Wines of the Year! It could be so self-indulgent, could it not? A dozen posh bottles which no one can afford and will probably never drink. I do have some of that stuff left in my cellar, a kind of reminder of what I used to drink, occasionally, long ago. The reason I hope you will both read and enjoy my take on the WOTY thing is because my criteria is not price, fame, rarity (though because some of these are tiny production wines, they may be rare) but interest. As with my “Recent Wines” articles, from where these wines were taken, the real criteria is simply “what did I find most interesting”? If I found it interesting, stimulating, exciting etc, then perhaps you will. I’m sure you share my enthusiasms.

There are a dozen wines here, one from each month of 2023. As I begin this article, I don’t know what I shall choose from December. The last two wines I drank could both qualify, but embarrassment that all of the first eleven come from Europe may be one of the deciding factors. That there are three English wines among this dozen must say something (I kind of feel sorry for another English producer who was just edged out).

I don’t think the wines I have been drinking have changed that much over last year and I have an apology to make. I’m trying to be honest with this list, not contrived, but I’ve noticed that in 2022 I listed the previous vintage of two exact same wines I list here. I must like them a lot. There is also another, albeit different, Breaky Bottom cuvée here, again. That expresses a lot about how much I love this small English producer.

However, there are no Czech wines this year, and no Swiss wines either. Perhaps even more shocking, there are no wines from Champagne in my 2023 dozen. Don’t read anything into these omissions. I’ve drunk so many, especially the Czech wines, and enjoyed every one of them. Perhaps it has been a time for others to stand out. These selections always end up being pretty tight and hard to choose.

It is unlikely that many, if any, of these will still be available, but I have included the month where I wrote about them, in case you want to search and read a little more, and have listed the retailer and/or importer should you wish to pursue the current vintage.

At the end I indulge myself with a whisky or two. Not all of you will love whisky, but if you do I think these are beautiful drinks at the affordable end of the spectrum, if costing slightly more than your basic ten-year-old.

January: « B…j.l..s » 2021 Vin de France, Julie Balagny (Beaujolais, France)

Julie sadly passed away this year. Many of you will know that she had become my favourite producer in the region, supplanting long-time favourites such as Lapierre and Foillard. In truth, her Cru wines were getting beyond my budget, yet this fruity Gamay, from old vines on the Juliènas border, having undergone a carbonic maceration, is the epitome of what Beaujolais ought to be, and in many ways nicely sums up what was so new and exciting about Julie when she first came to my attention. I drank my last Balagny bottle, a Fleurie, this year as a toast to a great individual, so sadly no Balagny for me next January. Tutto Wines may have dwindling supplies of Julie’s wines.

February: “Table” Vin de France [2019], Caroline Ledédenté (Bugey, France)

Last year a Bugey made it into my dozen (actually I cheated, it was a baker’s dozen of thirteen) Wines of the Year. In 2023 I drank a few more from the region, but in February this bottle from a producer totally new to me grabbed the prize, in a tough battle I can tell you. Caroline trained with the highly respected Gregoire Perron and farms 2-ha (creating a wonderful biodiverse environment) in Bugey’s southern sector, closer to Savoie. The variety here is Molette and it’s a zippy, citrus-imbued natural wine with no added sulphur. 2019 is only her second vintage! This came from the now defunct Noble Fine Liquor in Hackney. If anyone knows Caroline’s UK importer, please let me know. In Australia you may find her at the wonderful P&V Merchants in Sydney. Someone (Mike Bennie, surely) knows their stuff.

March: Seyval Blanc 2018, Charlie Herring Wines (Hampshire, England)

I’m always excited to taste something new from a producer whose wines I love. Tim Phillips had asked me to evaluate some as yet unreleased sparkling Seyval Blancs. I think it was because I know Peter Hall’s Breaky Bottom Sparkling Seyval pretty well, and Tim knows I hold that as the benchmark. This wine has since been released as The Bookkeeper Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature 2018, and one of those will certainly be opened next year. Disgorged 10/22 with 8g/l dosage, it tasted like fresh and crisp Bramley Apple but with more depth, which will develop further. It gets the March vote for the thrill of racy English Seyval which is well on the way to matching Peter’s versions. Rare, as are all Tim’s wines, but he is a rare talent. Contact Tim direct via Charlie Herring Wines. Alternatively, see whether Les Caves de Pyrene can source any.

