(2026) It was only a few months ago that I drank my last bottle of San Felice's Poggiorosso from the 2010 vintage, a polished and refined wine of savoury richness that was drinking beautifully and earned 95 points from me. Since then, in 2014, Chianti Classico introduced a whole new category for its top tier wines, called 'Gran Selezione'. To qualify, grapes must come from estate vineyards, the wine must reach at least 13% abv, and they must be aged for a minimum of 30 months before release. In 2021 this was further refined by the introduction of 'Additional Geographic Mentions', or UGAs. This allows Gran Selezione wines to add the name of the commune from which they come, giving a clearer sense of individual difference and identity - much like Bordeaux has Pauillac, St Julien, Margaux, etc.
For this 2020 vintage of Poggiorosso, now designated Gran Selezione, that has been enacted by adding its commune of Castelnouvo Berardenga to the label. The wine carries similar hallmarks to that 2010, though naturally is much more youthful. 100% Sangiovese, it is fermented in large wooden vats and spend around two years in 500 litre barrels, all new, plus a further year in bottle. Lovely blood-streaked and graphite, classical nose. Lots of cedar and juicy cherry, a touch of minerality, but a chocolaty depth too, it already drinks well, but will no doubt do so for a decade more.
(2026) Sangiovese with "a few percent" Cabernet Sauvignon. There is a touch of pleasant herbal brightness to the sweet black fruit. Very juicy, balanced palate, and orange freshness to the finish. Supple and modern, and drinks well. Price and stockist quoted is for a previous vintage at time of review.
(2026) In 2022, Quintessa say it was the maturity of their vines that helped weather extreme heat late in the season, plus vineyard practices honed over previous years. The 2022 is composed of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, plus one percent each of Carmenere, Petit Verdot and Merlot. It spent 22 months in French oak (60% new), with just 1% made in terracotta amphora. The colour is a vivid magenta, deep at the core, with dark and meaty aromas rising from the glass. There's an immediate sense of savoury concentration, black fruit for sure, but cedar and game folded around. On the palate the sheer sweetness and ripe, supple lusciousness of the blackcurrant and juicy plum takes you by surprise: so much dark cocoa richness and fleshy, dark fruit that the aromas only hinted at. Tannins are taut and grippy suggesting this needs time, but already the balance and the intensity makes for an impressive glass of wine. Balance and length are exemplary, in a terrific Napa Cabernet. I have quoted the equivalent duty-paid bottle price at time of review, as retailers are offering for around £1,150 per six in bond (i.e Duty and VAT still to be added).
(2025) The last time I tasted this wine was 2012, in a restaurant in the Bekaa Valley over lunch with Serge Hochar, so quite evocative. Thick with sediment so decanting necessary in this 26-year-old wine, then heavenly on the nose with rich spiced berries and all sorts of gamy and vanilla nuances, high florals too. Rich, plummy and deep on the palate with fabulous fruit sweetness and purity, tannins resolved but working with oak spices to underpin solidly. Acidity is cherry-like and juicy in a lovely wine, drinking very well now but knowing Musar, could have decades ahead of it still.
(2025) Well, this is utterly gorgeous. Pouring a glowing, lightly burnished gold, the heady aromas encompass barely sugar and exotic apricot and mango, but so much honeyed, lightly truffly botrytis character too. Rich but agile in the mouth, it has weight and texture but such clarity, the fully sweet and luscious tropical fruit with candied glacé oranges and mandarins, and a pitch-perfect balance in the almost endless finish. What a treat. Many stockists have this only by the case at time of review, and many in-bond only, but Brunswick is one showing the wine by the bottle.
(2023) A rare beast, a tawny Port blended from wines matured for five decades in oak casks, a collector’s edition released in very limited quantities. A dark tany/caramel in colour, the nose is resinous and deep, polished wood, meatiness of umami, plus clove and cinammon spices. In the mouth, extraordinary raisiny intensity, marmalade and mollases coating prune, and yet intense angelica brilliance too. Plenty of acidity against the chocolate richness of the finish.
(2022) There's 3% Malbec in the blend too, in a wine from a top vintage for Margaret River, with a long, rain-free autumn allowing for slow, full ripening. The Art Series comes from selected parcels of fruit, the wine spening fully 22 months in barrel before bottling. Dark, saturated and dense in both colour and aroma, there's loads of spice and cedar, and a core of pure blackcurrant. In the mouth the creaminess of the texture impresses first, with a supple flood of black fruit that is ripe, fleshy and sweet. Mocha coffee and dark, roasted spices add a lot of depth and drama, then the finish picks up much more of the grippy, but fine tannin and a rasp of refreshing plum-skin tart acidity. Long and very pure in the finish, with cellaring potential.
