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tIL Mere wine merchant IMO
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NOT many wine merchants' celebrations are reviewed in the arts pages of national dailies, but then Robin Yapp's 20th anniversary party in Mere was an unusual and, in a way, moving occasion. Yapp himself is a Chaucerian figure, bearded, broad of girth. 'Wel loved he goode wine,' the master might have written, 'and many a badde tooth had he ydrawe.' Enough of dentistry, Yapp's original trade; it is as a Pioneering importer of small-growers' wines from the Rhone, the Loire and Provence that he is known and deserves to be celebrated.
The event began with a tasting in the courtyard of the Old Brewery — in fact an old Unigate milk factory, renamed and converted into a miniature, asymmetrical French village square. Yapp has always favoured rusticity and gout de terroir over smoothness and sophistication. As a result, his wines seldom lack character: occa- sionally you could wish they had less. The Vin de Thouarsais Demi-Sec 1988 (£3.85 a bottle) was a typical example: clean che- nm, with a touch of earthiness and enough sweetness to tame the fierce acidity.
The great thing about Yapp, though, is that his wines can still surprise even a jaded wine writer's palate. The Malvoisie 1988 (£4.60) from Ancenis on the fringes of the muscadet area could hardly have tasted less like muscadet. Richly scented, with hints of pears, apples and honey, it would have seemed heavy if it had not been for a refreshing bite at the end. An obstinately individual wine, made from the only plot of what is apparently pinot gris, a traditional grape of Ancenis, remaining in the region. One might expect white wine from the south of France to be dull and over-priced, suitable for people too absorbed in con- templation of their own and other people's bodies to care what they are drinking. Cassis, Clos Ste Magdelaine 1987 (£6.25) was an interesting exception. Nothing to do with blackcurrant liqueur, this was a Pungent, full-bodied yet lively, crisp dry white wine, with suggestions of thyme and resin. It is made from ugni blanc, clairette and marsanne grown on the 470 acres of vineyards in the appellation which have not yet been eaten up by property developers. Yapp's reds are as characterful as his whites, but reach greater heights. In the rustic, earthy mode was the Bourgued Cm/6e Grand Mont 1986 (£6.75). My tasting notes reek of farmyards, even manure, but there was promise of finer things in time. The taste was quite full and rich for such a northerly red, with an almost bitter tannic finish.
From the cabernet franc of the Loire to the cabernet sauvignon of Provence. Eloi Durrbach's Domaine de Trevallon is actually a blend of 60 per cent cabernet and 40 per cent syrah, a mixture he claims was traditional in his part of Provence (the north slope of the Alpilles) and which recreates the Lafite Hermitage of the 19th century. The 1987 (£8.25) was, he said, the lightest vintage he had made; I found it rich and chocolaty, with a faint whiff of farmyard on the nose, but elegant and relatively light on the palate.
I have long admired the Bandol Mas de la Rouviere from the Bunan brothers. The 1985 (£6.15) had the exciting, tarry depth of ripe mourvedre, a grape variety which flourishes nowhere better.
Yapp's finest red wines come from the Rhone, where rusticity and sophistication combine. Brezeme is one of his best finds: a Cotes du Rhone from just south of Valence which is made from syrah and belongs in style with the great northern Rh6ne wines. The 1985 (£6.50) was deep in colour, stern, tannic and splendid. The Hermitage 1986 from Gerard Chave should have been the best wine of the tasting (Parker has called Chave 'one of this planet's greatest winemakers' — has he tasted on Mars, I wonder'?) and it was.
After the tasting we had lunch outside by the Alice in Wonderland croquet lawn hoops hidden behind hedges, a white rabbit in a cage. Chave's Hermitage 1976 in magnums was like the 1986 with its hidden depths brought out into the light pure syrah fruit on the nose; to taste, beautifully balanced, not in the least heavy. Then came music — six songs for voice and piano, written for the occasion by composer friends of the Yapps. The best was Harrison Birtwistle's spikily in- tense setting of a Latin song celebrating Yapp's love of, and capacity for wine. Colin Matthews set the immortal stanza from Don Juan, 'Man, being reasonable, must get drunk.'
Robin Yapp is at the Old Brewery, Mere, Wilts. (Tel. 0747 860423).
Harry Eyres
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