SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

Serious Burgundians will notice some- thing very odd about this list. Not only are the wines spectacularly cheap by burgundy standards but they are village wines offered without any attribution to negociant or eleveur. Many will suspect they have fallen off the back of a lorry — not the best guar- antee of quality or condition.

In fact they come in answer to every English burgundy drinker's prayer, every treasure hunter's dream. Graham Chidgey, of Laytons, who makes the pilgrimage to Beaune three times a year, heard rumours last March of a huge stock of 1984, 1985 and 1986 burgundies lying undisturbed since their bottling in cellars in Savigny Les Beaune, belonging to Remy Martin.

Their history was that they had been bought by brokers for the Nicolas chain of shops in France. Three years ago, Remy Martin sold the Nicolas chain to Castel, who are not much interested in the more expensive end of the wine market and did not take this stock — in all, about 100 wines through most of the Cote d'Or appel- lations.

In the meantime, Remy Martin trans- ferred ownership of the huge stock to their Bordeaux subsidiary, A. de Luze, whose

name mysteriously appears on these bottles as if he were the Burgundy negociant. What

with the peculiarities of labelling, the quan- tities involved, and the fact that everyone seems to be feeling the winds of a liquidity crisis, I can only say that the prices came tumbling down. For my own part, I can think of no better way to face a liquidity crisis than with a cellar full of spectacularly sound burgundy bought for practically nothing when others were losing their nerve.

The main point about these burgundies is that they are all totally, utterly correct.

They were destined to go straight to the French bourgeoisie, and they taste exactly how the French bourgeois expects his bur- gundy to taste when he has finally, with many grimaces, forked out enough money to pay for a bottle. They do not taste of raspberries, as the Americans expect their burgundy to taste, or of cherries, which might go down well in the Dutch pooftah corner of the market. I always maintain, with burgundy, that the label — village, year — gives little indication of the wine.

These, unusually, have the appellation and year branded on the corks. Pay no atten- tion. This is proper burgundy. For every extra pound you pay, you get a fuller, rounder, deeper wine, although the best bargains, I would suggest, are numbers 1, 4 and 5.

If anybody doubts my harangue on this occasion, we are holding a tasting (the first in the history of the club) at 20 Midland Road, NW1 at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday, 25 February. All are welcome, and it is free.

Come and taste me

Auberon Waugh

We may even put out some of the 20-odd wines the panel didn't choose in case pun- ters prefer them, although I doubt they will. Choosing burgundy isn't difficult.

So here goes. We tasted innumerable '84s and '86s in search of a cheapie, and this Santenay Les Gravieres '84 (1) was easily the best. All the rest are '85s and will last for ages. This one won't, but it is a good, dark, sewery wine, plenty of fruit and sweetness, given away at £5.98. The year was a bad one, but this came through.

The Santenay '85 (2) has more backbone, touch of vanilla on the nose, no complexity, good sweet pinot, at £7.48. The Savigny Les Beaune (3), also 1985, is more farmyardy

on the nose, good fruit, at £7.83. The Chambolle Musigny 1985 (4) strikes me as the best bargain on the list at £10.50, possi- bly only because its price came down so much in the course of negotiations — great mouthfuls of fruit, a slight, not unwelcome touch of tar. Utterly sound, solid burgundy. The Morey St Denis 1985 (5) at £10.77 the bottle is worth comparing with the brilliant 1978 Morey St Denis I offered at Christmas from Remoissenet at £29 the bottle. This Morey from 'A. de Luze' has a rich, expen- sive, lasting taste in the old style. The price of £10.77 is a joke. The last wine, a Nuits St Georges 1985 (6) at the slightly less jocular price of £12.53 — I swear you would be lucky to find it with a premier cru label for £16.00 — is a seriously good and full exam- ple of the new-style burgundy. The colour is too pale for my liking, but it is a concen- trated and powerful wine of great merit and some complexity. I was not surprised when one of the panel claimed to detect plums in the taste, but at least no raspber- ries or cherries. The sample case works out at £9.18 the bottle. Remember you can come and taste them in London, if you want, on 25 February. I will be there.