A thrilling but affordable Barolo

published 10 March 2017

2012 Barolo, Bricco delle Viole, GD Vajra, Piemonte, Italy (about £65, Philglas & Swiggot, 020-7924 4494; Fortnum & Mason, 020-7734 8040; DBMWines.co.uk, WineAndWhisky.co.uk).

I have just published a massive review of three years of my tasting notes covering the two greatest red wine styles in Italy, Barolo and Barbaresco. The Piemonte Report 2017 (£24, MatthewJukes.com) is 68,000 words and features 147 wineries and more than 850 wines. I believe that this is the last great region in the world to be discovered. We, in the UK, love the nebbiolo grape, but we don't, even in the highest echelons of the wine trade, truly understand this complicated and fascinating region. I admit that I am learning as I go, but I have been in love with Piemonte for three decades and the discipline of compiling this body of work has further deepened my passion for the wines.

My featured Barolo is one of the most stunning in the region and it is also one of the most affordable of the elite crus. A thrilling wine with exquisite balance, the fruit is shapely and toned and there is a tempo and liveliness here, not often found in youthful Barolo, which makes it glide across the palate in a wave of red fruit. The tannins are incredible firm and youthful but also juicy and powdery. This is a very flattering wine and one which will have a long life ahead of it. I have found a top flight Barbaresco for you for next week.

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