Wine of the Week
AM partial to a glass of fizz before a meal and I only wish that i could afford if more often. Nor need the fizz be champagne. At a luncheon party last Sunday the aperitif was a sparkling Saumur, dispensed by the host—a wine-Shipper who had shipped the wine himself, and clearly knew what he was about. This particular Saumur was a 1955 Laurent Vivier, which think Jackson's of Piccadilly stock, or can get, at about £1 a bottle. Rather fuller and fruitier than champagne, and a little deeper in colour than some, these wines are made by the true merhode chompenoise, which is an expensive process, and attract the same rate of duty as champagne. So the saving per bottle retail isn't much more than a couple of shillings or so. But for the very same reason the Saumur wine- growers won't make a sparkling wine unless it is going to be good, and I'd rather have a good Saumur than a poor champagne that has been sold on its name rather than its quality.
CYRIL RAY -
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