With small amounts of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot, this is a rounded and rich red with balanced acidity. Dark plum, berry and mocha highlight a soft, lush opulence of integrated oak with hints of baking spice and tobacco.

Processed without fear of contact on the fine lees, this young Chianti Classico shows sensory power and character. Primary hints of black cherries, orange blossom, wild strawberries and juniper berries blend with shades of cedar and pink grapefruit. Full-bodied, juicy and delicious on the palate, it gives a more than pleasant sip, important but not demanding. Delicious right away but better from 2022.

Refined and rich, this is filled with firm, concentrated cherry tart, fig paste and dark plum flavors that are filled with savory accents. Shows nuances of loam and cooking spices on the lightly toasty finish. Drink now through 2026.

This midnight purple colored Cabernet Sauvignon from Anakota opens with a black plum and sour dough toast bouquet. On the palate, this wine is medium plus bodied, balanced and smooth. The flavor profile is mineral influenced black currant with notes black cherry and oak. We also detected some hints of black tea mixed in. The finish is dry and its dusty tannins stick around for quite some time. The Panel would pair this Excellent Cab with a ribeye steak.

Quite light in the glass with a beautiful nose of peach, cherry, and white flower. The palate? Whoa. Great tartness and balance here. This is another contender for top wine. Outstanding.

A floral touch from the first nose, smoky but delicate, with a powerful and surprisingly supple touch to the tannins. This must be one of the best 2017s in St-Emilion. So much smoke and grilled chocolate add layers of interest to the berry fruits. This was the year of the frost, where production dropped from 7,000 to 4,500 cases and left this unusual blend.

A brilliant wine, with poise and a sense of stillness and deep raspberry fruits that are centred. Even on the nose you can feel the texture - this is built, muscular and powerful - it is profound, with evident time ahead of it. Pierre's son Nicolas began taking a bigger hand in the winemaking as of this vintage.

Explosion of rich turmeric, crushed stone and subtle smoked saffron with touches of grilled almond, and a rich, powerful bramble berry fruit. Lovely chewy tannins also, shot through with pulses of electricity and minerality. You can enjoy this now because the aromatics are already giving so much, but it is sure to age brilliantly for another few decades.

Deep inky colour with ruby reflections. This is extremely successful, with a feeling of everything being in its place - softly textured black cherry and blackberry fruits, riven through with cloves, cracked pepper spices, smoked earth and saffron. Savoury and juicy on the finish as the slate texture kicks in.

Weekend WinesFive O’Clock SomewhereA nicely maturing biodynamic Syrah from a top producer at just over £20? Yes please! Lots of whole-bunch gives intense, vibrant plum and blackberry fruit. The exotically spiced, silky palate balances its alcohol amid dusty tannins and mineral acidity.

Ironheart. An excellent name for such an iodine-laced and ferrous wine.Dried mint, sage, iodine, blackberry, spice. The region is stamped firmly on this wine. It picks up on the palate, with deep ferrous tannin, plenty more of that inky and sizzled sage leaf character, deep black fruit, menthol, bacon bone and black olive flavour, furry feel and a powerful finish of fennel and sage sausage. It offers a distinctive flavour profile, and it’s a curious wine in a way, high quality, but kind of overt.

Honey drizzled corn flakes, aniseed and fresh mint, orange and peach juice, a dusting of spice. Lovely chew and grip, a dried flower mouth-perfume, distinct umami almost teriyaki chicken flavour, fresh feel to acidity, even though it’s a wine of bold shape and scale, dry and briney to close. So much interest and things to explore here, as it rolls around the mouth. Excellent.

Fragrant, with scents of candle wax, faint honeycomb, ginger, preserved lemon, jasmine. Lovely stuff. Waxy texture, slippery finish, long and persistent and complex. A feast of stone fruit flavours, ginger-lemon tea, green herbs and salted cashew nuts. Excellent. Complex, medium weight white.

Pale garnet colour. Sappy, sultry, slate-like tannin hewn red of just shy of medium weight. Very fragrant, rose water, maraschino cherry, pot pourri. Beautiful perfume. Flavours are in the cherry-cranberry zone, those tannins though… and general sense of vitality and freshness. Excellent wine here. Structure, complexity, excellence.

