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As a boy of seven, Matthew Jukes was pressed into service as a wine waiter, welcoming guests to his parents' Brussels home with glasses of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

Next, he found himself pouring a white German riesling, and after that a red volnay from Burgundy. He was permitted to take a surreptitious sip of each.

It sent him scurrying to the bookcase. 'I went a bit Boy Scout and got the atlas out and thought it was fascinating you could have three very different drinks from around the world,' he recalled years later. 'It made me super-curious about wine.'

That precocious inquisitiveness, that thirst for knowledge about wine, may not immediately have fired what was to become a lifelong passion – there was an early plan to be an astrophysicist.

But Matthew, nevertheless, went on to become one of Britain's busiest and most influential experts.

And his sudden death while on holiday in Portugal aged 58 has shocked an industry where he was a veritable star. In a brilliant 40-year career, he combined the roles of critic, author, columnist, broadcaster, wine buyer, entrepreneur and charity fundraiser.

A gifted communicator with an infectious enthusiasm, he also caused a stir in the world of wine aficionados by having the chutzpah to launch his own zero-alcohol alternative beverage.

We at the Daily Mail were devastated to hear of his tragic and sudden passing. For 21 years, his weekly column, initially in the Saturday edition and later in Weekend magazine, was unmissable.

The former Daily Mail wine buff Matthew Jukes (pictured) has passed away at the age of 58

Actor Alexander Armstrong (right) and wine critic Matthew Jukes (left) smile for the camera at a photoshoot in London's Holborn Studios in November 2018

The Mail serialised his first breakthrough book and, when we launched our hugely popular wine club, Matthew was its driving force, bringing his exquisite old favourites and new discoveries to our discerning readers.

His genius was in articulating the view that wine-drinking is one of life's pleasures. He had no time for the pretension and phoneyness that sought to liken the consumption of wine to some form of high culture. He saw it as his mission to demystify wine while hunting out affordable bottles in the process.

This democratic approach meant he had a nose for bin-end bargains, taking readers all over the globe in a quest for value and the unfamiliar, inviting us to share that unquenchable curiosity. His 40 best wines for Christmas was an indispensable part of our festive coverage.

He wrote with an eloquence and absence of snobbery – one week he could be taking readers on a lip-smacking tour through the sumptuous vintages of Bordeaux, another he would eulogise the perfection of wine in a box (practical, inexpensive and tasty, he declared in one such offering).

Readers travelled with him from his beloved Australia, where he was hailed as the Crocodile Dundee of wines Down Under, to California, South America and the Norfolk Broads.

Yes, those Norfolk Broads in East Anglia, where he sniffed out a white wine from the Winbirri vineyard east of Norwich. He was a champion of English and Welsh wines while never neglecting traditional offerings from France and Italy.

He also liked to recommend Fairtrade wines because their purchase would help fund good causes – and Daily Mail readers responded with great generosity.

His talent was an extraordinary photographic memory coupled with a remarkably acute palate. Fellow oenophiles could only marvel at his ability to wander into a room where 100 wines were laid out, taste them all and afterwards say what each wine was like.

Jukes was passionate about wine but never pretentious - Richard Kay remembers him devoting one column to the perfection of wine in a box. Pictured: Matthew posing with ten box wines at his home in Battersea, London

Matthew sampling his non-alcoholic creations, Jukes Cordialities, which he made for those wanting to take a day-off from drinking

Matthew looks closely as he Tests Marks & Spencer's new Champagne glass for the Daily Mail

'While most of us would then want to do nothing more than lie down in a darkened room, Matthew could and would do another tasting all over again,' one fellow critic recalls. 'And he was not snooty because he was equally good at tasting supermarket wines.'

But for that schoolboy wonder at the origin of those drinks he poured for his parents' grown-up friends, Jukesy might have been destined for a very different life.

After the Catholic Oratory School near Reading, Basingstoke-born Matthew won a place at Queen Mary College in London but dropped out after a term.

It was 1987, and in the year after the Big Bang, the newly liberated City of London was bringing riches to bankers and brokers and the world of fine wine was transformed.

Matthew, then 19, joined the Barnes Wine Shop, just south of Hammersmith Bridge, where he was taken up by consultant James Rogers, who had a reputation for possessing a razor-sharp palate.

There would be blind tastings of up to 100 wines every week and the apprentice had to work six days a week. 'It was a great grounding,' recalls fellow trainee Katie Macauley. 'Matthew seemed incredibly sophisticated – he had his own flat and drove a convertible Triumph.'

He then moved to a champagne bar in the City where he sold en primeur wines to the banks. Within a year he was at Bibendum, the Michelin-starred restaurant in South Kensington where Princess Diana was a regular. He was the wine buyer until its closure in 2016.

His parallel career as a writer and broadcaster included hosting Channel 4's Wine Hunt show. In 2001 he began his Daily Mail column where he was an early advocate of 'wine pairing' with food.

He rarely drew breath. If he wasn't training the next generation of sommeliers, he was travelling – Australia and its wines became a key influence. The regard was mutual. He was presented with the 2012 Honorary Australian of the Year.

During Covid he launched a company producing alcohol-free wine, Jukes Cordialities. Sacha Lichine, the man who brought Whispering Angel to the world, was an investor.

Heartbreakingly, Matthew leaves a wife, Amelia, and two boys aged nine and seven, as well as two daughters from an earlier marriage.

Today, the Australia High Commission in The Strand will fly a flag at half mast, a fitting tribute to the everyman who was Jukesy.