(2022) This Shiraz was harvested in the last week of February, at the same time as 2019's Riesling. Fermentation included 20% whole bunches, and the wine was matured in second and third use barrels for a total of 18 months. Vivid crimson in colour, there's a fabulously peppery aromatic, with loads of violet too, and charming blueberry and plum depth of fruit. A really attractive cooler climate style. In the mouth there's abundant sweet black fruit, quite glossy and ripe, but with a cherry skin grip of more tart fruit that gives an edge. The cedary barrel component adds more grip, as does a firm tannin quality and plenty of acid grip. The finishing impression is of freshness in among the more succulent fruit characters.
(2022) From an excellent vintage, the Art Series Chardonnay is fermented in 100% new French oak barriques, with a percentage of whole bunches in the mix. The wine is blended after 11 months in barrel. Despite that significant oak treatment, this has a gentle mealiness and creamy almond quality rather than anything overtly toasty. It seems a tad more precise than the previous vintage. There is a little buttery Brazil nut beneath, but also a certain coolness to the fruit, a hint of tangerine to peach and ripe pear. In the mouth it is medium-bodied and has very good freshness, the acid sparky and streaked with lime, that cuts through more buttery and tropical fruit flavours. Again there's salinity, and that plus the zesty citrus gives this fine definition, with a bit of grip too.
(2022) In a mild year, the Riesling harvest began on February 22nd and was completed within a week. A selection of the best parcels was chosen for this bottling, which saw minimal time on lees after fermentation in steel. Delicately floral and fresh on the nose, there is lime and blossom, but a gentle character from the outset. In the mouth it is a wine of great running mountain stream clarity, all about lemon and sharp apple flavours, a fine salty edge to the acidity in a long finish that ripples with lemon juice zestiness.
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It was only a few months ago that I drank my last bottle of San Felice's Poggiorosso from the 2010 vintage, a polished and refined wine of savoury richness that was drinking beautifully and earned 95 points from me. Since then, in 2014, Chianti Classico introduced a whole new category for its top tier wines, called 'Gran Selezione'. To qualify, grapes must come from estate vineyards, the wine must reach at least 13% abv, and they must be aged for a minimum of 30 months before release. In 2021 this was further refined by the introduction of 'Additional Geographic Mentions', or UGAs. This allows Gran Selezione wines to add the name of the commune from which they come, giving a clearer sense of individual difference and identity - much like Bordeaux has Pauillac, St Julien, Margaux, etc.
For this 2020 vintage of Poggiorosso, now designated Gran Selezione, that has been enacted by adding its commune of Castelnouvo Berardenga to the label. The wine carries similar hallmarks to that 2010, though naturally is much more youthful. 100% Sangiovese, it is fermented in large wooden vats and spend around two years in 500 litre barrels, all new, plus a further year in bottle. Lovely blood-streaked and graphite, classical nose. Lots of cedar and juicy cherry, a touch of minerality, but a chocolaty depth too, it already drinks well, but will no doubt do so for a decade more. 
In 2022, Quintessa say it was the maturity of their vines that helped weather extreme heat late in the season, plus vineyard practices honed over previous years. The 2022 is composed of 93% Cabernet Sauvignon, 4% Cabernet Franc, plus one percent each of Carmenere, Petit Verdot and Merlot. It spent 22 months in French oak (60% new), with just 1% made in terracotta amphora. The colour is a vivid magenta, deep at the core, with dark and meaty aromas rising from the glass. There's an immediate sense of savoury concentration, black fruit for sure, but cedar and game folded around. On the palate the sheer sweetness and ripe, supple lusciousness of the blackcurrant and juicy plum takes you by surprise: so much dark cocoa richness and fleshy, dark fruit that the aromas only hinted at. Tannins are taut and grippy suggesting this needs time, but already the balance and the intensity makes for an impressive glass of wine. Balance and length are exemplary, in a terrific Napa Cabernet. I have quoted the equivalent duty-paid bottle price at time of review, as retailers are offering for around £1,150 per six in bond (i.e Duty and VAT still to be added). 