By Rose Murray Brown MW   Published in The Scotsman 11 Jan 2025

Top ten wineries from around the world to watch in 2025:

Tokaj, Hungary: DEMETER ZOLTAN www.demeterzoltan.hu

Zoltan Demeter (pictured above) is a man on a mission.  His small family winery in a historic C18 building in the heart of Tokaj village is now a mecca for Tokaj afficionados.  He was instrumental in getting the law changed to allow small growers to make fizz and was the first to apply for a fizz licence in 2013 – and now makes the best sparkling wines in the region.  Although Tokaj is a historic sweet wine region, 75% of Zoltan’s wines are dry – with some of the best single vineyard dry Furmints I have tasted with its purity, texture and length: Veres 2021 (£21.95 Savage Selection).

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Bairrada, Portugal: VADIO WINES www.vadio.pt

One of the most exciting new wineries to emerge in Bairrada, a damp coastal region renowned for its Baga grape.  Vadio is a small family winery in Poutena village run by winemaker Luis Patrao (above), formerly of Herdade do Esporao, and his father – they make elegant citric-fruit Bical and Cercial blends like Vadio Branco 2022 (£15 The Wine Society) – but their real skill is in making traditional method Baga-based sparkling wines like Vadio Rose Bruto 2021 (£22 The Wine Society) with its sappy red fruit and vibrant acidity.

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Barossa, Australia: ALKINA WINES www.alkinawine.com

With the backing of Argentinian billionaire Alejandro Bulgheroni (who set up Bodega Garzon in Uruguay) and a stellar team of wine consultant Alberto Antonini, viticulturalist consultant Pedro Parra (both pictured above) and winemaker Amelia Nolan, this new Barossa Valley team at a refurbished wine estate on Greenock Creek clearly means business.  They call this a new story on an old estate originally planted in 1955 – and since 2015 they have examined their soil profiles in exquisite detail with 160 soil pits, mapping terroir, insect surveys to biodynamic  – as a result their Old Quarter Grenache/Shiraz/Mourvedre 2019 (£55 Raeburn Wines) is dense and spicy with layers of flavour.

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Amyndeo, Greece: DOMAINE KARANIKA www.karanika.com

You might not associate Greece with traditional method sparkling wine, but one producer has shown what can be produced if you choose the right site and focus on quality.  Dutch couple Laurens Hartman-Karanika, whose mother was Greek, and his wife Annette van Kampen love Xinomavro grape which drew them to Amyndeo in northern Greece.  All their sparklings will defy doubters, but my preferred is their yeasty citric nutty blend of Assyrtiko/Xinomavro Cuvee Prestige Extra Brut 2017 (£37.50 Maltby & Greek).

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Jurancon, France: CLOS LAPEYRE www.jurancon-lapeyre.fr

Despite being founded in 1920 as a mixed farm focusing on strawberries, this small Bearn estate (above) now focuses on biodynamically grown grapes run by the founder’s grandson Jean-Bernard Larrieu who is slowly becoming a superstar.   His star bottle is Le Mantoulan 2016 (£20 The Wine Society; £34 Les Caves de Pyrene) which comes from 500m altitude lieu-dit (named site) made from 70% Petit Manseng, 15% Courbu with 15% of rare almost extinct Camaralet with one year on lees in foudre barrels – deliciously spicy, smoky and dry with tight citric fruits.

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Kartli, Georgia: CHATEAU MUKHRANI www.chateaumukhrani.com

A pioneering premium winery in historic Kartli, which is a cooler region than Kakheti further east.  German winemaker Patrick Honnef (pictured above) has worked here for 11 years and is trying to make authentic Kartli styles with white Chinuri and Goruli Mtsvane – but his best efforts are with red Shavkapito 2020 (£21.99 Georgian Wine Guild) which has a gorgeous Pinot Noir-like delicacy with cranberry cherry fruits and a soft smooth texture.

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Wurttemberg, Germany: WEINGUT ALDINGER www.weingut-aldinger.de

We rarely see wines from this German region (Wurttemberg region pictured above) as most seems to be drunk at home.  Based in Remstall near Stuttgart, this winery has an extremely long history back to 1492, but is now on our radar as the wines have become available in the UK.  Their Spatburgunders (Pinot Noir) are superb, but Schnait Trocken Chardonnay 2022 is a delightfully elegant creamy textured with moderate 12% alcohol (£19.40 Howard Ripley Wines).

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Kamptal, Austria: FUCHS UND HASE

A winery set up ten years ago by friends Martin and Anna Arndorfer and Stefanie and Alwin Jurtschitsch – who unusually only produce Pet Nat (petillant naturel) sparkling wines in a natural vein.  Their Volume 2 Pet Nat 2023 (£24 Les Caves de Pyrene) is an intriguing blend of organically grown Gruner Veltliner with 30% Gelber Muskateller – which has such wonderful structure and minerally core.

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Nitra, Slovakia: PIVNICA BRHLOVCA www.pivnicabrhlovca.sk

This small artisan winery run by photographer-turned-winemaker Jan Zaborsky grows its grapes on the slopes of a caldera formed by the once mighty Sitno stratovolcano. Their range of natural wines includes white, red and sparkling.  I particularly liked their Pinot Blanc 2021 (£20 Howard Ripley Wines) is surprisingly complex, minerally with white pepper notes – with a distinctive texture no doubt deriving from its seven day skin contact, part oak and agate wood maturation.

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Thracian Valley, Bulgaria: MINKOV BROTHERS www.minkovbrothers.bg

Established by three brothers back in 1875 about 50 km from the Black Sea – I wonder what Bulgarian wines were like back then.  This large winery (450 hectares) came onto my radar at a recent Bulgarian tasting when their beautifully aromatic densely fruity Cabernet Franc ‘Le Photographe’ 2019 (@£15.50) was voted the top wine by a very clear margin.  The winery is inspired by the New World, but focuses on classic grapes – let’s hope they will be imported into the UK soon.

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