottles as they slumber in a state of stasis, neither improving nor decaying further.
(Wine Safari Score: 92/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The most recently listed market price for the Etiqueta Blanca 1971 was $179 at Acker Fine Wines.
The Marques de Murrieta wines are imported into the UK by Maison Marques et Domaines (MMD).
Burgundy is full of talented wine makers, but every now and then, a new name comes along almost out of the blue, with incredible flair – this is Kei Shiogai – a superstar in the making. Originally from Japan, Kei left Tokyo to travel to New Zealand as he was so interested in Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. After a short spell there, he was strongly encouraged by locals to pursue his passion in the true home of these varieties – Burgundy – where studied viticulture and vinification in Beaune and Dijon.
Kei arrived in Burgundy and proceeded to work with several top producers including Philippe Pacalet, Domaine Rousseau and Domaine Roulot. Indeed, his earlier vintages in Beaune were produced while he was still working at Domaine Roulot. Even with his 2020 vintage, Kei started to turn heads and draw attention to his wines with their incredible elegance and purity of fruit produced from modest “village level” sites. But it is of course with fruit sourced from the more premium Grand Cru sites that Kei has really started to redefine his own stylistic talents. With limited stocks due to arrive in the UK shortly, it seemed the perfect moment to review his second Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru release.
Kei Shiogai Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru 2023, Burgundy
The 2023 Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru from Kei Shiogai is another exceptional expression with incredible attention to detail, showing aromas of limestone minerality, white flowers, pear fruits, lemon grass, sweet herbs, and buttered white toast nuances. On the palate the wine is taut yet elegantly textured and densely layered with a notable chalky dry extract but also seamlessly creamy, harmonious, and balanced. A decidedly more serious terroir driven, linear, minerally infused expression of Corton-Charlemagne than some of the more buttery mainstream examples on the market. Undeniably profound and a real high point in Kei’s 2023 white range. Drink from 2025 to 2035+.
(Wine Safari Score: 96-97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Kei Shiogai wine are available on allocation from his exclusive UK importer, Musigny Wines. Contact: Andrew@musigny.wine
