SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Something of an annus mirabilis
Auberon Waugh
At this time of year we need red wine which is full of taste and energy but not too expensive, as practically nobody has his spending boots on after the excesses of Christmas. I have chosen an offer of cheap burgundies and rhones from the range of Pierre Andre, a producer and negociant of Aloxe Corton who is new to me, although I have noticed his wines scoring very high marks in the Guide Hachette, especially for his beaujolais, of which I include two beautiful examples — numbers 5 and 6. He is even more famous for his Corton Grands Crus, but I have not tasted them and anyway this is not the time of year. First, a Rhone wine(1) which is fruity and strong-tasting, without being heavy or in any sense deep. At £4.25 it is a wonderfully clean wine, with none of the chemical or holly-berry tastes you sometimes find on the banks of the Rh6ne, eminently drink- able now and quite delicious. The Gigondas 1989(2), by contrast, is dense, thick, closed and powerful. It will be a wonderful wine. It can be drunk now, since the balance between fruit and tannin is already established, but if so it should probably be opened a day in advance, and is certainly worth keeping. Since chateauneuf has become lighter and more expensive, I have found that the villages of Gigondas and Vacqueyras, but expecially Gigondas, are supplying better wines at a much lower price. This is a glorious exam- ple, possibly the star of the offer, which will keep for 20 years at £5.35 the bottle. Next a passetoutgrain at £4.55(3) which is
slightly pale in colour but otherwise fault- less, with a surprisingly dignified burgun- dian taste and a freshness supplied by the gamay element which make it a lovely tipple. Three years ago I could not look at a passetoutgrain, reckoning it was neither one thing nor the other, but this is the third excellent example I have found in 15 months. With beaujolais prices beginning to edge up to join their northern neigh- bours, I judge this passetoutgrain an ex- traordinarily high class experience at its price.
It is not often you find a good Hautes Cotes de Beaune, or even Haut COtes de Nuits for that matter. I have a suspicion that whenever they produce a good bur- gundy in either of these appellations they call it something different. However Pierre Andre's example(4), which starts with a closed, even slightly acid smell, develops into a thoroughly decent light burgundy, with good follow-through and finish and, perhaps most important of all at this lightweight level, perfect balance. Perhaps it is hard to be excited by this wine at £5.45, but at least it is pure burgundy and tastes like it. Now the two really excellent beaujolais. It is normal, when discussing beaujolais, or the gamay grape which produces it, to talk of its liveliness and light, refreshing qual- ities. There is liveliness in the 1989 Château d'Envaux, from Julienas,(5) but there is also violence. It is a dark, complex, strong, rich, even gamy type of gamay. I thought it wonderful and delicious, even if the price of £5.90 a bottle is beginning to hurt a little. I do not think I have ever been excited by a beaujolais before, while often, of course, having been amused by its presumption. This is a seriously exciting wine.
If the Julienas is for immediate drinking
— I do not see how it can possibly improve — the Brouilly, Domaine de Montbriand 1989(6), will almost certainly keep well and possibly improve. At first tasting it seemed a thoroughly respectable beaujolais with perhaps a little more tannin than the Julienas, but by next day it had overtaken it and was performing as a seriously good wine. Both these wines are excellent, although they are getting perilously close to the £6 mark at which point we must all reconsider our entire attitude to beaujolais and decide whether it is a serious wine or not. In my opinion, these two wines are. The mixed casern works out at £5.25 per bottle which is not too bad. They are all good, while the Gigondas(2) and the two beaujolais(3.6) are quite excellent — all products of 1989, a year which, I am beginning to think, may turn out to have been an annus mirabilis.
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