A fitting finale for this year’s columns

2013 Reyneke, Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Stellenbosch, South Africa (£57.99, reduced to £52.19 each for orders over six bottles, Handford Wines, 020-7589 6113, Handford.net).

Johan Reyneke is a committed biodynamic farmer and there are few properties whose wines taste so securely rooted to their origins. Reyneke's winemaker is a peculiarly talented man. Rudiger Gretschel has cast a phenomenal spell on the Reyneke cellar; in fact, six years ago, on this very page, I alerted you to their Reserve White, noting they were on the brink of superstardom. This is their first great red.

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The maiden vintage of Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is a truly stellar achievement. Fermented in concrete tanks and aged in new French barriques for 22 months, this wine is bloody, sooty, dark, exceptionally beautiful and also mesmerisingly brooding. The flavour is vividly imprinted in my memory.

I remember hugging Rudiger and then grinning like a goon for minutes while shaking my head with complete disbelief. It is a 20/20 the first perfect score I have ever given to a South African red. It is a fitting finale for this year's wine columns.

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.