Wine Reviews
Matthew Jukes – The Perfect Expertise v Value Ratio
Nov
Celebrated Wine Journalist, Matthew Jukes has been writing about wine for over two decades. We were overjoyed to read his thoughts on HH&C’s wine buying expertise and the bottles he recently tasted with us, on his website www.matthewjukes.com.
Matthew Jukes Recommends, Mixed Case
Featuring 12 of Matthew’s Wednesday Wines picks:
- Parcelles Chardonnay, Domaine Réthoré Davy, Val de Loire 2023
- Le Temps Est Venu Blanc, Côtes-du-Rhône, Stéphane Ogier 2023
- Pinot Bianco, Kellerei Kurtatsch, Alto Adige 2023
- Gouttes d’O Chardonnay, Château de Bousval, Jardins de Wallonie, Belgium 2022
- Viré-Clessé, Quintaine, Guillemot-Michel 2022
- Parcelles Pinot Noir, Domaine Réthoré Davy, Val de Loire 2023
- Juliénas, Domaine de Forétal 2023
- Moulin-à-Vent, Domaine de Forétal
- Barbera d’Alba, Cascina Alberta 2022
- Gigondas, Cuvée les Pigières, Domaine Font Sarade 2022
- Eisenstadt Blaufränkisch, Tinhof, Burgenland 2020
- Morgon, Côte du Py-Javernières, Jean-Paul Brun, Terres Dorées 2022
Wednesday Wines – Episode 238 – The Perfect Expertise v Value Ratio
13th November 2024
I have recently charged around several supermarket press tastings to see what’s up. As you may have seen from my Wednesday Wines piece a fortnight ago, there are only a handful of wines that have ‘passing muster’, and by that, I mean wines with levels of flavour, accuracy and value for money that would compel me to recommend them. As supermarkets find it harder and harder to purchase decent value wines in volume, independent wine merchants find themselves with new and curious customers hoping to find decent-priced wines with rewarding flavours. Having said this, not all indie wine merchants stock epic wines, and a lack of experience and / or great taste is the reason. You might think that great taste is a prerequisite for our industry, but this is not the case. Fewer and fewer wine buyers these days appear to have done the hard yards in our industry, building the required levels of experience to perform at the highest level. A degree of natural talent helps, but you can only score goals if this talent is augmented by serious dedication, stamina, concentration and often exhausting repetition. Wine buying seems like a glamorous job, but, in truth, one spends more time being disappointed with the wines you taste than finding gems. This brings me to a wine merchant I met three decades ago who has never put a foot wrong regarding absolute quality and value for money. While the selection at Haynes Hanson & Clark might not be as broad as one might find on the High Street, and a good number of wines are certainly above an everyday price range, it is the lower-priced wines that shine bright, proving that if you put the hours in and keep your standards up, you stand a decent chance of finding fabulous wines at all price points for your customers. I popped into HH&C this week and tasted 16 wines – a couple were, admittedly, a little dear for everyday drinking, but I have included them anyway. Of the 16 wines, just two slipped just beneath my score threshold for a write-up – this is an astonishing 88% hit rate, as opposed to my usual success rate of just 2%. It’s time people put their palates in the hands of genuine indie wine experts. If you run through my weekly recommendations, you will find the names of my favourite UK indies, so please head to them for reliable advice and winning wines.
You may end up with a ‘starry’ wine list but it will lack originality and personality. This is not wine buying; this is simply ordering. Genuine buying involves unearthing new and delicious discoveries and putting your money where your mouth is. It is extremely costly to ship wines to our shores, and that’s before you set about telling their stories with conviction. Finally, you hope to convince people to part with their cash and, crucially, return for more. This is ‘buying’, and those merchants with these skills deserve all the success in the world because they not only keep their businesses alive but also electrify their customers’ palates while supporting talented wineries who strive to make the best wines possible.
White
2023 Parcelles Chardonnay, Domaine Réthoré Davy, Val de Loire, France £12.65 (£11.25)
I cannot think of another global Chardonnay that comes close to this wine’s poise, elegance, and accuracy, apart from Yering Station The Elms Chardonnay, which I don’t think has rolled onto the 2023 vintage (the Waitrose website is notoriously inaccurate). The Elms is the Aussie version of Parcelles! Brilliant, impressive, clean, and refreshing, Parcelles is a spectacular ‘house white’ for all eventualities.
2023 Tinhof, Grüner Veltliner, Burgenland, Austria £15.65 (£13.90)
Finally, a keenly priced Grüner that shows zestiness, energy and verve, as opposed to leesy, chubby, lactic notes which slow down and park in the middle of your palate, leaving you feeling knackered instead of refreshed! Tinhof is a new name for me, and I love the attack here, which throws citrus and green apple notes asunder with hints of cracked white pepper on top! Genius.
