Made from the native Georgian grape mtsvane, this wine carries both freshness and a depth that unfolds with time in the glass.
Behind it stands Guram Maisuradze, who founded Nadelebi in 2014, building on a family tradition of winemaking that stretches back generations in Kakheti. Guram continues the work of his father, grandfather, and uncle, who were already making wine in qvevri long before “natural wine” became a global language.
The vineyards are farmed organically, and the approach in the cellar is one of restraint. Fermentation is carried out with wild yeasts, no additives, no filtration.
Mtsvane 2024(Nadelebi)
Deep golden with amber. Aroma of green apple, wild herbs, a hint of citrus peel, and something floral beneath. On the palate, it is precise and textured. Integrated acidity, flavours of orchard fruit, quince, and a faint almond note towards a dry, savoury finish.
This is a wine from the steep terraces of Ribeira Sacra and what is often called “heroic viticulture”, where every vine is worked by hand along the dramatic river valleys.
Behind the wine is the project Anónimas Viticultoras, founded by Cristina Yagüe Cuevas and María Falcón. This is not a traditional estate, but a collaborative project working across Galicia with growers and small parcels. They are involved throughout, from vineyard decisions to vinification.
The approach in the cellar is deliberately low-intervention: hand-harvested grapes, gentle extraction, and fermentation with native yeasts to preserve the character of the fruit and site. Ageing is typically carried out in neutral vessels — often stainless steel or used barrels — avoiding overt oak influence and allowing the purity of mencía and the granitic and slate soils to come through clearly.
Catro e Cadela Mencía 2024(Anónimas Viticultoras)
Bright, translucent ruby with violet rim. Crushed raspberries, wild strawberries and redcurrants, followed by rose petals, a hint of fresh herbs and a stony, slate-like note. On the palate, medium-bodied and finely etched, with lively acidity and silky tannins framing the red fruit. There is a subtle savoury edge beneath the fruit, leading to a clean, persistent finish with a gentle mineral lift.
My best rosé, or pale red wine, at the entrance of Easter, was the super-fresh Motty from Lucy Chilvers.
Based in Penedès, Lucy farms around 4.5 hectares across small parcels at varying altitudes, on clay, limestone and sandy soils. Some of the vines are close to a century old.
The vineyards are worked organically, with touches of biodynamic practice. In the cellar, the approach is deliberately restrained: spontaneous fermentations with native yeasts, no additions, no filtration, and little or no sulphur.
This wine (mostly garnacha with a little merlot) follows this logic. Whole-bunch elements contribute tension, while the wine is bottled without filtration, preserving both texture and energy.
Motty 2023 (Lucy Chilvers)
In the glass, it is pale and translucent. The nose leans towards fresh red berries—wild strawberry, cranberry—with a faint herbal edge and a slightly untamed note from whole clusters. On the palate, it is light-bodied but far from simple: vibrant, energetic, with a driving acidity. The tannins are present yet gentle, giving just enough grip to frame the fruit. There is a subtle savoury undertone, and a sense of movement throughout—a wine that really feels alive.
Sexto Elemento, that is: wine, is the life project of Rafa López and Silvia García, in Venta del Moro, Valencia.
The wine is crafted entirely without chemical additives, following an artisanal approach in both vineyard and cellar. Made from bobal, sourced from old, dry-farmed vines, the grapes are harvested by hand and handled with great care throughout. Fermentation with native yeasts is followed by ageing for 12 months in oak, integrated in a way that supports rather than dominates the wine’s expression.
The wine was served at natural wine spot La Gracia of Murcia – for me the first outdoor pour of the year.
Sexto Elemento 2023(Sexto Elemento)
In the glass, the wine shows a bright cherry red colour, vivid and inviting. The nose is expressive and layered, combining red and dark berries with notes of dried herbs, subtle spice and a hint of cedar. On the palate, it is finely structured yet supple, with fresh acidity balancing flavours of cherry, plum and pomegranate. The finish is long, harmonious and resonant, with fruit, spice and texture in perfect harmony. Ideal for the after-skis of Easter.
