> FIVE SNOBWORTHY DROPS

2012 Xavier Côtes du Rhône, France (Vintages 297317, $17.95) I recommended this wine when it was released several months ago and it sold out. Today, Vintages releases a new shipment and it’s definitely worth snapping up. Juicy mixed berries and black plum nuanced with notes of warm leather, chocolate, chargrilled meat, granite and black pepper, this blend of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah is sure to wow even the most jaded wine drinker. Great value. Score: 90+ 2012 Sivas-Sonoma Cabernet Sauvignon, California (Vintages 451377, $24.95) The outstanding 2012 vintage in California produced generous, fruitladen, sunshine-ina-glass wines — and this beauty is no exception. Sumptuously rich and ripe with silky tannins, it fans out with macerated red and black fruit, creamy mocha, vanilla, dried herbs, black olive, toasted oak, roasted nuts and more. The fruit is lifted and pure with just enough tension to keep things interesting followed by a long, slow, polished finish. Score: 91 2010 Château Haut-Bellevue, AC Haut-Médoc, Bordeaux, France (Vintages 444307, $26.95) In Bordeaux, 2010 was one of the best vintages in decades — producing ripe, small, concentrated berries capable of aging. In such years, you can find great bargains such as this fine wine. A classic blend of Merlot (49 per cent), Cabernet Sauvignon (48 per cent) and Petit Verdot (3 per cent), it’s drinking very well right now with a midweight crush of crisp, slightly muted red fruit edged with aromas and flavours of crème de cassis, cigar box, violet, baking spices and dried currants. Charming. Score: 90+ 2013 Pieropan La Rocca Soave Classico DOC, Veneto, Italy (Vintages 92437, $37.95) Soave has a longstanding reputation for mediocrity, but the region has made huge strides lately quality-wise. To see what Soave is capable of, taste this stunner. It starts with intense aromas of gunpowder and smoked grapefruit zest, then attacks the palate with a saturated, spirited gust of yellow stone fruit laced with salt, lemon oil and flint that lingers on the finish for ages. Racy and concentrated without being fruity or obvious, this is an unmistakably classy pour. Score: 92 2013 Tenuta Sette Ponti Crognolo IGT, Tuscany, Italy (Vintages 727636, $29.95) Tenuta Sette Ponti’s celebrated top wine, Oreno, will set you back about $80. But this bottle, which is the winery’s “second” wine, costs less than half that price and is almost as good — certainly well worth the money. Expect an opulent, vivid flush of 90-per-cent Sangiovese and 10-per-cent Merlot that cloaks the tongue with intense flavours of black cherry, raspberry, wild blueberry and warm wood. The tannins are super-fine without being overly polished. Deeply hedonistic stuff. Score: 95