Wine of the week: a hilarious summer-pudding cocktail

published 27 July 2012

2011 Saumur Rouge, Chteau Fouquet, Loire, France (£11.75, Yapp, 01747-860423, www.yapp.co.uk).

As I write this piece the weather is still grim damp, humid and depressing. But I am hoping that, by alerting you to the most summery red wine I have tasted this year, the sun will finally have emerged from behind the heavy clouds by the day of publication. If not, then fire up your central heating, pull on some shorts, slide a bottle of this awesome cabernet franc out of the fridge, and slake your thirst.

Chteau Fouquet is owned by the Filliatreaus (of Saumur-Champigny fame). I think so highly of this family and their wines that they have made it into the new wine book that I am currently writing, featuring the hundred most iconic estates in the world.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

This inexpensive, stunningly aromatic red is a joy. This is not a serious navel-gazing wine, but a hilarious cocktail of summer pudding notes cut with a razor sharp acidic finish. It is genuinely mouth-watering and perfectly suited to a vast range of dishes so don't worry about what you're cooking, just slosh this chilled wine into your glass and get the party started, whether you're in the garden or stuck indoors.

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.