Last night at Gota, the tiny bar in Madrid’s Chueca district, I was poured a glass of Bailando en el Filo 2024 by Victoria Sánchez, one half of the duo behind Pequeños y Salvajes. On an earlier visit it was Nahuel Ibarra who stood behind the bar. It seems only fitting that their wine appears in a place that shares their spirit: small, lively and a little wild.
The wine comes from El Tiemblo in the Sierra de Gredos, a landscape of old vines and granite soils that has become one of the most exciting sources of Garnacha in central Spain. It’s made by carbonic maceration.
Bailando en el Filo — “dancing on the edge” — is an apt name. The wine has that same sense of balance and risk. There is something refreshingly unforced about it, almost as if the wine were being made in the moment. It feels improvised, like music played without a written score — yet guided by instinct and intuition.
Bailando en el Filo 2024 (Pequeños y Salvajes)
Light ruby red. Bright red berries, wild herbs and a faint earthy note rise from the glass. The palate is lively and finely textured, with freshness and lightness carrying the wine effortlessly forward. Serious glou-glou.
Beaujolais Nouveau Day was yesterday — the annual Thursday in November when the first wines of the new vintage are released. Once a marketing spectacle, it now serves more quietly as a seasonal marker of early fruit and immediacy.
One estate that approaches the style with clarity and intent is Château Cambon, founded in 1995 by Marcel and Marie Lapierre together with Jean-Claude Chanudet. Their aim was to bring the Lapierre philosophy — organic farming, old vines, delicate extraction and minimal intervention — into a separate project focused on purity rather than prestige. Today the estate continues in the same spirit, producing wines that are understated, bright and free of ornament.
The label illustration is signed Siné — Maurice Sinet — the influential French caricaturist known for his sharply satirical line and long association with Charlie Hebdo. His irreverent, uncluttered style fits the wine surprisingly well: playful, direct and never weighed down.
Beaujolais Nouveau 2025 (Château Cambon)
Medium red with a hint of purple. Aromas of raspberry and freshly cut grass. Juicy and quenching on the palate, with fresh acidity and fine-grained tannins giving just enough shape without adding weight.
Moravia is not the first place people think of when it comes to pinot blanc — yet from here emerge a really characterful version. The rolling hills of South Moravia, near the borders with Austria and Slovakia, are a mosaic of loess, limestone and clay, dotted with small villages, organic vineyards and a new generation of growers working with minimal intervention.
Milan Nestarec, based in Velké Bílovice, is one of the leading figures in this movement. His wines are raw and transparent, often unfiltered, and reflect a restless curiosity rather than a fixed style. He sees wine as “liquid food” — something that should feel alive and nourishing rather than polished or corrected.
Krásná Hora, located further east in Starý Poddvorov, share the same low-intervention philosophy but express it differently. Their biodynamic vineyards lie on loess- and limestone-rich slopes, producing wines of clarity and tension.
In Pinot Blanc Connection, Nestarec’s partly oak-aged 2022 component meets Krásná Hora’s crisp 2024 juice. The blend captures both sides of Moravia’s new identity: human-scale, collaborative, and driven by the wish to let the land speak.
Pinot Blanc Connection(Nestarec × Krásná Hora)
Pale golden. Complex nose of baked apple, quince and citrus peel, followed by hints of chamomile, honeycomb and raw almond. The palate is broad and textural, with a gentle waxiness and a bright acidity. Layers of ripe orchard fruit and light oxidative tones build toward a salty, slightly spicy finish that lingers with a touch of bitterness, reminiscent of grapefruit.
6 October is International Orange Wine Day, a celebration of a style that is both ancient and newly revived. By fermenting white grapes on their skins, winemakers create wines that blur the line between white and red: textured, often amber-hued, and full of unexpected aromas. What was once an old tradition in parts of Georgia, Friuli and beyond has become a contemporary expression of artisanal winemaking worldwide.
