SIMON HOGGART This is our positively final offer f
SIMON HOGGART This is our positively final offer for Christmas, and it's terrific. Thanks to Lay & Wheeler we have half a dozen French classics, all of which would be very welcome on the Yuletide dinner table, or at a memorable party. What's more, every one is generously discounted. They are not cheap wines, but they are tremendous value.
Take the magnificent 1966 Lay & Wheeler 150th Anniversary Cuvee Champagne (1). It's made by the people at Duval-Leroy, and at £27, its list price, it is a good buy. For £22 (a £60 discount per case) it's incredible. You can easily pay that for a non-vintage champagne from one of those companies that seem to spend more on advertising than on wine-making. This is a rich, complex champagne, offering all those wonderful biscuity, toasty, vanilla, and fresh peach flavours. It's a wine that seems to caress the tongue (sorry, getting carried away here). They say that the test of a great champagne is that it tastes just as good when it's gone flat; I had meant to try this out, but I couldn't because three of us just glugged the whole lot with silly smiles on our faces. Completely delicious.
The Pouilly-Fuisse Chevrieres 2005 from the Domaine de Lalande (2) is a gorgeous Burgundy, full and fat in flavour, slightly honeyed yet bone-dry, perfectly balanced and with a steely backbone. (Making it sound a bit like Daniel Craig. Apologies.) Again, this would be excellent value at the listed £17, but we're offering it for £14.75. Acquire it.
Also reduced by more than 12 per cent is our 2006 Sancerre from Hubert Brochard (3). He has called this Aujourd'hui Comme Autrefois, which I suppose could translate, in the words of Karen Carpenter, as Yesterday Once More. So it is a splendidly old-fashioned Sancerre, a point rubbed home by the ancient black-and-white photo of vineyard workers on the label. This is a very stylish and fragrant wine, but I should warn you that it is not at all similar to New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs, being subtle and understated. But left to breathe for a while, and served cold rather than iced, it is very delicious indeed.
Now the reds. The Lay & Wheeler St Estephe 2000 (4) is marvellous. It is made by the team working at Phelan Segur, a hugely improved CM bourgeois exceptionnel, and from the same grapes. It is ripe, earthy, cedary, almost fleshy, and with seven years of age, a satisfying maturity. It is a very superior claret indeed, and it's been reduced by a handsome 15 per cent to just £14.50.
There's an even bigger discount on the luscious Chorey-Les-Beaune 2004 (5), made by Natalie Tollot-Beaut. This comes down from £16 to £13.50. The commune is in walking distance of Beaune itself, and it produces delectable wines that for some reason have always been underrated. It's a puzzle about wine; buyers latch on to some names, and ignore others of a similar quality — think of scrumptious St Aubin among white Burgundies. It's good news for us, because it means we can buy the stuff for, say, two thirds of what it would cost if it had a better-known label. And with growers in New Zealand and Oregon often able to charge ludicrous prices for their Pinot Noirs, this is an even more impressive bargain.
Finally a smooth, spicy, velvety yet peppery Cotes du Rhone Villages from the village of Sablet. This is Ch. du Trignon 2004 (6) and it's just right for festive winter drinking. A lovely wine at any price; reduced from £10 to £8.25 it is just superb.
Delivery as always is free, and there are two sample cases, one containing all the wines, the other for party consumption.
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