SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

It's all in the bottle

Auberon Waugh

Robin Yapp specialises in discovering seriously good French country wine, which he has the skill and energy to hunt down from the thousands on offer. The Coteaux de l'Ardeche, in central France, have been doing wonderful things with classic red grapes at the bargain end of the market. This white, called Les Ter rasses(1), at £3.67 the bottle, struck us all as exceptionally fresh, light, pleasant, easy and well priced. ' Highly recommended. The grapes might be sauvignon and colombard — I do not know — but nobody could possibly dislike this wine and many will find it a real treat.

The sauvignon from Haut Poitou(2) is stronger stuff at £4.50. Some may find it a bit overpowering, but it won a gold medal at the Paris Concours last year, and is obviously designed for those who like to be able to smell their sauvignon from a couple of yards away. No doubt it will have settled somewhat since the panel's first tasting in July. It comes in a pretty bottle and might well have the makings of a great wine.

The Ardeche Viognier from the Comtes Rhodaniens(3), also in a pretty bottle, will not be popular with French traditional- ists, who expect to drink their Viognier in the form of grotesquely overpriced Con- drieu and Chateau Grillet. It will be a newish taste for many wine-drinkers something of lemon marmalade, with good honey on the nose. It is very light and refreshing, almost a nursery taste, but, if we are honest, also rather deli- cious. The only Frenchman on the panel said it should be exported to America. The price of £5.83 will not endear it to many, but you cannot buy good, charac- teristic Viognier any cheaper, and this is an unusual wine.

Now for the reds. The Coteaux de la Ceze 1992(0 from Armand Maby, who insists on scrawling his signature all over it, comes in a particularly inelegant bottle, but otherwise it is faultless. A beautiful, light, lively red with several good tastes, all of them completely proper, it is, at £4.50, an ideal ordinary drinking wine with meals, and serves well as an aperitif. I don't know where the Ceze is or what has gone into it, but everyone will like it and they will be right. Pascal's 1989 Gigondas(5) is an alto- gether more serious wine, as it should be at £6.50. It scored highest, averaging 8 out of 10, despite being rather high in alcohol at 13.5. The taste is mellower than you might expect — placid, mature, totally seductive. One might think of keeping it, but I would be a bit nervous of all that alcohol. It drinks wonderfully now. A lovely wine.

For some time I refused to consider the Chateau des Tours' Vacqueyras(6) at its price of £9 a bottle — has the southern Rhone gone mad? — particularly after finding Pascal's excellent Gigondas (see above), but I must admit that this Vac- queyras — at 14% by volume, if you please — does seem to provide an ultimate sum- mary of what the southern Rhone can do. All the tastes and smells are intense, many of them caricatures, but the overwhelming impression is of a thoroughly enjoyable drink. The Frenchman who gave it 71/2 out of 10, despite its shocking price, wrote on his tasting notes: `corse (which I think means vigorous); and 'robe belle' (which must mean something).

The mixed case works out at £5.67 a bot- tle, but it is an interesting mixture and I shall be surprised if anyone fails to find at least two wines — possibly three or four which they love with a passion.

ORDER FORM SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

c/o Yapp Brothers plc, Wine Merchants, Mere, Wiltshire, BA12 6DY Tel: (01747) 860 423 Fax: (01747) 830 929

Price No. Value White

COteaux de l'Ardeche,

Les Terrasses, 1994 12 Bots. £44.00

Haut Poitou: Tour Signy, 1994,

Cepage Sauvignon 12 Bots £54.00

Ardeche: Cepage Viognier, 1993 12 Bots. £70.00 Red

Coteaux de la Ceze, 1992 12 Bois. £54.00

Gigondas 1989, Pascal 12 Bots. £78.00

Vacqueyras: Chateau

des Tours, 1992 12 Bots. £108.00 Mixed

Sample case, two bottles of each 12 Bots. £68.00

TOTAL (cheque enclosed)

Please send wine to: Own name & address, if different: NAME NAME ADDRESS ADDRESS POSTCODE POSTCODE TELEPHONE TELEPHONE Prices include VAT and delivery on the British mainland. Payment should be made either by cheque, with the order, payable to Spectator Wine Club, or by Access/Visa, details of which may be telephoned or faxed.

This offer, which is subject to availability; closes on 1 March 1996.

ACCESS/VISA NO. EXPIRY DATE SIGNATURE