In today’s archive cellar examination, we look at not one but two iconic unicorn Chenin Blanc expressions from Chris Alheit, both tasted in December 2025 – the maiden release 2012 Radio Lazarus and then Chris Alheit’s last release. The 2017 represents the final release of Radio Lazarus made from two hilltop sites with stony shale soils: one planted in 1978 at 400m, and the other in 1971 at 450m. Due to the 2015-2019 Cape drought, these old vines finally reached the end of their lifespan and were simply no longer commercially viable. Radio Lazarus is unique in that it is fermented in large clay pots of 600 litres each, made from clay collected from the bottom of the same hill.
Renowned South African Wine journalist Tim James recently wrote a fitting homage to Radio Lazarus in June 2025, commenting… “I’ve previously had bottles of the 2012 Radio Lazarus at ten years that also showed remarkable youthfulness of flavour and freshness, while having the harmony, suavity, deep complexity, and texture of maturity. A great advertisement for the longevity and development potential of fine local Chenin Blanc.”
Tim continued… “The 2012 was the maiden vintage, and the one that preceded the 2014, as all the 2013 grapes went towards the blend for that year’s Cartology. Which means, in fact, that there were only two released vintages of Radio Lazarus that came from a single vineyard on the Bottelary Hills. From 2015 to 2017, there was a contribution from a second, nearby, high-lying Chenin Blanc vineyard (a little higher, a little older, on a hill bristling with even more of the radio masts that gave the wine half of its name).”
Tim concludes, somewhat sombrely… “It wasn’t just the cruel dryness and heat that finished it off; hungry buck, confronted by barren veld, had come like never before to eat what green shoots there were.” Eight final crates of 2018 grapes were picked that year off the other, original vineyard, but no wine was commercially released. In their release notes that year, the Alheits wrote of the glimmering of pleasure in knowing that “both vineyards were on death row, due to be ripped up, and yet they lived on a few more years to make some of the loveliest wines we’ve ever had the chance to work with.”
Alheit Vineyards Radio Lazarus 2012, WO Stellenbosch
This is a truly impressive bottle of Old Vine Chenin Blanc revealing complex regal aromatics of honey and biscuity leesy nuances and a subtle reductive vein before biscuit, quince jelly and buttered white toast. But this wine just keeps on offering up more and more… camomile tea, bees wax, burnt orange peel, apple puree, and oyster shell sea breeze hints. The palate is no less impressive, densely textured, unctuous, and creamy with quince, pineapple puree, more burnt orange, beautifully glycerol and full supported by fresh tangy acids that create a vibrant energy, sweet and sour yellow plum and a kelpy, maritime finish. Wow. A true unicorn wine that’s still firing on all cylinders. Drink now but certainly no rush.
(Wine Safari Score: 97/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Alheit Vineyards Radio Lazarus 2017, WO Stellenbosch
This vintage keeps going up in everyone’s estimation for both reds and whites and this beautiful drought vintage expression shows complex notes of salted liquorice, pristine refreshing saline nuances, earthy savoury peaches, yellow orchard stone fruits together with hints of wet straw, wet grey slate and green apple puree nuances. The palate is seductively silky and soft yet full and glycerol in the mouth with lovely harmonious chamomile, honey, and white peach notes on the long, characterful silky finish. Beautifully youthful and vibrant still, this wine should continue to put on extra weight and increase in complexity as it ages further. A fitting swansong vintage for this Old Vine vineyard.
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!
There is simply no denying the global wine trade’s perpetual fascination with Japanese winemakers, whether they are plying their trade in New Zealand, in France’s Jura region or in Burgundy’s Cote d’Or. The focus, precision, balance, and purity they managed to coax out of their grapes is simply next level, whether the fruit is grown by themselves or bought in from the negociant market. Over the past two years, I have been privileged to visit one of the most exciting Japanese producers several times, namely Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa in Gevrey Chambertin.
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa’s new cellars in Gevrey Chambertin.