Garnet coloured with black rim. Looks deep and moody. Wood spice, clove, cedar, darker berries, liquorice, brined olive notes. Trim and taut, controlled and long, serious feeling wine of depth and complexity, seasoned well in a style that favours a bit of mocha-spice oak presence. It fits the premium bill, needs some time, will mature well. Serious, spicy, dark fruited grenache with tension and drive.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Stormin' is the most exuberant wine in the range. It shows terrific depth and density, while remaining transparent and light on its feet. Dark red/purplish berry fruit, rose petal, lavender, spice and mint build in this expansive, beautifully expressive Pinot. A dollop of whole clusters (7%) adds a touch of character without being especially evident.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Sealift, from a site in Annapolis, is bold, juicy and so expressive. Red/purplish berry fruit, spice, rose petal and dried herbs are some of the many notes than run through the Sealift. A wine of energy and nuance, the 2018 has so much to offer. A healthy dose of whole clusters add character as well as nuance. This is very nicely done.

The 2018 Pinot Noir Edmeades is gorgeous. The blend of Calera, Swan and Dijon clones on low vigor soils works so well here. Pliant and silky, with striking depth, the 2018 has so much character. Red/bluish-hued fruit, spice, orange peel and mint give the Edmeades an effusive beauty that is impossible to miss. All the elements come together in an Anderson Valley Pinot that hits all the right notes.

The 2018 Chardonnay Sky Crest captures all of the intensity of Anderson Valley. Rich and exuberant, the 2018 possesses terrific depth, with plenty of baked apple tart, pineapple, yellow flowers and tropical character. Even with all of its exuberance, the 2018 retains terrific freshness.

The 2017 Cabernet Sauvignon Smothers-Remick Ridge is another striking wine in this range. Bold and punchy in the glass, with tons of savory/earthy character, the 2017 has a lot going on. Cedar, sweet pipe tobacco, menthol, licorice and wild cherry all run through the 2017. This Sonoma Valley site is one of the most distinctive sites in California, as are the wines.

This expressive white showcases a mouthwatering mix of tahini, fresh ginger, lemon zest, pear and green apple flavors on a juicy, sleek frame, with remarkable precision and intensity on the finish, oozing with freshness and vibrancy. Drink now through 2032.

Stylish and memorable, with a touch of salted caramel adding a rich, savory edge, yet the core is pure and juicy, featuring lively Meyer lemon, Asian pear and lime sherbet flavors that show wonderful transparency and intensity, followed by candied ginger notes on the finish. Drink now through 2022.

Vérité: Now at age 10More mint, black cherry, mulberry, cedar, candied violet, and floral notes emerge from the 2011 Le Desir, and it blossoms with air, developing even more classic Franc herbal and chocolate nuances. With medium to full body, it's more angular and structured than the La Muse yet still beautifully balanced. Possessing ripe tannins, good acidity, and outstanding length, it's another impressive wine from this estate that unquestionably has a Bordeaux-like sense of structure and acidity. It promises another 15 years of prime drinking and will have a gradual decline after that.

Vérité: Now at age 10There were a little over 2,000 cases of the 2011 La Muse produced, and this Merlot-dominated beauty checks in as 89% Merlot, 7% Malbec, and 4% Cabernet Franc. It has a Cheval Blanc-like bouquet of darker currants, cherries, leafy herbs, cedarwood, and graphite that opens up beautifully with time in the glass. More medium to full-bodied on the palate, it doesn't have the density of a bigger, riper year but has terrific overall balance, ripe, polished tannins, and a gorgeous finish. As with the other releases, it's still youthful (there's no hint of bricking or amber at the edges), and while it's drinking beautifully today, it has another 15 years or so of prime drinking.

You can see why the Australian media is so excited about this pinot. Fresh, light, and medium-weight, this projects a lot of pinot character and fits the Jackson Family Wines delicious factor they like in their pinot noir. Giants Steps’ is now under the watch of JFW Australia and will have access to many resources, including the mind and palate of Peter Fraser. I have no history with this wine, but it doesn’t take much to fall in love with the elegance here, and the rooty, savoury undercurrent that complexes its delicious red fruit. What a delicate pinot with extraordinary length. Let’s hope local buyers get on board and order all they can get.