Anthony Gismondi: Buckle up. Buying and selling wine will not be for the faint of heart in 2025

The local wine story of the year was the January deep freeze that wiped out more than 90 per cent of the buds destined to be the 2024 vintage.

Still to play out is how consumers react to a recovery plan that includes local wineries making wine with foreign grapes.

The temperance lobby took a page from the highly successful disinformation industry to push what Christopher Snowden , head of lifestyle economics, has described as “a catalogue of anti-drinking tropes, half-truths, and brazen lies”.

Orvieto Classico is a mix of Grechetto , Procanico and Verdello that is long on freshness with buttery, nutty, pear and mineral flavours.

Paul Mas Grenache Noir is an entry-level Grenache scented with all the garrigue of southern France and pitching raspberry, black cherry, and brown spices that fire up a finish made for barbecue meats or winter -roasted vegetables.

Château Pesquié Ventoux Terrasses Rouge 2022 , Rhone Valley , France .

It grows at an altitude of roughly 300 metres on a mix of 30-year-old estate vines.

The nose is a black raspberry, cherry and mulberry affair that spills onto the palate.

There is also an attractive stony mineral underside that stiffens a fresh finish.