This domaine, located in Jean-Marie Fourrier’s father’s old cellars, was founded in 2000 by Japanese sommelier and oenologist Koji Nakada and his Korean wife Jae Hwa Park. The journey started back in 1996 when Koji Nakada moved to Burgundy to study oenology at the University of Beaune, after which Koji started a wine business with negociant fruit, bottling a maiden Nuits Saint Georges Vieilles Vignes in 2000. Their first domaine plots of land were only purchased several years later in 2012, including treasured vines in the village of Gevrey Chambertin and Marsannay.
Koji Nakada in Gevrey Chambertin
Koji Nakada’s respected negociant label, bottled under the Lou Dumont name, is a combination of the name of their goddaughter, Lou, and the French translation for ‘mountain’, which pays homage to the regions of Japan and Korea where Koji and Jae Hwa grew up. The Kanji symbol on the label – sky, earth and man – refers to the natural elements whose perfect balance is a key ingredient for making fine wines, allowing the unique characteristics of site and terroir to shine through in the wine’s purity, elegance, and complexity.
The tiny La Brunelle Gevrey Chambertin vineyard just behind the winery.
As a winemaker, Koji Nakada’s goal is to produce pure, authentic Burgundy wines that clearly show their unique terroir, made from grapes grown with organic viticulture and a minimal intervention approach in both the vineyards and the cellar, using indigenous yeasts for fermentation and only adding low quantities of sulphites at bottling. Koji also pays special attention to very light touch pumping over and punch downs to ensure utmost purity during extraction. Today, Koji and Jae Hwa produce a stunning array of red and white wines from over a dozen different appellations with fruit purchased from respected premium vineyards with vines averaging 30 to 40 years of age.
Tasting in London with Koji.
On the first of my two visits to Koji’s cellar in November 2024 with his exclusive UK importer Musigny Wines, we arrived only to be told that Koji was still in Champagne tending his precious 1.5 hectares of vines in the Aube region where he makes some stunning Champagne. So we were shown around the winery by Koji’s wife Jae Hwa and also tasted with their tall, semi-pro tennis playing cellar assistant. On our return visit, Koji was back from Champagne and was pleased to show us around the labyrinth of old and new cellars under Jean-Claude Fourrier’s old house.
My tasting notes below are a combination of bottle and barrel tastings from these two cellar visits but also include some subsequent additional notes taken during Koji’s recent Michelin star tasting dinner at Cornus Restaurant in London hosted by his UK importer Musigny Wines.
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Coteaux Bourguignons Blanc 2022, 13% Abv.
Parcel purchased in 2012 near Nuits St Georges, pulling out the Aligote and replanting Chardonnay. Potential for 2000 bottles but allows the younger vines to settle by only making 700 bottles. Incredible aromatics of struck match, flint, sweet pear, bergamot, and wet limestone. The palate is delicate yet intense, fabulously bright and concentrated with tangy lemon pastille, green apple, salty toasted sourdough, and a gently phenolic chalky finish. Absolutely delicious expression.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa La Hautes Cotes de Nuits Violette Pinot Noir 2022, 13% Abv.
1 hectare vineyard near Gevrey producing a meagre 1,500 bottles. First vintage 2019. 80% whole bunch. 30% of grapes vinified in oak barrels, 70% in Stainless. Biodynamic cultivation. Bright and striking cherry ruby red in the glass, the aromatics tower out the glass, perfumed, seductive, beautifully perfumed with notes of violets, rose petals, pink musk, red cherries, cranberries, and hints of darker saline black currant. The balance and precision are pinpoint, the texture silky soft, powdery, and incredibly elegant. The concentration is intense yet weightless, crystalline, and beautifully red and black fruited, finishing with tangy acids and mouth-watering pithy wild strawberry nuances. Simply astonishing quality.
(Wine Safari Score: 94/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Bourgogne Pinot Noir “Vieilles Vignes” 2022, 12.5% Abv.
