Wine of the week: a thrilling dry white to serve with seafood

2017 Les Clos de Paulilles, Collioure Blanc, Rivesaltes, Roussillon, France£9.95, Great Western Wine, 01225-322810, greatwesternwine.co.uk

You will have come across Rivesaltes before it is home to some of the most extraordinary fortified French wines, which have remarkable ageing qualities and also represent some of the finest value elite wines in the world. In addition, Cazes makes amazing Roussillon wines Maury, Fitou and so on. But on the seaward sites (as opposed to their landward vineyards) it makes, both Collioure and Banyuls. Its Vins Doux Naturels, or naturally sweet wines, are legendary, but this week's pick is something out of the ordinary for this estate a young, dry white wine.

Made from 80% grenache blanc and 20% grenache gris grapes, and coming from schist terraces, there is no oak used here and the maritime influence brings a stunning saline tang to proceedings. I like this style of wine very much because the sea-shell freshness breaks up the density and lustiness of the fruit, making it quite unlike any other style of white wine.

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In size and shape it is not dissimilar to a sleek white Burgundy, but on account of its Mediterranean swagger there is a real sense of flair and originality. If you are partial to top-flight seafood and crustacea there is nowhere else to look for a thrilling, white wine to accompany your main course.

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.