Stockist/Retailer: vinvm.co.uk

(2026) This Botrytis-affected wine is not made every vintage - the next release after this one will be the 2022 - and only around 1500 half bottles are produced. It has around 200g/l of residual sugar and is also made from Vespaiola. It is aged for two years in all new French oak barriques. Pouring a burnished gold, there's vanilla and marmalade, fig jam and dried apricot, a stripe of lemon zest too. On the palate the dry Botrytis character is there, light earth and spice, nuttiness, intense orange and butterscotch, and a glycerine texture. Concentrated stuff, with a fine core of acidity to balance the finish. Price for a half bottle and for the previous vintage at time of review.

(2026) 100% Vespaiolo from the DOC Breganze, the vineyards planted on volcanic and tuffa slopes, and the wine made in stainless steel. Fruity aromas of grapefruit and peach, with a distinct almond and hint of honey, also a touch of schisty, mineral character. In the mouth pure and medium-bodied, dry citrus fruits that is quite orangey, quite intense and bright, with a dry, stony and delicately spicy, high-acid finish.The name comes from the Italian for wasp, Angela explaining that it is the last white grape to be harvested, and very attractive to the insects because of its relatively thin skins. Price and stockist quoted are for the previous vintage at time of review.

(2026) The blend of this wine has always been kept a bit of a secret, but does change. I can discolose that the 2021 blends 25% each of Pinotage and Cinsault from Stellenbosch, with 50% estate Pinot Noir. Soft cherries and berries, smokiness and I do feel a light rubbery, plummy background note. Sweet and supple fruit, quite pure and elegant on the palate, more tannin here than the Pinot for example, richer and fuller, yet still gentle in style. Made in open fermenters and matured for 11 months in French oak barriques, 20% of which were new. Price and stockist quoted for the 2020 vintage at time of review.

(2026) From vineyards on free-draining Table Mountain Sandstone in Elgin, this is crisp and brightly green at first, plenty of green beans and leafiness. Although it stays in that very fresh and vibrant style, with passion fruit and citrus, any hint of tropicality tones down as plentiful and lightly saline acidity pushes through.

(2026) Clearly the beautiful maturity of this 16-year-old wine has added a point or two to my score, as it was drinking beautifully. Sangiovese with 10% Canaiolo, it opens with classical leaf tobacco, smoke, bright supple cherries. Small herbs and game notes, then medium bodied and supple finish with sandy, fine tannins. Price and stockist quoted are for a much more recent vintage at time of review.

(2026) Spending 27 months in large oak 'botte', this comes from two vineyards planted between 2000 and 2003 and is all Sangiovese. The nose is composed and classical, spicy with tobacco infused red and black fruits. Really quite aromatic. The palate has a dry, juicy character, fine tannins and good acids, though I found this particular bottle just a touch lean compared to some.

(2026) I see from my database that I haven't tasted this single vineyard Chardonnay from the Mornington Peninsula since 2015, so high time to catch up - and a very good wine it remains too. The balance it strikes between flinty reductive notes and ripely peachy, orangey fruit is good, with a subtle oak creaminess beneath. The palate has verve and precision, but a burgeoning sense of exotic ripeness is there, and again the light smokiness of barrel and the natural treatment of wild yeasts, lees contact and light reduction.

(2026) From the Menfi DOC, Mandrarossa describe this wine poetically as "produced from the sea breezes," coming from clay and limestone soils stretched along south and south-west facing hills. Do not come here looking for Kiwi-style Sauvignon fireworks. Instead the nose has a mineral and citrus intensity, just hints of a more exotic kumquat and fragrant peach in the background. The palate is crystal-clear, and there is restraint again, with a light body and fresh, clean fruit character, not a lot of weight here, but that sea breeze, ozoney freshness is apparent. Price and stockist quoted at time of review are for a previous vintage.

(2026) A Terre Siciliane IGT wine that is 100% Petit Verdot from limestone and sandy soils, made in stainless steel. A very attractive nose - suggestions of sweet summer berries, spices and a definite floral lift - move on to a smooth and moreish palate, the creamy sweetness of fruit flowing across the tongue. Tannins are gentle and fine, and the acid gives some bite with plum skin and cherry pit. An unusual and attractive wine - easy drinking with a lot of sweetness, but of quality too.

(2026) The flagship and much awarded Nero d'Avola of Mandarossa, a Sicilia DOC wine from limestone and sandy soils, matured for 12 months in oak barriques. The colour is deep, but the aromas even deeper in a wine that has concentrated blueberry and dark, spicy plum, hints of espresso and dark chocolate gently underpin. In the mouth that concentration is evident, spices again, like clove and nutmeg, but a dark, bittersweet juiciness, plum skins and blackcurrant, but a significant tannin and acid axis says this needs some protein to ease the finish, or maybe a little more time in bottle.