80% whole bunch used. 30% of grapes vinified in oak barrels, 70% in Stainless. 70% of vines over 60 years old, some of the vines planted in 1908. The aromatics on this beauty are a little more earthy and dark fruited with pink musk, lilac, earthy strawberry, damson plum, and earthy black berry. The wine is impressively structured by the bright vibrant acids that are caressed by silky tannins, before pithy tangy red and black berry fruits, hints of wood spice and a long limestone mineral finish. Once again, beautiful clarity, finesse and purity. Wow.
(Wine Safari Score: 93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Marsannay En Leautier Rouge 2022, 13% Abv.
A profoundly enticing aromatics of perfumed violets and lilac, white flowers, intense black cherry and saline earthy bramble berry fruits. The precision on the palate is majestic, crystalline yet lifted, cool and steely yet oh so genteel and seductive. The energy and purity very impressive, the focus, energy and strict structure classical and mineral. Beautifully sappy and mineral, this is a spectacular bottle of Marsannay that defies its appellation status but ably justifies the cult status bestowed on this great estate.
(Wine Safari Score: 95/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumont Marsannay “En Combereau” 2022, 12% Abv.
An enticing aromatics suggest seductively complex notes of violets, a blue and black berry fruit melange, and subtle soy and umami notes. The mouthfeel is a little more rich, tangy and fruit forward with only 50% wholebunch versus 80% on the Domaine Marsannay. The acids are bright and vibrant, the fruits crunchy and very intense. This offers incredible sweet fruited opulence with precision, brightness and crispness but perhaps with slightly less high toned perfumed intricacy seen in his domaine bottling.
(Wine Safari Score: 93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumont Gevrey Chambertin 2022, 12.5% Abv.
Same production as domaine wines with a slightly lower 50% whole bunch portion employed and only 20% barrel fermentation. The aromatics are rich, dark fruited and complex with notes of earthy black berry fruits, pomegranate, blood orange, and a perfume of violets and white flowers, earthy musk and subtle rose petal hints. With Koji working these Gevrey vineyards, this negoc fruited red wine is much closer to his domaine style. The fruit profile is so cool, crystalline and pure, seductively sweet fruited and attractive, offering up a phenomenal quality not generally seen with most Negoc-fruit wine styles. This is a very serious expression of Gevrey that will definitely seduce a new generation of Burgundy drinkers.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Aligote 2023, Premeaux-Prissy, Burgundy
From over 100 year old vines (1908) from a vineyard near Nuits Saint Georges, fermented and aged in new oak. Shows attractive rich savoury notes of lemon and oak meal biscuit, buttered white toast, with seductive nutty hints. There is great intensity and concentration, vibrant energy and power, finishing with lemon herbs and delicious pithy white citrus. A unique style.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-92+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Marsannay Le Desert Blanc 2023
From grapes sourced from within Les Champ Perdrix. Rich and expressive with toasty savoury aromatics of grilled nuts, waxy lemon peel, honeycomb, oatmeal, and leesy biscuit notes. The stony soils reveal themselves on the linear palate with ginger, lemon balm and limestone minerality. Rich but taut. Simply fabulous.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Bourgogne La Violette Rouge Vieilles Vignes 2023
A beautifully complex aromatics of saline cassis, piercing red cherry, incense, lipstick perfume and an incredible fragrant intensity with an enticing reductive hint. The acids are deliciously tangy, the tannins taut and stony with an intense limestone minerality, black cherry and black currant intensity. Wonderfully mineral and mouth-wateringly saline. Delicious.
(Wine Safari Score: 91-93/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2023
0.1-hectare parcel delivers a broody, slightly reductive hint of smoky black plum, bramble berries, and earthy meaty, savoury black currant aromatics. The precision and focus on the palate are simply superb, revealing sleek, polished limestone mineral tannins, fresh glassy acids and an elegant, sweet berry fruited generosity on the finish. Really attractive style. Total class.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-95/100Greg Sherwood MW)
UK importer Andrew Pavli with Koji Nakada in London recently for a private client tasting dinner.
