SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
SIMON HOGGART
Last week’s budget has been something of a blow to winedrinkers, though a 14p rise in duty is not quite as bad as the £1 predicted by some pessimists in the trade. It does seem a shame that Chancellors can’t find a way of targeting the drinks which lead to greatest mayhem, such as alcopops. After all, you rarely see lovers of good Burgundy reeling down the streets throwing up in people’s gardens, or youths pulling knives on each other after sipping an agreeable New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. I suppose I’ll be accused of prissy middle-class bias, but so what?
Thank heavens for Averys Wine Merchants and their Richard Davis, who has not only come up with some terrific bargains which will allow us to drink good wine at moderate prices for the months to come, but has decided to freeze the offer at pre-budget prices. So you can knock off a notional £1.68 per case from all these already discounted prices. Take the Sacchetto Pinot Grigio 2007 (1) from the Veneto, from where much of the best Pinot Grigio comes. This is made in a family-owned winery, and it is full and fleshy and fruity — very unlike some of the rubbish made from this grape. Delicious, and reduced by more than 20 per cent to just £4.75. Unmissable.
Here’s another first-rate bottle, discounted by even more. It’s the Zolo Sauvignon Blanc 2007 (2) from Argentina. That’s a grape that likes high, cool climates, and this is grown 1,000 metres up in the foothills of the Andes, giving it a freshness and a zing which I think you’ll enjoy — all the more since it’s reduced by more than 20 per cent, to just £5.50. Perfect for parties, but also for daily glugging. As I often say, quality wines at supermarket prices.
The last white is the stunning Judd Estate Chardonnay 2003 (3) made in the Matua Valley in New Zealand. The Kiwis have perhaps been less happy with Chardonnay than their neighbours, but this one is up there with some of the best from Australia. It’s creamy, smooth, nutty, vanillary (is that a word? — it is now) but with enough acid to give it real balance. A smashing wine, as an aperitif or with food, reduced by £37 a case to an incredibly reasonable £7.92 a bottle. Snap it up.
Now the reds. There is more than £1 a bottle off a very intriguing wine. Bierzo is a small and largely undiscovered region in north-western Spain, where they grow a largely undiscovered grape, Mencia. It’s already producing light yet densely flavoured perfumed wines, with undertones of plums and damsons. The cream sell for £20 plus. This Flavium Mencia Roble 2005 (4) is just £4.75, and while it isn’t up there with the best, it is very, very nice. I really do urge you to try it, perhaps in the sample case, leaving you time to order lots more.
There is £1.24 a bottle off the Casa Elena Carmenère Cabernet blend 2006 (5) from the Maule Valley in Chile. Carmenère is a grape that gives wine a soft, velvety, even plush feel (it used to be mistaken for Merlot) and it combines beautifully with the more tannic austerity of the Cabernet. I think the combo is terrific. Again, a perfect party wine, but also just right for enjoying with roasts and casseroles.
Finally claret lovers will be delighted by the Château Poitevin 2005 (6), a cru bourgeois, which means it’s just below the classed growths, but way above so much of the mediocre fluid which still comes out of Bordeaux. This is Medoc which seems to me to have all that a good Bordeaux should at another amazing price. The £7.92 being asked is more than £1 off a bottle, and if you can bear to wait it will get even better.
Delivery, as always, is free, and there is a sample case containing two of each wine.
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