SPECTATOR MINI-BAR OFFER T he Spectator wine club laughs in the
face of recession. Not only do we intend go on drinking through the dark times, we insist on continuing to drink well. Thanks this week to Wheeler Cellars, off shoot of the celebrated mer chants Lay & Wheeler, we can offer four superb wines at exceed ingly low prices. Indeed, if you bought a case of each wine you would save comfortably over £100. The first white is from Stephen Henschke, by a wide margin Australia’s leading independent winemaker. Stephen’s most famous wine, a Shiraz called Hill Of Grace, sells for between £150 and £250 a bottle. His Tilly’s Vineyard 2005 (1), from Barossa, costs quite a bit less and stunning value at £8.99 a bottle, a £2 reduction. It’s a lovely, fresh, vibrant wine, mostly Semillon but with a touch of Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay to add depth and complexity. A fine wine at a glugging price.
Regular readers know my impatience with Chablis, and the way the appellation is allowed to appear on the label of many boring, mediocre wines. The other day I tried one from the posh rack in a well-known supermarket chain. Try as I might, I could discern no flavour at all, quite unlike the one we are offering. It’s a 2006 from the Domaine de Vauroux (2), and it has real, rich Burgundy savour to go with the familiar flinty dryness. Reduced by 11 per cent to just £9.29, and heartily recommended.
Now the reds, and here we are able to offer even greater savings. I really liked the 2004 Cockfighters Ghost Cabernet Sauvignon (3) from Coonawarra, which many peo ple rate as Australia’s greatest red wine area. This is smooth and full, with a flavour of damsons, cherries and cedars. We detected an extra aroma which a friend called turpentine — sounds horrible, but is quite the opposite. The tiny hint of volatility heightens all the other components of the flavour. Give it an hour to breathe and you will have a simply marvellous wine. Reduced by 17 per cent, or £2.50, to just £11.99 a bottle.
Finally a superb old 2001 Rioja Reserva from the Bodegas Murua (4). I am sometimes dubious about Riojas, which can be bland and dull. This, by contrast, has been aged long enough to make it rich, deep and velvety, a smashing wine for the coming winter. The 21 per cent discount equals a saving of £36 a case, which I think is terrific value.
Delivery as ever is free, and there is a sample case containing three bottles of each wine. o
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