Decanter experts around the world named the five bottles under £55 that impressed them most this year. Find the last 18 of them this week.
Related tasting:
The most exciting dry wines of 2016 - (Part I)
The most exciting dry wines of 2016 - (Part II)
Decanter star buys of 2016 - 10 top sweet wines for your New Year
A fine example of what Verdejo can be about. It is finely textured with well controlled fruit, displaying the lime characters and citrus edge of this variety. It is clearly a cut above, with that sweetness from the oak and the long, lingering finish.
There is a richness on the palate here which combines harmoniously with fresh acidity and classy use of oak. It is ripe and creamy, with nutty characteristics as well as ripe apple and spices. A refreshing example of oaked Chardonnay with lively acidity to prolong ageing.
The Sauvignon Blanc character really stands out here, with an added earthy note. Tropical fruits are balanced by citrus acidity and a creamy, somewhat oily texture. Ripe apples intertwine with herbaceous undertones. A beautiful wine.
Koshu is getting ever more European, ever more aromatic. For the variety there is plenty of flavour in the mouth with a note of juicy sweet apple, lemon intensity and sherbet acidity. It is elegant and so fresh and actually finishes very mineral.
A lively little number with considerable concentration on the palate and a pungent, grassy, nettle character. The herbaceous earthy undertones are complemented by oily overtones, and it finishes with a lime driven acidity and a lick of minerality.
A very refined style of Riesling with delicate, smoky aromatics and a lean mineral character to the palate that gives it freshness and elegance. There are acres of floral notes with a hint of acacia and a zingy, lingering acidity on the finish.
Here we go: Chenin at its most classic, wet wool and subtle cheese notes, opening out into honey and lemon with some balancing tropical fruit characters. Sweet spice and acacia undertones bring harmony to a rich, approachable and fleshy wine.
Still showing great freshness for a 6 year old wine, with lingering acidity to balance the emerging characters of honey and beeswax. The purity and tension is still going strong, with dried apricot and ripe apple notes on top of the creamy texture.
This is very precise with a great purity as well as being vivid and punchy. It is all about limes, kumquats and tinned peaches with a hint of honey too. Fresh and appealing with lemon and crisp apple characters. Toasty, savoury and mineral on the finish, this has the ability and the class to age many years because the high acid backbone will carry it right on through.
There is some great precision here; delicate white flower aromas leading onto a crisp apple and lemon intensity on the palate. The broad savoury and oily notes add complexity, and there is an almost meaty richness to it. Herbal notes and pristine acidity round it off in grand finale.
Ultra-crisp on the palate, this 100% Sauvignon Blanc has drive, finesse and purity, combined with a real mineral texture on the palate. Very aromatic and typical, with green peas and a touch of sweet fruit, the dazzling acidity will carry it through to develop very well.
Creamy lees aromas flow from the glass, with some exotic characteristics too. The palate provides a lovely combination of mineral characters, orange zest, hints of wood maturation and cleansing acidity. All very refined and in great harmony.
A confident, plump expression of Grüner Veltliner; white pepper and white peach come through for sure, but with added complexity from the oak giving a richness sometimes lacking from Grüners. Individual in style, with development evident and yet still showing a capacity to age further.
Loads of sweet black fruits dominate the palate on this ripe wine. This Tempranillo is impressive in its purity and clever use of oak, and it is a hefty and showy wine. Vanilla overlay and undernotes of blackcurrant from the Cabernet shine through, and a lot of work has clearly gone into this.
A lighter style of Pinot Noir, with classic ripe plum and sweet strawberry fruit but also with a touch of vegetal allure. Excellent purity here, the fruit flavours are healthy and crunchy and it finishes with a lovely savoury touch from well-integrated oak. Drinkable and a fantastic food wine.
Displaying a cooler, slightly herbal character with a leafy, grainy edge. The use of oak is subtle and it adds a touch of peppery spice to the palate. Although rather more old-fashioned in style, this is a classy and refined Cabernet Sauvignon dominated wine with potential to age gracefully for several years to come.
Such an expressive, individual wine. It certainly has buckets of sweet fruit, but this is also interwoven by dried herbs and cedar and lifted notes of violets. Bacon and smoky undertones are complemented by black fruits and a decent grip of tannin.