SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
However, Armit has found some which don't, including the fabulous Gaby '82(5) which could hold its own, in my judgment, against most classified St Emilions apart from the four or five very best. I tasted it initially against ten other clarets, including the 1981s from Beychevelle, Pavie, La Lagune and Brane Cantenac, and it beat them all into a cocked hat. It is a major find, but hurry, hurry because the 1983 (which will not be substituted) is not as good, and the 1984 (which I have not tasted) is almost certainly a disaster.
All in all, this is a much more interesting and unusual list than it looks, chosen from a second and third tasting of those wines which had seemed to stand out at the first. For those who have never tried the Pinot Blanc d'Alsace, Andre Kientzler's example(1) could scarcely provide a better introduction. It is fresh as a daisy, with a little spritz, but much richer and fuller than is usually found. I suspect other producers of adding sylvaner, but this tastes of pure pinot blanc, quite excellent at £4 the bottle.
Macon Blanc Villages can hide a multi- tude of sins. This Domaine Lenoir 1986 from Duboeuf(2) starts fairly subdued, but becomes a really elegant miniature white burgundy in the glass. From a highly proper, if slight, chardonnay nose, it de- velops into something quite impressive in its quiet way. In fact, the white burgundies of 1986 seem to me a bit of a triumph. The second example, although still a trifle reticent in the mouth, has the rich, hon- eyed nose of a 1983 Puligny. I doubt that Macon Villages has much of a future at £4.67, although delicious now, but Lef- laive's Les Setilles(3) undoubtedly has a future as well as being lovely to drink now. At £6.08 I would recommend it as a major discovery, and congratulate John Armit on having found it.
All talk at Groucho's was about the Château du Gaby(5) but many will jib at paying £7.33 for anything called Fronsac, even the very best Fronsac from Canon Fronsac, so I include the Château La
Fabulous farewell to rats' tails
Auberon Waugh
Vieille Croix 1983(4) at £4.42 to spread the general un-ratty Fronsac idea. Armit has found it very popular among his clients, as they sit waiting for their Latour '82 to improve in value. I have already raved about the '82 Gaby. Perhaps I should append my tasting notes, first from the Groucho tasting: 'big merlot blood and sewers: sweet 'n' malty'. Next, from a tasting and lunch with Armit: 'v.v. ripe merlot smell, deep, deep colour: lovely rich ripe example: sweet and perfect now: chocolaty-sweet 'n' easy, and rich: gets better and better: should decant it: posi- tively colonial: faultless, delicious wine'. Finally, from a third tasting at Combe Florey, at which a former political corres- pondent of The Spectator found it 'genteel and amiable but ludicrously overpriced' and his wife found it (inexplicably to me) `rather sharp': 'immensely fruity, rich wine: a star at this price: nothing nasty, all sweetness and light'.
Finally, a new Spanish wine at the slightly awkward price of £8.17, which has rapidly moved up the charts to rival its famous neighbour in the Ribera del Duero, Vega Sicilia, since the mighty Robert Parker compared it to Château Petrus. I think Parker may have been suffering a rush of blood to the head, but it is a wonderfully concentrated, very Spanish wine, with undertones of some Moorish spice bazaar. It starts with a caramelised mulberry smell and goes on from there: utterly rich, burned, fruity, with under- tones of vanilla from the Spanish oak. Normally, I don't much care for this particular taste, but this is a wonderful example. The former political correspon- dent and his wife thought it gorgeous, and so, I must admit, it is.
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