New Discoveries from 2024

A little recap of my year in wine

It seems like only yesterday that I put together my 2023 ‘best of’. But another 12 months has passed. 2024 was my 14th year writing about wine, a subject that continues to excite, delight and surprise me. Just as society, climate and fashion exist in a constant state of flux, so does wine and winemaking. Therein lies the beauty. Wine is not static, and there are always new talents waiting to be discovered or hidden gems that show up in the most unexpected circumstances.

Here are some of those serendipitous moments from my year. I hope they inspire you on your own vinous voyages of discovery. These are mostly wines or growers that didn’t previously make it into the illustrious annals of The Morning Claret.

You can read about my first three discoveries without grappling with a paywall. The remaining five items are for paying subscribers only. Feel free to take out a free trial, or even better you could support my work as an independent journalist and writer by becoming a paid subscriber. It’s only €7 a month or €50 a year. I published over 60 articles during 2024, about 75% are for paying subscribers only.

Korean Orange Wine

I didn’t know that any grape-based wine was being produced in Korea until my visit this November. Meogom is a small winery based in Seoul. They work organically in their vineyards and the wines are completely natural, no yeasts, filtration, fining or added sulphites.

Their Meogom white, which I purchased at Natural Boy (in Gangnam), is a skin fermented wine made from what I was told is a local table grape. It tasted very aromatic, and I suspect it is an American variety of some kind (I haven’t been able to find out the name just yet). Perhaps something like Delaware. With only 7.1% alcohol, it tasted fresh and easygoing, with a juicy fruit candy character. Extremely enjoyable if simplistic.

A group of passionate young growers in southeast Serbia

I met three members of a small group of winemakers from the Negotinska Krajina region at this year’s Wine Vision fair in Belgrade. They’re responsible for some of the most exciting natural wines I’ve yet tried from Serbia.

Mladi sa Rajačkih Pimnica (youths of the Rajac cellars) compromises 10 wineries, all working with low intervention and organic viticulture and all in or around the historic winemaking village of Rajac. The two growers who most impressed me both either grew up and/or studied abroad and recently returned to Serbia. They are Kristina Lukić and Marko Obradović

Marko’s project in Rajac is named Tenuta Est (in homage to his Italian upbringing). He currently has 8.5 hectares planted, some via his family and some new plantings. Land is ridiculously cheap in the region (Marko told me around 5,000 EUR per hectare), probably due in part to a mediocre cooperative winery that has dragged down quality levels and demand.

His Stara Ružica (old rose) 2023 is made from an old field blend with nine mixed white and red varieties. Prokupac, Vranac, Merlot and Tamjanika (Muscat) are some of the more well known. It drinks like a light red with a lovely prickle of tannins, despite being direct-press (so no skin fermentation whatsoever). Very clean but expressive winemaking.

Dalia is Kristina’s brand. I didn’t get to meet her person, but I did try two different vintages (2023 and 2024) of her Pramen over the course of a few days. This might be the most delicious skin-fermented Traminac (Gewürwtraminer) I’ve yet tried from Serbia. It’s smooth and silky, with just enough acidity and lift to stop it feeling heavy. The flowery, turkish delight aromatics are subtle and the fruit feels so pure and lively.

Like Marko, Kristina grew up in Italy (Milan to be precise) and worked for Champagne producer Marie Courtin among others, before returning to Serbia. Her first vintage of Dalia was 2021.

Stunning Grenache from a new grower in Roussillon