Affordable red Burgundy: Vignerons de Bel Air Bourgogne 2024

Burgundy isn’t the most reliable wine region when it comes to quality, but I’m often surprised how good affordable reds can be from there – even these days. We are talking about wines from bigger, less widely known producers, of course. They often deliver classically proportioned pinots for 10-15€, just like the Paul Delane 2023 reviewed months ago on this blog. Here is another nice one for 14€ which I liked a lot.

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Another standout Hungarian kadarka: Szekretár 2025

Hungarian kadarka 10 years ago mostly meant a dull, 80 point wine, but producers really raised the game in recent years and pushed the variety to a new level – there are now many reaching the 90 point mark (I’m referring to the original, conservative and absolute 100 point scale, where serious wines start at 90, regardless of region or variety – today many critics use it differently, just think about the sometimes crazy Suckling scores). With their 2025 release Szekszárd producer Szekretár has now joined the top league.

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