A great accompaniment to the Christmas goose

Matthew Jukes picks a chardonnay fit to be served at your festive feast.

Matthew Jukes
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published
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(Image credit: © 2015 Jay Heifetz for Bottleshots Photography)

2014 Leeuwin Estate Prelude Vineyards chardonnay, Margaret River, Western Australia (about £35, Domaine Direct, 020-7404 9933; Bottle Apostle, 020-8985 1549; Hedonism Wines, 020-7290 7870; Secret Cellar, 01892-537981).

Leeuwin Estate is winery of the year in my annual 100 Best Australian Wines report. I have been following this pioneering estate for 30 years and have loved every chardonnay that they have made. I have awarded 2014 Leeuwin Art Series chardonnay a perfect 20/20 score, which is something I have only ever given to four other chardonnays in the world prior to this wine.

Prelude Vineyards chardonnay is the "second wine" to the great Art Series chardonnay and, while Australia has already moved on to the 2016 vintage, we in the UK still have the epic 2014. Obviously, this wine is very closely related to the finest chardonnay I have ever tasted from this estate. It is also less than half the price.

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There are a handful of cases available at the merchants listed above and I would urge you to track down some stock because this is not only one of the most delicious wines in the world, it is also the benchmark accompaniment to your turkey, goose or ham this Christmas. Great Australian chardonnay is already rewriting the world order for this grape. Leeuwin is part of the reason why.

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

Matthew Jukes
Matthew Jukes

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.

 

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