In a brief diversion from the “Recent Wines” theme (the wines we drink at home), these are ten of the wines we drank on a week’s holiday on the South Coast. Actually, these were merely consumed by four of us over three days of the week, Friday to Sunday, with a few more wines on Thursday and Monday not covered here so, arriving home on Tuesday evening we are now on a three-day detox.

The wines were mostly new to me, the exception being the last. I own a bottle of this and someone said keep it a little longer, but the bottle we drank here was singing. You will notice that many of these bottles come from Lymington’s Solent Cellar. It remains one of my absolute favourite wine shops. I always spot things on the shelf I miss online, though co-owner Simon Smith is very good at pointing me towards more wines to empty my wallet with. Some of the wines here are by no means “obvious” choices, especially as some I’d never heard of. All the wines here, both from this shop and elsewhere, were exciting.

I also got to taste some German wines at Lymington’s Solent Cellar which had been preserved after a German tasting there the night before. Those bottles will follow. It was a reminder not just of how good German wines are, but also the diversity available.

A couple of the wines were drunk at The Gun in Keyhaven, just outside Milford-on-Sea. It has been a couple of years since we’ve been but I can still highly recommend this transformed former pub, built in the 1600s and a pub since 1783, it is now owned by Chris and Kitty Cecil-Wright (Kitty being Hugh Johnson’s daughter). The menu is local and the quality of food is, I would say, higher than the reasonable prices suggest.

Où Que L’on Soit, Max & Friends (Champagne, France)

This is a Coteaux Champenois from the 2020 vintage, made from Chardonnay grown around Romery, which is northwest of Hautvillers on the Montagne de Reims. The Max in question is Maxime Renault, and he makes only still wines from the region. Inspired by Pierre Overnoy, his wines are “natural+”, with zero added sulphur, both biodynamics and regenerative ecology being at the heart of what he does on his 1.8 hectares. This is a lovely wine, lean in a good way in that it is precise and you can taste the intricate skeletal structure under the fruit. Les Caves du Forum in Reims sold this (53€).

Montedesassi 2019, Il Borghetto (Tuscany, Italy)

This is a very good value Toscana IGP made by Antonio Cavallino’s small-to-medium estate in Chiantishire, yet intentionally keeping the wines out of the DOCG (which, being bottled in the Burgundy shaped bottle means they can’t qualify anyway). Organic/biodynamic fruit (95% Sangiovese, 5% Canaiolo), this is Sangio with a leaning to Pinot Noir’s elegance but with a degree of power as well. The palate of this 2019 echoes the wafting fragrance of the bouquet’s cherries, spice and wild flowers complemented by savoury notes. I was quite taken with it. Retail, around £30, imported by Alliance Wine. Great value, the 2019 drinking so well right now. Must remember to get some in my next Solent Cellar order if they have any left.

Wintricher Ohligsberg Riesling Auslese 2017 (50cl), Julian Haart (Mosel, Germany)

This wine simply does what it says on the bottle, but does it rather well. With 7.5% alcohol and a rapier-like acidity, this is certainly young, but thrilling nevertheless. Julian farms at Piesport. Once he was one of the new stars of the Mosel, but he’s pretty well established in that role now, and he is part of a long tradition, being custodian of one of the oldest private wine estates on the river. This will be nothing short of sublime when mature. Now it is merely profoundly exciting. £65 at The Solent Cellar, now out of stock.

La Closerie “Les Beguines” Extra Brut, Jérôme Prévost (Champagne, France)

Prévost is based at Gueux on the Montagne de Reims, from where he has been bottling some of the finest examples of Champagne found anywhere since 1998. Les Beguines is 100% Meunier, aged in oak, the code on the label (LC16) showing it is from the single vintage of 2016. It was dosed Extra Brut at around 2g/l.  Peter Liem recommends drinking this cuvée (one of only two made here, the other being the earth-shatteringly wonderful Fac-Simile Rosé) within ten years of vintage. Sounds about right. This was sensational, but quite mature. If you (as I do) like Champagne with the complexity of bottle age, this is right on point. A genuine terroir wine, so long, so good. £105 from Solent Cellar but out of stock. Vine Trail imports.

« Gamet » Coteaux Champenois Rosé 2022, Clos du Goulot (Champagne, France)

This is a tiny production still pink wine made from a parcel of Meunier planted in 1960 at Fleury-la-Rivière, just north of Damery and the Marne. In fact, it’s a mere three-minute drive from Romery, site of the first Coteaux wine I wrote about. Vines are south-facing and they receive a forty-hour saignée (the colour being bled off from the result of a gentle eight-hour maceration). Another example of the excellent still wines now being made in the heartland of Champagne by growers I’d never heard of before. An elegant Rosé made from a grape variety capable of excellence in the right hands (but I think you probably knew that). Another wine from Les Caves du Forum in Reims, circa 34€. Just 600 bottles made. A bargain!

