Wines for the weekend: September 2023
Each month, Decanter’s editorial team tastes and rates a number of wines to be included in the magazine’s Weekend Wines section. This selection features our seven standout buys, all priced £20-£50 and sure to impress.
Get through the working week, and it’s time to crack open something a little bit more special.
As a companion selection to our 25 wines under £20, the Decanter team has selected seven standout bottles that are sure to impress, all available in the UK and priced between £20 and £50.
Wines for the weekend: September 2023
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Coates & Seely, Brut Reserve, England, United Kingdom
A complex, toasty nose of freshly peeled red apple, red cherry, grapefruit and a touch of honey. The NV Brut Reserve was aged on lees for 2.5 to 3 years, then stayed under cork for a further 6-12 months. The cleansing acidity serves as the backbone, with a full-on palate of brioche, bruised apple and sourdough, leading to a yeasty, long finish.
Coates & Seely
Zilliken, Saarburger Rausch Riesling Spätlese, Mosel, Germany, 2009
Straight from the producer's cellar and drinking beautifully, the 2009 vintage was ripe, but this has incredible balance for its 88g/L residual sugar. Gorgeously expressive, with oily, fleshy peach aromas and flavours, and a definite creaminess despite there being no perceptible oak.
2009
Zilliken
Franz Hirtzberger, Grüner Veltliner Rotes Tor, Wachau, Smaragd, Niederösterreich, Austria, 2022
A benchmark smargard Grüner with outstanding mineral structure supporting expressive ripe pear, clementine jam, white peach and honey flavours, finely lined with iodine and peppery notes. With a robust elegance, this is drinking so well now but will age beautifully for two decades.
2022
Franz HirtzbergerWachau
Walter Scott, Bois-Moi Chardonnay, Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA, 2020
Plush aromas of ripe nectarine and yellow apples layered with tropical mango notes and a creamy vanilla intensity. The palate is more taut and linear, with rapier-like acidity and citrus peel freshness. Sophisticated and serious, an accomplished Chardonnay.
2020
Walter ScottWillamette Valley
Emiliana, Coyam, Colchagua Valley, Chile, 2020
This flagship wine from organic producer Emiliana hugely over-delivers for the price. A seamless blend of old-vine Syrah, Caremenere, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan, Grenache and Mourvedre, with dashes of Petit Verdot, Malbec and Tempranillo. Harmonious nose of cassis, fruits of the forest, black currant leaf, redcurrants and dark chocolate. Poised and complex palate: ripe, juicy fruit is balanced by freshness and a sappy florality, with hints of violet, mocha, pencil shavings, liquorice, rounded tannins and a lingering finish. Super stuff!
2020
Emiliana
Castello di Monsanto, Chianti Classico, Riserva, Tuscany, Italy, 2019
First produced in 1962, this Riserva is unusual in that it represents the majority of the estate's production – around four times as many bottles are produced as for the Chianti Classico annata. In 2019 there was a rainy spring followed by a warm but not overly hot summer, and ideal weather at harvest time. Bright hedgerow berry aromas are accompanied by floral notes and fragrant damp earth, while in the mouth it's really intense, with a good concentration of bramble fruits alongside spicy and woody inflections and a balsamic streak. Very light on its feet, it's deliciously fresh, succulent and long, with superbly integrated tannins. Excellent.
2019
Castello di MonsantoChianti Classico
Ernest Vineyards, Edaphos Ossum Epiphanea, Mendocino County, Mendocino, California, USA, 2021
A summery co-fermented blend of eight red and white varieties, led by Marsanne (25%) and Grenache (22%). High-altitude vineyards impart great purity, acidity and a wet slate coolness to the silky, supple palate of juicy red cherry, cola and herbes de provence.
2021
Ernest VineyardsMendocino County