2023 Le Temps Est Venu Blanc, Côtes-du-Rhône, Stéphane Ogier, France £17.15 (£15.25)
This is a jaw-droppingly attractive wine with silky coolness and more expression than appears possible at fifteen quid. Focussed, bright, pure and faintly exotic, this couture creation shimmers with ravishing detail in the glass.
2022 Gouttes d’O Chardonnay, Château de Bousval, Jardins de Wallonie, Belgium £30.85 (£27.40)
I wrote up the 2019 vintage of this wine in my MoneyWeek column many moons ago when the HH&C team first discovered it, and this new vintage is even finer. It is not a huge statement to say this is the finest Belgian wine I have ever tasted because I rarely see examples, but on a global stage, this is comparable to a refined, willowy Chablis in silhouette and style.
2022 Viré-Clessé, Quintaine, Guillemot-Michel, Burgundy, France £31.25 (£27.50)
Sophie and Gautier have taken over from Pierrette and Marc, and the gradual tightening and lengthening of the flavour of this wine is stupendous. I have bought this wine since the ‘90s and this is the purest and most expressive example of this legendary biodynamic Chardonnay to date.
2021 Pouilly-Fuissé, 1er Cru Les Chevrières, Dominique Cornin, Burgundy, France £40.25 (£35.65)
The depth of fruit and intensity of flavour far exceeds the price point of this magnificent white Burgundy. Firm, grand, detailed and refined, the flavour of this wine is worth twice this price, showing once again that a couple of Cornin’s most carefully assembled wines are worth hunting down without delay.
Red
2023 Parcelles Pinot Noir, Domaine Réthoré Davy, Val de Loire, France £12.95 (£11.50)
This is the finest-value, classically shaped Pinot Noir I have tasted this year, and it is the perfect sibling to the Chardonnay above. Floral, foresty, pure and fresh-picked, this delightful wine has enough breeding to sit on any dining room table (perhaps lunch, not dinner)!
2023 Juliénas, Domaine de Forétal, Beaujolais, France £15.80 (£14.05)
I have featured this wine in previous vintages, and it has, once again, hit the high notes with its pristine, glisteningly bright Gamay fruit and seamless delivery. Easy-drinking has never been this delicious. You might want to order twice as much as the number in your head because everyone you know will love this wine.
2023 Moulin-à-Vent, Domaine de Forétal, Beaujolais, France £17.35 (£15.40)
Take the happy-go-lucky Juliénas framework, add £1.50 worth of mysticism and awe, and get this darker, grippier, more challenging, and more rewarding Moulin-à-Vent. Yes, it’s a ‘better’ wine than the Juliénas, but I can’t choose one over the other because they are made for entirely different purposes. The Juliénas is a catwalk queen, sashaying around the palate with grace and glide. This glorious Moulin-à-Vent is a musketeer: flashing blade, derring-do and flamboyance in every sip. You really need both.
2022 Barbera d’Alba, Cascina Alberta, Piemonte, Italy £17.50 (£15.55)
I love the ebullient Barbera grape, and in the right hands, it delivers explosions of black fruit and unquenchable enthusiasm on the palate. While it is rarely a complex creature, it makes up for it in generosity of flavour and a crowd-pleasing attitude. It is also a bargain!
2022 Gigondas, Cuvée les Pigières, Domaine Font Sarade, Southern Rhône, France £24.00 (£21.35)
I am a fan of the Vacqueyras wines from Font Sarade, and this is the first time I have tasted a Gigondas, and what a pleasure it is. Already relaxed and harmonious, this is a forward-drinking, stunningly balanced, deep, dark red wine with lashings of bonfire and spice. Its tannins are prim and respectful, allowing the fruit to mesmerise the senses unhindered. Once again, the expertise versus value ratio is off the charts.
2020 Tinhof, Eisenstadt, Blaufränkisch, Burgenland, Austria £24.75 (£22.00)
With a blueberry, blackcurrant and cinnamon-spiked nose and a velvety, juice-packed palate, this is a wildly indulgent wine with a unique flavour. With little tannin, just cleansing acidity on the finish, you can drink it by the flagon because it slips down a treat, offering a wonderful break from your regular wine diet.
2022 Morgon, Côte du Py-Javernières, Jean-Paul Brun, Terres Dorées, Beaujolais, France £27.45 (£24.20)
Add ten quid to the Beaujolais above, and you end up with a formal, structured, ‘Burgundy-like’ wine with a deep, dark chassis and a series of refreshing tannic waves that rev the palate, demanding great grub and terrific company. This is a celebratory Beaujolais with volume and flair, and it performs like a superstar and will evolve, too, given time. Just brilliant.