On s’en Fish! 2023, Domaine Gardies (Roussillon, France)

This IGP Côtes Catalanes red is made organically by Jean and Victor Gardies at Espira-de-Agly (Agly Valley). Cinsault (85%) and Carignan are fermented by carbonic maceration to make a fresh and chillable red which despite 13.5% abv tastes good with fish. The tannins are gentle and the fruit (red berries, cranberry and strawberry dominant) is vibrant. With a nice label too, this is a cracker at just £21 from Solent Cellar (Lymington). The importer is Alliance Wine. I have a friend who has just been to Roussillon who would love this!

Weisser Burgunder “R” Morstein 2021, Seehof (Rheinhessen, Germany)

The vineyard, Morstein, needs little introduction. Klaus Peter Keller has (along with Philipp Wittmann) made this one of the most famous sites in Germany. Winemaker Florian Fauth is actually Klaus Peter’s brother-in-law, and he’s making excellent value wines from the same region. This very much includes Pinot Blanc, from the same site. Off limestone and clay, it ferments in large (1,200-litre) oak, where it stays for seven months. It’s a creamy wine with 13% alcohol giving it just the right amount of weight but no flab. The palate is like peaches and cream, but with acidity to balance. Look for hints of white pepper too.

I like Weisser Burgunder at lunch. This single site version may be a bad choice to drink the bottle solo, being a little more alcoholic than some, but it is gorgeous. It will pair with a range of white fish from lighter to meatier. I have enjoyed the Seehof Chardonnay (from the Steingrube site), and have more of that in the cellar, but this for me is as good. At £17 it is remarkable value. From Solent Cellar, imported by Boutinot.

“Electio” Xarel-Lo 2021, Parés Baltá (Penedès, Spain)

This is a quality Cava producer at Pacs del Penedès, which was founded towards the end of the eighteenth century. This still wine is the result of biodynamic (Demeter cert) farming and its barrel-fermented Xarel-Lo fruit comes from isolated, century-old, terraces and 70-year-old vines. They call it a micro-cuvée. Pale yellow, with camomile on the nose and textured, mineral, white peach and peach stone on the palate. You get a hint of Mediterranean herbs on the finish. Pretty special, but not cheap – £45 at Hedonism Wines. Imported by Top Selection Wines.

Sobre Lías Crianza 2023, Finca Viñoa (Ribeiro, Spain)

Bottled under the Finca Viñoa label, this is made by Bodega Pazo de Casanova at Santa Cruz de Arrabaldo, Ourense. This is a 12-ha domaine situated in the Val del Avia, comprising seventy terraces on granite planted to the region’s autochthonous varieties. This organic white seems to blend mostly Treixadura (85%) with roughly 8% of Godello and some other varieties including Loureiro and Albariño. Straw-coloured, the bouquet mixes green apple and lemon with smokey notes.  The palate is herbal and mineral with a citrus zip. A refreshing white which is just perfect for oily tinned fish, of the kind many indie wine shops seem to stock nowadays, assuming you can’t get them fresh from the Atlantic. £22 from Solent Cellar, via Alliance Wine.

Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia 2001, Lopez de Heredia (Rioja, Spain)

LdH is one of the now famous bodegas clustered around the railway station at Haro, in the far north of Rioja Alta. Founded in 1877, this family-run estate is famous for long-lived, traditional, wines of great beauty. Tondonia is a single site (though 100 hectares) on the right bank of the Ebro, from which they make their finest wines, it should be noted in all colours, although strangely the Rosado is perhaps the hardest to find.

In this 2001 Reserva we have the successor to the 1995. Tempranillo (70%) was blended with 20% Garnacha and 5% each of Graciano and Mazuelo, first fermented in old wood (the famous vats here are over 150 years old, but are immaculately maintained), after which they age it for a decade in used barrels. These are the traditional 225-litre casks made of American oak, produced in the bodega’s own cooperage.

It’s a medium-bodied red, elegant and smooth. The bouquet is spiced, and the palate has a slightly chalky texture with genuine salinity on the finish. Carefully crafted, yet so sensual (and very long). Someone suggested I keep my own bottle for a few more years, and one merchant counsels opening it in 2031. This bottle was drinking beautifully, but having had the wonderful experience of sipping this bottle (a friend’s), I feel I can give my own a little more time. I doubt it will stay in the cellar that long, though.

My own remaining bottle came from The Sampler, now just in Islington, where you can currently buy a magnum of the 2011 for £105 or a half bottle of the 2012 for £30. Prices always vary for all the Tondonias so it is worth looking around. As for the Rosado, The Sampler was selling it for £98 but thank goodness they have none left to tempt us. They do have the 2004 Gran Reserva red for £210.

Ooh, and we also drank some of this…wow!