Wine of the week: a hilarious summer-pudding cocktail

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.

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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 been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006.

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

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.