Swaggering élan for just a fiver

2007 Domaine La Croix Belle, Caringole Blanc, Vin de Paye Côtes de Thongue, France

Matthew Jukes
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published

2007 Domaine La Croix Belle, Caringole Blanc, Vin de Paye Ctes de Thongue, France (£5.75, Stone, Vine & Sun tel. 01962 712351 and www.stonevine.co.uk).

If last week's barbecue red wine set your palates racing, then you will not believe what I have unearthed this week. This is one of the least expensive white wines that I have featured in this column and it is the perfect summery white, which will not only lessen the pain when your credit card statement turns up, but will also impress your pals with its swaggering lan.

The pretty, floral, lightly-citrus-imbued bouquet signals a fresh and airy white wine on the nose. The palate though builds on these themes and there is a creaminess here which is unexpected. Green melon moments come and go and lighter lemon notes refresh the palate, leaving it tingling with anticipation. This is a youthful wine that should be drunk over the summer months, while all of its zippy natural acidity keeps it bursting with vim and vigour.

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La Croix Belle is a superb estate, situated not far from the famous Faugres region, in the Languedoc, and this baby white uses a rare blend of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc to weave its magic. Imagine a blend of Chablis and Sancerre, but without any gangly, sharp knees or elbows, and you have exactly the model that Caringole is styled on and, keep this information to yourself, it's not even £6!

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

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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