James Halliday – According to Pierro’s website, the music to play while tasting this wine is Delibes’ Flower duet from the opera Lakmé, described, in part, as “balanced perfectly with richness, depth and hidden power. Long lingering finish that leaves one feeling delightfully pensive and soothed.” Reads like a tasting note for the wine. Yet who sings the duet is important – my favourite recording is the incomparable Dame Joan Sutherland and Jane Berbié. Like the Dame, this wine is powerful, rich and precise. It’s full-bodied and layered with ripe stone fruit, nutty, creamy lees and spicy oak, and yet, the super-tight acid line seems to corral all those overt flavours into submission driving to a long, resounding finish while allowing moreish, savoury aspects to rise – lemon-lime freshness cleansing the palate. Impressive.

World Wine – "Leading off the three Châteauneuf Du Papes, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources comes from more sandy soils just across the road from the estate. It always shares more stylistic similarities with the Réserve and is more opulent, sexy, and fruit loaded compared to the Hauts-Lieux cuvée. This 2017 is spectacular, offering loads of black fruits, black licorice, ground herbs, violets, and some obvious loamy soil and mineral-like aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, expansive, and multi-dimensional, this is another singular wine from Jean-Paul Daumen that tastes like the essence of this stunning terroir." 95 points Jeb Dunnuck

The Wine Front – Necessity is the mother of invention. In 1993 Tim Adams was desperately short of shiraz and cabernet so his neighbour, Fergus Mahon, sold him some grenache to keep him ticking over. Hence The Fergus blend was born, and has been made ever since. This release includes tempranillo and malbec, all of which is dry-grown. Its usual reliable self. There was a time when I wasn’t a great fan of The Fergus but we’ve moved on from there in recent years. It’s well-balanced, fleshy, not too light and not too heavy. It’s red berried with star anise, cola and gum leaf highlights. It’s a well tailored red, perfect for casual drinking.

James Suckling – The 2018 Brunello di Montalcino blends richness, ripeness, and refinement to create a model of total balance. At first, it's dark, earthy, and herbal; yet with time in the glass, a massive wave of black cherry, raspberry, sage, and a grounding note of undergrowth comes forward. In the mouth, it coats all that it touches in silky, cool-toned textures, giving way to ripe red/black fruits complemented by spiced citrus, as nuances of lavender and tobacco form. While this feels round and pliant throughout, fine-grain tannins slowly saturate, sneaking up and reminding you of just how young 2018 really is today. Hints of baker's chocolate, licorice, and a twang of tart blackberry resonate - wow, does it ever end?