SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

Serious delights from Australia

Auberon Waugh

It was a Brown Brothers chardonnay, many years ago, which first introduced me to the serious delights of Australian wine, but it is not out of any sense of gratitude that I have decided to devote the entire August offer to selections from the Brown Brothers' range. They are excellent wine- makers and offered a wide choice. I am sorry the prices are higher than usual, but cheaper Australian wines are available in every off-licence nowadays; they are not quite so cheap as they used to be, and by the time we have paid carriage on them I am not sure that they represent such good bargains as the more expensive, better wines. At any rate, the panel solidly Plumped for the more expensive ones, so there we are. The mixed case this time works out at £6.97 the bottle, rather thrown out by the brilliant Family Reserve Caber- net 198e at £10.72, but I was determined to put it in, if only to show what the Aus- tralians can do.

First, one of the stars of the offer. The semillon grape produces pretty rotten wine all over the world, especially in France Where it is the bane of the Entre Deux Mers, but where tkey get it right, it is won- derful. This 1989 is an excellent example of the pure semillon taste, very rich and Concentrated like a dry sauternes with all the sugar fermented out and the botrytis taste left behind. I have tasted Australian semillons at 30 years old, all waiting for this particular taste (which I associate with La Ville-Haut Brion or Ygreq) to come out, but here it is in all its splendour, and I should drink it while it is at its full strength. At £6.19 it is a seriously good, seriously unusual and interesting wine.

With Brown Bros. 1990 King Valley Chardonnay" we are back on familiar ground. Good apricot smell, not too rich, not oily at all nor objectionable in any way, it is a clean, refreshing example, perhaps a tiny bit short on acid to keep for very long, useful as an aperitif as well as with food. Nothing harsh or farouche here. A less exciting wine than the Semillon , perhaps, but a reliable, high-class drink at the slight- ly disappointing price of £6.80. The first red, a Cabernet Sauvignon/Shi- raz 1988, is the cheapest wine in the offer at £5.49. It is an aggressively young, leafy example — divided 55 per cent Cabernet, 45 per cent Shiraz — from northern Victo- ria, with a firm tannic finish. It is a particu- lar taste which I, for one, am growing into, but some may not have arrived there yet. For those who like strong, green St Julien only slightly softened by merlot.

Next, one of the stars of the offer. The 1988 Victorian Cabernet Sauvignon 4, also in. the 'family selection' range, is a lovely rich wine with the faintest touch of eucalyp- tus which you find in several of the best Australian cabernets and one or two from

California. No blackcurrant there but a good, fruity, delicious taste of great length. Highly recommended not only as the best bargain among the reds at £5.83, but as an outstandingly good wine at any pre.

The Koombahla Shiraz of 1986 has had a catastrophic price increase since I first tasted it at £5.78 and I am not sure how well I can recommend it at its new price of £6.83, since the panel's tastebuds were attuned to a £5.78 wine. My notes are quite enthusiastic, comparing it to a good heavy claret at a reasonable price, with an inter- esting duckpond smell. It follows in the great Grange tradition set by Penfold. Per- haps some who take the mixed case will fall in love with it, but I am intensely irritated by these price jumps and will say no more.

Finally, Brown Bros' flagship, the 199 family Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon . Black as sin, sloe-black, crow-black, with a maddeningly closed smell of blackcurrants and roses, the only wine I can think of which competes with it is Parker's Coon- awarra Cabernet which I have tasted twice, once at the Australia Day wine show in Lords, the other time at lunch with Corney & Barrow, who stock it. This is a wine for serious wine buffs, rather than for the casu- al drinker. At present it is closed tight, with an intense, colossal concentration waiting to burst out, if only one has time to leave it in a glass and throw banana skins at it, or whatever. The price of £10.72 cOmpares well with other grande luxe Australian reds, but it raises the average price of the mixed case to £6.97, which is a serious nuisance. Nevertheless, the mixed case is highly(F)ec- ommended, as are the 1989 Semillon at £6.19 and the 1988 Victorian Cabernet Sauvignon at £5.83 for those who prefer their cases unmixed. Incidentally, these wines seem to vary from vintage to vintage rather more than is usual for Australian wines, and I should hesitate before accept- ing alternative vintage substitutes.

ORDER FORM SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

c/o Latchford Ltd., 136-142 New Kent Road, London SE! 6Th Tel: (071) 708 0088 Fax: (071) 708 1962

All from Brown Bros.

Price No. Value

White 1.

Semillon 1989 12 Bots. £74.30 2. King Valley Chardonnay 1990 12 Bots £81.58 Red 3. Cabernet SauvignonIShiraz 1988 12 Bots. £65.82

Victorian Cabernet Sauvignon '88 12 Bots. £69.90

Koombahla Shiraz 1986 12 Bots. £81.96

Family Reserve Cabinet

Sauvignon 1980 12 Bots. £128.58 Mixed Z Mixed Case, 2 bottles of each 12 Bots. £83.69

TOTAL (Cheque enclosed)*

*Orders may be faxed or telephoned, giving bankers card details. When telephoning, ask for Lynn Harvey Please send wine to: Own name & address, if different: NAME NAME ADDRESS ADDRESS POSTCODE POSTCODE Prices include VAT and delivery on the British mainland. Cheques should be made payable to Specta- tor Wine Club, and sent with the order. Visa, Access, Mastercard or Eurocard details may be telephoned or faxed but goods can only be delivered to cardholder address. This offer, which is subject to stock availability, closes on 20 September, 1992.

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