A sad month with the death of Bruno Rey, a lovely gentle man who made me smile whenever we met.

That sadness was compounded by the loss of winemakers Olivier Lemasson, Pascal Clairet and Laurnet Vailhe, all in tragic circumstances. May all four rest in peace.

At home my second vaccine gave me some hope that I may yet get over to Puimisson this year. I do miss the vines and the cellar as well as my friend Jeff.

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So, to the wines of the month starting with the white wines. Firstly a new grape to me Nosiola, native of the Trentino region near Lake Garda. Its name suggests hazelnuts apparently and there was a hint of nuts as well as smokiness from this 2017 wine from producer Vilar made with a couple of days of skin contact and low SO2. The grapes must have been picked with good ripeness as the wine was quite full and juicy. I enjoyed this, slightly unusual wine and would certainly buy it again. Thierry Puzelat of Clos duTue Boeuf in the Loire was one of the natural pioneers in France, Le Petit Buisson 2019 is a regular cuvée from him, pure Sauvignon Blanc aged in old barrels. Fresh, good acidity but not harsh at all, a classy Loire SB, very enjoyable as ever. Clemens Busch were similarly one of the pioneers of organic production in Germany and I bought a selection of their wines a couple of months ago. This Riesling Trocken 2018 was very dry as the name suggests with clean, direct acidity. Ideally a wine for food but perfectly enjoyable on its own with its green fruit flavours.

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To my two favourite white wines of the month. Firstly Portuguese Branco 2018 from Filipa Pato, made from Bical and Arinto grapes, I do love the Portuguese varieties being used so well. Slightly golden, perhaps due to a small portion of the grapes being aged in barrel, this gave generous aromas of herbs and yellow fruits. Fresh, round and slightly nutty notes with long lasting flavours. Very good. Then came Deboutbertin’s Achillée 2017, a natural Chenin Blanc from the Anjou. Loire Chenin was one of the grapes which first attracted me to wine, it seems to be finding its way back to the fore of my wine racks again, supported by Chenins from South Africa. This golden coloured wine was spritzy to start with though this disappeared by the second glass. Fresh citrus with surprising herby and spicy flavours, Achillée took me by surprise a little but I loved it – those flavours somehow worked. It’s not the cheapest wine but it was well worth the money.

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There were a few red wines, let me start with ones I wouldn’t buy again though others would enjoy them I am sure. Hoffstatter Lagrein 2016, from the Trentino Alto Adige region of Italy. I have had Lagrein before and liked it, I found this perfectly enjoyable, another food wine, but lacking real depth. I liked the first glass of Wassmer Spatburgunder 2017, there was plenty of Pinot fruit but then it went mute and dull on me. Disappointing. Daniel Ramos’ El Berrakin 2019, a natural Garnacha from the Gredos region in central Spain was raspberry fresh, quite light. I liked it but no more than that. These three are perfectly drinkable wines, any that I really don’t like I don’t even mention.

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Wines I preferred. Testalonga Follow Your Dream 2020 is a Carignan from one of my favourite producers anywhere. Bright purple in colour, fresh acidity – things you would expect with such a young wine. But there’s a lovely red fruit profile which Carignan can give with good intensity and I like the acidity as it balances the fruit sweetness. Lovely wine, I recommend any wines from this South African star. Scintilla wines’ Shiraz 2019 is made by my good friend James Madden in the Adelaide Hills. Completely natural wine this is another raspberry fruit wine but there was more depth to this than the Garnacha, I hope there will be more of James’ wines here in future. Herdade do Rocim has featured here before and I very much enjoyed the 1 litre bottle Fresh From Amphora 2019, made in the Alentejo region of Portugal from more local grapes, this time Moreto, Tinto Grossa and Trincadeira. Two months of skin contact in amphorae, this offers a juicy, light red with plenty of enjoyment to be had from the fresh fruity profile. The litre size is a real bonus.

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Arianna Occhipinti’s SP68 wines are another regular favourite of mine. Sicilian natural wine, the Rosso 2019 made from Nero D’Avola and Frappato another producer making the most of the excellent local grape varieties, this time in Sicily. Frappato, as I discovered on my visit to the island, adds a cherry freshness to wine softening the Nero D’Avola and making a wine to enjoy with and without food. Berry fruits, a hint of liquorice perhaps and freshness (you may have spotted a theme here!). I will certainly buy this again. Jeff Coutelou’s Flower Power 2015 is, of course, a wine I know well. Made in the small Font D’Oulette vineyard from a field blend of twenty plus grape varieties, red and white. This is now at its peak full of red fruit flavours but with a lightness of touch and clean acidity, delicious.

Red wine of the month though, indeed my favourite of all this month, was Rennersistas Grauburgunder 2019. The two sisters are young winemakers but they are fast developing into top class producers. This Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) was fermented on skins for four days, so it is probably an orange wine. Yet, as you can see in the photo, the wine is a light red in colour. This is the result of the pink tint of the grapes which adds that hue to the wine. I love Pinot Gris grapes, they are so distinctive. Jeff has some and I enjoy seeing them develop their colour. This wine was the Renner sisters’ first production from their Grauburgunder vineyard, what a way to start. Lovely aromas of roses and raspberries, fresh red fruit flavours with nicely balanced acidity – this makes for a good wine for food but also to drink alone. Really classy wine, big recommendation. Was it a red wine? I’m saying yes.