A perfect white for a summer evening

2007 Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu, Sur Lie, Le Fief Guérin, Loire, France

Matthew Jukes
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published

2007 Muscadet Ctes de Grandlieu, Sur Lie, Le Fief Gurin, Loire, France (£5.49,Waitrose).

The summer is well and truly upon us (I hope I haven't spoken too soon) and it heralds the arrival of the new 2007-vintage, northern-hemisphere, dry-white wines. Ice-cold, nervy, thirst-quenching whites form the backbone of our summer wine consumption and I have already tasted hundreds of examples in order to track down the very best for you.

One surprise was this terrific, inexpensive Muscadet. Using 75-year-old vines and lutte raisonne' farming techniques (near-organic practices that use little man-made treatments) there is a tonne of fruit on display in this cheeky white and for a very small spend you have a beautifully accurate example of this classic.

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Matured on its lees until early spring (sur lie) it picks up intensity and depth of flavour and this makes Le Fief Gurin a perfect summery accompaniment to all seafood and crustacea feasts.

Light, zesty and loaded with prickly acidity, this delicious wine is also the perfect aperitif to keep in the fridge for emergency drinking. You can happily spend a tenner trying to find a white with as much joie de vivre as this stunner and you will most likely fail.

Le Fief Gurin is already one of the true vinous bargains of 2008.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.  

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’.  He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner. 

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy.  His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.

 

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