Some interesting bottles recently tried:

Goodfellow Whistling Ridge Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016 Ribbon Ridge, Oregon
Planted in 1990, sedimentary soils, 20 months in French oak. Midweight in body with sappy, elegant red cherry fruit. Has lovely elegance and finesse, with a red fruit drive and nice fine-grained. Has such purity and focus. There’s redcurrant brightness and beautiful delicacy. Really nice acid line and purity, with restraint and elegance, but also layers of flavour. 95/100

Jean-Paul & Benoît Droin Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2016 Burgundy, France
13% alcohol. Montmains, on the left bank, has a good proportion of clay in the soil, and makes richer wines with a resemblance to white Burgundy. This is a bold, complex wine with faint hints of cabbage and dried herbs. There’s lovely compact, bold fruit with toast, spice and pear fruit, with some white peach. It has a lovely mouthfeel, with many layers of flavour, showing hints of pith as well fine toast, and good acidity underpinning the rich fruit. This isn’t a steely, linear Chablis, but instead offers generosity and concentration, while retaining a good degree of precision. 94/100

Thomas Pico Chardonnay NV Vin de France
This is Thomas Pico’s (Chablis star) wine from the south of France, and although it’s NV the lot code indicates the vintage (2016). I tried it blind and my immediate thought was Jura Chardonnay. It’s very natural and expressive with baked apple, tangerine and a lovely spicy, mineral core. It’s quite open and expressive, with real finesse. Has some oxidative hints but they fit in beautifully. Fine grained and really textural in the mouth. 93/100

Filippi Castelcerino 2017 Soave Colli Scaligeri, Italy
70 year old Garganega vines, basalt soils, wild ferment, 18 months on lees. A bright, pretty, vital wine with a grainy structure under the bold apple and lemon fruit. Has some richness and a nice mineral streak. Lovely complexity here: the subtle oxidative hints really bring out the fruit and minerality in a very nice way. Proper wine. 92/100

Field Recording Chenin 2017 Central Coast, California
From three vineyards, planted in 1972, 1978 and 1981. This is complex and brooding, with some rich, honeyed notes framing the pear and apple fruit. There’s a bit of structure here, as well as some exotic tropical character. Lots of layers of flavour here: a really interesting Chenin that’s on the richer side but keeps its tension well. 93/100

Chateau Haut-Bergey 1999 Pessac-Léognan, Bordeaux
This has some development, but it’s drinking really nicely now, with sweet plummy fruit and some black cherry, as well as hints of earth and undergrowth. This is mellow and harmonious, with some hints of malt and caramel, but still a core of good fruit. Has a fine spiciness, with some silky texture and some sour cherry on the finish. A great example of a Bordeaux red drinking at peak – it might not be the best wine of all, but it’s in a really good place and delivers a lot of pleasure. This is why we cellar Bordeaux. 93/100

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