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Started in 2016 in Hautes-Côtes de Beaune by Morgane and Christian, Dandelion works very hands on around 4 hectares in the higher altitude parts of HCdB, following biodynamics with no machinery but the help of their horses Safran and Reine.

The winemaking follows the same minimalist approach, no additions, no pumping, no filtration, delicate small batch pressing using a vertical basket press and aging in old barrels only.

Corail is one of the rarer cuvées, a whole cluster fermentation field blend from a single vineyard planted with Pinot Noir, Aligote and Gamay.

Strikingly beautiful ruby colour and a vibrant, open nose full of red berries, stone fruits, and fresh herbs. The palate is a masterclass in tension, balancing high alcohol, decidedly ripe body with chalky, mineral backbone and surprising acidity.

It’s easily my favourite cuvee of theirs, unfortunately Corail has only been released in 2019 and 2022, and only around 600 bottles each vintage.

One of my favourite winemakers in Spain, Jorge is one of the few, and certainly the most ambitions, attempting to reconnect the region of Aragon with its prolific winemaking past. Located on the foothills of the Pyrenees in Coscojuela de Sobrarbe, Jorge started planting vines on his families land around 2009, the first few years the tiny production went directly to family and friends until 2021/2022 when he decided to leave his engineering career behind and build a winery for himself where he now produces 10-15000 bottles a year from around 10hectares of vineyard.

Entirely self taught, he blends the tradition of the area with his personal taste and experience to create beautifully pure, elegant, lively, fresh, lifted expressions of his terroir and his perspective.

Kemisió is one of the most particular cuvées by Jorge, a tiny production averaging 1500 bottles a year, 70/30 co-ferment of white/red grapes from a single parcel. The vineyard is predominantly Macabeu, Moristel and Parraleta but there’s a bunch of other varieties planted within it that Jorge has opted against identifying, believing that following the long standing tradition of co-planting to allow the varieties to balance each other.

He harvests on multiple passes over different days to ensure each variety reaches optimal ripeness, the bunches are 100% de stemmed and macerated for around 10-15 days (depending on vintage), fermentation with native yeasts and 9-10 months in stainless steel tank, bottled right before next years harvest without filtering or SO2 added.

Skirting the line between an orange, a dark rose, and a light red, it has a vibrant nose full of flowers, citrus, and red berries. The palate follows along with crunchy, bright acidity and delicate tannin, while this is a very easy drinking wine it does not lack depth.

It says something that these weren’t the best wines we had that day, but then again that’s what happens in a place where the wine list is easily the most exciting, interesting, and eclectic in Spain, perhaps Europe.

The bubbles were a real treat, those of you who know the story behind Dominique Belluard will understand when I say getting to taste anything he made is an incredibly emotional experience and an increasingly rare one. Mont Blanc 2016 vintage disgorged in 2018, the evolution is starting to show up and there’s definitely an oxidized side to it but the energy and huge acidity of gringet keeps things remarkably balanced, a super interesting winter spice gingerbread thing going on.

Mugnier is, to me, the epitome of elegance in burgundy, however since I’m fortunate to have had access to it regularly for many years it’s not necessarily a producer I drink a lot of anymore, truthfully I wanted the 2017, a vintage I’ve had multiple times and delivers violets like no other but unfortunately a table next to us got the last one just before, so I picked up the ‘14 which I hadn’t tried in many many years. It was instantly spectacular, albeit much more evolved than ‘17, the fruit had started to give way to the forest floor yet the acidity and the tannin were delicate and fine in a way that only Mugnier can deliver, the wine was great but clearly starting to tire out, we decided to open something else (Vosne Romanee ‘22 from Nathalie Vigot) and give it time to see where it went but honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of the direction. This is a purely personal thing, I prefer younger more energetic burgundy, the table was split 50/50 on it.

I normally don’t comment on prices but in this case I gotta say 150€ for a 2014 Marechale is unbelievable in 2026.