Epic wines to enjoy this summer

published 1 June 2018

I know that summer doesn't officially start until the solstice on 21 June, but 1 June marks themoment when I slip into more unoaked than oaked whites, flagons of ros, and reds thatmust have a chillable side to their character. Haynes Hanson & Clark is a Loire specialist and this month, half of my wines come from this awesome, under-the-radar region. Still offering some of the finest wines on the planet, and oft-ignored (thankfully) by the high street, the value afforded by epic quality Loire wines is unquestionable.

You must load up with all three of my picks, at the very least, this month. In addition, I have found a budget Sicilian white for parties and general glugging, an elite Provenal ros which has been apermanent fixture in my fridge door for the last decade and also a very surprising Corbires! So here it is the summer sextet from the genius palates at Haynes, Hanson & Clark! See the full collection here.

Cheers!

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Matthew Jukes

How it works

Prices and savings below are exclusive to MoneyWeek readers and are based on ordering a case of 12 bottles. You can also buy a mixed case, giving you two bottles of each wine, for just £136.30, saving you over £20. You'll enjoy free delivery* on all orders.

Offer ends 29 June 2018.

2017 Quincy, Villalin, Domaine Jacques Rouz, Loire, France £13.95 £12.20

Sancerre has a few satellite villages that you ought to be aware of. Reuilly, Menetou-Salon andQuincy are the most notable and the wines follow the Sancerre lead with Sauvignon Blanc being thegrape of choice. I cannot remember how long I have been buying this particular wine but it must begetting on for 20 years. It is my highest rated wine from Quincy and it couples mouth-watering minerality with luxuriously textured citrus fruit.

Price-wise it undercuts shabby high street Sancerre at the same time as soaring about it in terms of absolute deliciousness. I cannot recommend Villalin enough if you, like me, love classic Sauvignon Blanc.

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2017 Grillo, Rupe Secca, Sicily, Italy £8.45 £7.25

The Grillo grape is better-known for making Marsala, but over the last ten years, prescient winemakers have been turning this little gem into table wines, too. With an ability to handle theheat, while retaining its mildly tropical flavours and bright acidity, it is a talented fellow and one which rewards skill and understanding.

Bargain-priced and yet offering more IQ than most inexpensiveItalian white candidates, I am attracted to the ginger and lemon blossom notes on the nose and the raspy, crunchy finish. There is a lot going on here and it is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser to boot.

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2016 Chinon, Le Temps des Cerises, Domaine de la Noblaie, Loire, France £13.50 £11.95

Winemaker Jrme Billard has taken his knowledge from working at both Chteau Ptrus and Dominus Estate in Napa Valley back to his home in the Loire. I am a massive fan of top flight Cabernet Franc and yet I tend to prefer my Loire versions to be as unoaked and vibrant as possible.

Cherry Times' is just that a marvellously fruit-driven and energetic wine with perfect balance and masses of verve. It chills well, making it a benchmark summer red. The ripe, sonorous perfume will draw you into the glass where you will experience silky fruit and a mystical finish heaven!

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2016 Sancerre Rouge, Terre de Maimbray, Pascal et Nicolas Reverdy, Loire, France £19.25 £16.50

Red Sancerre is often somewhat of a gamble. Ripening the glorious Pinot Noir grape in northern France is not always easy and many are hollow and undernourished. I reckon four or five vintages out of ten is the going rate from a decent winery, but Reverdy is a first class set up and they always hit the mark.

Like a slender but curvy Cte de Beaune with more brightness on the finish, this is a very easy wine to demolish, such is its hypnotic allure. Again a wine that loves to be served a few degrees cooler than normal, this is a classic trois toiles wine for an everyday price and this makes it unmissable.

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2016 La Petite Muraille, Chteau Ollieux Romanis, Corbires, France £11.40 £9.90

With a few degrees more intensity than the Sancerre Rouge, this Corbires cuve is as far removedfrom the old Game of Thrones' style wines from the Eighties as you could possibly imagine. Honedand gentlemanly with a mulberry and plum-soaked core, there is no rusticity here whatsoever as ithas been replaced with calm, control and breeding.

Of course, there is a notable wild herb undertone thanks to the wild Languedoc-Roussillon surrounds, but it is these essential pagan touches that work so well when you are barbecuing like a Lord.

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2017 Domaine Pique Roque Ros, Ctes de Provence, France £12.00 £10.35

This bottle arrived moments before I put this offer to bed and I am so pleased that it did because PRR, as I call it, is a mainstay in my summer drinking habits. There are none of the confected, lolly stick notes found in lesser wines, preferring to concentrate on rock-melon, shoreline florals and wild herbnotes.

This is a desperately chic offering and, as you would expect, the tension and crunch of acidity on the finish makes it as useful with charcuterie as it is with all varieties of fruits de mer. I happen to think it is a wicked partner to sushi, too, because it slices though wasabi like an energetic samurai.

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PLACE YOUR ORDER NOW via Haynes Hanson & Clark's website, or call them direct: 020 7584 7927 and quote "MoneyWeek"

Terms & Conditions: Offer ends 29 June 2018. * Free delivery on all orders of 12 bottles of wine or more. Minimum order is 12 bottles. For deliveries beyond the range of HH&C's own vans, orders of £650 and over will be delivered free of charge to a single address on the UK mainland (except for parts of Scotland, which will be quoted for individually). Deliveries to Northern Ireland and all offshore islands will be quoted for individually you will need to phone us to place an order. Orders will be dispatched within 3 working days of orders being received. Payment can be made by credit or debit card over the phone, online or by post.

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.