Wine of the week: an unnervingly serious Bojo
This stunning Beaujolais combines a cherry fruitiness with a stern backbone of minerality and rigidity.


2019 Brouilly, La Croix des Rameaux, Jean-Claude Lapalu, Beaujolais, France
£19 per bottle in bond, laywheeler.com
I am aware that I reviewed a Côte de Brouilly only last week, but the repetition is not an oversight. I feature here the most delicious and noteworthy bottle of wine that I taste each week, regardless of style, so I am the first to admit it is a little odd to read about two elite Beaujolais in only eight days. But by the time you slap duty and VAT on the price of La Croix des Rameaux, you will end up at £25, so this is far from a regular Bojo. With stunning balance and tenderness coupled with epic cherry fruit notes, which come from ancient vines, all held together with a stern backbone of minerality and rigidity, this is an unnervingly serious wine and I urge you to taste it.
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
Not content with just one Lapalu to shout about, 2019 Eau Forte, Vin de France (also £19 in bond) is a wild, light, painfully pale and intriguingly gluggable vin de soif. Made from 100% whole bunches and with no additions of sulphur, this is a rare and genuinely delicious “natural” wine, which Lapalu releases under the lowly Vin de France classification because he is too frustrated with the AOC authorities not agreeing that a wine of this colour could indeed be a Beaujolais! A Vin de France can be any colour it likes and so Eau Forte literally wears its heart on its sleeve. Lapalu is an inspiration. Lay & Wheeler wine buyer Catherine Petrie MW has underlined her reputation as a knockout taster by tracking down these incredible wines.
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.
-
Michelin Key Hotels 2025: the top destinations in the world
The Michelin Keys have been awarded to spectacular hotels across the world. From Marlon Brando's private resort in Polynesia to a Bvlgari hotel in Tokyo, we look at some of the most extraordinary stays in 2025
-
MoneyWeek news quiz: How much could you get in car finance compensation?
The car finance scandal, inheritance tax, and house prices all made headlines over the past few days. Test your knowledge while reviewing this week’s top stories with MoneyWeek’s news quiz
-
Review: The Hut, Colwell Bay – a seafood lunch with a holiday feel
Travel Getting to The Hut in Colwell Bay on the Isle of Wight is almost as rewarding as actually eating there
-
Pinewood Technologies: a drive for growth
Pinewood Technologies’ platform is one of the best in the business. Investors should buy in
-
'EV maker Faraday Future will crash'
Faraday Future Intelligent Electric is failing dismally to live up to its name, says Matthew Partridge
-
8 of the best houses for sale with follies
The best houses for sale with follies in the grounds – from a five-storey Victorian Gothic tower in Tonbridge, Kent, to a former mill in Oxfordshire with gardens that include a folly on an island in a lake
-
Sotheby’s fishes for art collectors – will it succeed?
Sotheby’s is seeking to restore confidence in the market after landing Leonard Lauder's art collection, including Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer
-
Review: The Lakes by Yoo – luxury living in the Cotswolds
Travel The Lakes by Yoo combines a luxury hotel stay with the convenience of a holiday rental in a gorgeous lakeside setting
-
8 of the best houses for sale with separate accommodation
The best houses for sale with separate accommodation – from a converted 17th-century threshing barn in Monmouthshire, to a Grade II-listed Queen Anne house in North Yorkshire with four apartments in the stable block
-
Review: Bequia Beach Hotel – nostalgic fun in the Caribbean
Travel Bequia Beach Hotel on the island of Bequia in St Vincent and the Grenadines is a resort with personality that is as luxurious as it is playful