Fine Wine Cellars

Special occasion stuff, this: a super-premium Australian Chardonnay made at the cool-climate Yarra Valley outpost of famous Champagne house Moet & Chandon. The focus here is, as you'd expect, on classic fizz, but elegant still wines are also produced from Champagne grape varieties. The fresh, peachy character of this wine was complexed by fermentation and maturation in new French barrels, adding spicy, toasty vanilla notes and creamy texture.

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Additional info: Green Point

Amazingly good: a stand-out for the vintage. Honeyed stonefruit sweetness balanced by refreshing citrus. Recommended drinking with foie gras. Owned by the Baly family since 1977, Château Coutet is in Barsac to the south of the appellation, with vineyards planted mostly to Sémillon. Barrel-fermented, the wines are aged in oak for 18 months.

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Additional info: Château Coutet

Bernard Fouquet is one of the top growers in Vouvray and organically-inclined. Vineyard inputs are applied with pinpoint accuracy, and grasses are grown between vine rows to encourage natural predators. This is the top cuvée from 'Le Marigny', one of Bernard's vine-clad lawns, planted on limestone. Made from super-ripe grapes, it's rich, intense and luxurious, with concentrated, honeyed stone fruit and ripe apple flavours. Recommended with baked pear flan.

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Additional info: Domaine des Aubuisières

Crisp, zesty limes, honeydew melons, and a dry, barley water finish make for a white that's guaranteed to thrill any lover of fresh fish and seafood. Or those partial to lounging around on hot summer days. Juniper's dynamic winemaker Mark Messenger (ex-of Cape Mentelle; Australia, California and India-trained), has won world-wide acclaim with single varietals of power and finesse as well as precisely-judged blends like this classic Semillon-Sauvignon.

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Additional info: Juniper Estate

Honeyed citrus and passion fruit flavours course through this golden dessert wine. Delicious with sorbet. No fewer than 6 prestigious Guide Hachette 'Coups de coeur' have been awarded to Bruno Pastourel and his father Yves since they took over Château de la Peyrade over 30 years ago. This 18th century estate, planted to Muscats Ó Petits Grains, sits between the sea and the Thau lagoon, a sheltered, sunny spot where conditions are perfect for grape ripening.

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Additional info: Peyrade

Honeyed citrus and passion fruit flavours course through this golden dessert wine. Delicious with sorbet. No fewer than 6 prestigious Guide Hachette 'Coups de coeur' have been awarded to Bruno Pastourel and his father Yves since they took over Château de la Peyrade over 30 years ago. This 18th century estate, planted to Muscats Ó Petits Grains, sits between the sea and the Thau lagoon, a sheltered, sunny spot where conditions are perfect for grape ripening.

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It has to be pretty special for us to put our names to it - and this white Burgundy from the gleaming, steel tank-lined cellars of the ever-reliable Talmard family (they're based in the Mâcon town of Chardonnay, so ought to know a thing or two about the grape) truly is 'les genoux des abeilles' (knees of bees). Stunningly clean, fresh and characterful, with intense white peach, lemon and melon flavours, it's sophisticated and versatile, perfect as an apéritif or with chicken, fish or salads.

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Additional info: Domaine Talmard

Dynamic Jacques Bailly (heir to a winemaking tradition going back to the 1700s) and wife Marie-Hélène cultivate an array of coveted vineyards around Bué in the eastern Loire appellation of Sancerre, including a plot originally called 'Choix Marchand', source of wines merchants kept for themselves. Generous to a fault, we'll let you in on this sought-after cuvée, with its fresh grapey fruit, steely edge and fine, minerally finish.

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Additional info: Sylvain Bailly

If you've a platter of fresh bivalves in your sights, and nothing in the way of wine to slurp them down with, Serge Saupin's your man. His property in Nantes (the Atlantic end of the Loire), is home to our top Muscadet, oyster beverage nonpareil. This is his finest cuvée, pale, lemony yellow in colour, crisp and minerally fresh, with that broad, slightly creamy character you only find in the finest 'sur lie' Muscadet (wine left to gain complexity on its yeast 'lees').

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Additional info: Domaine Saupin

Liven up Thai or Chinese suppers with this orange peel and quince-scented, lush-textured yet fresh Viognier. Winemaker Jean Veyrier heads up one of the best co-operative wineries in the Languedoc-Roussillon: Les Costières de Pomerols, near the mussel beds of the Étang de Thau. He produces some very stylish wines indeed, many highly-praised by US wine guru Robert Parker.

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Additional info: Costières de Pomerols