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Spectator Wine Club
Auberon Waugh
Three cheap whites for the summer months — all from the Grave del Friuli region of north-eastern Italy, near the Yugoslav border; all are better made, all more interesting and none is noticeably more expensive than the neutral, pasteuris- ed Frascati recommended by Kingsley Aims In his disgraceful parody of a wine column which appears in the Daily Express. There are some really excellent Italians coming on the market now at extraordinarily reason- able prices. Those who stick with Frascati and Soave Bolla deserve whatever is coming to them in the way of peptic ulcers, im- potence and senile dementia.
In recommending these three grape varieties from the Grave del Friuli I am by no means sure that I have yet nailed down the very best. Those who wish to pursue their investigations are advised to apply to a wine merchant at 44 Lower Sloane Street called Colin Price-Beech, trading under the name of Recount. He has a huge list of Italian wines, of which he very civilly sent me a few. In value for money, it seems to Me that these Italians now beat the Spanish, as well as offering greater variety of choice.
The Pinot Bianco is the sharpest of the three at £2.81 V2 the bottle. Perhaps it is not quite as good as Hugel's Pinot Blanc from Alsace, but then it is considerably cheaper. Thoroughly chilled, it makes an elegant and perfectly acceptable accompaniment to any summer meal, and can usefully be cut with soda as an aperitif. Like all three of these Italian whites, it should be drunk before the summer is over, while it retains its freshness and vitality — in marked contrast to the dead, flat, pasteurised taste of chain-store Frascati or Soave. The Pinot Grigio is not sharp at all and could easily be used as an aperitif on its °Wn. It has a surprisingly full taste for the Price and is instantly identifiable as a better class of wine, even if lacks the excitement of a Chardonnay. The Tocai, given away at £2.70, has a strong, unusual and individual flavour, faintly reminiscent of the dry muscat from Alsace which is ludicrously 0. verpriced. Not everyone will like it, and it Is probably best drunk as an aperitif rather than as a table wine when its special taste will be more acceptable. It makes a better andmore unusual (as well as cheaper) raPeritif than the Chambery which every- . d y was so excited about five years ago. I think it would probably be a mistake to add fruit salad, Pimms No. 1, angostura bitters and half the kitchen garden unless you
dectde You don't really like the Tocai taste.
For me, the most interesting discovery of the month has been the red Malbeck. This grape (also spelled Malbec) is apparently quite common in the Medoc as a minor in- gredient in their Cabernet-Merlot cocktails. In St Emilion, it is called Pressac, in the Loire it is called Cot and in Cahors (where it makes up 70 per cent of the ingredients) it is called Auxerrois. I have yet to find a good Cahors (although everybody says they are to be found) but this wine has a rich and concentrated taste which 1 can only describe as malty: not in the way of malt whisky, but in the way of Radio Malt or Horlicks malt extract before the brutes started add- ing cod-liver oil to it.
Many may decide they do not want their wine to taste of malt. It is not in the least
like the toffee-apple-and-vanilla taste of some Spanish gran reservas which Rioja buffs call oaky'. It is quite simply a taste of malt. Fearing I might have gone mad to like it so much, I tried it out on six other people. They all thought it delicious — particularly good with spicy Italian pastas or heavy, hot meat casseroles. Of course one can exag- gerate the malt taste. Basically it tastes like a rich, fully, soupy wine. But this other taste is definitely there, and does not seem remotely improper. It is very odd. I recom- mend it as a most enjoyable discovery, cheap at the price of this amount of concen- tration and smoothness. Perhaps it will become a craze.
A hundred and fifty cases of Golden Oldies have gone but there should still be about 40 left by the time this appears, if anybody wishes to re-order. They are still at the pre-Budget price, and I doubt whether I shall ever be able to offer a better bargain in mature burgundies.
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