'Independent wine merchant' doesn't necessarily have to mean establishment

Autumnal inspiration

If the term “independent wine merchant” has a stuffy, old-fogey, pinstripe and Pall Mall gentleman's club ring to it, the six-strong wine merchant group The Bunch made the point at this autumn's tasting that established doesn't necessarily have to mean establishment.

Berry Bros put its best foot forward with an inspirational white burgundy-style Chilean chardonnay, the opulent, complex and restrained 2012 Pandolfi Price Los Patricios Chardonnay, £19.75, from Chile's deep south. Not for faint hearts, the distinctive sherry-whiff honeyed nuttiness of the saltily dry 2011 Arbois Savagnin, £31, makes it a quirky masterpiece; and from Sardinia, the 2013 Nerominiera, Enrico Esu, Carbonia, £15.95, is a fragrant, succulently moreish damson-filled rosso.

Lea & Sandeman showed its class in Domaine Treloar's good value 2011 Three Peaks GSM, Côtes du Roussillon, £11.95, a satisfyingly full-flavoured rioja in the pure, berry-fruity 2012 Graciano, Bodegas Casa Primicia, £12.95, and sweetly voluptuous, sour cherry-savoury 2012 Rosso di Montalcino, Ginestreto Fuligni, £20.95. Corney & Barrow showed Plaimont's distinctive 2013 Folie de Roi Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec, £9.95, and a surprisingly approachable Bordeaux classic, the 2010 Château Rauzan-Gassies, £42.50.

West of England's Tanners came up with some beauties, notably the fresh and peachy 2014 Susana Sempre Blanco from Mallorca, £10.95, and a classic mulberryish, mineral 2013 Allegracore Etna Rosso, Romeo del Castello, £19.50. The biggest surprise was an intensely flavoured, meursault-like 2014 Three Valleys Branco, Douro White, from Cristiano van Zeller, £23.95.

From Somerset-based Yapp Brothers, stars included a spicy, dark berry-fruited 2012 Saint Chinian Les Truffières, Château Milhau-Lacugue, £13.75, and a classically elegant, spice and pepper-scented 2012 Côte La Viallière, Domaine Champet, £33. By no means least, Southwold's Adnams showed that wine merchants can do great value too, a case in point being the juicily savoury 2014 Adnams Selection Chianti, Fattoria San Donato, £8.99, and the 2012 Petite Sirah, Pali Wine Co, £12.99, a spicy powerhouse California red.