Quality without compromise

published 25 November 2013

2010 G, South Africa (£250, Wineservice, 01342-837333).

I attended the launch of the 4G portfolio earlier this year. Only one merchant stocks the wines at present, but more will surely follow. 4G is a new wine producer (four of the owners have G as a middle initial) setting out to make a First Growth' in the Cape.

2010 is the first release (after a test wine in 2009) and their motto is quality without compromise'. They source grapes from 15 different sites in and around Stellenbosch. Individual vines are targeted for optimum fruit quality.

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I am delighted that they have decided to make cabernet and shiraz their two leading grapes in the blend, because I love the way these two harmonise and then merlot, cabernet franc and petit verdot make up the numbers, depending on the vintage.

There is a second wine called 2010 The Echo of G (£112), too. French wine guru Denis Dubourdieu is the mind behind the shortest named wine in the world and I have to admit that both cuves are indeed very smart. With extraordinary exuberance and detail, keeping one foot in the Old World and one in the New, they are sure to appeal to lovers of serious red wines. There are only 300 bottles set aside for the UK, so if you have deep pockets, give them a whirl.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (www.matthewjukes.com).

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.