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The Rocca family have crafted a brilliant portfolio of 2022 Barbaresco. The wines’ balance, like a tightrope walker over the Tanaro River, and lifted perfumes, are impossible not to love. They are generous, and yet they also possess the poise, finesse, and classical tannins that will appeal to the Piemonte cognoscenti...

In 1849, French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote “plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose,” – the more things change, the more they stay the same. Pete Schell has been quietly chipping away at the Barossa coalface for a quarter of a century now, constantly extracting all manner of vinous gems.

Given that Domaine Alain Graillot has stood at the summit of the Crozes-Hermitage appellation for over 40 years—with Maxime Graillot present for half of those vintages—you might assume Maxime is part of the establishment. Far from it. He is one of the most thoughtful and engaging growers we work with, constantly pushing boundaries while eking out every last ounce of quality from his wines. His Syrahs are the epitome of impeccably made Northern Rhône wine: a place where old school values meet cutting-edge technique.

The combination of exceptional terroir, a marginal climate and progressive vineyard management—not to mention quietly understated winemaking—produces mesmerising wines. That is exactly what Pyramid Valley is delivering.

I wonder if there is a smarter buy in Burgundy these days than Dureuil-Janthial? Vincent Dureuil is a superstar, albeit a very quiet one; he works his vines and keeps his head down. He does not talk much. Whenever his name comes up in conversation with other great growers, everyone nods and talks about how remarkable his wines are and how much they love them. Remember that old Coche quote?

For a traditional, old-school grower keen to avoid the limelight, Cavallotto are not doing a great job staying out of the headlines. Off the back of a run of stellar vintages, Barolo specialist Kerin O’Keefe awarded Cavallotto her Barolo Winery of 2025 accolade this year. O’Keefe’s peers at Vinous and The Wine Advocate have been equally effusive.

Our first tranche of 2024 white Burgundies are starting to arrive. The headline news is that 2024 heralds a return to a more classic model of white Burgundy: delicious wines of modest alcohol, bright acidity and cool fruit flavours.

This exciting Jura collaboration between Beaune star David Croix and his friend (and local) Damien Courbet is certainly coming to the boil. In today’s email, we offer the pair’s first set of red wines; a Trousseau and Poulsard from vines sited close to Château-Chalon. We already know how good this project’s whites can be; it will come as little surprise that the reds follow suit. 

As one of our insightful clients put it at a recent event in Melbourne with Tesseron’s Matthieu Chapoutier, “You can buy more famous names in Cognac, but you can’t buy better.” How true. In a story that mimics that of the top grower-producers in Champagne (vs. the Grandes Marques houses), the remarkable quality and distinctive, vinous style of Tesseron’s predominantly XO Cognacs have allowed this artisanal producer to carve out a niche among the giants of Cognac. 

Jean-Marie Guffens is one of France’s most revered wine makers. Though best known for his brilliant wines from the Mâcon, the wines from his southern Estate should not be overlooked! Nor should remarkable his Barsacs, where Château Closiot has quickly become a regional benchmark (at very fair prices). But that’s a discussion for another day. Château des Tourettes is Guffens’ Domaine in the Luberon—a stretch of magnificent, hilly vineyards between Avignon and Aix-en-Provence.

“The key to these wines’ success is that they don’t hammer you over the head with the philosophy behind them, expressing their variety of lieux-dits with style and, prosaically, sheer deliciousness. Readers should seek out the superb single-site offerings from Saint-Véran or their Pouilly-Vinzelles, the last vintage before Premier Cru will be attached to its name.” Neal Martin, Vinous

Chermette’s 2024 Griottes is a punchy crowd-pleaser with loads of crunchy blueberry fruit and exuberant cherrystone tang. This is just the kind of Beaujolais the late Marcelle Lapierre referred to when he said, “Ça se boit sous la douche.” (It’s a wine you can drink under the shower.)