Wine of the week: the essence of spring in a glass

published 2 March 2018

2016 Bergerie de l'Hortus, Classique Blanc, Domaine de l'Hortus, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc, France.£13.95, ConceptFineWines.com.

Twenty years ago, I drove down to the south of France to do some tasting on behalf of my great friend and one of the most influential men in our wine industry, the late Adam Bancroft MW. All of the wines that he sent me to are still firm favourites in our market, but one estate stands out as being the standard bearer for its region and also for the extraordinary value afforded by its wines. My featured white is made from a beguiling blend of roussanne, sauvignon blanc, viognier, sauvignon gris, chardonnay, petit manseng and bourboulenc. I swear you can taste every single grape in this exquisite blend. It is the essence of spring in a glass and, at 12.5% alcohol, is it also beautifully gentle and relaxed.

The 2016 Bergerie Classique Rouge is a thrilling red, too, made from a grenache, syrah and mourvdre blend, and a proud possessor of refined tannins and more breeding than the usual rustic fare found in this part of the world. Below these two you will find a pair of glorious but classy gluggers 2016 Loup y-es tu Blanc and 2016 Le Loup dans la Bergerie Rouge (both around the £11-mark). With great labels and knockout, juicy, authentic flavours, this is a stunning duo, and as there is no space here to list the many retailers, I will note them all on my website. These four wines will amaze you with their value and aura!

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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.