The wines which have been most consistently paired up as part of tasting menus this year.

• One to Drink – Ian Brand Eden Rift Pinot Gris 2020 RRP £41. Ian Brand is something else. Working mainly in Santa Cruz and Monterey County his wines are coastal influenced and nuanced and just flat-out ace. Technically an orange wine, 6 days on skins give this wine some lifted aromatics, more texture, more depth, a hint of colour … delish!!

• One to Gift – Geyer Cabernet Franc 2021 RRP £33. Looks great. Tastes great. Flint. Graphite. Blue fruits. Low alcohol. Typically Loire style Cab franc from a winemaker based in the Barossa. Does that make sense? Not really. Has it landed really well with some the coolest somms we work with? Absolutely!

• One for a Dinner Party – Salt Rock Sauvignon Blanc 2020 RRP £26. Spicy food. That is all. You want more? This textured, freshly tropical Sauvignon Blanc is an ACE pairing with spicy foods!

• One to Keep – Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown 2020 RRP £40. Aged Riesling is a thing. And Tess and Jeremy are making some very very serious very very highly regarded wines. This off-dry Riesling has 36 grams of residual sugar and will age beautifully. This is the kind of wine the Sommeliers we work with like to lie down – a number of them have in fact!