Ornellaia 2016 / 95 points / Ornellaia red is distinctly Tuscan, with a slightly bigger body than Bordeaux and firmer, chewier tannins. The texture is more opulent and the fruit is ripe and sweet; in vintages like 2007 and 2010, these wines gather you in their warm embrace and seduce you with their charm and depth. Recent twin great vintages, 2015 and 2016, have the potential to become another 2007 and are wines to lay down in your cellar for decades.

Taittinger Comte Blanc de Blancs 2000 / There is surprisingly little colouration, pale gold, tiny bubbles. The nose is delicate, with faint cappuccino and a meaty edge, marine too, there is definite elegance and purity. The tension here admirable with fine citrus, towards grapefruit which hits you and then drifts off into a rippling effect, tantalising the taste buds. Not sure I would get it blind it’s less evolved than the first release bottle tasted last year, where softer more honeyed notes appeared. There is precision here like a youthful white Puligny it definitely grows on you, with hints of ginger and marine carried into the finish. A good life ahead here. Drink now – 2025+, 94/100.

It required 25 years of experiments, tests and critical evaluations. In 2019 the first bottle of Barolo Vite Talin 2013 vintage will emerge from the Sandrone winery after 6 years of evolution and refinement. This wine was born and destined to be the one as imagined by Luciano.

"Vite" is the Italian word for vine and it has given in honour of the singular and unique plant. "Talin" to celebrate the elderly owner of the vineyard, the same Talin who believed in the ability, patience and humble winemaking skills of the young Luciano.

The wine is vinified in a large open-topped wooden vat, then matured two years in tonneaux of French oak followed by a year in large casks before being held in bottle for an additional 3 years. Vite Talin is a precious, rich wine, suited to long cellaring, with an intense and impeccable garnet-red colour, of varied and full aromatics which at the moment are predominantly floral and fruity, and with hints of emerging spice notes. The wine is structured and powerful with significant tannins, which promise great potential for long cellaring.

The label also highlights the specific and unique character of Vite Talin: a wine in which the grape's unique character is more intense than the terroir.

A number of wines from Australia now also offered via the négoce de Bordeaux. Some of these actual releases have been tasted today.

Hill of Grace 2015 / “Henschke says the '15 vintage provided stunning and elegant Eden Valley shiraz with extraordinary flavours, purity of fruit and acid balance. And indeed that's a fair description of this medium-bodied Hill of Grace. The colour is still bright, clear crimson-purple, and the beautifully balanced fruit flavours are vibrantly fresh. It would be easy to underestimate the likely longevity of this wine. One of the all-time greats.”

Anwilka Vineyards is located just 7 kilometres from the ocean in Stellenbosch’s prime Helderberg region. The property was purchased in the late 1990s and extensive replanting of 40ha of vineyards comprising primarily cabernet sauvignon, shiraz and some merlot followed. The then owners, Lowell Jooste (the former co-owner of Klein Constantia) along with internationally well-known Bordeaux wine personalities Hubert de Boüard (co-owner of Chateau Angélus in Saint-Emilion) and Bruno Prats (former owner of Chateau Cos d’Estournel in Saint-Estèphe) released the eponymous maiden vintage blend of Syrah-Cabernet in 2005. Anwilka has since established a worldwide reputation for this red blend. Stellenbosch is recognized as the Cape’s premium red wine producing district. The significant maritime influence in the Helderberg region of Stellenbosch enables exceptional fruit quality. The matching of grape varieties to specific sites was carefully considered. Soils are of moderate potential, allowing low vine vigour and consistently healthy vines. A gentle slope assisting drainage during the winter rains. Minimal irrigation is used, and good water retention capacity avoids excessive hydric stress.
The vineyards are run by manager Piet Neethling and the wine made by young South African oenologist Jean du Plessis. Much guidance is provided by Prats, who successfully directed Cos-d’Estournel, the leading Médoc 2nd growth, for 28 years and de Boüard who steered Angélus to achieve St-Emilion first-growth status.
In May 2012 Anwilka Vineyards merged with Klein Constantia, purchased in 2011 by Zdenek Bakala and Charles Harman. De Boüard and Prats remain in the newly-merged company as minority shareholders and Jooste becomes a non-executive board member. The primary objective of sparing no cost when it comes to wine quality, as previously stated by Jooste, de Boüard and Prats, has not changed.

Another stunning Champagne, the 1975 Dom Pérignon Œnothèque (Disgorged 2007) remains one of the greatest wines I have ever tasted from Dom Pérignon. This bottle is truly spectacular from the very first taste. With its expansive, soaring aromatics and bright, finely sculpted fruit, the 1975 simply has it all. Even after several hours of air, the 1975 remains breathtakingly vivid. The 1975 Œnothèque embodies the classic style of late-release Dom Pérignon in its penetrating reductive notes.

Cristal 2008 / 16% malo, only on Pinot Noir from the Montagne de Reims. ‘There were lots of similarities with 1996, which gave us the possibility to replay the 1996 vintage! Maybe we picked 1996 a bit early so in 2008 we waited longer, by at least a week, than in 1996. Lots of tasting – far more than in 1996 when Roederer based picking only on analysis – and there was no malo in 1996.’ For the first time ever, they decided to release it later than the younger vintage, 2009 – so 2008 had nine years on lees. The last batch of 2008 will be disgorged in March 2019. (Scan the back label via the Roederer app to get the disgorgement year.) Jean-Baptiste Lécaillon is coy about the assemblage. ‘I’m looking for chalkiness.’ In 2008 60% Pinot Noir, 40% Chardonnay, which reflects perfectly the balance of their plantings. 40% of the estate was biodynamic then.
Really dense nose with lots of evolution but still extreme freshness. Some apple-skin character. Bone dry but wonderful lift and freshness. Long and super-lively. Real undertow, but very racy on the nose. Lots to chew on. Really elegant!

The hard work of assessing hundreds of champagnes for The 100 Best Champagnes 2021 has started! First tasting session behind. Great champagnes with very consistent quality.

The vintage 1997 saw the birth of "Le Serre Nuove". Conceived as the first Italian "second wine" it was made in a concept which has been developed in Bordeaux already in the 20th century. Now Aelx Heinz, director of Ornellaia and Masseto, releases the vintage 2018. It is a wine with its own standing, unique interpretation of the Bolgheri terroir. In addition to the 2018 vintage, Axel Heinz was also showing the vintage 2013 and his first vintage at Ornellaia 2005. The tasting of these three wines illustrated in a marvellous manner the evolution of this growth.

Interesting tasting Half Blind, trying to compare Smith Haut Lafitte and it's two second label (issued from younger vines) on a very recent vintage. And then compare a couple of Pessac Leognan wines of 2014. Parde was completely bretted sadly... Pontet Canet was just a special treat during this blind tasting, as for the old white from Smith Haut Lafitte that was interesting to compare two very old vintages side by side.

Champagne Magazine's The 100 Best Champagnes 2021 Day 1 -

6 more days to go.