SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Not one but two
Auberon Waugh
B, onhomme's Macon Vire') will be familiar to all who were fortunate enough to buy the splendid 1983, one of the best bargains I have ever found for the club. Subsequent vintages have either been har- der (the 1984) or slighter (the 1985). It appears that 1986 was a smashing year for white burgundy, but they made the same claim for 1985, also, and while this wine is already fuller than the 1985, it is still a long way behind the magnificent richness of the 1983. On the other hand, for those who are fed up with the wonderfully thick colonial chardonnays I keep praising, this iS a very Proper, very French example. The smell has a touch of apples and the taste is well-balanced and clean. The price is good and everybody liked it. My only regret is that there is not more of this high clasS taste, but perhaps I have been spoiled in the colonies.
Odd, you might think, to offer two white burgundies simultaneously, neither from a very famous area, one £2 more expensive than the other. But it seems to me That David Stevens has found a real winner with this Rully la Chaume (2) from a C6te Chalonnaise producer I have never heard of. Although it costs nearly £8, it still represents brilliant value by the standards of white burgundy, with a good, deep chardonnay nose and a lovely, rich taste Which beats most of the Puligny- Montrachets I have tasted from 1985 and 1986 at £18-£40 the bottle. One has to shop around the Chalonnais and Maconnais to do it, but it can still be done. I would judge this wine a better bargain than the Macon Vire for those who can afford the differ- ence.
I have been offering the Chilean un- grafted cabernet sauvignon from Vina Lin- deros since the 1979 vintage (which hardly sold at all, although it was brilliantly good) and have now filled a large part of my cellar with this 1983.(3) The corks are Cheap, and in previous vintages (notably the 1982) I have had one or two dud bottles, but none so far in 1983, which is a marvellous wine, if served at room temper- ature and decanted an hour before drink- ing. This gets rid of a slight tar element Which sometimes attaches to bottles Opened straight from the cellar. At one lunch party I served it against the wonder- ful Chasse Spleen 1979 (another tremen- dous bargain, by borgeaux standards, at f10.56 or so) and most decided that the Linderos was the chaSse Spleen and vice versa. The secret of its success, I believe, is that although the Chileans can produce wonderfully fruity cabernet sauvignon, they are npt to be trusted with oak — as shown in the Torres range and the even more famous Cousino Macul — and this wine has never touched oak, going straight from stainless steel into glass. Hence its extraordinary cheapness at £3.55 the bot- tle, and the amazing cleanliness of its concentrated fruit. Apart from the Leba- non's Château Musar, which is a more complex, slightly dirtier wine and nowa- days considerably more expensive, I would say this is the best bordeaux-substitute I have yet discovered. It is truly a wine with which to amaze your friends, but it must be decanted and served at room temperature or half a degree warmer.
Rooting around in the Medoc, Mr Stevens came up with several suggestions of which the Château Haut Canteloup (4) from the glorious year of 1982 struck the panel as easily the best at £5.95. Like all the wines in this offer (except possibly the Macon Vire°, although I am not sure about that), it is perfect for drinking now. As there is a limited number of cases available, I had better limit further discus- sion to my own tasting notes: 'Good blackcurrant smell. Balanced, strong, sweet taste. Elegant and full although quite short for an '82. Like it, 15/20'.
Next a yearless burgundy (5) (from a mixture of vintages) at the horrid price of £7.90. This is not to be compared with old burgundy, but compares very well indeed with new-style burgundy up to and includ- ing the products of Drouhin, Leflaive and Dujac. Good, strong pinbt smell, starting sweet and turning anal. A bit pale, but a thoroughly nice wine with plenty of guts. It develops in the glass and will certainly develop for a year or two in the bottle. It has the best possible young burgundy taste, at a price which avoids the current craze for domaine-bottled near-roses which taste of raspberry. It is a wine for new Burgun- dians, who will be as much amazed as other wine drinkers are appalled by its price. An example of the new burgundy at its best.
Finally, a crusted port from Yates Wine Lodges of Blackpool fame), which arrives in a bottle which is almost impossible to open, being encased in irremovable plastic foil, despite a heavy residue which de- mands it should be treated as vintage port. The point about these crusted ports (of which this is a very good example) is that they will never stand comparison side by side with a vintage port at twice the price, but if drunk separately they provide a richly satisfying vintage port experience. The same, I believe, is true of nearly all vintage ports, which is why I advise people to go for the 1975 ports at £12-£14 the bottle rather than the '63s at £30-£40. This crusted at £7.95 should cause endless happiness to those who can get it open.
The sample case, two bottles of each, costs £78.40, but those wishing to re-order the Canteloup, having tasted it, will have to move fast.
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