SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Cheap, cheerful and Chilean
Auberon Waugh
We decided to aim for a cheap offer this July and ended up with one of the cheapest ever (allowing for inflation) at an average of £4.09 the bottle. I concentrated on Chile, which seems to provide some of the best bargains nowadays, although two French wines slipped in, one from the industrious Henri Maire in Jura(1), the other from Roussillon(4) and one Spanish wine, from Enate(6). It remains an essen- tially Chilean offer. I hope punters will share my enthusiasm for these Chilean wines, which offer an extraordinary degree of concentration and quality for the price.
First the French white. I don't know who Bonchalaz is or where Henri Maire grew his grapes — not, I imagine, in the Jura but at £3.27 the bottle (down from Avery's list price of £3.71) this is an excellent wine for long summer boozing, which comes in an incredibly grand bottle with an impres- sive label. Quite alcoholic at 12.5°, it has plenty of taste, not sharp (which is a polite
way of saying that it is a trifle short on acid), an honest, easy wine without the trace of a chemical in it. Some found a touch of honey. At £3.27, as I say, it is a gift.
The Tierra Arena white from Chile(2) has more zest at £3.69 (down from £4.20), although it has slightly less alcohol at 12.0° with a touch of spritz lacking in Bonchalaz. The panel members were seriously keen on this wine for their own summer drinking, while agreeing that the Bonchalaz might be
better for teenage parties and that sort of thing. But it is a wonderful moment when one finds a drinkable white at £3.27.
Among the reds, the Tierra Arena Cabernet Sauvignon(3), again from Chile, at £3.69 (also down from £4.20), is a good, strong, meaty, tannic red. Not for drinking between meals, and no great class to it, but excellent for impoverished spaghetti- and pasta-eaters. The label threatens violets, blackcurrants and cacao, but I found it had a respectable cabernet smell and taste which effectively subdued the more farouche elements in a strong, young wine.
The Pierre de Marca Rouge(4) comes from the Cotes du Roussillon, towards Per- pignan, at £4.20 the bottle (down from £4.70). It has better balance than many of these Roussillon reds and more class to it, with a decent, deep, southern smell and even a touch of complexity in the finish. I am too rich and snobbish to buy this sort of wine, but if I were a lot poorer, I might.
The cabernet franc grape, of Bordeaux, Loire and South African fame, is not the sort of thing one expects to find winging its way back from Chile, but Palo-Alto(5) pro- duce a beautiful example at £4.40 (signifi- cantly reduced from the retail price of £5.27). It is easily recognisable for what it is, full and fruity with it, no tannin, no problems and a surprising amount of depth at this give-away price.
Finally, the Enate cabernet merlot(6), a crianza from Somontano in northern Spain, is another lovely, easy-drinking wine, a tri- fle more complicated than the Chilean above, with a life ahead of it — a decent, warm, hospitable cabernet merlot which everybody will like and go on liking at £5.29, reduced from the retail price of £6.06. The fact that at £63.48 the case it is more than £10 more expensive than its run- ner-up says all that needs to be said about this magnificently cheap offer, half of them comfortably under £4 the bottle.
I must admit I'm tempted.'
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