Maison Lou Dumond Fixin 2023
Another incredibly cool fine and fresh expression with delicate rose petal purity with hints of violets, cranberries, and tart red currant over undertones of limestone minerality. The purity is pinpoint, the palate tightly packed with saline black cherry and picante black currant fruits beautifully framed by polished mineral tannins, finishing with clear linearity and wound spring tension. A delicious glassful of wine.
(Wine Safari Score: 92-93+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Maison Lou Dumond Gevrey Chambertin 2023
From the Belle Vigne lieu dit, the aromatics are elegant and delightfully perfumed with rose petals, violets, black berries and subtle saline limestone minerality. The purity is exceptional, with notes of oyster shell, nori seaweed, black cherry and pithy mineral spice. Lovely tension, purity and stony depth slightly out of the norm for this juicy accessible ‘23 vintage. Very classy but super serious too.
(Wine Safari Score: 93-94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2017
Revisiting an archive Gevrey Chambertin La Brunelle 2017 release… shows a beautiful earthy savoury bramble berry depth, blue and black berry fruits, sous bois and hints of blood and iron. The purity and focus is clearly evident, layered with peach pith, wild strawberry, sweet guava, and exotic tart red plum nuances. The tannins are fine grained and spicy, the finish savoury and super sleek, revealing not only the class of the vineyard but also the winemaker.
(Wine Safari Score: 94+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Lou Dumond and Domaine Koji et Jae Hwa wines are imported exclusively into the UK by Musigny Wines. Email Andrew Pavli to check vintage availability or to request a new vintage allocation:
Always an exciting event when Lopez de Heredia releases new wines, the 2012 Vina Tondonia Reserva comes from a very dry year which saw -25% less rainfall than the long term average resulting in reduced yields of very healthy grapes that produced wines with an excellent balance between alcohol and tannins, making it suitable for lengthy aging in barrel. As a result, the 2012 Reserva saw a slightly longer élevage of 6 years in barrel before bottling.
For the 2004 Gran Reserva releases, this historic vintage was classified by The Regulating Council of Rioja as EXCELLENT. The absence of spring frosts helped with ideal conditions leading to healthy pollination and fruit set but delayed budding due to lower temperatures during that period. All of these weather conditions produced a high yielding, high quality harvest. The summer weather was a little more unstable with a high risk of storms but the autumn was fresh and full of sunlight, allowing the winery to harvest very high quality grapes. The harvest started at Vina Tondonia on October the 11th and at Vina Bosconia on the 20th.
Vina Tondonia Tinto Reserva 2012, Rioja, 13%Abv.
70% Garnacha, 20% Graciano, and 10% Mazuelo.
This is an extremely attractive release that is already showing a seductively alluring, complex aromatics full of earthy red berry compote, stewed strawberries, tannery leather and savoury molasses notes embellished by flamboyant salted caramel nuances. The elegance and fleshy opulence of the nose is matched on the palate by beautifully accessible earthy red and black berry fruits, and dried sweet baking herbs that are quickly enveloped by a soft, friendly acidity and wonderfully creamy, supple spicy tannins. A finely balanced, harmonious release with a deliciously characterful personality. (240,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 95+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The 2012 vintage was classified as “Very Good” by The Regulating Council of Rioja
Vina Tondonia Tinto Gran Reserva 2004, Rioja, 12.5%Abv.
70% Tempranillo, 20% Garnacha, and 10% Graciano and Mazuelo.
