Wine of the week: this rosé blew me away

published 12 October 2018

2016 Aristea, Mthode Cap Classique Ros BrutStellenbosch, South Africa £25.95, reduced to £24 until the end of October, Private Cellar, 01353 721999, PrivateCellar.co.uk

You may remember that I went nuts about the inaugural, 2016 vintage of Aristea chardonnay this time last year. Well, 12 months on and this pioneering enterprise has released five brand new wines.

The new 2017 vintage of chardonnay is even finer than its predecessor, as is the 2016 cabernet which embeds even more depth of fruit into its core. Alongside these two beauties, there is a daring 2017 sauvignon blanc/semillon blend, which sets the bar staggeringly high, and two fascinating sparklers.

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Martin Krajewski's (of Chteau Sraphine, Pomerol and Clos Cantenac, Saint-Emilion fame) Cape Odyssey has rocketed away from the blocks and winemaker Matt Krone (of the 12th-generation wine dynasty), ably assisted by French winemaking guru Florent Dumeau, is already working wonders. The 2015 Mthode Cap Classique Blanc is a dreamy wine with luxurious fruit, but it is my featured ros that blew me away.

I am immensely fussy about sparkling ros, but this wine is not just an impressive South African fizz, it is also a world-class ros and it is stunning value to boot. All of the wines in the portfolio cost between £25 and £30 and the opening offer period knocks a few quid off each bottle. I would urge you to taste them all and you will see why Martin was so confident of success when he set up this inspirational new label.

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.