Affordable Wines with Age

This really is a superb vintage of this wine, so much to love in the more traditional Rioja style here, liquorice, coffee, meat juices, leather, redcurrants, herbs and cedar. But the palate then delivers everything in su...(read more)

The 2016 Doyac feels a little basic and lacks cohesion on the nose. The palate is medium-bodied with sappy, red berry fruit, light on its feet and yet it just misses some complexity and grip towards the finish. One of th...(read more)

68% Merlot, 21% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Petit Verdot. Good deep colour, quite fleshy and supple feel, fine tannins and fruit depth - well done, very harmonious. One of the Bruno Borie (Ducru-Beaucaillou) stable, this spo...(read more)

100% Merlot. A joy of supple fruit and easy flow. Not complex, but hard to fault for sheer fruit. Nice acidity keeps it fresh to the finish, and the tannins are fine.

75% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep glass-coating colour. Seriously dry limestone-influenced fruit and power. There's real drive under this, a firm mineral power. Harder work now than some of the...(read more)

100% Merlot on a buttonhole of purple clay in the Côtes de Francs. Very deep purple thick juice. Lively expression. Lots of weight and jolliness for this bargain-basement price. They think this is the best wine the...(read more)

This wine has an intense and attractive red with violet reflection. It is very complex and of great finesse with spicy notes and ripe plums as well as a certain very attractive minerality. On the palate, expect a very go...(read more)

100% Tinta del País (Tempranillo) from de los Rios Prieto’s oldest and best vineyards, produced by the most refined and traditional methods, aged 24 months in French high-quality barrels, 24 months in bottle. Bril...(read more)

We visited the La Mauriane cellar with Pierre Taix, and tasted the 2016 in its three component cuvées as well as an approximation of the final blend. The Merlot from the chalky hillside had fantastically delicious...(read more)

This lovely youthful cuvee demonstrates good rounded acidity with subtle notes of blackcurrant, cedar wood and black plum. Its mid-bodied mouthfeel would partner any good game bird dish or a more classic red meat roast o...(read more)

The 2014 Tronquoy-Lalande has a more elegant, refined bouquet compared to its peers, a mixture of red and black fruit, cedar, iodine and violets, perhaps picked a little later? The palate is medium-bodied with a ferrous...(read more)

Tasting great now, it has been drinking well for a couple of years - why wouldn't you want this with new season grouse? Grown in very hard-to-manage narrow terraces on a precipitous slope, with each vine on a pole, so ev...(read more)