On the second day of Christmas…

On the second day of Christmas my true love (is not very likely to) send to me, a self-assembled mixed case of more-or-less accessible Bordeaux, Burgundy & Tuscan superstars, writes db’s Bordeaux correspondent Colin Hay. 

The wines: A self-assembled mixed case of (more or less) accessible Bordeaux, Burgundy & Tuscan superstars that I’ve particularly enjoyed this year.

Format: OK, this might take a little bit of putting together, but arguably that’s what this time of year is all about. And, after all, it’s your true love who gets to do all the work here…! This certainly fits the bill for the festive season rather well. We have diversity – with wines from the Bordeaux, Burgundy and Tuscany – and they’re all ready for drinking now (even if some of them might benefit from a bit of decanting).

Yours for: This will depend a little on where your true love does her shopping, not least (as we know) because the tax and duty payable depends quite a lot on whether these are purchased in the UK or in continental Europe. In the UK, Rocheyron 2017 and Latour à Pomerol 2018 are available from Corney & Barrow for £68.19 and £42.30 respectively. Roc de Cambes 2017 is yours (or your true love’s) for £58.92 from Lay & Wheeler. Drouhin’s Beaune Clos des Mouches 2022 is the most expensive of the bunch and can currently be found from Millesima UK for (close your eyes now or turn away if you don’t want to know) … £161.70. Insoglio del Cinghiale is altogether more affordable, at £32 from Highbury Vintners (important to know if you’re the cash-strapped true love prepared to make some substitutions!). Finally, Orma 2022 is also available from Millesima UK for £77. All of these prices, of course, include a decent festive shot in the arm for the UK Treasury!

Tasting notes

Château Rocheyron 2017 (St Emilion; 70% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Franc; a final yield of 18 hl/ha after frost damage; certified organic; 14% alcohol). Gorgeously enticing and just beginning to acquire some secondary notes. This is floral, elegant and crunchy in its red berry fruit signature, with a lovely hint of heather and wild fresh herbal notes that betray its origins in this remote and wilder part of the appellation. With aeration there’s an almost Italian lavender note, with rosemary certainly and the profile of the berry fruit seems to darken a little, with more loganberry and mulberry, a hint of blueberry and a little damson too. More and more floral elements appear as this opens in the glass. Plush and lush for the vintage on the palate, which is a little richer than either the reputation of the vintage or the aromatics prepare you for. I love this. Yes, it expresses a little of the natural austerity of a different growing season. But I certainly wouldn’t have this any other way. Just starting to enter its drinking prime. Decant or allow to open in a burgundy glass. 94. Available in the UK from Corney & Barrow for £68.19, duty and VAT paid.

Roc de Cambes 2017 (Côtes de Bourg; 80% Merlot; 15% Cabernet Sauvignon; 5% Malbec; 100% new oak, in the form of Radoux blend barrels;14% alcohol). Roc de Cambes is one of those wines you make an exception for. It’s a singularity and if you described that singularity to me I would think it wasn’t really for me. But I love it, above all – as here – in a somewhat cooler, fresher vintage. Like the more sunny 2015, this could only be Roc de Cambes, with that deluxe velvet/cashmere texture, that intense florality – both fresh and petally on the one hand and slightly more dry and desiccated on the other. It is toasty, of course, but in that almost Pomerol kind of way that serves to underscore the florality. Deep, dark, plummy, poised and wonderfully hedonistic, this is great drinking now. 92. Available in the UK from Lay & Wheeler for £58.92, duty and VAT paid.

Château Lagrange à Pomerol 2018 (Pomerol; from a vineyard of 9 hectares on gravel and clay, including ancient deep, blue clay; 100% Merlot; aging in oak barrels, 30% of which are new, for 16-18 months; 15% alcohol). Spicy yet bright and fresh with roasted coffee bean, camphor and Szechuan peppercorns alongside the more aerial herbal and floral elements. Wild thyme, lavender and a dark stone/plum fruit. With air, a lovely truffle note starts to build. And build it does! Full and with a certain authentic rusticity, the ferrous minerality is prominent at first but it fades as the wine rounds out with more air. The tannins on the finish are a deal softer than when last tasted, though this is always going to be a ‘heart and soul’ Pomerol. A very authentic expression of its terroir. 91. Available in the UK from Corney & Barrow for £42.30, duty and VAT paid.

Beaune Clos des Mouches (Joseph Drouhin) 2022 (Beaune 1er Cru; 100% Pinot Noir). From a parcel of 6.82 hectares bordering Pommard managed biodynamically. An icon of a wine that it is exciting to find in such fine fettle in this vintage. Vivid, aromatically, with lifted loganberry notes alongside the darker cherry and black berry notes. There’s a delicate touch of spice, a little white pepper and a slight waft of oak smoke. Additional freshness comes from the blood orange zestiness and a hint of rosewater. Lithe and tender on the attack, with lovely concentration and mid-palate density, and gracious yet tactile tannins that tease out the fruit over the palate holding it tight to a well-defined central spine. Lots of grace and a beguiling charm that renders this very accessible already. 93+. Available from a variety of cavistes in France for €124, tax and duty paid and, in the UK, from Millesima for £161.70, duty and VAT paid.

Insoglio del Cinghiale (Tenuto Campo di Sasso) 2023 (IGT Toscana; 60% Syrah; 10% Merlot; 10% Cabernet Sauvignon; 10% Cabernet Franc; 14.5% alcohol). The little sibling of Biserno, a wine I have admired for its elegance and class since my first encounter. This is cut from the same cloth. It has all the spice, the pepper and the earthiness of fine Syrah, but with a freshness, a lift and a wild energy, but also a class and elegance that draws more from the Bordeaux varietals. A lovely balance. Indeed, what is perhaps most impressive about this – alongside the glossy tannins – is the sense of harmony and integration that comes from this perhaps somewhat unlikely combination of varietals planted quite a long way from what we think of as their natural homes. Excellent value and really well made. 92+. Available in the UK from Highbury Vintners at £32, duty and VAT paid.

Orma 2022 (IGT Toscana Rosso; 50% Merlot; 30% Cabernet Sauvignon; 20% Cabernet Franc; 14.5% alcohol). Impressive. Direct and expressive with a pleasing freshness and an attention-grabbing dark berry fruit-dominated aromatic profile. A touch of cedar. Nice concentration. Compact and well-framed by high quality fine-grained yet still granular tannins – the Cabernet Sauvignon doing much to circumscribe and rein in the structural parameters. A touch of leafiness with aeration brings additional freshness (from the Cabernet, once again). Maybe just a hint of dryness right at the end, but still very impressive and, really, this is just in need of a little time. A pleasing spiciness too marks its Tuscan origins. 97. Available in the UK from Millesima at £77.00, duty and VAT paid.

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