Catalonia, with its patchwork of landscapes and long history of experimentation, has embraced this revival with conviction. The region’s native grapes reveal strikingly different characters when handled as orange wines. Malvasía de Sitges, often floral and delicate, transforms into something more savoury, saline and spiced, its aromatic charm shaded by texture and grip. Macabeu, usually restrained and discreet in cava and still whites, gains depth and a surprising nutty, almost oxidative complexity. Garnatxa blanca, typically generous and rounded, might take on a more energetic profile, showcasing both a redish colour, a tannic backbone and subtle bitterness from the skins. A forth grape, xarel.lo, is not present here. That grape is worthy of a thematical evening of its own.
Tabla Rrasa Nèc-Tar 2021 (Portal del Priorat, Alfredo Arribas) Montsant – malvasía, seven days’ skin maceration, stainless steel
Golden, amber hue and slightly turbid, with a faint natural spritz that lifts the aromas. The nose recalls ripe apple, mango and wild herbs, with a faintly spicy edge. On the palate it is bright and linear, its high acidity wrapped in a fine, lightly phenolic texture. A whisper of bitterness on the finish gives it definition and length. This is a vivid, energetic take on malvasía, where the variety’s usual floral charm gives way to something more tactile and savoury.
Brisat del Coster 2020 (Josep Foraster) Conca de Barberà – macabeu, low yield, 21 days’ skin maceration
Deep golden in colour, with aromas of orange peel, chamomile and yellow orchard fruit. The palate is dry and quietly firm, with a gentle tannic frame and notes of citrus peel, quince and a touch of butter and almonds from the long maceration. Structured yet understated, it shows how macabeu can move from neutral backbone to expressive texture when treated as brisat – the Catalan word for orange wine.
Trementinaire 2019 (Herència Altés) Terra Alta – garnatxa blanca, macerated during fermentation, then pressed and aged 22 months in used oak
Pale gold with amber glints. The nose opens with orange zest, dried herbs and toasted nuts. Broad and glyceric on the palate, yet balanced by a subtle salinity and a delicate bitterness that keeps it taut. Layers of hazelnut, honeycomb and iodine unfold with air, giving a sense of power and maturity. A contemplative wine.
Orange wine is, after all, about rediscovery — of grapes, of methods, of flavours once thought forgotten. In Catalonia, that rediscovery feels both rooted and new. Here’s to continued curiosity — and a happy International Orange Wine Day.
From Salta’s high-altitude Cafayate Valley comes this striking torrontés from Bodega Nanni, a certified organic, family-run winery with roots going back to 1897.
At 1700 metres above sea level, the intense sun and cool nights shape grapes with vibrant aromatics and fresh acidity. This wine sees 30 days of skin contact, lending structure and a golden hue rarely associated with torrontés. No sulphites added.
Torrontés Skin Contact 2022(Bodega Nanni)
Golden with amber hints. The nose is fragrant and floral – orange blossom, chamomile and ripe apricot – but there’s also a savoury, tea-like edge. The palate is dry, textured and gently grippy, with flavours of candied citrus peel, dried herbs and a hint of ginger spice.
Since taking over Avignonesi in 2009, Virginie Saverys has transformed the estate into one of Tuscany’s leading names in organic and low-intervention viticulture. But she’s also opened the cellar doors to creativity. Sales director Alessio Guidi had long dreamt of making small batches of biodynamic wines with a juicy, free-spirited edge—and with The Juice Asylum, he’s finally been given free rein.
This wine, Il Terzo Grado 2022, is made from organically grown sangiovese (86%) and merlot (14%), sourced from vineyards in Montepulciano and Cortona at 275–375 metres elevation. Soils are a mix of clay, sand, silt and limestone. The grapes were hand-harvested, partly whole-cluster fermented with carbonic maceration, and aged in stainless steel for 6 months. Bottled unfiltered.
The Juice Asylum – Il Terzo Grado 2022(Classica)
The result is a riot of red berries, peppery spice and wild herbs, lifted by violets, liquorice root and a touch of bitterness. The texture is supple and alive, with juicy tannins and a savoury undercurrent that makes it both gluggable and thought-provoking.
Chill it slightly, serve with grilled quail, game birds or aged cheese—or just drink it with someone who’ll understand the chaos.
