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SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
CUBAN CIGARS
Nicholas Soames
DEREK Smedley, MW of Hedley Wright Wine Merchants has made an interesting selection, in keeping with the cosmopolitan character of this column. The white and red wines all come from South Africa, Aus- tralia and Chile, so readers can exercise their personal prejudices on a truly global scale.
First on parade, at £5.20 the bottle, is the Comeliana Chardonnay 1999(1) from the Rapel Valley in Chile. The vineyards are not far from the ocean and so the climate is tempered by a cool current which sweeps up from Antarctica. It sounds like a won- derful place, and the proprietors have cer- tainly made a full and powerful wine with a very agreeable fresh, ripe taste overlaid with melon and peach flavours. It is a fine example of just how good some of these Chilean wines are, and how well they deserve their popularity.
Next, a little more expensive at £6.99 a bottle, is the Hollick Riesling 1999(2) from the Coonawarra district of Australia. Ian Hollick has produced the almost perfect summer wine: given the right circumstances (and, of course, the right frame of mind) you could drink this at any time of day or night. It has a strong, fresh smell and a flowery, spicy taste. It is very good — it will cheer up a rotten day and make you believe that there is a better summer to come.
From South Africa we have the Alty- dgedacht Chardonnay 1998(3). This comes from the Durbanville area on the Cape, a hilly district which has the incomparable benefit of soothing breezes from both the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It is little won- der that so many people are attracted to the South African wine industry: what strides it has made since the end of apartheid, exporting to markets all over the world. This is a wine of great character; intensely fresh and full with a delicious taste. I detected a crisp and slightly fizzy but attractive aftertaste. At £7.69 a bottle, it is well worth trying.
'Summers are mercifully short these days.' Now for the red wines. First the Montes Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1997(a) from Chile. This wine has had some time in the bottle, which gives it a distinct maturity. It is quite complex, with a variety of flavours, a lovely strong smell and good depth. It is good value at £6.45 the bottle, and a testa- ment, perhaps, to the tremendous amount that Chile has invested in its wine industry.
The Willandra Merlot 1999(6) from Aus- tralia is a soft, easy-to-drink, uncomplicated wine. The Merlot grape has become very popular in Australia, and the Murray River soils and climate suit it very well and allow it to ripen under ideal conditions. This is a wine of character and some substance, and it is fairly priced at £6.10 a bottle.
Finally, we have the Valley Manor Shiraz 1998(6) from South Africa. This again comes from the Cape, but from a particu- larly hot part, which is apparently ideal for the production of black grapes. The South African Shiraz makes soft, ripe wines that are full of flavour. This is no exception. It has a tremendous colour, a rich nose and a delightful, rather unusual taste with good finish. It is a well-balanced wine and decently priced at £5.99 a bottle.
Ever faithful to the spirit of globalisa- tion, the Spectator Wine Club is again in pan-Continental mode. Each country makes very different wines, but I hope that readers will find something to their taste in this offer. The mixed case works out at £6.40 a bottle.
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