Wine of the week: an out-of-body experience
This is one of the most grown-up and exacting Spanish white wines I have tasted in years, says Matthew Jukes.


2018 Manar dos Seixas, Galician Roots, Gallina de Piel, Ribeiro, Spain
About £19.99, oldbridgewine.co.uk, stswithinswineshippers.com, nysawine.co.uk, butlers-winecellar.co.uk
Made by El Bulli ex-sommelier David Seijas, my headline wine and also a red called 2018 Roca del Crit, Windy Roads to Montjoi (£19.99) are both absolutely extraordinary. Manar is authoritative, extremely complex and tightly wound, based on treixadura with albariño, godello and loureiro bringing immeasurable class to proceedings. It opens slowly in the glass to reveal ozone-tinged, near-tropical fruit underpinned with severe minerality. It is one of the most grown-up and exacting Spanish white wines I have tasted in years and it is a classic David creation in that it is designed to drink with epic cooking.
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
Manar’s red brother Roca is a made from ancient carignan vines situated in the Rabós sub-region of Empordà, coupled with grenache harvested from younger vines in the Mas Marés zone. Some whole bunches are used and new and old larger format barrels are also employed judiciously. This does not taste like a Spanish Rhône blend to me; in fact, it reminds me of a masculine, toned, elemental Santenay, but with a much darker purple ink hue and extraordinary class.
David sent me preview samples in early July and so I have waited patiently for these staggeringly serious wines to arrive. Today is the day! Get cooking and then pour these two wines for a genuinely fascinating, out-of-body tasting experience.
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.
-
Could your family be at risk of an unexpected tax bill? How to keep your loved ones in the loop
Many families are out of the loop when it comes to planning the financial aspects of both retirement and inheritance
-
Rightmove: Glut of homes for sale in southern England drives asking price drop
Asking prices are 0.1% lower than a year ago, according to the property website, driven by challenges in affordability-stretched London and the south
-
The alcohol industry is suffering as consumers sober up – is it still worth investing in the sector?
Changing consumer tastes are rocking the alcohol industry, but the best players are adapting their strategies. Buy them while their shares are still cheap
-
Giorgio Armani: the irreplaceable Il Signore
Giorgio Armani started his fashion business in 1975 and built it into the world’s largest private luxury brand. Where can it go without him?
-
8 of the best properties for sale with mountain views
The best properties for sale with mountain views – from an Arts & Crafts house with holiday lets in the Carding Mill Valley in Shropshire to a highland lodge with wood-burning stoves near the Rogie Falls in the Scottish Highlands
-
Review: Puerto Rico – embrace the spirit of Boricua
Travel Natasha Langan discovers why the indigenous name for Puerto Rico has come to define this Caribbean island’s vibrant culture
-
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