One for the ardent oak-lovers
This 2018 Cordillera is a handsome, flavour-packed, expressive wine with perfectly balanced, hedonistic levels of oak.


2018 Cordillera de los Andes, Chardonnay, Miguel Torres, Limarí Valley, Chile
£13.99, 64 branches of Waitrose and at waitrosecellar.com
There is a covert faction out there of determined and vehemently loyal palates with rather select desires. This rogue, outlying army of olfactory specialists has a lifelong and fully fledged passion for brazenly oaked chardonnay. Now don’t get me wrong, this is not the head-banging, death-metal, high-octane, marmalade-hued, vinous poison of yesteryear. We all agree that that 15% alcohol, American oak-fermented, hangover-syrup has thankfully been confined to the great wine spittoon in the sky, hopefully never to return. No, this fiercely loyal chardonnay sect adores full-bore, gloriously proportioned chardonnay that is rewarded with epic-quality carpentry because it is of such high quality and undeniable gustatory prowess.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
I, too, love this style of wine. Big, proud, theatrical and delicious, these wines are responsible for a fast-growing crowd of oaked chardonnay disciples and they are sure to reveal themselves before too long. So, this week I have a wine especially for these ardent oak-lovers: 2018 Cordillera is a handsome, flavour-packed, expressive wine with perfectly balanced, but undoubtedly hedonistic levels of oak. The lemony intensity of the fruit carries the barrel flavours like a heady lemon meringue carries its pie crust!
Join the throng and let this wine show you the way. Spain’s most famous wine champion, Miguel Torres, set up an outpost in Chile more than 40 years ago – this wine is a perfect example of his extraordinary vision.
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
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.
-
Green mortgages: how do they work and how much can you save?
Most high-street lenders now offer some kind of green mortgage deal. We look at who’s eligible, how to apply and the mortgage rates and cashback on offer
-
Rachel Reeves urged to avoid pension tax relief raid or risk ‘Omnishambles Budget’
It might seem like low-hanging fruit, but cutting pension tax relief would be a dangerous move for the chancellor, says former pensions minister Steve Webb
-
8 of the best beachside properties for sale
The best beachside properties for sale – from an Arts & Crafts house in Hampshire with 128 metres of beach frontage, to a 16th-century house in Norfolk, just 300 metres from a Blue Flag beach
-
A voyage of discovery through the Baltic countries
Travel Max King explores the rich history, culture and cuisine of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
-
Are wealthy whisky enthusiasts leaving Britain?
Collectables Wealthy whisky enthusiasts are heading to tax-friendly countries such as Dubai, where there is more disposable income to spend on collectable luxuries like rare whisky.
-
8 of the best properties for sale with kitchen gardens
The best properties for sale with kitchen gardens – from a 17th-century timber-framed hall house in Norfolk, to an Arts & Crafts house in West Sussex designed by Charles Voysey with a garden by Gertrude Jekyll
-
8 of the best properties for sale with shooting estates
The best properties for sale with shooting estates – from an estate in a designated Dark Sky area in Ayrshire, Scotland, to a hunting estate in Tuscany with a wild boar, mouflon, deer and hare shoot
-
How to invest in the travel industry's boom as tourists get back on the road
The travel industry is in rude health despite uncertainty about the global economy, Trump’s policies and geopolitical concerns. Investors should buy in now
-
Review: an adventure through the Swiss Alps to Lake Como on the Bernina Express
Travel Louise Okafor stays at the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland and the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Italy
-
8 of the best houses for sale with dining terraces
The best houses for sale with dining terraces – from an Arts & Crafts property in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, to a duplex apartment in a garden square in Kensington with a decked roof terrace