SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
One white among the reds
Auberon Waugh
An unusual offer with only one white wine, and also the first Sancerre(1) I have offered in years and years. Every cellar should have some Sancerre in it. It is one of the classic wines of the French experi- ence and the explosion in prices over the last five years (which explains why I discov- ered I was down to my last bottle) is attributable to greedy Parisian drinkers rather than buyers in the Far East. Only those who have tried to buy it recently will realise that £7.25 is a very reasonable price indeed for a high-class example. So much excellent sauvignon blanc from the former colonies and New World is so assertive that it is easy to forget what a mild, subtle and delicious drink awaits those with the patience to find a good Sancerre and the money to buy it. The panel tasted many other white wines from many different areas this month, but they all seemed vul- gar and clumsy beside this plucky little wine.
Now for the reds. Gabriel Liogier's 1996 Syrah(2) from the Pays d'Oc is good value in the sense of providing masses of taste for your money. After a smoky, young smell and a nice, slightly jammy middle, there is a sting at the end which makes this wine bet- ter with food, but it is a pleasant and full taste for £4.45. It is only 11.5 per cent by volume — all the rest are 12.5 per cent which may recommend it to some in the new spirit of the times.
Liogier's 1996 Domaine de la Taladette from the Cotes du Rhone is a more con- ventional wine — decent, masculine, quite assertive, bright colour, strong and pure. One member of the panel claimed to find a touch of lavender in it, but I think this was fanciful. A good wine with plenty of life for £5.20.
Etienne de Tauriac's Cotes de Bourg came over as a modest little voice at the back of the choir — low-key, unassuming, but with a touch of acid and tannin in the finish to provide a decent claret experience for your £5.75. The £6.25 which Joseph Mathon's Brouilly(5) costs is more than some people like to pay for beaujolais, and the panel paused a long time before choosing it in preference to a delicious light 1996 Beau- jolais Villages from the same source at £5.45, but decided in the end that the Brouilly, right at the high burgundian end of the beaujolais range, was the more interesting. It really is quite exceptional, and the closest many readers will get to a full young Burgundy for some time, I would guess.
Last of all, a seriously excellent 1995 Vacqueyras(6), scoring nine out of ten on smell, with real vitality and energy run- ning through it as through a young horse — or possibly a young house. My notes become difficult to read. It beat the 1994 Gigondas we tasted after it into a cocked hat, and had the whole panel cheering. With the Sancerre at £7.25 this was defi- nitely the star of the offer, but then it is also the second most expensive at £6.75. The cost of the mixed case works out at £5.94 the bottle.
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