SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

Carpe the ruddy diem, possums

Auberon Waugh

There are three red wines above the excellent St Henri Shiraz Caberneto at 19.76 in Penfolds' magnificent range: the formidable Magill Estate Shiraz 1987 at £12.99, the stupendous Bin 707 Cabernet Sauvignon 1989 at £14.99 which, on first Lasting, I compared to Mouton's 1982; and the classic flagship shiraz, Grange, formerly Grange Hermitage (prices on application). On first introducing a Penfolds offer, about SIX years ago, through Alex Findlater, I did not hesitate to include the Bin 707, and it sold very well, with many favourable com- ments. This year I have decided to stop at the St Henri, finding it as good a wine as the Magill and reckoning that in the pre- sent climate practically nobody is going to Put down £179.88 for a case of Australian cabernet, however many superlatives I deployed, however many comparisons with premiers cnis of the Medoc. Perhaps in a few years' time we will stop at Bin 389, and then at Koonunga Hill, as our economy goes inexorably downhill. With wine, far more than with such rubbish as cars and "mputers, the great point must be to gath- et.ye rosebuds and make hay while the sun shines. Very few computers work for more than a few months, if at all, and wines will g° on improving long after any car has fall- " to pieces, even if we are still allowed to

drive it.

,. So now for the wines. They are all bril- 'lam in their price range. If the usual superlatives can be taken as read, I will "ncentrate on description. The Semilion- Chardonnay') struck us all as quite serious III its fullness and complexity. Smell and taste of ripe honeyed apricots with more than a touch of lemon, good acid, it has all the concentration of the best colonial wines With none of the colonial disadvantages — .11°.thing oily or flabby or over-ripe. At £4.78 ii is Perfect as an aperitif or with food. I don't think the French have ever mixed semillon and chardonnay, preferring the Sauvignon blend, but this, the best of three semillon-chardonnays in the Penfolds range, is a real winner. Number two, the pure chardonnay, is another example of haut-colonial, with Massive concentration of chardonnay fruit, in which members of the panel found the w, hole chardonnay spectrum except card- rd and apple: melons, apricot, grape- ,rint, pineapple, honey and the very best °utter. The price of £6.78 is steep by colo- nial standards, but not in the context of its !?draordinary depth and quality. A sniff snould be enough to make you happy for a morning. ..., Now the reds. The Dalwood Shiraz ‘-abernet(3) at £3.85 is generally available cmly to hotels, restaurants and clubs. It is a _good, manly yet clean drink with a nice, n'in. Shiraz nose, perfect with food or for 'wigging, whose only eccentricity is a touch

of mint in the front. We all liked the mint, which once again was fresh and clean. Per- haps what I call cleanliness is the best qual- ity in a cheapie. This is a first-class example with a slight difference.

They found plums and bitter chocolate and nettles in the 1990 Koonunga Hill Shi- raz Caberneto at £4.78, but I found only a good, strong claret-style wine with a touch of leaves or similar vegetation. Good fruit, good acid, goes very well with English cheeses or anything else. I have tasted other vintages of this wine which were less good than the 1990, so it might be as well to check the label. This one is lovely.

The Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz io has more pretensions as a yin de garde: cassis on the nose, full of fruit with acid to give lift to a very long back and stop any tendency towards Allen and Hanbury, as I think those delicious pastilles were called. It is matured in casks that previously held Grange Hermitage. A good high-class wine at £6.78 unless you can afford: St Henri Shiraz Cabernet 1987 at the awkward price of £9.76. A rich and beauti- ful smell, pure Bordeaux, sweet, deep and lovely, nothing colonial about it except its enormous energy and a certain lack of smoothness which suggests it would be a good candidate for cellaring. Too much tannin for use as an aperitif. You could not get this concentration and elegance from France for under £16 and any wino will recognise its quality at once, but non-wino guests may not appreciate that you have spent so much on a colonial wine, and there's the rub.

The sample case works out at •£6.12 the bottle, for which I make no apology as it is a brilliant collection, and paupers are well provided for in the clean, manly Dalwood° at £3.85 the bottle.

ORDER FORM SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

cio Penfolds, 12 King Street, Richmond, Surrey TVV9 1ND Tel: (081) 332 6600 Fax: (081) 332 0837

Price No. Value White

Penfolds Sernillon-Chardonnay,

South-Eastern Australia 1990 12 Rots. £57.36

Penfolds Chardonnay,

South Australia 1991 12 Bots £81.36 Red

Dalwood Shiraz Cabernet,

South-Eastern Australia 1991 12 Bois. £46.20

Koonunga Hill Shiraz

Cabernet 1990 12 Bots. £57.36

Penfolds Cabernet Shiraz Bin 389

South Australia 1988 12 Bots. £81.36

St Henri Shiraz Cabernet,

South Australia 1987 12 Bots. £117.12

Mixed case, 2 bottles of each 12 Bots. £73.46

TOTAL (Cheque enclosed)

Please send wine to: NAME ADDRESS POSTCODE POSTCODE Own name & address, if different: NAME ADDRESS Prices include VAT and delivery to mainland address in England, Wales and Scotland. Payment should be by cheque made out to Spectator Wine Club. Unfortunately, credit card facilities are not supplied with this offer, which is subject to availability, and closes 00 31 March 1993.