Two very fine Bordeaux blends

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published 10 December 2021

2017 Château Capbern, Saint-Estèphe, Bordeaux, France

If you’re looking to keep the cash under control while drinking world-class wines this month, then look no further than these fine Bordeaux blends. Firstly, the extraordinary 2017 Capbern. Back in early 2018, during En Primeur week, winemaker Vincent Millet explained there were no problems with frost in Saint-Estèphe, so the yields were perfect in 2017 while others suffered.

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The blend is 55% cabernet sauvignon, 39% merlot, 3% cabernet franc and 3% petit verdot. When the wine was “born”, the fruit was smooth, clean and forward with classic Saint-Estèphe hall-marks of earthiness balanced with black fruit juiciness, and I strongly tipped it to blossom early in its life. Only a few years down the track, my predictions have come true – this is a stunning wine with amazing plumminess and a depth and nobility rarely found for £20.

Shave two pounds off this price, fly down to Bolgheri, and you will find a wine with a very similar blend (60% cabernet, 40% merlot): 2018 Yantra, Tenuta Sette Cieli, Monteverdi Marittimo, Tuscany, Italy (£18.28, laywheeler.com). It is a cool-climate “claret”, loaded with sublime minerality and pristine, energetic fruit. Made with sensational care and attention by the immensely talented Elena Pozzolini, this is a wine that points the way to an epic future for this perfectly situated estate.

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.