April: Naturally Petulant Pink 2021, Westwell Wines (Kent, England)

This isn’t Westwell’s “finest” wine in an objective MW/WSET kind of way, but you know how a wine can really hit the spot. The grape varieties are the very three you might find in Champagne, but here Adrian Pike has created something different and new, not merely because it’s a petnat rather than “trad method”, hence its appearance here. Late October harvest, skin maceration (it’s a lovely quartz pink), bottled early (Nov ’21), roughly disgorged, zero added sulphur. Strawberry and lemon meringue with raspberry sorbet. Thrilling, and massively refreshing. Put me well in the mood for our trip to Australia later in the month. Uncharted Wines is the lucky agent for Westwell.

May: Morgon “Côte du Py” 2011, Jean Foillard (Beaujolais, France)

The second Bojo to make the list, but a very different one. Of course, this is a natural wine, one of the daddies of them all. But the naysayers say drink this young because they cannot contemplate a zero-sulphur wine lasting a dozen years. Well, I can tell you… This has “pinoté” (as they say). It tastes like very fine Burgundy, and yet the Gamay is still there when you seek it. As fine as any fine wine I have drunk in the past few years. So good it beat a bottle of Comtes ’06, a Cru Classé Sauternes of the same age, and a bottle from Marie-Thérèse Chappaz, to claim this slot. Probably purchased from The Solent Cellar (Simon and Heather are big fans, and once they had magnums), but long ago now.

June: Schilcher Frizzante Österreicher Perlwein, Franz & Christine Strohmeier (Styria/Steiermark, Austria)

It’s good to have your secret shame out in the open. I have had a bit of a thing for Schilcher Sekt for a lot longer than I have been into natural wine. Bracing acidity and blueberry/blackberry fruit make it the ultimate discovery for any acid hound. This version is only gently sparkling. That makes it less shocking, but in any case, we have one of Austria’s finest winemakers as its creator. Blauer Wildbacher is the rare autochthonous grape variety, first fermented in stainless steel with the second fermentation in bottle. There seem to be a million pin-prick bubbles caressing the palate. Another unique wine brilliantly constructed. Newcomer Wines imports Strohmeier for the UK market.

July: Disorder #4 2021, Annamária Réka-Koncz (Barabás, Eastern Hungary)

I was slightly surprised one of Annamária’s wines didn’t make the cut last year, I certainly drank enough of them. This one does, and this bottle was the first time that I have had UK access to this cuvée. It is 100% Furmint, a variety I only started to appreciate fully as on a par with the world’s finest varieties perhaps five or six years ago. What I love about Furmint is its intense minerality which, in the finest examples also shows depth and complexity. The best are not merely linear. The grapes come from a plot at Mád, and the wine is a collab with Annamária’s close friend, Stefan Jensen, owner of Terroiristen Vinbar in Copenhagen. Old vines, skin contact, volcanic soils, giving orchard fruits and bags of individuality. Basket Press Wines imports Réka-Koncz here but they often last about two weeks once they arrive.

August: Complètement Red Vin de France 2021, Lambert Spielmann (Alsace, France)

As I’ve already said, I compiled this list blind. I had no idea that Lambert’s 2020 made the cut last year. If you asked me which is my favourite of his wines it would probably be another, but this one is very seriously good. That said, serious isn’t really the right word. It’s the most fruit-packed red wine I tasted in 2023, and doubtless 2022 as well. Pale as a Poulsard but unmistakably Pinot, natural wine heaven. Lambert is one of Alsace’s rising stars, yet he hardly makes enough wine to satisfy the locals. Tutto Wines imports Spielmann. They can’t deliver to Scotland, so deep in the wilds of farest East Lothian do I live now (well, 30 mins by train or car from Edinburgh), and frankly guys, I don’t see enough effort being put into getting this producer into Scotland. I need more Spielmann.

