Special offer
Spectator Wine Club
Auberon Waugh
Once again, the hundred cases available of Avery's magnificent 1978 burgundy St Vincent de Monopole in last month's offer were snapped up with embarrassing speed. A substitute was proposed but, feel- ing guilty about having bought six cases of the original offer, I did not judge it good enough, so many people had their cheques returned. I am sorry. This time I hope to avoid it through a bewildering variety of choice.
In response to mutinous noises from claret-drinking readers we have left Avery for this month's offer in favour of Colin Price Beech, an enterprising young mer- chant in Chelsea who first attracted my at- tention through the agreeably flexible price structure of his excellent Italian list. The first and most conventional wine on the list is a full and fruity grand cru classe St Emilion which strikes me as very good value in this overpriced area. Chateau Dassault (1), one of eight growths elevated to grand cru classe status in 1969, was bought by Marcel Dassault, maker of the Mirage and Concorde, in 1972, for obvious reasons. He has been pouring money into it ever since. At a blind tasting of 1973 clarets organised by Tom Machen at the Tate Gallery restaurant, which included Chateaux Cos d'Estournel, Gruaud La Rose, Talbot, La Lagure, Meyney and meyney others, Dassault came out on top. It has too small a production to be very famous, but it has a pretty label and strikes me as a bargain at £5.80. The year 1979 produced some beautiful wines which are especially for- ward in Pomerol and St Emilion. Obviously it will go on improving for several years, and drinking for ten, but it drinks very well now.
After which I rather despaired of finding any claret I could recommend as a bargain. The best is grotesquely expensive, the mid- dle range is over-priced when compared to world prices for wine of comparable quality and the worst is pretty nasty. There are enough good Bordeaux Superieures around in the £4 bracket for people to find their own. In the end I decided to offer a spec- trum of Bordeaux tastes — the Cabernet (3), Merlot (2) and Malbeck grapes — from Italy. These strike me as better wines for the money than anything you can get from Bordeaux. The first two come in dignified bottles from a well-known producer in a first-class region — they are to be found on the lists at Cipriani and most of the grand Venetian hotels — and there is no reason to be ashamed of having paid so little for them. There are about 20 cases each of the 1981 Cabernet (say Medoc) and Merlot (say St Emilion or Pomerol), both of which are drinking very well now. Those whose ap plications arrive later will receive the 1982 vintage which is probably the better wine, but in my judgment needs a little time. The thing about these Italian wines is that they come on like an express train or Manchester shop-girl, as you prefer, and will probably not need more than three months. At pre- sent, the Cabernet is a trifle tannic, the Merlot a trifle stalky. But they both show a fine concentration and general effort at £3.02 and £2.96 respectively.
I throw in the Malbeck 1980 from Udine to complete the Bordeaux cocktail. It is ex- actly the same wine as I offered two months ago, but clever young Price Beech can do it 22p cheaper. Nobody from among the 70 readers who ordered a case wrote to tell me what he thought of it, but I judge it a highly enjoyable, rich, malty beverage at £3.22 and possibly the best of the lot for imme- diate drinking.
Finally, an important decision. Every
' serious claret drinker will have been bom- barded with brochures about the 1982 vin- tage. The premiers crus strike me as a com- plete waste of time at £20-£30 a bottle ex cellars for drinking in 20 years' time when many of us will be dead. From among the deuxiemes crus 1 have chosen the Pichon- Longueville Baron after taking an enor- mous amount of expert advice — they all taste like red ink to me en primeur — and endless comparison of prices. The Pichon Lalandes from next door is even inkier and may end up twice the price, but this one looks like purple soup, tastes like Parrish's food with pepper, curry powder and blackcurrant jelly cubes, and seems all set to be a famous drink in ten years' time. Your money — £5.42 a bottle — will bring you a certificate of ownership. The wine itself will be delivered in about 12 months' time, on payment of duty, carriage in- surance etc — at present rates, about £14.50 per case — and VAT. It may seem dicey but thousands of people are doing it. If this ' offer goes well, I may try the Rausan-Segla next time, about which I have heard well and which should be somewhat cheaper -- but not before I have solicited further ex- pert opinions. In these matters one is at the mercy of the experts who can tell one pungent red ink from another. All I can say is that I have done my best.
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