2 bottles of each of the following wines:

Ordinal '34' Piquepoul Roussanne, Languedoc, France 2022
A cunning blend of two very dissimilar grape varieties, who have put their differences aside to unite in a really successful partnership. On the one hand, you have the nervous, jittery grape, Piquepoul, while on the other you have the languid, laid-back Roussanne. On its own, Piquepoul (as in Picpoul de Pinet) is fairly neutral in flavour, but has wonderfully perky acidity, whereas Roussanne is peachy and soft, but needs a crack of the whip. Together they have made a wine that is brisk and lively, yet sufficiently concentrated, so that it lingers on the palate to scatter its apricot, honey and grilled pineapple flavours. We put it through its paces with chicken gyoza, salmon tataki, prawn tempura, black miso cod and spicy california rolls and it neither overwhelmed nor surrendered to any of them. 12.5% alc. Drink now-2025.

Dalfarras Albariño, Victoria, Australia 2021
We’ve been having great fun with Italian grape varieties grown in Australia (Nebbiolo, Aglianico and Barbera, to name but a few) and now it’s the turn of a Spanish variety, Albariño, to take the limelight. There’s a lovely citrus blossom aroma that recalls the Albariños from Galicia, but the palate feels more concentrated, incisive and chiselled, with a sense of the clay soil, balanced by perfectly-pitched acidity. Dalfarras is a small family affair run by Alister and Rosa Purbrick and their daughter, Hayley, who rent space at the famous Tahbilk winery in Victoria, the only winery in Australia to be 100% carbon neutral. 13% alc. Drink now-2026.

Mason Road Chenin Blanc, Paarl, South Africa 2021
JancisRobinson.com (Tamlyn Currin): “Grapes from mainly young vines along with juice from 30-year-old vines that don’t make it into the main wine. It goes into 500-litre very old barrels for 11 months. Winemaker Kiara Scott’s wines somehow taste nutritious! I feel like they are feeding the soul – even the entry-level wines. This is like a lemon-zested, whole-meal scone topped with sour cream and lemon verbena. Three-dimensional and scrumptious. Drink now-2026.” 16.5 points

Domaine de Triennes Rosé, IGP Méditerranée, France 2022/2023 (rose)
As many of you who have bought this wine before will know, this rosé is the result of a collaboration between two superstar Burgundy winemakers, Aubert de Villaine of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, and Jacques Seysses of Domaine Dujac. Given the renown of these two bona fide wine legends, it almost beggars belief that the wine sells for as little as £13.95. It’s everything we love about Provençal rosé. It’s dry and delicate, but it has texture and is discreetly concentrated, so the flavours spread evenly across the palate and don’t finish abruptly or want for depth. We found hints of dusty rose, grenadine, white cherry and peach, perked up by a little tickle of blood orange. 12.5% alc. Harvested at night so that the grapes are cool upon arrival in the winery. Pressed after a few hours of skin contact. Fermented at low temperature until fully dry. Drink now-2025. Organic.

Celler Comunica 'Vi del Mas', Montsant, Spain 2022 (red)
A deceptively good wine, in that it feels quite simple in some ways, with its perky, crunchy red berry fruit and hints of satsuma peel and purple flowers, but there’s an undertow of more powerful Garnacha below the surface, giving it a sense of flow and plenty. Outwardly, it’s not wholly dissimilar to a young Beaujolais or a young Bourgogne Rouge, but then it deepens, with the granite soil bringing a mineral aspect to the finish. ‘Vi del Mas’ is Catalan for ‘house wine’, which cheekily understates the quality here and we were delighted to see that Jancis Robinson saw the value too and picked it out as her ‘Wine of the Week’. 13.5% alc. Drink now-2027.

Jancis Robinson MW: “Pale garnet. Very pale rim. Nose of warm strawberries and delightful freshness on the palate with a little fine minerality on the very end. This is not a furrowed-brow, serious wine but it could not be more direct in its appeal. Low tannin, lots of sweet, honest fruit on entry and pure, appetising tingle at the end. A bit lighter than the 2021 but a very satisfying clean, medium-length finish. Drink now–2026” 16.5 points and ‘Wine of the Week’!

Xinomavro, Noema Cellars, Amyndeon, Greece 2019
“Charming and delicious and so elegantly structured. Masses of delicate pleasure.” - Julia Harding MW for JancisRobinson.com

Xinomavro is our favourite Greek variety, which is probably because it tastes like a cross between Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo, which are two of our favourite grape varieties. This brilliant value example stopped us in our tracks at a wonderful Greek wine tasting where it stood out for its haunting aromas. The winemaker told us that low yields and a gentle extraction are key to the wine’s soft and mellow character, as the low yields confer intensity of flavour while the gentle maceration teases those flavour-packed molecules out of their shell. The result is a wine with the bodyweight of a Pinot Noir and the aromatic lift of a Nebbiolo, simultaneously supple and juicy, showing morello cherry, strawberry, tobacco and dried orange with a wisp of gunpowder smoke, like a November field at sunrise on the day after Guy Fawke’s Night. 12% alc. 6 months in French oak. Drink now-2028.