Each year the estate director of Ornellaia in Bolgheri chooses a single word to describe the character of the wine and reveals it at the wine’s launch. The word Axel Heinz has chosen for the 2019, revealed last week, is il vigore – strength, power, vigour. Given that the current zeitgeist around wine is more about elegance, freshness and even lightness, a word more readily associated with the powerful, strong wines of the Robert Parker era, might seem a brave choice, perhaps,

Excelling again: the just released 2017 vintage of Vin de Constance, still in the traditional asymmetrical 50cl bottle, but now with a straighter neck so that it can be sealed with top quality cork It's not only one of the great sweet wines, Klein Constantia Vin de Constance is one of the world's most original and historic wines, so the release of a new vintage is always an occasion, although not so much of an occasion as the rare ten-vintage vertical tasting, spanning 1987 t

Encrusted sea-aged Grande Sendrée 2008 and a pristine bottle conventionally matured in Drappier's Champagne cellars in the Aube Why age Champagne in the sea? It became clear when Michel Drappier held the first tasting to compare three of his Champagnes aged off the coast of Brittany with the same three cuvées aged in Drappier's cellars in Champagne. Looking over Champagne Drappier’s record of innovation since it re-introduced Pinot Noir to the Aube in the 1930s and in particu

Goose has a reputation for being difficult to match to wine. I really don't think it is. I always roast a goose at Christmas and usually on one or two other occasions during the year (I did one last month in southwest France and I've got a couple of fairly small ones in the freezer for, as yet unplanned, occasions here in London in 2018). That’s quite a lot of roast geese and matching wines in nearly 30 years. I vary the stuffings, but the recipe I return to for Christmas, be

Sixteen dry whites to cover the festivities and all eventualities at prices from £7 to £48 and from the supermarket giants to small independents. New Zealand Sauvignon is conspicuous by its absence, not for any lack of enthusiasm on my part, but because it was clear from my tasting notes and scores that with NZ Sauvignon you pretty well get what you pay for. If you want something more expressive, expect to pay £13-£20 and head for the likes of Greywacke, Dog Point, Churton,

Twenty red wines to take you through all manner of festivities and in some cases festivities for years to come. As, always, they’re listed in ascending order of price, give or take differences in retailers’ prices and special offers. There are three wines I highly recommend but have not included below because they, or a previous vintage, were in last year’s Festive Wine Guide: Les Hauts de Saint-Martin Saint-Chinian 2015 (great value at £6.99, Co-op), the exemplary CVNE Rioja