June 2026 Case of the Month

This month’s selection brings together six wines of genuine quality and character from some of the most exciting producers working anywhere in the world right now – wines that are a pleasure to drink now or to cellar for the next few years.

From Austria’s Wachau, Prager’s Riesling Smaragd Wachstum Bodenstein 2023 is a wine of precision and aging potential which is thrilling now, but with decades of evolution ahead. Mark Haisma’s Saint-Romain Le Jarron 2022 from one of the village’s finest vineyards – an understated Chardonnay with a Chassagne-like finish. Château Carbonnieux Blanc 2023 is Pessac-Léognan at its most elegant and characterful – a white Bordeaux that rewards both early drinking and patient cellaring in equal measure. From Vosne-Romanée, Berthaut-Gerbet’s 2023 is Burgundy from a domaine on an exciting upward trajectory, silky and perfumed and drinking well above its village appellation. Pian dell’Orino’s Rosso di Montalcino 2017 brings the warmth and soul of Tuscany – generous, expressive, and ready to pour right now. And from the ancient bush vines of South Africa’s Swartland, The Sadie Family Sonvang 2024 is a reminder that some of the world’s most compelling red wines are being made far from the traditional regions of fine wine.

Prager Riesling Smaragd Wachstum Bodenstein 2023

The Bodenstein vineyard sits above the village of Weissenkirchen in the Wachau, a steep, terraced slope of ancient gneiss and granite that has been producing extraordinary Riesling for centuries, and its passion for biodiversity and old terraces, coupled with brilliant winemaking, places Prager in the highest echelon of Austrian producers. Smaragd is the Wachau’s highest ripeness designation, named after the emerald lizard that basks on these sun-warmed stone terraces. Fermented to dry, it’s full and richly textured yet impeccably focused, the natural power of Smaragd ripeness held in perfect tension by an acidity that cuts through like a laser, keeping everything taut, and refreshing. 

Mark Haisma Saint-Romain ‘Le Jarron’ 2022 

A quietly thrilling white Burgundy from a producer who has become one of the most exciting names working in the Côte de Beaune. Mark Haisma, the Australian-born, Burgundy-adopted winemaker with a natural instinct for terroir and a light touch in the cellar. Saint-Romain sits high in the hills above Meursault and Auxey-Duresses, cooler and more austere than its famous neighbours, and Le Jarron captures that elevated, nervy energy beautifully with green apple, white flowers, lemon zest, and a stony, subtle minerality. Understated and very elegant – Saint-Romain from an outsider who clearly loves what this overlooked corner of Burgundy can do.

Château Carbonnieux Blanc Pessac-Léognan 2023

One of the Graves’ most historic and reliable addresses, and a white Bordeaux that reminds you why Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon grown on these deep gravel and sand soils produce something unique from anywhere else in the world. The 2023 is fresh, precise, and immediately appealing with grapefruit, white peach, lemon zest, and a subtle fig-like richness on the nose, and light touch of oak-derived creaminess that adds texture without ever dominating. The palate is focused and elegant, with a bright, mouthwatering acidity that carries the wine through to a clean, lingering finish with real length and a gentle mineral dryness that is the unmistakable signature of Pessac-Léognan.

Domaine Berthaut-Gerbet Vosne-Romanée 2023

Amélie Berthaut-Gerbet has quietly become one of the most talked-about young vigneronnes in Fixin, Burgundy with both the pedigree and the instincts to do the village genuine justice. Her Vosne-Romanée is immediately seductive – red cherry, wild strawberry, dried rose petal, and a dark, silky earthiness that is the signature of Vosne at its most elegant. On the palate it is elegant and chiseled, with the kind of silky, integrated tannins and vibrant, lifted acidity that defines great Côte de Nuits Pinot Noir, and a finish that is long and graceful.

Pian dell’Orino Rosso di Montalcino 2017

Caroline Pobitzer and Jan Hendrick Erbach have built one of Montalcino’s most compelling small estates on a foundation of biodynamic farming and a deep, genuine respect for what Sangiovese can do when left largely to its own devices. The 2017 Rosso is warm and generously proportioned, reflecting a ripe and opulent vintage, with bright cherry, dried violet, leather, and a wild herbal earthiness that is unmistakably Tuscan. It’s supple and medium-bodied, with firm but fine Sangiovese tannins and bright, food-friendly acidity that make Rosso di Montalcino such a satisfying glass, and with all the character and soul of the appellation, without asking you to wait a decade to enjoy it.

The Sadie Family Sonvang 2024

Eben Sadie is the quiet revolutionary of Swartland, the producer who, more than anyone else, convinced the world that South Africa’s ancient, dry-farmed bush vines were capable of producing wines of genuine world-class complexity and soul. Sonvang or ‘sun catcher’ in Afrikaans was born as an experimental project – a plot co-planted with more than ten Mediterranean varieties (Alicante Bouschet, Agiorgitiko, Tinta Barroca, Trincadeira to name a few) designed to resist climate change and at the same time capture a sensory complexity impossible to replicate with a mono varietal. A subtle fragrance of sour cherry, pomegranate, dried orange peel and scrubland spice – the fruit is precise without excess. This is a wine of dry landscape, warm breeze and intense light – its beauty lies in its subtlety.