Editors’ picks: A clutch of great wines to try – April 2026
Each month our editorial team tastes a lot of wine, but not all of it makes it onto the page. So here’s our in-house pick of other great wines we’ve tried.
Wine and desserts in Riga
Amy Wislocki, judging at the annual Wine+Dessert Latvia contest
There’s a first time for everything, and when I flew to snowy Riga in late February to judge at the annual Wine+Dessert Latvia contest, it was the first time I’d consumed 14 desserts and matching wines in one sitting (well, a spoonful or two of each!).
The competition, which has been running in Lithuania since 2010 and also has an Estonian incarnation – so it’s now in all three Baltic countries – was established by Arünas Starkus to boost the sweet wine category.
The lineup featured wines of many shades, grapes and regions, from Rivesaltes and Quarts de Chaume to Brachetto and Vin de Paille.
The winning combination (pictured, top), from restaurant Pavāru māja Līgatnē, saw Jerusalem artichoke prepared in various ways, with a quince mousse and venison fat caramel, paired with Pfalz producer Oliver Zeter’s Goldschatz, a TBA (raisined on the vine) blend of varieties (£30 Vin Neuf).
The runner-up edged it for me though: a tropical dessert inspired by Thailand’s tom yum soup, served with the late-harvest Sweetheart Sauvignon Blanc 2023, coincidentally from the same producer (£16.50 The Oxford Wine Company).
The pairing, from last year’s winning restaurant Kest, saw both wine and dessert elevating each other – as in any great match, the combination more than the sum of its parts.
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Dry Furmint, but aged
Richard Bampfield MW at the Furmint tasting
In addition to Tokaji Aszú, the botrytised sweet wine, Hungary’s Tokaj region is increasingly known for its quality dry whites, crafted mainly using the same Furmint grape.
I’ve been enjoying dry Furmints – such as Disznókő’s herbal and zesty 2024 and single-vineyard bottles such as Füleky’s floral and spiced Mestervölgy 2021 (£33 Amathus Drinks) and Royal Tokaji’s focused and complex Szent Tamás 2020 – without realising that this is a rather ‘new’ style, created more than 400 years later than Aszú.
At Furmint February, the annual London tasting dedicated to Hungary’s flagship white grape, Caroline Gilby MW and Richard Bampfield MW led a masterclass on dry Furmint dating back to its emergence in the early 2000s.
Unsurprisingly, the wines have evolved in very different directions, shaped by diverse viticulture and winemaking.
Sauska’s 2019 was punchy, with camomile and buttery dried apricot, drawing power from red clay.
Dobogó’s 2007 retained aromatic acacia and jasmine, layered with ginger-spiced peach.
The Patricius 2005 showed more tropical and dried yellow fruit, alongside what Bampfield described as a Darjeeling tea-like perfume.
Almost without exception, however, the grape’s firm acidity carried the wines gracefully under cork. I look forward to revisiting the current vintages in a decade’s time.
Making supersonic wines in Aragón
From left: Fernando Mora MW and Mario López
A mere three weeks after I attended a fascinating session hosted by Fernando Mora MW at Barcelona Wine Week – presiding over a panel with the likes of producers Comando G and Equipo Navazos – I met him again in London to taste and chat through the new releases of Bodegas Frontonio.
The project, a partnership between Mora and winemaker Mario López, has truly rocked the boat in Aragón, northeastern Spain, creating a ripple of surprise and recognition – single-handedly raising the profile of a region whose incredible viticultural pedigree deserves more attention.
Frontonio’s wines stand out for their energy, levity and nuance, backed by a cerebral yet passionate interpretation of both grapes and terroir.
The pair have identified old vineyards and leveraged their genetic diversity to produce wines that confound, seduce and delight.
If you’re not familiar with the project, I suggest you start with Supersónico 2022 (£29.80 Vinvm), an electrifying Garnacha red from a plot planted at 1,000m on pizarra soils (decomposed slate), and Microcósmico 2024 (£20.20 Vinvm), a textural and saline Macabeo white from a 70-year-old vineyard growing on limestone.
The zenith of their collection is the mindblowing El Jardín de las Iguales Tinto 2020 (£219 Drinkmonger), a Garnacha of unparalleled complexity and elegance. Don’t stop them now.
bodegasfrontonio.com (See decanter.com for tasting notes and scores).
Still fabulous at 50
My birth year is a resounding dud when it comes to wine, but my sister, who turned 50 this Valentine’s Day, is more blessed.
While 1976 isn’t up there with 1970 and 1971, arguably the stars of that decade, it’s fairly good, particularly for reds from Bordeaux, Burgundy and the Rhône, according to Decanter’s vintage guides.
But her preference for whites, Chardonnay especially, made my surprise-gift hunting that bit more challenging.
So, with some trepidation, I turned to Burgundy. Thankfully this long, hot, dry vintage was a good one for the Côte de Beaune and, through Seckford Wines,
I found a single bottle with acceptable ullage of Meursault 1er Cru Perrieres 1976 from Domaine Potinet-Ampeau – known for its ageworthy whites – sourced from a local collector’s cold cellar (£118 Seckford Wines).
After a flight to Australia, the cork survived extraction and, amazingly, the wine showed no sign of premature oxidation.
An old-gold hue, still with lime cordial acidity and oily brazil nut richness, the wine’s layered aromas and flavours flitted between tangy nectarine and green mango, dark marmalade and undergrowth.
Buying old wine for anniversaries is always a gamble, but when the risk pays off, it’s truly memorable. If it doesn’t, then they still have a unique birth-year candlestick holder!
The charm of Tuscany’s 2024 vintage
February is a wonderful time to visit Tuscany; before the crowds accumulate in significant numbers, and just as the sun starts hanging ever-higher in the sky.
A couple of Decanter colleagues and I rented a car and drove from Pisa to Bolgheri and the Maremma, where we visited several wineries before heading back northwards to Florence for the annual Chianti Classico Collection event – a chance not only to taste the newest releases of these Sangiovese-based reds, but also to speak with the winemakers and owners.
What has become evident is that, throughout Tuscany, 2024 is a bit of a special vintage – not necessarily in outright quality terms, but in its ‘back to basics’ or ’classic’ styling. It’s a year that’s particularly well suited to white wines, but also gives delicacy, lightness and a crunchy fruit character to many of the reds.
As one winemaker told me, 2024 is the ‘litmus test’ to see if lighter-bodied, lower-alcohol reds are really what drinkers want. I for one will be looking to stock up on Tuscany’s 2024s as they hit the market over the course of this year and beyond.
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Content written and compiled by the Decanter Team