SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Mr Mark Savage's Windrush Wines, of Cirencester, first came to my notice through the little-known grande marque Champagne Billecart-Salmon(6). Once tasted, it became my house champagne immediately (or rather the grander of my two house champagnes since it has never been cheap and is much too good for the young). This seems the right moment to introduce it to Spectator readers as, like all champagne, it is on the brink of a nasty price increase. Mr Savage has kept a big enough parcel at the old price (somewhat reduced for us) to satisfy any likely de- mand from readers. It is a beautiful wine which I have recommended to many friends, always with satisfactory results, and one which never fails to excite guests. At £9.20 I feel it is considerably better than most of the vintage champagnes on the market. One reason why it is so cheap for its quality is that Billecart Salmon does not seem to advertise very much, unlike other grandes marques which waste a fortune on full-page advertisements in Vogue. I had never heard of it before three years ago.
The other wines held at the Barracks, Cecily Hill, turn out to be chosen with the greatest care. Rather to Mr Savage's annoyance, I fear, as he is charging Specta- tor readers nothing for delivery, I found that my greatest enthusiasm was for his cheaper wines. The first two wines on this list struck me as being stupendous bargains
The search for substitutes
Auberon Waugh
in terms of their quality. Mr Savage prides himself on searching Europe and the world for conscientious new producers who can replace the classed bordeaux and COte d'Or burgundies which Britons can no longer afford to drink. I feel he is doing a magnificent job.
Fifteen years ago I discovered a red Roussillon which convinced me the area was capable of making a decent red wine, but I never found it again, despite an annual search. Clever Mr Savage seems to have got it in one. This wine, called St Calderic(1) (he or she does not feature in Butler's Lives of the Saints) from the Château de Cap de Fouste (Cotes du Roussillon AC) had me reeling at its price of £2.59. The taste is that of an elegant, light Chateauneuf, with none of the coarse- ness to be expected in a wine at this price. I found it amazingly full and proper. Those who tend to eschew the chiantis and lesser Spanish wines at this price will find a classic French taste with no horrid undertones — smooth, fruity and benign, like some old bachelor uncle with a twinkle in his eye. Anybody who knows his wines would be happy with the Roussillon for everyday drinking, but for those who are slightly richer I think I may have found the definitive Cotes du Rh6ne generic in Pas- cal's Cuvee Personnelle(2). The problem for those who fancy these COtes du Rhone, as I do, is that the shops are now full of the 1984s, which may be going to improve but taste less nice than the 1983s to me. This parcel of 1980 wine, from a famously brilliant producer in the village of Vac- queyras, can only be described as utterly lovely. The tasting notes from the panel are unanimous in delirious praise: 'Fruit, liveliness and bounce. Thoroughly nice example ."Absolutely Al. Delicious.' At £3.11 for a wine which has been maturing for nearly 51/2 years I think it is the best possible encouragement to those miserable skinflints who still jib at the £3.00 barrier. The rest of the offer need detain us less long. I include Roger Combe's 'Reserve des Muses' from the Domaine La Fourmone(3) at £3.39 because I know the property, having offered the wine some time ago and because Mr Savage assured me that the 1984 is even more forward and slightly fuller than the 1983 which I tasted. I trust him. Monsieur Combe is a go°d producer, and those who punted before may choose to punt again. Exactly the same considerations apply to Jaboulet s Crozes Hermitage). There was a tune when people could afford to sneer at Crozes with its light grapy syrah taste, but anyone who tries to buy Jaboulet's Hermit- age La Chapelle 1983, now fetching f-3° a bottle at auction, will understand why we should be grateful for this pleasant, well - made wine at £3.98. The Bandol(s) from Domaine TeMpief is something quite different. Many will laugh at the thought of paying £6.41 for a .red wine from Provence, but this is a serious wine, all on its own. What Latour is to the cabernet grape, and Jaboulet's Chapelle to the syrah, Domaine Temper is to the mourvedre of Bandol — at a fifth of the price of course. Mr Savage raves about this wine, but I have never tasted an 01.d Bandol and can only report what I find in this 1982 specimen — that it has a deep; concentrated, earthy taste which is mos interesting. No doubt it should be kept fort 20 years, but it is by no means unpleasan_ to drink now. It is a wine man's wine. 1 think it is worth paying £6.41 for, but manY more casual wine drinkers who have_ rejoiced in the utterly delicious. Pascal Cuvee Personnelle at half the price will think me mad.
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