Pure glass
From Burgundy to Beaujolais, local resident Matthew Jukes sets a vine example, says Tamara Abraham
Above: Matthew Jukes
Photograph by Victoria Dawe
Matthew Jukes is in Burgundy when I pin him down for this interview, researching an annual review – the Burgundy Bible for his website. Joined by Australian wine writer Tyson Stelzer, with whom he writes Australia’s best-selling wine guide Taste each year, the two are halfway through a grand tour, on which they will visit some of the region’s most famous wineries. This is no relaxed Sideways-style jaunt, however. The somewhat more intensive schedule will see Jukes visit no less than 35-40 vineyards over the course of just five days. Such an itinerary may sound daunting, but this is just another day for the wine expert and personal buyer for Quintessentially Wine – a wine club from the luxury lifestyle group that offers its members access to some of the rarest and most exciting wines in the world. “It’s all a bit hectic – I taste around 40,000 wines and write 400,000 words each year, which is more than most people,” Jukes tells me.
It was together with Chris Orr (who has edited most of the major UK wine titles and part of the team behind Virgin Wines) that Jukes set up Quintessentially Wine in 2005. “I knew that Quintessentially Wine would give me an avenue to sell some of the wines that I found on my travels that otherwise wouldn’t come to England because they’re too rare or too small in quantity.” Two years on the company is thriving and about to launch in the US and Hong Kong. Despite this, Jukes continues all his consultancy work for the likes of Bibendum, with whom he has worked for the past 15 years, as well as Amaya and Chutney Mary – but he clearly thrives on the private client contact that he experiences through Quintessentially Wine. “We have some incredible clients. I can’t really mention names, but suffice to say some of the most unlikely people in the public eye are, in their own dining rooms, incredibly fascinated by wine.”
The love affair with wine began at an early age, “my mother used to teach cookery at Prue Leith’s cookery school, and through that I learnt a lot about food and wine,” he explains. Jukes, too, loves cooking – I asked if he was choosy about the wines he cooks with, to which Jukes responded “of course – I’m picky about everything!” The turning point however was an early job at the Barnes Wine Shop on Barnes High Street – so significant, that Jukes was able to reel off the exact date he knew his future lay in the wine trade (10th April 1987). It was this job that was also the starting point for discovering south west London. Now based in Chelsea Wharf, Jukes has since lived in Barnes, Mortlake, Chelsea and South Kensington. “I’ve always loved to live near the river and always lived near greenery.” Favourite spots have varied over the years “it used to be Richmond, because I lived closer to there, and used to do treasure hunts round it when I was younger. Now it’s Battersea, which I think is one of the most underrated parks in town.” Unsurprisingly it is his opinion on local wine lists that is even more interesting. Personal bias led him to his first choice “My one at Bibendum obviously!” though high on his list featured several local gems “Chez Bruce, and the proprietors of Ransom’s Dock in Battersea have impeccable taste. Riva in Barnes too has a brilliant wine list and brilliant Italian food, better than River Café – don’t like that!” he admits.
Jukes’ Daily Mail column is the most read wine column in the UK, and through this is probably partly responsible for changing attitudes to wine. “It’s a great equalizer as we’re all armed with the same equipment, i.e. mouths and noses. It’s social glue, it kind of sticks dinner parties together and gets people talking.”
His hottest prediction for next year follows this summer’s trend for rosé, for which sales rocketed despite the miserable weather conditions. “I suspect people are going to take this enthusiasm for rosé and move it one more level forwards into embracing light red wines.” Beaujolais is one such classic wine that in Jukes’ opinion is about to have a renaissance, “Beaujolais is one of the most underrated wine producing regions in the world – there’s no such thing as expensive Beaujolais, and most of it is pretty delicious, and you can drink it with fish, meat, game or whatever you want.” As for SW’s predictions on Jukes’ future? We think it’ll be rosy.
Matthew’s top 5 tasting tips:
Look at the wine: You can tell a lot by a wine's colour. You can get an indication of age and style pretty quickly and accurately.
Swirl and sniff it: Swirl the wine around in your glass and have a good sniff – make sure you get your nose right in there. Swirling opens up the wine and releases the aromas fully. The most effective way to do this is to fill your glass a third full only, then grip the base of the glass with your thumb and forefingers and simply move it in a gentle clockwise circle while it's still resting on the table, speeding up as you go. Within a few seconds the wine will have released its aromas.
Slosh it around: Once you've had a good sniff, take a sip – not a mouthful – and then slosh it around your mouth a bit. You could spit, but it’s generally considered impolite, so swallow and let it slip down.
Think about it: Using a bit of grey matter never does any harm. Just spend thirty seconds, that's all, thinking what you liked and what you didn't like; what tasted good and what tasted bad.
Get on with it: Once or twice is nice. Any more and you'll probably look like the odd one out at the table, so just get on and drink it. That is what it is made for and there's no point in getting overly serious about the whole thing.
Membership to Quintessentially Wine is a one-off fee of £250, redeemable against purchases, or free to Quintessentially members. Quintessentially Wine, (0870 850 8585; www.quintessentiallywine.com; www.matthewjukes.com)
Web box: For more information on wine tasting visit www.southwestmag.co.uk