SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Christmas indulgence
Auberon Waugh
OUR FIRST Christmas offer, from Corney & Barrow, is by no means the cheapest of the year, working out at £7.10 the bottle on the mixed case or £6.60 on the Brett-Smith Indulgence if you order a total of two or more cases in the London area, three or more cases outside it. But they are all high- class French wines taken from a huge num- ber on offer for their particular delicious- ness. Already subject to enormous reduc- tions from the list price before they qualify for Brett-Smith's mad whim, they are, with- out exception, excellent bargains. Even those victims of society suffering from gen- uine penury have a wonderful southern syrah(4) at £3.80 the bottle when reduced. I think it is a very good offer indeed. First an old favourite. The Combe de Gri- nou(1) remains the perfection of a white Bergerac. People have found they can drink it as an aperitif with friends or alone, at any hour of the day or night. So great has the demand been that we have even been able to reduce the price by 10p since its last appear- ance in August. Listed at £5.46, the new ask- ing price is £5.10, reducing to £4.60 on the Brett-Smith Indulgence. Last time round, the price was £5.20, reducing to £4.70. .Next, a white Bordeaux(2) from our old friend the Château de Sours, in St Quentin de Baron. Many will remember its spectacu- lar rosé and those with big cellars may still have a few bottles of its 1990 rouge. For those who like the stuff, I can only say that this 1996 has all the characteristics of a great white Bordeaux. Crisp and perfumed, with salty, even slightly fishy undertones, it has a noble smell and an amazingly full taste, which one person identified as peaches and white candlewax. Down from £7.74 to £6.70 for Spectator readers, or £6.20 on the Special Indulgence. For those who take white Bor- deaux seriously, this is a golden opportunity. Sancerre is never cheap, which may be Why I seldom offer it. The Parisians gobble . up and pay high prices for indifferent I': me. Starting at £9.99 and coming down to '8.95 (i8.45 discounted), this is still an expensive wine. Nor does it come from a Particularly famous year in the Loire, but I found this Sancerre du Nozay 1997(3) from y. de Benoist utterly delicious. It is the per- fect Sancerre and must, on that account, be Judged cheap at the price. ,Now for the reds. I tasted this month's cueaPie, Domaine de la Jonction 1997(4) from the Pays d'Oc (£4.30 reducing to £3.80 delivered on the Brett-Smith Indulgence), _after the grander and more expensive ,ines, and I can only say that it stood up to them like a pekingese at bay before a herd cs4 stags. It has a beautiful dark colour and a ,strong, slightly animal smell of syrah, a truly "Ole wine at this or any other price. Next the wine which excited me most of all It is extremely rare to find a bottle of red burgundy at anything approaching the price of this Coulanges-la-Vineuse 1995 (£7.10 reduced from £7.70 and reducing still further to an unbelievable £6.60 on the Brett-Smith Indulgence). To find a really decent red burgundy at this price can only be described as a miracle: instantly recog- nisable pure pinot noir smell and the warm, comforting assurance which only good bur- gundy can provide. Not an old-style bur- gundy with touches of syrah and port, it is all purity and fragrance from the very north of the area, on a line with Chablis. A gen- uine miracle at the price; only small stocks remain but the 1996 is equally promising and is offered at the same price.
Finally, a grand old Fronsac château, recently rejuvenated by J-P Moueix. The 1995 Château de la Dauphine is less aus- tere than its 1996, and obviously profited from the ripe, fat, sweet, juicy grapes at picking time. There are those who see these merlot-cabernet franc wines from Fronsac and Canon Fronsac as the most underval- ued wines in Bordeaux, and certainly, when compared with their neighbours in Pomerol and St Emilion, I would agree. This wine is certainly the equivalent of a classed growth and can easily be drunk now, but I was quite pleased to see its price come down from £11.75 to £10.45, or £9.95 on the Indulgence.
The mixed case, as I have said, works out at £7.10 the bottle (£6.60 reduced) and some may find this rather stiff, especially if there is a wine which does not interest them. Perhaps this is the time to go for straight cases.
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