A thrilling dry white to serve with seafood

2017 Les Clos de Paulilles The sea-shell freshness in this young, dry white wine makes it quite unlike any other.

Matthew Jukes
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published
in Features

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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
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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