I'm currently on holiday, mulling over a phenomenon we've probably all experienced: the vacation palate.

You're away, the sun is shining, you've finally caught up on sleep — and suddenly the world looks a lot better than usual. The people around you seem to glow, the flowers smell unusually intense, and the wine just tastes incredible. So you pack the trunk full of the noble stuff and proudly stash your haul at home.

Then comes a grey autumn evening in Castrop-Rauxel. Full of anticipation, you uncork a bottle of your new holiday wine — and wrinkle your nose. After opening a second bottle in growing desperation, you finally have to admit: the wine was probably never any good. Your palate just had different standards on vacation.

I train diligently to let myself be influenced as little as possible by external circumstances. After all, what good does it do my customers if the winemaker has particularly striking eyes, the sun is setting over the vineyards, and a warm Mediterranean breeze happens to be drifting past my nose? And yet I'm always a little nervous when a new shipment arrives at my warehouse. Villa Tempora was no exception — I had my quiet doubts. Was it really that good? I opened the bottle, poured a glass, and tasted. No wrinkled nose. "No vacation palate," I thought, relieved — and took another sip just to be sure.

The Carignan-Grenache blend has an intense nose of ripe blackberries, elderberry, and cassis. On the palate, the wine shows plenty of power, combined with fine tannins and a taut acid structure. The finish is long and intense.

 91/100 points Konstantin Baum