Beautifully pure, bright and lifted, this Gran Reserva Tinto shows the precision and class of Tempranillo in a 5 Star Rioja vintage. The aromatics reveal layers of polished mahogany, red currant fruit, sun raisined cranberry over sweet savoury cured meat nuances. Incredibly pure and focused, this 2004 is vibrant and fresh with a creamy red berry fruit concentration that melts into sweet wood spice and subtle vanilla pod hints, finishing off with real focus, tension and intent. The tannins show a lovely ripeness and polish, still firm but incredibly seamless and fine grained, building to a harmonious, sumptuous finish with power and persistence. Simply beautiful. (24,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 97+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vina Bosconia Tinto Gran Reserva 2004, Rioja, 12.5%Abv.
80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha, and 5% Mazuelo and Graciano.
This is a characterful release of Bosconia brimming with forest floor decay, savoury earthy red berry fruits, gamey tannery leather notes, brewed tea, dried tobacco leaf and cured meats. Delightfully elegant and airy, seamless and sophisticated with a weightless concentration, creamy stewed strawberry fruits and plush, spicy tannins, this wine is always more Burgundian in style with extra layers of subtlety, delicacy and finesse. (6,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 96/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
Vina Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva 2004, Rioja, 12.5% Abv.
90% Viura, 10% Malvasia, barrel aged for 10 years being racked twice per year.
A pale gold yellow brightness welcomes an attractively complex nose of camomile tea, honey on white toast, sweet caramelized lemon peel, burnish yellow citrus, quince and subtly oxidative, nutty, sherry phenolic hints. The palate boasts a plush, fleshy, breadth and depth with creamy, fleshy voluminous yellow fruits, salted honied peaches, lemon confit, honey and a savoury, harmonious, smoky, spicy minerality. Seductively evolved and tertiary as you’d expect but also beautifully vibrant, energetic and flavourful. (10,000 bottles produced.)
(Wine Safari Score: 98+/100 Greg Sherwood MW)
The Lopez de Heredia wines are imported into the UK by FMV / BBR and are available to trade on allocation.
I first visited the impressively modern Château La Croizille winery in St Emilion at En-primeur time in 2015. Prior to that, I’d only ever cast a curious eye over its large, orange, modern-art tasting room that protrudes from the limestone cote, across the way from Chateau Tetre Roteboeuf. I had never tasted the wines and had never seen them in the UK market, the Claret capital of Europe.
The reason for this relative obscurity perhaps lies in the fact that La Croizille is a St Emilion Grand Cru estate that originally was acquired by the Belgian De Schepper – De Mour family in 1996 and is sold mostly in the Benelux. The 5 hectares of vines belonging to the Château benefit from the same remarkable soils, on the borders of the clay-limestone plateau of Saint-Emilion in the commune of Saint-Laurent des Combes, as Chateaux such as Tetre Roteboeuf and Troplong Mondot.
After 1996, the De Schepper family commenced on a large investment spree, bringing the estate into the modern winemaking era, combining its sought after terroir with high-end technology and traditional know-how to create a wine with great opulence, finesse, modernity and personality.
This winery is a rising Saint Emilion star which you’ll read a lot more about in years to come. Already, the winery’s more recent vintages have garnered several 90 plus point scores from international critics including James Suckling and Decanter Magazine. Buying a few cases of the opulent 2015 or intense 2016 could be a very smart choice.
Tasting Note: Chateau La Croizille Saint Emilion Grand Cru 2012, 13 Abv. ~ A dark cherry black opaque colour greets the drinker. Initially, the nose is broody and closed. But a little glass swirling and coaxing starts to elicit some of the more classical elements of the bouquet… black berry, black cherry pith, cassis, dusty limestone minerality, hints of graphite and a gloss of buttered brown toast. The oaking is almost imperceptible, revealing a very restrained and quite classical expression from this “drinking” Bordeaux vintage. The palate has all the sleekness, suppleness and accessibility that you’d expect from a 2012. A soft fine grained texture, polished powdery tannins, chalky grip and spicy, plummy, peppery black cherry and black berry fruit. It’s all packed into a very classical, medium bodied parcel, that delivers pleasure now but also suggest it is structured enough to be holding back a few surprises in reserve for drinkers in 5 to 8 years time.
