Jonathan Ray Jonathan Ray

Delicious wines to celebrate the end of Dry January 

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issue 10 February 2024

Water wagon? What water wagon? With Dry January now just a ghastly memory, let’s start cracking open the vino. And, crikey, we’ve a corking offer with FromVineyardsDirect to tempt you. If you don’t salivate immediately, well, I don’t think you like wine at all.

FVD need to clear the decks to take in newer vintages and have generously offered Spectator readers first dibs on more than 30 different clarets, all from the excellent 2016, 2017, 2018 vintages, all at least 10 per cent below market price and all worthy of a place in your cellar or glass. 2016 was a spectacular year with fabulous wines produced across the board, a genuine 10/10 vintage. 2017 was a frost-ridden, low-yielding year, but with some very tasty wines produced, albeit not quite as fine as in 2016. 2018 was plagued by uncertain weather but redeemed by a long hot summer which resulted in some great, long-lived wines.

With such a stellar selection, it was all but impossible to come up with my favourite six

Please don’t faff around, because you have ten days before FVD offer these wines to their own customers, upon which they will sell out. Most are in wooden boxes – some in dozens, some in sixes – but if you want to mix and match your own case, feel free.

With such a stellar selection, it was all but impossible to come up with my favourite six, but I’ve done my best. If you’re interested in perusing the other wines, the full list is available at www.fromvineyardsdirect.com/spectator. Any queries, go straight to the top and call FVD’s main man, co-founder Esme Johnstone, on 020 7549 7900. Tell him I sent you.

In the meantime, here are my picks of the vinous pops, with six different châteaux, five different Bordeaux appellations and three different vintages.

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