Wine of the week: class in a glass from the Rhône valley

published 10 December 2010

2007 Gigondas, Font de Aeux, Domaine de la Tourade, Southern Rhne, France (£15.95, www.fromvineyardsdirect.com , 020-7490 9910).

I was asked my wine predictions for 2011 the other day, by a fellow wine writer. This Gigondas spurred me on to declare that the southern Rhne (not including Chteauneuf-du-Ppes, because they are usually too dear) will enjoy a much warranted new lease of life next year.

The value afforded in this vast wine region, which includes some famous and some lesser-known names such as Sablet, Lirac, Vacqueyras, Tavel, Rasteau, Valras and Cairanne, is incredible. Using old vines and sticking to an ancient recipe, grenache-dominant blends often include syrah, mourvdre and cinsault.

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These wines reek of breeding, complexity and history. They often flatter in their youth, but age gracefully for a decade. In short, they have it all.

With the recent superb 2007 and 2009 vintages (see Justerini & Brooks's incredible 2009 Rhne offer www.justerinis.com) I am certain that we will all be drinking more affordable red Rhnes, instead of overpriced clarets, in the next few years.

To whet your appetite, here is a stellar 2007 Gigondas. It is a snip at £16, when you bear in mind that it is sheer class in a glass.

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.