SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Good taste surprisingly cheap
Auberon Waugh
The pinot blanc of Alsace, which is pretty near the chardonnay grape in every respect but taste, produces a wonderfully colourless unidentifiable wine in a beauti- ful Alsatian bottlet°. Pleasant, crisp and clean as an aperitif, it can't be faulted except perhaps on the point of character. Nobody will dislike it, and everybody will make appreciative noises in tribute to its overwhelming elegance. A brilliant wine for everybody except the serious wine- drinker, at £4.20 it is notably cheaper than other Alsatian varietals except the dismal sylvaner. I just wish I could have offered it at £3.80, at which price it would be a knock-out.
I offer German riesling so seldom that I feel my choice of the Johannishof Charta Riesling(2) needs some explanation. The Charta movement in Rheingau is designed to raise the standards of the area by imposing a higher must-weight than that demanded by law, while reducing residual sugar levels (high sugar hides a multitude of sins) to allow the fruit-sugar-acid ba- lance to reassert itself. The result is a much livelier wine than anything produced by the trocken or halbtrocken processes. Any- way, I liked it.
My third offering, a 1988 Pouilly Fume from the Domaine des Berthiers, jumped out at a tasting for its lovely gooseberry- flinty smell and long, clean sauvignon taste. It is surprisingly pale for such a strong-tasting wine. One member of the panel claimed to find a touch of tomcat in the smell, but I didn't, and marvel at the length, strength and purity of it. I wish it Could be cheaper than £6.21 the bottle, but I suppose that among sauvignon freaks Pouilly Fume is the equivalent of Puligny for Burgundians and it is an excellent wine by any standards.
Best bargain this month, in my opinion, is the first of the reds, Vina Laranda Tempranillo 1987(4) from Penedes at £3.40 delivered. It is seldom I can wax enthusias- tic about what is really an ordinary drink- ing wine, but this one is a real winner. Pretty pigeon-blood colour, slightly Au- stralian smell, no oak, no tannin, no sharp or rough edges, excellent plummy taste, full of fruit, I really can't recommend it too highly. One could drink a bottle and a half of it without food and without a moment's self-doubt. For those who seriously enjoy drinking large quantities of red wine, I do not think this could be bettered.
The Château Peconnet 1986(5) struck me as a mild, well-mannered claret at £4.50 full of quiet good taste and restrained breeding. To be sipped appreciatively and murmured over by people who don't drink wine very often and don't drink very much of it when they do, but think it rather a treat. A far cry from the Laranda Tempra- nillo, except that both are suitable for those who like to watch their spending.
I hesitated over the Bourgogne Irancy 1986(6) because I am well aware that when the Spectator Wine Club recommends burgundy, punters expect a dark red wine whose deep fruit smell has to be reached through a farmyard of other smells, at any rate when it is first poured. On this occasion Leon Bienvenu has produced a pale pink wine in the modern style. All I will say for it is that in this light, modern style it is a high-class wine with much more taste than one would think possible for its colour. I do not think £6.19 is a bad price for modern burgundy of this quality. In fact it is very good indeed. I would not trust it to improve, and don't see really how it can, but those who have been avoiding new-style burgundy for its absurd price 8 well as for its silly colour might choose to give this example a whirl. It is a thoroughly good wine, however reluctant one is to give it the same appellation as those wonderful old Avery burgundies.
The sample case works out at £59.96. Our wine merchant on this occasion Freddy Price — points out that non- Spectator customers ordering the same mixed case would have to pay £68.71. But the best buy this month, I would say, is the Vina Laranda at a mere £40.80. That will keep most punters happy for as long as it lasts.
Previous page
