As we reach the end of 2025, the Farr Vintners team have once again put together a list of their favourite and most memorable wines of the year.
These bottles may not all be the most famous labels or sought-after vintages, rather they are wines that stood out from the crowd and captivated our imaginations. There are of course some rare and famous names including old first growths and wines from the 1800s, but there are young and affordable wines too, and many that are as much about the setting and the memories these bottles produce.
Stephen Browett writes...
Whilst 2025 may not have been the greatest year in the history of Farr Vintners, it was a spectacular one for Crystal Palace FC as we finally won the FA Cup – a competition that we have been competing in since 1871. A magnum of Jamet Côte-Rôtie 2001 was enjoyed in the CPFC boardroom and nobody’s got a better ice bucket to chill down a wine on a warm day than us.
Earlier in the year an ullaged bottle of Latour 1961 - served in such a special place that I’m sworn to secrecy – showed that great wines, even at an advanced age with low levels, can still be magnificent.
Our annual “If not now, when?” dinner on a lovely summer’s evening in my back garden produced the usual amazing line-up of great wines. All participants were instructed to bring the best wine from their cellars and the winning pair was Lafleur 1975 and 1982. I don’t think that you could possibly have a finer pair of mature Pomerols. Even the big “P” would have struggled to compete with these two legends
In September a magnificent Jamet dinner at Chez Bruce resulted in a great photo of our old mate Bruce covered in Cote Rotie. The 2011 Côte-Rôtie, Jamet once again was a star performer from what is very much an insider’s Northern Rhône vintage.
And best three beers of the year :-
Surrey Hills “Ranmore” in The Eagle Ale House – one of the last surviving proper pubs in South London.
Oakham “Citra” in The Globe, Marylebone before the Cup Final.
Browary Lubelskie’s “Perla Chmielowa” in its home town of Lublin, Poland near the border with Ukraine, while watching Crystal Palace play Dynamo Kiev.
Joss Fowler writes...
1875 Malvazia, Oliveira
There is something inimitable about old Madeira. Leave it in a decanter and sooner rather than later the aroma will have filled the room. This particular wine was bottled in 2016 and was almost indescribable – it was beyond just how it tastes. A kaleidoscopic combination of spices and dried fruits, maybe some chocolate, impeccably balanced with perfect acidity and a length of flavour that just didn't end. Opened in April (just to test it, mind) it made it to the summer more or less intact for a family lunch, leaving about half a bottle remaining, which made it to Burgundy a month later for dinner with friends. The point being that wines like this just have to be shared, no matter how much one wants to keep something this good to oneself.
2009 Château Pavie
You’re not supposed to like Pavie. You’re supposed to say that it’s over-extracted, jammy loopy-juice. But give it time and (a) the quality of the vineyard shines through and (b) all that winemaking starts to make sense as the terroir can more than stand up to it. This is just coming to some level of maturity, with the gamey ripeness that the best '09s show, a character that could only be Bordeaux yet with a modern Pavie dimension. Very, very classy and so, so drinkable. Anyone making the generalisation that old-style Pavie is better than modern Pavie is talking tosh.
2005 Gevrey-Chambertin Clos Saint Jacques, Fourrier
To my palate this outshone a bottle of 2005 Chambertin Rousseau at the same dinner. Where the Rousseau still had that slightly rough edge than so many 2005 Burgundies show, this was just flawless and, eleven months later, I can still feel the sheer silkiness of the wine and its impossibly perfect balance. So clean, so precise, so Pinot and yes, so Clos Saint Jacques. Just perfection and a reminder of why, if any wine is going to make you cry, it’s going to be red Burgundy.
2016 Cornas, Clape
Served blind to the team on a Friday afternoon. Nah: not Northern Rhône. Oh? Well certainly not Cornas. Oh, really? Just beautiful and I couldn’t place it but all the time I was just sucked in by this transcendental lift, this florality, the weightlessness of the fruit. Angelic, I think, is the word. Not a blockbuster but a wine so beautiful you wonder if you should really be drinking it.
Tom Hudson writes...
2023 Syrah Ava, Rall
For the second year in succession, I’m going to single out just one wine, a Syrah, and again it’s from Swartland in South Africa.
Donovan Rall was kind enough to come and visit us in Wandsworth back in May. I’d heard good things about his wines but had never tasted any of them. The wines, both white and red, were a revelation, and I’ve been enjoying them at home ever since.
I’ve been to Swartland (about 2 hours drive north West of Cape Town) and it’s a rugged, wild, windy, dry place which can be savagely hot during the summer.
Somehow the place, the wine and the man don’t quite match! Donovan looks like a guy who might ride a Harley-Davidson at the weekend but he’s shy, modest and thoughtful. Eloquent about his vision too – and the hard graft of over 20 years’ experience are very much in evidence. At the recent Cape Winemakers Guild tasting in London, one of Donovan’s Syrahs was widely regarded as the outstanding wine in the entire line up (of 50 of South Africa’s elite cuvées).
Many vignerons and wine makers are struggling with climate change and global warming – we’ve all noticed with some alarm the labels of claret bottles featuring ABVs of 14.5 even 15.5% on occasion! So how is it from this cauldron of a place Donovan manages to produce the purest expression of Syrah at only 11.8% alcohol with a precision, freshness and ethereal elegance which are quite beguiling…?! Donovan’s Ava Syrah is very far stylistically from Aussie Shiraz - it’s lighter and fresher than most Côte-Rôties. The nose is a complex mix of milled black pepper and fynbos, a little reminiscent of Chave Hermitage. And the palate is simultaneously powerful but also zesty, light, precise and enduring. Seriously impressive stuff and a comparative bargain at less that £60 per bottle taxes paid.
