SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
Anice cheap offer, averaging £4.62 a bottle on the mixed case. Whatever people say, many things have improved in this coun- try over the last ten years, most noticeably the standards of food and wine. Every retail- er has good wines at these prices. The Wine Club's only function is to spare punters the trouble of trying a lot of bad wine by identi- fying the good ones, and to deliver them at a price which is usually slightly less than the shop price. Heyman Barwell Jones have made great efforts to reduce prices for this offer, and deserve a pat on the back.
The Astonvale Colombard from Zand- vliet(1) makes a welcome change from the endless chardonnays and sauvignons which now rule the market in white wine. In fact the colombard has been gaining ground in California and south-west France, as well as in South Africa. Astonvale have pro- duced a sprightly wine, slight touch of pear- drops, bit of zip, but a bright experience to lift the heart at £3.94. It is very hard indeed to find decent white wine as cheap as this.
The Nekeas chardonnay from Navarra(2) comes with a show-off label which does not mention the presence of the viura (aka macabeo) grape in the mix, but I bet it is there. A large panel divided rather angrily over the merits of this wine, some finding it over-acidic, but I gave it 7 out of 10, finding it full, fruity, satisfying and reasonably proper; at the end its score was high enough. It is full enough to be quite a bar- gain at £4.28. Those who have difficulty should drink it very cold.
Everybody liked the Château Tour de Mirambeau(3), finding elegance, style, dig- nity, even distinction in the 1995. When the home teams were shown the 1996 substi- tute shortly afterwards, they found it just as good. The price of £5.48 has come down from £5.80, but I couldn't get it any lower.
Back to Nekeas and his unpleasing, ego- tistical signature on the label for our first red, a tempranillo/merlot. Its good, fruity smell settles into a decent, ordinary wine with a short, clear finish. It is very Spanish but has little weight or pretension, and could be drunk in large quantities at £4.28 with little pain afterwards.
Laboure Roi is a reliable and esteemed I just hope I've given my flu to someone in the opposition.'
Your best interests at heart
Auberon Waugh
negotiant in Nuits-Saint Georges, so it seems quite proper to follow him down to the Aude in our endless search for wine which tastes like burgundy without the murderous burgundy price-tag. His 1994 pinot noir(5) has the right smell and the right taste and proves a highly agreeable light wine — ideal for those women who find burgundy overpowering. If only he can get a little more concentration of taste out of these (presumably) young vines he will have a serious challenge to his own wines from Volnay, Vougeot, etc. But this lighter version should definitely be given a whirl at £4.53 — an unthinkable price for a pinot from the Cote d'Or. Although a bit short, it has a good taste to remind us. . . . The Chilean cabernet from William Fevre(6) is the only one about which I have slight doubts. I raved about it at first lovely rich cabernet smell, slightly sweet on the nose (I like that aspect of third world and colonial cabernets), very good concen- tration — and most of the panel agreed, and when the 1996 arrived in substitution, I passed it without hesitation. But my wife and a friend of hers (whose judgment I nor- mally respect) found it horrible. Two other resident panellists thought it fine. I suppose the answer is that it is a bit of a caricature of the colonial style. If you like colonial caber- net, you will like it. Otherwise, not. But £5.22 is not a price to mess around with. I hope the Chileans are not getting uppity. The sample case, as I say, works out at £4.62 the bottle. It should provide some- thing of a roller-coaster at the price.
Previous page
