A perfect present for a special occasion

1959 Château Prieuré du Monastir del CampThis insanely cheap and fabulously dark, rich and spicy red is the perfect buy for a friend’s birthday.

Matthew Jukes
By
published
in Features

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1959 Chteau Prieur du Monastir del Camp, Rivesaltes, France£45 per bottle excl. VAT, Farr Vintners , 020-7821 2000, FarrVintners.com

One of the questions I am asked most is what wine should one buy for a friend's birthday? Port and claret are rather vintage-dependent, and if they have lasted a long time then they will usually be frighteningly expensive, too. One style of wine that I absolutely adore, but which is, sadly, almost extinct, is Vin Doux Naturel, and they live forever and represent extraordinary value for money.

You can thank Stephen Browett at Farr Vintners for championing this mesmerising style of wine and you only have to look at his website to appreciate just how many vintages he stocks. But one man, who should presumably win a Nobel prize or the vinous equivalent, is responsible for curating the last remaining barrels of these wines for those in the know to worship, and his name is Philippe Gayral.

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Made in a similar way to port, but using less spirit and more sweetness, VDNs employ grenache blanc and noir grapes, among others, to create a heady, long-lived potion. During their production they are oxidised and matured in large barrels until, eventually, someone bottles this nectar. I tasted a huge range of these wines with Philippe and Stephen recently and they were all fascinating. If you know someone who is 60 next birthday, then hurry to buy this wine it is insanely cheap and fabulously dark, rich and spicy.

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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