Corney & Barrow 

28 February

La Dolce Vino: Passopisciaro 2006

Passopisciaro 2006, Sicily "I love this Sicilian wine. It's made from Nerello Mascalese from the slopes of fiery Etna and has layers of intrigue to it - perfume, smoke, almond, cherry. There's also bright zing and intense flavours as you sip it. Unusual, unique and well worth tracking down."
Olly Smith, Mail on Sunday

To buy this wine, please click here

11 February

Wines from Ribera del Duero

Miros tinto ecologico 2005 Ribera del Duero: this very reasonably priced introduction to a cult denomination is the product of a long wine-making ambition among 15 families from Barcelona, friends since childhood. Finally, in 2001, the dream was achieved and they established Bodegas Penafiel in the high valley of the Duero river. Some of their new vineyard area was organic, which encouraged them to continue down the green road, and Miros 2005 is the first vintage, It’s rich in colour and flavour, there are scents of ripe red fruits with hints of something darker, and the taste is deep, juicy and crisp within a smooth cloak of oak. There are other Miros wines, though not from organic grapes. But each has specially commissioned artwork on its label, making them wines to admire in the bottle before enjoying in the glass.

Final unmissable wine is Psi 2007, the new baby of Peter Sisseck’s highly regarded Dominio de Pingus family, again in Ribera del Duero. This has bright purple-red highlights as you pour and enveloping scents which move through fruit to oak and spice. With great depth of flavour, considerable food-friendliness and great ageing potential, this is a very serious wine, still in its infancy.
Liz Sagues, Ham & High

To buy Miros organic Tempranillo Bodegas Penafiel 2005 please click here
To buy Dominio de Pingus Psi 2007 please click here

1 February

Viña Mar's wines

Viña Mar Reserva Especial Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
"Maipo fruit. Beautifully sweet, minty, cassis nose. Delightfully dusty, typical Cabernet Sauvignon, with small herbal nuances. Very nicely balanced palate too, with some cedar and graphite notes and a balanced finish showing quite tight tannins. 90/100." To buy this wine, please click here

Viña Mar Reserva Especial Pinot Noir 2008
"Beautifully expressive, chocolaty nose, with ripe, deep berry fruit. There is some smokiness and briary, sweet undergrowth, but it is driven by that opulent fruit. The palate has delightful fruit too, with a silky density and rich, sweet, chocolaty tannins. A really beautifully poised, plush but elegant Pinot. 91/100." To buy this wine, please click here

1 February

Quinta de Chocapalha Wines

Quinta de Chocapalha, Branco Reserva 2006, Portugal
"A blend of Chardonnay with Arinto and Vital, aged seven months in French oak, the Reserva has an attractive lemon meringue pie character, combining fresh citrus with bakery notes and a creaminess. There's a freshness too, with a little leafy, herby lift. On the palate I like the decisive, dry, pithy grapefruit and lemon character here, with a lean minerality that cleaves its way through richer, more toasty and vanillin tones. Quite a concentrated and powerful wine this, with a long, very focused finish and real staying power. Impressive. 90/100." To buy this wine, please click here

Quinta de Chocapalha, Tinto 2006, Portugal
"Dense, dark and liquoricy on the nose, this blend of various Portuguese grapes with a touch of Syrah has a serious, sinewy quality with edgy cherry and dark plum fruit, and a savoury, earthy appeal. On the palate it is firm and focused, with a lean, blackcurrant and olive seam running through the wine. This is the opposite of jammy, the edgy, savoury quality staying fresh and focused with juicy tannins and acidity and considerable length. 88/100." To buy this wine, please click here

Quinta de Chocapalha Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
"There's a certain delicacy, or rather, refinement about this wine, with its ripe strawberry and blackcurrant fruit quality and little note of herbal freshness. On the palate there's an intriguing broadening out: it maintains that juicy, sweet-fruited clarity, but a robust, chunky tannic framework adds a certain muscularity, with broad, oaky tannins too, though the freshness is maintained with very good acidity. A savoury and fresh, appetising wine this. 89/100." To buy this wine, please click here

Quinta de Chocapalha, Tinto Reserva 2005, Portugal
"This 2005 has an extra year in bottle under its belt, and whilst the winemaking is identical, there is no mention of Syrah on the back label this time. It has a very fragrant nose again, with tobacco and spices, and that little kirsch-like, floral lift to the black fruits. On the palate perhaps just lacks a touch of the glossy plushness on the mid-palate, but that's a small complaint as that same classy structure and vitality comes through, and the fruit is balanced into the long, sweet-fruited finish. 91/100." To buy this wine, please click here