It hasn’t been a good year in so many ways, losing my mother in particular and too many friends and former colleagues. The positives were a long break touring the eastern side of France and the vendanges with Jeff Coutelou, completing ten years of harvests. Throughout the year I enjoyed some very good wines and from those I have selected my case of the year.

The tour of eastern France began in Champagne, the Côte des Bar rather than the main Rheims / Epernay area. This has become quite a hotbed of new producers and organic farming and is much more diversified than the main region. It was interesting to see the infrastructure for protecting vines from frost, the financial rewards of champagne making it possible. If all the wines I tasted there the outstanding one was a familiar bottle, Montgueux from Jacques Lassaigne which has featured in previous selections of wines of the year. This is Jacques’ basic wine, based on Chardonnay and brings biscuity notes but a lemony freshness, exactly what I like in a top Champagne.

After Champagne came the beautiful Jura region, a lovely week with wine visits, including to the up and coming Thomas Jacquin, but tourist visits too. Thomas’ wines were excellent but not available in bottle so I have opted for two other wines from that time. Savagnin is probably my favourite grape in the Jura and the 2018 version from Overnoy-Crinquand was a lovely example of the region’s wines being slightly oxidised since it isn’t topped up in barrel. That sherry like note with spicy, peach like hints is exactly what I imagine when thinking of the Jura. Perhaps even better was the Melon from Michel Gahier though. The photo shows the 22 which was actually taken from barrel but my choice is the 2017. The Melon Queue Rouge grape is still subject to debate about whether it is simply Chardonnay or a cousin of it with its distinctive red stalks. The wine was dry and straight, nutty, spicy with white fruit flavours too – complex, lively and delicious.

Two more white wines make my case plus a white from Jeff Coutelou, my obligatory Jeff wine. TSCC 21 is made from young vines of Terret Blanc, Servant, Clairette and Clairette Rose from the Segrairals vineyard. Only 400 bottles were made in 2021 from a small plantation, I do hope more will come along in future as I loved this wine with its freshness and white fruit profile, direct but full too. Jeff is making some excellent white wines these days, a match for the more celebrated reds. Cosmic Valentia 21 is made near Barcelona in the Emporda region with Carignan Blanc (Cariñena blanca) grapes on 60 year old vines. Freshness again, appley notes but also aromatic, very satisfying and long. I bought more on the strength of my first bottle, evidence of how I loved it. The final white was an older wine and, sadly, the only bottle I had of Weingut Werlitsch Morillon vom Opok 2015, Chardonnay from one of the best Austrian producers. I am lucky enough to have met Ewald Tscheppe a number of times and taste his wines, the high standards of farming and winemaking shining through every time. This Chardonnay (Morillon is a local name for it) was like a very good Burgundy with acidity cutting through the biscuity notes from oak age and a full, complex, lingering richness.

Regular readers will know of my partiality for orange wines. The Friuli region of NE Italy could be said to have led the resurgence of orange wine in recent years and one of the more famous producers is Radikon. It was the Slatnik 2016 which gave great pleasure this year. Deep amber in colour, resulting from the Chardonnay and Tocai Friulano grapes being left on skins for 12 days, the wine was dry, saline and had apricot and bitter orange notes, memorable and classy.

On to reds but another north Italian bottle, this time from the Dolomites. I have tasted Foradori wines at several tastings and I must admit I had never been overly convinced even though they garnered rave reviews from many respected judges with better palates than me. They specialise in the local Teroldego grape and it was one of their young vine wines which finally won me over this year, Foradori 2021. Lovely fresh, cherry and red fruit notes, good complexity and length, quintessential Italian red wine. The website is also very good. In my 2022 case I selected the first vintage of the Carignan of Thomas Angles, based in the St. Chinian region of the Languedoc. Thomas is a young producer who did harvest with Jeff in 2020, the one vintage I missed. The 2021 is aging very well indeed and I have to include it in my 2023 case too, it is joyful wine, fruit to the fore with a light touch of tannin and genuine complexity for a simple wine. Hugely promising.

This year was also one where I rediscovered wines from classic regions. The tour of eastern France took us to Burgundy and I was fortunate to taste a range of wines, a 2014 Ladoix premier cru was memorable but two more humble bottles from natural producers make my list. Due thanks to my friend Aaron Ayscough for recommendations, it was good to catch up with him at a restaurant in Savigny les Beaune. Julian Altaber has worked with long standing natural producer Dominique Derain in St Aubin but has also started to produce his own wines under the Sextant name. I found a bottle of his Maranges 2020 in the Athenaeum in Beaune and it was excellent, classic red Burgundy with Pinot Noir at its best, fruity and light at first but with a serious depth of flavour lingering in the mouth. Lovely. Chapuis et Chapuis Bourgogne En Montre Cul 21 is an even more humble wine but showed exactly why Pinot is so great. The photo shows how this bottle was consumed at a picnic, no delusions of grandeur. Yet it is a wine I will long remember, delicious.

My final choice is also my favourite wine of 2023, a Merlot from Bordeaux. Not long ago I’d have laughed at such a thing, Bordeaux and Merlot were deeply unfashionable for natural wines. However, better farming, attention to modern winemaking and empathy with natural methods have come to the fore. At a tasting in Newcastle I tasted the superb Le Puy Emilien 2020. Merlot dominates with small amounts of the Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon and a little Carmenere. Plummy, red fruits dominate with great depth of flavour, ripe tannins and a refreshing line of acidity to bring balance. An example of great winemaking.

I’m hoping that 2024 will bring better news on a personal level but a repetition of great wines would be most welcome. Thanks again to all who read my blog, may I wish you all a very happy new year and good wine.