Oliver East writes...
Two white wines rose to the high water mark for me this year.
Some nights wines show at their best in modest surroundings or at restaurants where food is not the focus. On a cold November night in exceptional company that will never be forgotten, four bottles provided much joy, not least a scintillating, electric and perfectly balanced bottle of 2014 Scharzhofberger Kabinett, Egon Müller. A few years ago, I discovered Prüms’s 2014 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Kabinett which I’ve now had on numerous occasions which in any vintage is a very serious proposition but in 2014 raised the bar somewhat with laser-like focus and precision. Unfortunately, the Scharzhofberger was a solitary bottle purchased precisely 10 years before I pulled the cork on it and boy was it worth the wait. Absolute brilliance, 9% alcohol with great freshness, this was most beautiful expression of Riesling I could ever dream to enjoy! A wine moment shared with special friends and on a night we’ll never forget. Cheers Rookie! I’m not sure many vintages are better or more complete than 2014 for classic Kabinetts from the Mosel. Well worth seeking out.
Another white wine I enjoyed this summer that I will never forget is 1975 Laville Haut Brion Blanc. The bottle came out of long-term storage and hadn’t moved for several decades apart from being moved from Octavian to London City Bond when Farr Vintners moved its storage a few years ago. ‘75 was a blisteringly hot year, a year in which its sibling – La Mission Haut Brion – was clear red wine of the vintage. The colour of this Laville was a deep, bright golden, so enticing you could almost taste it before pulling the cork out of the bottle. With some trepidation, the cork came out whole and a small pour at home to check it before leaving for lunch with this in hand was like hitting the jackpot. Mature white wine has for me over the years produced some of the highest vinous highs – I remember five vintages of Château Olivier Blanc (Pessac-Léognan) I was lucky enough to taste a decade or so ago from the 40s and 50s like I had them yesterday. Such outstanding wines made differently to how modern white Bordeaux are made today and the pleasure they offered even two days later with not even a whiff of oxidation was something right out of the top drawer. The colour of the 1975 Laville shone brightly, the nose was majestic and palate was fresh as a daisy, so complex and rich and an endless finish. Breathtaking wine – 100 points…. No problem. A truly great bottle.
Imogen Taylor writes...
2005 Inflorescence Côte de Bechalin, Cédric Bouchard/Roses de Jeanne
I’m a long-time admirer of Cédric Bouchard’s champagnes but have drunk fewer than I’d like given today’s dizzying high prices. One of several great champagnes enjoyed on a hot summer’s day, but this was the real stand-out.
1980 Marsala Riserva Vergine Secco 40 years old Francesco Intorcia
Enjoyed at a wino’s takeover of the excellent Pimlico restaurant Hunan, this was a spectacular way to end the meal with the whole room clamouring for more. Quite unlike anything else I have tried recently. Palo Cortado fans take note.
1991 Trevallon
A birth year bottle - one enjoyed with my family the night before getting married. Sentimental perhaps, but a truly great bottle.
Thomas Parker MW writes...
There are several wines already chosen by others in this list that I would consider in mine other than to avoid doubling up - Lafleur 1982, 1875 Oliveiras Malvasia and indeed Rall's 2024 Ava Syrah are all wines that stick in my mind. But in the name of offering something different...
1982 Trevallon
Served at the same dinner as Stephen's aforementioned pair of Lafleurs, this is the greatest vintage of Trevallon, matching soul and precision with depth and personality. It continues to perform from bottle to bottle - a remarkable feat for such a wine at such an age.
1978 Hermitage La Chapelle, Jaboulet
Opened a few weeks after a similarly brilliant bottle of the 1990, this 1978 came from a pristine cellar and was all you could want from mature Hermitage, muscle, sinew, pepper and bacon all in one, with a more resolved structure than the '90 but even more personality.
1999 Côte-Rôtie, Jamet
No list is complete without a bottle of Jamet. This is from the same dinner as Stephen's 2011, and for me is the most complete wine from the domaine that I have tasted this year. There's a little gloss and a whole lot of spice from the stems, ample fruit but perfect levels of maturity, and an energy that seems to kick this wine into another gear on the finish. What a wine. Honourable mentions to that 2011, the 2010 and bottles of 2012 and 1996 Côte Brune that have run it close for me this year. Not a bad effort for my favourite producer in the world.
2019 Base Suenen C+C Blanc de Blancs
I have become an obsessive with grower champagnes in the last 2-3 years, both new and established. Suenen's wines sit right at the top for me. A tiny 3ha estate, this chiselled and vibrant wine is lipsmacking, moreish and so refined. 2019 is just a great vintage in Champagne, the wines are so open and drinkable yet never heavy or fat. It helps that it was the first bottle I opened the day after Crystal Palace won the FA Cup. Hard for anything to be other than perfect on such a day. Up the Palace.
1948 La Tour Blanche
As much about the man who offered this bottle as the wine itself, this birth-year sweet from Mr Sauternes, the late, great Bill Blatch, was a fantastic end to the Southwold Group's dinner for the 2015 vintage. Bill was an integral, irreplaceable part of the group, who will be greatly missed by the tasters and châteaux alike, always keeping us in check and compiling detailed, characterful notes from our opinions on the wines. We will all miss him greatly. Here's to you, Bill.
