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Robert Johnston's Review:

A fantastic deep gold colour, with strong, dewy spring flower aromas on the nose. It has a medium body -- a pleasantly viscous, creamy mouthfeel -- and a hint of sweetness. What really carries it, underpinning the whole structure of the wine, is a note of nutty sourness that sings and lingers on the tongue. Excellent. First of a case from the Little Wine Club, and I'm very impressed.

Robert Johnston's Review:

It can be tricky, this variety, especially at this price point; too often it's perfectly pleasant, appley and fresh, but just a bit ... dull. This, however, is what you hope for: a beautiful golden colour, perfumed, almost viognier-like asparagus nose, and a clean, red apple palate with unexpected complexity and a mouthwatering tangy finish that keeps your tongue zinging for minutes on end. At about 30 months in bottle, from the excellent 2007 Alsace vintage, this should be at its best right now.

Robert Johnston's Review:

A big, oily, viscous wine with a heady nose of white flowers and caraway. Slightly minty and grassy, with exotic Viognier flavours of perfumed honey. The Marsanne and Roussanne ground it with a bit of herbal toothiness.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Bought as part of a cache found by Nicolas Potel, found by Berry Bros. It's almost brick red, so you can tell even visually it's ready, or even past its best. I wanted to taste a really mature Burgundy, so I don't regret the price paid, but I'm not completely sure it's worth the entrance fee.There are tantalising vegetal, mushroom, truffle aromas, but as so often with red Burgundy, they don't really fully manifest on the palate. It's mainly fruit -- big, grapey, skinny, acidic fruit -- but for that, it's pretty amazing fruit, lasting too long on the tongue to be measured and hinting and teasing at more palpable essences of the vintage and the terroir.I'm not sure if I've caught this too late or too early; the logic says too late, but there's still a chewy tannic component that makes me think this could still age. Right now it's a fascinating wine, if not a perfectly balanced one.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Shelf-shouted by Oddbins as medium-sweet but labelled as trocken. We had this with a spicy prawn stir-fry, so we might have missed a little bit of sweetness, but not enough to make it medium-sweet: off-dry at most, and I'd probably side more with the winemaker at dry.Good gold colour with some little bubbles, typical of dry riesling (although at only a year or so in bottle I'd expect it to have a greener tinge).There's citrus and green apple on the nose, with a little hint of bitter lime, and some peachy notes right at the top. Underneath you can just detect acetone and wet stone, which would indicate to me that this one would benefit from a bit of age. At the moment, though, it just gives the youthful nose some bracing tightness.It's got a full body in the mouth -- starts out zappy with the slight spritz, although this fades as the wine breathes and warms. The zip gives way to strong green apple (with a little red apple that I think would develop in bottle) with perfectly integrated, refreshing acid and some complex tropical and gooseberry undercurrents. A bit of sherbet zip on the sides of the tongue sticks around for a long time.Now the spice of dinner has left my palate, this is definitely dry -- not as startlingly bone dry as some Rieslings, but most of the way there. I'm surprised it held up so well to so much capsaicin without residual sugar, but it did, and I think it could just as comfortably hold its own with fatty white fish as well. Good at the price, and I'm going to stick one in my fridge for a few years too.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Never had a negroamaro, and going by Vino Italiano it's supposed to be inky black and tannic. This one is, but has surprising red cherry notes on the nose, initially, with meat, leather and an even more surprising gamay banana hint. The tannins are big but soft and creamy, with the kind of mouthfeel I've encountered before in good NZ pinot; this has some of the same oily fruit, with overripe and baked flavours in there too. The overall wooliness is held in check by feisty red cherry acid, but everything is dominated by a not-unpleasant caramel-oxidised note -- almost sherryesque later on -- and sweet vanilla oak, although not the hefty oaking that too many Italian biggies seem to have these days.If I ate meat: boar or venison. Pescatarian (or fish-and-chipocrite) as I am, a seared tuna steak.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Lemony gold in colour with a big, blousy, flowery nose of camomile, asparagus, hay and creamy citrus. Smooth, oily body and creamy malolactic flavours, with just enough acid to cut through, and enough resinous, warm marsanne to make this a bit more than just another New World viognier. It does a decent impression of a good Rhone white, although it's just a tad slick and mathematically balanced to trump one of those wilful, nervy oddities.Would work with a creamy white sauce on fish, or, as we're having tonight, a parsnip and sweet potato puree with pan-fried sea bass.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Bottled for Marks & Spencer, this is a deep, clear ruby, with a classic(o) nose of red fruit and oak. It's equally typical on the tongue, with lively but not overwhelming acidity, soft tannins, and red cherry dominating the palate. Tastes a bit hotter than its 13%, but overall it's in good balance. Fairly expensive, but its simplicity and unassuming elegance make it worthwhile. M&S reckon this will develop in bottle until 2010.With tomatoey pasta or, as we're having, some rich, eggy tarts, one with salty smoked salmon and the other with earthy wild mushrooms.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Rich golden colour, with a fairly subtle nose of camomile, mint and citrus -- smells like a summer meadow! Initially tropical in the mouth, with melon-ish notes, red apple, citrus, and then some herbal hints -- sage and grass. Full bodied, with excellent length and perfectly integrated acidity, this is a little joy of a wine from Burgundy's perfect 2005 vintage. Worth its slightly steep price, this would stun with roast chicken or scallops.

Robert Johnston's Review:

Really typical, rustic Barbera with very pronounced acidity (maybe why the 1996 has been scored low?). There's a lot of woody-vanilla oak, but balanced by searingly bright black cherry fruit and that really singeing acidity -- a bit daunting, but a fantastic food wine that'll cut right through an oily pasta or pizza and liven up a carpaccio beautifully. With a toasty tomato-sauced pasta, I could not get enough.