Wine of the week: a tremendously juicy and spicy fellow

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2019 Bila-Haut, M. Chapoutier, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, France

£12.25, Kenrick’s, kenrickswines.com, 07311-020125

I love high-quality, independent wine retailers, which is not surprising because this métier is in my blood. I started working in the wine business in 1987 in a brilliant indie in southwest London, and I was fortunate to learn from one of the finest palates in the country.

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The independent wine merchant, the butcher, baker, cheesemonger and other genuinely passionate and knowledgeable small businesses form the heart of the community. I spotted a new arrival in Fulham last year, and I finally managed to pop in last week in mystery shopper mode, and what a treat it was. I earwigged the manager talking to another customer through a couple of wines, and it was clear he knew each inside out. I bought five bottles and each was a delight.

My featured hearty red is a tremendously juicy and spicy fellow with a wicked price tag. In addition, 2020 First Flight Syrah Graeme & Julie Bott (£28.65) is a spectacular Côte-Rôtie taste-alike; 2019 Cline Old Vine Zinfandel (£15.50) is a fragrant, aromatic, super-juicy zin with masses of charm and a liquid velvet texture; and the 2020 Laureatus Albariño Rías Baixas (£16.30) shows what this beguiling white grape can do when you trade up from a ten quid high-street wine to a genuine, artisanal creation.

The 2019 Domaine Mas Barrau, Cabernet Franc (£10.45) is a bargain-priced, organic beauty, pulsing with energy and style. Kenrick’s is a magnificent addition to the wine skyline and I urge you to load up.

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.