SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

Dandelion and Bourgogne

Auberon Waugh

In the last few months I have noticed in myself, in my friends and guests and even among the winos of the Academy Club, a strange retreat from the chardonnay grape. Suddenly, everybody is baying for Sancerre and Pouilly Fume, for South African and New Zealand sauvignons. Perhaps it is gen- eral disgust with Rupert Murdoch, or per- haps we have had too many soapy Aus- tralian chardonnays pushed at us, so that we forget how excellent they can be. I can only say that when, after about six weeks of drinking a truly lovely Sancerre (the Domaine de Nozay which so many mem- bers were too slow off the mark to catch last time), I came upon this Leasingham Domaine Chardonnay 1990 from South Australia's Clare Valley, I felt I had come home. It has all the characteristics of the good colonial chardonnay I have been singing about for so long — orangey nose, good acid balance, melony-creamy palate with a touch of pineapple — plus the unusual characteristic that if you leave a half-empty bottle in the fridge for a week, it tastes bet- ter at the end of the week than it did when you opened it. Perhaps it was for this prop- erty that it won a Gold Medal at the Mel- bourne wine show. I think it is a very good buy at £5.25 delivered, and so will everyone else who has not set himself irrevocably against these wild colonial chardonnays. Good white burgundy is never cheap unless you can find a fluke village chablis or Maconnais, like Bonhomme's famous Macon Vire of 1983, but this St Veran (Les Terres Noires 1990, Domaine des Deux Roches) has come down a long way since I first considered offering it at £7.45, and I honestly think £6.62 is a very good price indeed for the quality. It is a wonder- fully strong, heavy example, with a good sewery first smell turning honeyed in the glass, strong enough and well-structured enough to lay down for a year or two but delicious now. For richness and staying power, I would be surprised if anyone could beat it at the price. Now for the reds. It is seldom I can rec- ommend a red as cheap as Berticot's Mer- lot from the Cette de Duras'3) at £3.32 the bottle. The reason for the exceptional cheapness is that it profited disproportion- (My first big break was in biscuit adverts.' ately overopargaining on delivery charges. This wine• from the Dordogne, next door to Bergerac, has a pretty garnet colour and a respectable leafy nose with some depth. A slight 'dandelion' finish makes it better drunk with food than independently, but the fruit is all there and it is a good, clean wine, very cheap, for nvderate drinkers. The Cairanne 1989 by contrast, is all sweet 'n' easy, no touch of dandelions' milk, no tannin that I could trace, fully mature and ready, a lovely gargling wine at £4.62, which is well enough under the £5 mark to appeal to all except the very poor. This can be drunk any time, any place, and will always be a comfort. I always like to include a new burgundy, just to show it's still there. This Clos de Chenoves 1989( from the Buxy area of the Challonais pleased me rather more than it pleased other members of the panel. I found it palish fragrant with a good bite at the end, a well-made wine which stands up at £5.66 even if it can't sing. Others, while finding it drinkable, complained of a slight bitterness at the finish. Perhaps it would be better with a little Hermitage or other northern Rhone syrah added or even — who knows? — a drop of port. Odd to find a Spanish wine at the most expensive end. To be honest, £7.12 still strikes me as a bit ofoa price for anything calling itself Campillo , but we tasted it at £7.95 and it was voted in at that price. Unquestionably a heavyweight, this 1985 reserva tastes of nothing except rotten old Spanish oak when tasted cold, but fills out into something full and meaty and not over-oaked when warmer. Perhaps it is one to sample on the mixed case rather than go for untasted by the case. Many will adore it, and old Spanish hands will be ecstatic. The mixed case, which is highly recom- mended, works out at £5.43 the bottle.

SPECTATOR WINE CLUB c/o Grape Ideas 3/5 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EVV Tel: (0865) 791313 Fax: (0865) 791594 ORDER FORM

White

Price No. Value

I. Leasingham Domaine

Chardonnay 1990 12 Bots. £63.00

St Veran Les Terres Noires 1990 12 Bots £79.44 Red

COtes de Duras Merlot 1989

(Berticot) 12 Bots. £39.84

Cairanne 1989 (Aubert) 12 Bots. £55.44

Clos de Chenoves, Bourgogne

Rouge 1989 12 Bots. f6Z92

Campillo Rioja Reserve 1985 12 Bots. £84.44

Mixed case (two bottles of each) 12 Bots. £65.18

TOTAL (Cheque enclosed)

Please send wine to: Own name & address, if different: Prices include VAT and delivery on the British mainland. Cheques should be made payable to The Spec- tator Wine Club, and sent with the order, but Visa, Access/Mastercard etc. details may be telephoned or faxed. This offer, which is subject to stock availability, closes on 31 August, 1992.

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