The masters of merlot

published 22 May 2020

2015 Château Brisson, Castillon Côtes de Bordeaux, France

£18.50, bottle; £9.95, half bottle; £35, magnum from Davy’s Wine Merchants, 020-8858 6011, davywine.co.uk

Three bottles this week, all filled with the same wine. It is very rare to find such a generous, ripe and affordable claret that is available in half bottle, bottle and also magnum format. I did a genuine double take when, steaming through a raft of dreary samples, this wine popped its head up. There is nothing to suggest on the label that this 85% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon blend would be anywhere near as exciting as it tastes. There were two clues which might have triggered my interest; the superb, full-flavoured 2015 vintage and the Castillon region on the Right Bank of Bordeaux, which I am, secretly, very keen on.

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The wines from this historic part of Bordeaux often have amazing depth of fruit and nobility, but without the hefty price tags of the wines from the nearby regions of Pomerol and Saint-Emilion. But the key piece of info, which I wasn’t aware of, was that this wine is made by the highly respected Valades family, who have a reputation for being masters of merlot. They have owned Brisson and also Le Peyrat since 1878 and today Paul and his son Cédric work their magic at these superb estates.

Brisson is only five years old but it is bursting with ripe, fruits-of-the-forest notes and there is a glossy, slickness to the palate which I adore. Leave your expensive clarets in the cellar and crack on with this terrific wine because it is sure to put a smile on your face.

• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com).

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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.