South Africa’s Blankbottle 2015 ‘Moment Of Silence’

Seek and taste now, because there’s every assurance this exact wine will never be again. For the better. Crazy good value for this level of everything.

Niepoort ’14 Dialogo From The Douro Valley In Portugal

Youthful raspberry, blackberry, wild blueberry, thorns ride a juicy and jubilant palate, brought back to earth by earthy, savoury and youthfully fierce, fine tannins...

Locally Distilled ‘Lohin McKinnon’ Single Malt Whisky

On the nose, I was right away taken back to the Highlands. Notes of stone fruit, vanilla and the charred American oak of the barrel hit the senses. On the palate, there were silky layers of honey, candied citrus and a subtle, peppery finish.

Barrel-Aged ‘Reynard’ Oud Bruin By Strange Fellows

Whether you're savouring Hill's latest Oud Bruin on your own or serving it over the holidays with some Le Cendrillon Ash Chevre or a slice of Cadeaux's gorgeous Black Forest cake with sour cherry compote, Reynard won't disappoint.

Wind Gap Trousseau Gris From The Russian River Valley

The vibrant, lively wine is incidentally white; a white skinned grape made like it was a red wine with an alluring depth of salty herbal fruit and bitter pear through to the finish.

Veneto’s Excellent, Smashable Angiolino Maule Masieri

A fine slick of earthy lees oils the bottom of the palate, while herbal lemon oil-laced acidity brightens the whole to a lightly grippy finish. You rock up to a party carrying one of these beauties and you are the party.

Bridge Brewing Co.’s Brilliant Side Cut North East IPA

With a full, well-rounded mouth feel and a resiny, grapefruity aftertaste, Side Cut makes a pretty strong impression, and is a brilliant intro to a relatively new (albeit disputed) "style" of IPA.

Faia Vin Blanc 2014 From Loire’s Mai & Kenji Hodgson

Tight green apple, white honey, delicate white florals, savoury broken stone, mandarin pith and bitter herbs glide on the palate's lightly leesy chenin sheen through to the lengthy finish...

Cross Border Collab Crafts Brilliant ‘Common Winds’

lthough nearly sold out, word is that a couple remaining bottles of this super limited edition beer are still out there. I'd grab whatever you can find because epic collabs like this one don’t come around too often.

Yellow Dog Brewing Co.’s ‘Play Dead IPA’ A Rare Gem

It's maybe not what George Hodgson had in mind when he filled his first barrels with October Ale destined for the Subcontinent, but it remains a perfectly executed expression of a modern style that can be so delicious when done well.

’13 “One Ball” Chardonnay From Australia’s BK Wines

With a couple of years under its belt and a nutty, brioche maturity, this wine is drinking beautifully now but will continue to mature and deepen with 5+ years.

Pride Of Dageraad Brewing — The Stunning Blonde Ale

With a rich, supple mouth feel and a warming finish, Dageraad Blonde manages to balance all of its complexity while still maintaining its many unique, constituent elements...

Ringing In The New Year With Good Prosecco In Hand

Serious Prosecco, and seriously drinkable – at about half the price of Champagne. Saluti e felice anno nuovo!

Mathieu + Camille Lapierre’s Morgon ’13 Cru Beaujolais

Crunchy acids finish with ample white pepper on the finish. Very low sulphur use here, as is the house style. It's drinking well now, but will reward with 5+ years in the cellar.

2012 “Secateurs” Red Blend From A.A. Badenhorst

Next time instead of trotting out your darling obscure Jura or electric Savennières or natural Etna (all of which fill my shelves), reach for one of the new wave South African wines, like Secateurs Red Blend.

“Green Room” Syrah/Grenache From Ochota Barrels