September: Cuvée Sir Andrew Davis 2016, Breaky Bottom (Sussex, England)

It’s interesting that there has been a surge in people reading the article I wrote on Breaky Bottom (published 15/03/2022) since it got a mention and a link from Breaky Bottom themselves (who had been a little quiet, post-Covid, on social media but that has changed). My visit there, of which I was writing, ranks among my most memorable to any wine estate, and I already knew the wines made by Peter Hall in England’s most beautiful vineyard location extremely well before I went. To be frank, you could choose any (well-aged) BB cuvée as a Wine of the Year, depending on your budget. The wines are all exciting, and remarkable value. This one is made from Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. It has finesse and delicacy, but paired with the complexity these grape varieties give after long lees ageing. First port of call is always Butlers Wine Cellar. Also available from Corney & Barrow, and indeed by mail order from Breaky Bottom itself.

October: “Agostado” Cortado 2017, Bodegas Cota 45 (Jerez Region, Spain)

This is effectively an unfortified Palo Cortado (at 14% abv) from this small bodega near to Sanlúcar. This is Palomino Fino with the addition of a couple of very rare varieties, Perruno and Uva Rey. The fruit comes from a range of top sites but ageing is just for 26 months, under partial flor. Slightly nutty and oxidative, but viscerally mineral, there is apple fruit (slightly bruised) and vibrant lemon. A rich wine with real and magical presence, and certainly in my estimation, world class. It isn’t cheap, but like the wine that follows it, and indeed all fine wines out of Jerez, it is far cheaper than most wines in its class. The Sourcing Table may still have some of this. It may also be available from Les Caves de Pyrene.

November: La Bota de Palo Cortado 75, Equipo Navazos (Jerez Region, Spain)

As when I used to wait for the Number 73 bus from Stoke Newington to take me to work, you wait for ages and then two come at once. To be fair, this wine did come along more than forty days after the Cota 45, in late November as opposed to early October, but both are unquestionably wines of their respective months. Equipo Navazos is well enough established now that they don’t need my praise, but this Palo Cortado from Pago Miraflores La Baja (Sanlúcar) is a remarkable wine, even by their standards. You get toasted almond and hazelnut, essence of orange, a whiff of Earl Grey tea, a chalky edge, and a glass so scented that if not washed will still give pleasure next morning. What elevates it even further is the delicacy alongside the intensity. I also believe that bottle age (this is a saca of July 2017) has worked some magic too, even if experts doubt the ability of Sherry to age like Port and Madeira in bottle. Alliance Wine imports EN into the UK.

December: Field Blend 2019 “Skin Fermented”, The Hermit Ram (North Canterbury, New Zealand)

What is the point, some may ask, of including another wine I listed in my Wines of the Year 2022? Okay, it was the previous vintage once again, but even so! As I said before, this list was made without cheating and peeking, and the wines are here on their own merits. Even so, the Slovakian wine we drank last night did push Theo Coles’s Hermit Ram close. This wine was chosen because it is pretty unique in a New Zealand context, and even quite unique in a wider wine universe. This field blend comes from the Limestone Hills vineyard in North Canterbury and contains five international varieties: Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Gewurztraminer, Riesling and Chardonnay (six weeks on skins). Perhaps it tastes most like Pinot Noir, yet there’s a lot more to it. A fascinating wine as it unfurls (in our case, in Zalto Universals, which appeared to do it justice). It seems remarkable that whilst this producer puts out some expensive Pinots you can still grab this for £25 from (once again) Uncharted Wines. If anyone is making more thrilling wine in New Zealand I’d like to know.

I also wanted, now that I’m a “New Scot”, to throw in a Whisky of the Year. It proved to be too difficult to select just one, the following pair being too close to call it. I won’t provide notes. You can find them on this site (the second of these got an article all to itself back on 8 October) or elsewhere. They are Isle of Arran Distillery Sauternes Cask Finish and The Hearach, the first whisky release (their gin is already legendary) from the Isle of Harris Distillery. Both were purchased at Cork & Cask in Edinburgh.