Offering up notes of lemon and lime zest, white peach and flowers, the 2016 Chablis 1er Cru Les Vaillons Vieilles Vignes is medium to full-bodied, delicately glossy and stony, with an ample attack that gives way to a pure, precise and attractively mineral finish. While this can be a precocious premier cru, it's an attractively balanced Vaillons that's holding something in reserve.

95% of 2016 Chablis Les Vaillons Vieilles Vignes 1er Cru comes from Les Roncières and is aged 40% in used wood and 60% in stainless steel. This offers attractive orange blossom, citrus peel and flinty scents, with just a subtle, almost petrol-like note in the background. The palate is crisp and linear right from the start, the acidity nicely judged and the terroir articulated very well towards the fresh, lively finish that offers judicious bitterness that urges you to take the next sip. Very fine.

A wine with bright fruit such as currants and raspberries. It’s full-bodied, with firm tannins and a fresh, clean finish. Very fine and polished. Very well done for the vintage. Try in 2016.

Aromas of blueberries and minerals follow through to a full body, with fine tannins and a caressing finish. Very finely crafted. Gorgeous wine from here. Better in 2015.

Rich and rather sweet with lots of black-plum character and some toasty oak. This full-bodied red is easy to enjoy, because it’s got a rather silky texture and doesn’t come off as heavy. Drink now.

Pretty cherry, strawberry, juniper, wild rosemary, iron and sanguine aromas and flavors are welded to a firm structure. This is ripe and complex, with a fine aftertaste. Best from 2021 through 2036."

Made under the traditional Biondi Santi dispensation: from a fine vintage only and from vines of more than 25 years old, with an emphasis on the celebrated BS11 clone, with three years’ ageing in large wooden vessels and a further four in bottle before release. Many of Biondi Santi’s vineyards are high-sited, and harvesting is on the early side, giving wines which are emphatically more acidic than they are tannic. This Riserva is pale and translucent (though a little deeper in hue than the 2012 Annata wine), with finely composed aromas of vellum and sued...

Built on a huge scale, this maturing sagrantino has a lot of ripe blackberry, roasted meat and balsamic aromas. The tannins on the palate are pretty massive, but they are beginning to integrate nicely and that process should continue for some years. Drink or hold."

Just a hint of rose petal blends in with lemon on the nose. The palate shows the same flavors but lacks a little direction. Nonetheless, there is freshness in the rose and lemon flavors. Drink soon.

Tart, red fruit plays on the nose of this wine, reminiscent of redcurrant and sloe. The palate is brisk, frothy but creamy, and alive with these berry notions. This easy but refreshing wine finishes dry.

There is an earthy, funky touch on the nose at first but freshly cut peach comes through quickly, edged by the tang of lemon balm. The palate is medium-sweet and the richness makes the peachy ripeness shine. This is full on, lavish but fresh with a long medium-sweet finish.

Ripe notions of juicy pear and hay flowers have a lovely zesty edge on the nose. The palate confirms this with concentrated counterpoints of honeyed fruit and bright citrus zestiness. This is full on and rich, and a touch of residual sweetness gives this extra heft and conviction. It is the citrus freshness that provides structure and direction. The finish is merely off dry, so this will shine alongside various dishes. Drink 2017–2025.

Hayflower, dried apple peel and chalky earth create a quintessential Alsace Riesling nose. The palate is juicy in an apple flavor, with a pith-like texture on the streamlined body. The finish is dry

The NV Passito Bianco (in a 375-milliliter bottle) shows an orange-golden color with lots of dried apricot and orange skin. This wine raises the bar on the intensity level of a Sicilian sweet wine, and despite all that dried and candied fruit, you also get a touch of dried herb or rosemary essence along with toasted almond and Sicilian orange.

Light salmon pink color; round and fresh with tangy strawberry fruit, all Pinot Noir and smooth and charming; ripe, creamy and lively, balanced, long and tangy.

Lush, creamy, deep and juicy, dense and rich with ripe and sweet flavors of honey and spice; neat, smooth and balanced, deep and creamy, long and balanced.

Dusty texture to this young red with a plum and dark-berry character. Firm tannins and a focused finish. Solid. A blend of 65% sangiovese and 35% cabernet sauvignon. Made from organically grown grapes.

The 2008 Tokaji Aszú Betsek 6-Puttonyos is another fabulous 2008 to add to the Royal Tokaji Company’s roster. The nose is as clean as a whistle: beautifully delineated with candied orange peel, honeysuckle and resinous scents, the latter becoming more accentuated with about 20 minutes aeration. The palate is underpinned by the razor-sharp acidity that lends this Tokaji so much freshness and vitality. It is a feisty little thing like the 2007, but the 2008 displays even better control and focus....

The 2007 Essencia is the fifth made in the modern era, and it continues to defy the definition of wine. It gloops onto the spoon, the best way to consume this astonishing elixir. The palate electrifies the senses with almost overwhelming sweetness of apricot, Japanese plum and marmalade, while the acidity miraculously keeps everything on an even keel – not easy to do with a payload of 560gm/L residual sugar! Profound and probably destined to last for eternity. You can even drive home afterwards thanks to the 1.65% alcohol. Tasted at a private dinner in Hong Kong.

Rather than an essence of fruit, this reads as the evocation of a place—a patch of black volcanic soil southeast of the Szt. Tamás vineyard. It’s incredibly savory for a wine with so much residual sugar, more pumpkin than peach in flavor with a dark, earthy smokiness. The broad beeswax texture and black pepper–cardamom spice place it with roast goose and spiced fruit stuffing.