SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Suitable for the grandest lunch party
Auberon Waugh
David Stevens, who is a very senior Master of Wine and one of the most experienced wine merchants in Britain, seems to know his Spectator readers well. He always manages to produce two or three corkers and has established the Chi- lean Linderos (5) and Bonhomme's Macon Vire (3) (better than ever in 1987) as solid favourites. This time, however, he has excelled himself. It is hard to know which bottle to be most enthusiastic about.
I warned that after the tiresome be- haviour of the Australian dollar (and huge price rises by Australian growers) this might prove the year of South American wines, and although none of the Argenti- nian wines on offer were chosen, we came up with three from Chile. Carmen's Sauvignon Blanc (I) suffers from none of the excessive acidity one often associates with this grape, nor is it too dry, although one member of the panel thought he found traces of salt. At £4.50, we all thought it an exceptionally pleasant, clean, crisp sum- mer's drink, suitable for the grandest lunch party and the richest salmon. It has none of the exaggerated sauvignon characteristics beginning to emerge from Bergerac and the Loire, which tend towards the tom-cat effect. It is a delightful wine. Carmen's Chardonnay(2) at 25p the bot- tle more may not quite stand up to the next two wines, but for £4.95 it has an impress- ive chardonnay nose and splendidly strong flavour. High-class chardonnay is almost impossible to find nowadays at under £5, but this wine, which has no rough edges or evidence of Latin American practices, could not be mistaken for anything else. Both these wines from the Maipo Valley in Central Chile, just south of Santiago, are new discoveries brought back by our intre- pid explorer from an extended tour of the South American continent. I suspect that we will be seeing a great invasion of Chilean whites in the next six months, but these two are the best I have yet tasted.
Now for two really excellent white Bur- gundies. Harry Eyres has already given Bonhomme's 1987 Macon Vire(3) a rave notice in Wine and Spirit. It stood out head and shoulders above everything else in the 1987 white burgundy tasting just before Christmas. I thought Bonhomme wobbled a bit in 1985, but his 1986 was excellent and his 1987 is stupendous. At £5.75 the bottle it has all the melon, lemon skin and honey of an Australian or Californian block- buster, but perhaps a little more subtlety. It is really infinitely delicate and delicious, with a rich, lovely taste which disappears at the finish leaving the mouth clean and ready for more. After which, it may seem insane to offer another white burgundy, but I was astounded to find that we had all voted for it just the same. This Pouilly-Loche) (the smallest and rarest of the three pouillys which occupy the best slopes of Macon Villages) is more concentrated than the Vire with a stronger taste and longer finish, but it is scarcely more elegant than that magnificent wine. It also costs 75p more at £6.50 the bottle. I love them both, and offer them both chiefly to show off how clever we are to have found them. In its class, I should judge the Vire supreme. The Pouilly-Loche is for those who insist on a longer finish.
Chile's Villa Linderos Cabernet Sauvignon(5), made on the pre-phylloxera model from ungrafted grapes and selling at the laughable price of £3.75, needs no introduction, as we have been running it for years. They have now switched the 1983 label to read 1985, but it does not seem to have made much difference. I hope nothing went wrong in 1984. On two occasions, at parties, I have asked what the excellent red wine was, to be told it was my own recommendation of Linderos. I have been using it on and off as a daily drinking wine for five years, re-ordering every year. One reason for its quality is the perfect conditions which prevail in the Maipo Valley, where all Chile's best wine is grown. Its consistency is probably ex- plained by the fact that it never touches oak, being moved straight from stainless steel to glass.
Finally a new discovery. The Marques de Griiion makes this massive chocolaty beverage) near Toledo, of all places. I love it for its strong, good, rich sweet smell and the sheer weight of its fruit (the Marques says it is 90 per cent cabernet and ten per cent merlot but it could be any- thing). It has a long life ahead of it, but those who like blackcurrant soup will lap it up now. Its production is supervised by Professor Peynaud, the great oenological whizz-kid from the Bordeaux Institute. If times are hard, one could probably water it down to make twice the quantity of vino corriente. At £6.25, it is a truly substantial red wine. I do not think anyone will regret laying it down for five or ten years.
The sample case works out at £5.25 the bottle. It seems to me that by dodging around the world a bit, we are keeping prices down rather well.
Previous page
