A fail-safe rosé for the summer

2016 Chteau Saint Baillon Ros, Rserve du Chteau, Ctes de Provence, France (£10.95, bottle; £24.40, magnum; £65, double-magnum, Goedhuis.com).

There are a few French estates that make great inexpensive wine year in, year out. This is difficult to do given the vagaries of the seasons. I love Fred Filliatreau's Saumurs (Yapp.co.uk) the Loire is a tricky region for reds in cooler years, but he always pulls the rabbit out of the hat. Daniel Dampt's Chablis (HHAndC.co.uk) are also impeccable, even in awful years I have bought every vintage for two decades! On the high street you can rely on Louis Jadot's Beaujolais-Villages (Waitrose.com) and the superb Chapoutier Ctes-du-Rhne Bellruche (Majestic.co.uk) is always a pleasure.

But the summer is upon us, so is there a fail-safe ros out there? The answer is yes, one. For as long as I can remember, Saint Baillon has nailed it every single vintage. The price is still tiddly, the larger formats hilarious and the flavour has never been better than in 2016. I was afforded a pre-release screening by the great Johnny Goedhuis and this wine took my breath away with its haunting, cherrystone-scented nose and silky-smooth, sea-spray-kissed palate. This is a very rare beast a truly delicious, unbelievably reliable and yet eminently affordable French classic.

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

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