SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
SIMON HOGGART
Yapp Brothers is one of the country’s more distinguished wine merchants. It has a short but choice list, almost all coming from the Loire or southern France. Robin Yapp, who is now retired, used to select all the wines by touring vineyards, some in appellations so small that few outside France, or even in France, had heard of them. Deals to buy the produce of a tiny property would be secured over a loaf of bread, a hunk of cheese and a bottle. The results were as far away from mass-produced supermarket plonk as it is possible to imagine.
Now Robin’s son Jason and stepson Tom Ashworth are maintaining the family tradition, and with their help I have put together what I think is a terrific selection of gorgeous, rich and sophisticated French wines for summer drinking. I should say summer sipping, because these wines are for slow savouring in bee-loud glades and gardens, rather than get-it-down-yer glugging. None is particularly cheap but, with Jason’s discounts, all are excellent value.
The Vouvray 20051 from Daniel Jarry is, unlike many wines from this neck of the woods (the Touraine area of the Loire), bone dry and absolutely ideal with food. The South Africans make some excellent wines from the Chenin Blanc grape, but Vouvray is still the touchstone. Rabelais said that Vouvray tasted ‘like taffeta’, which sounds nice, if perhaps meaningless. A rich, fat wine with a fine flinty undertone, and only £7.50.
Menetou Salon is one of my favourite Loire regions. It is the smaller neighbour of the far better known, and pricier, Sancerre. I came to love it while staying in a placid country hotel near Bourges, and was happy to drink it every night. It’s made from the same Sauvignon Blanc as Sancerre, but is ever so slightly rounder and fuller. More luxurious, really. I hugely enjoyed this from Dme Jean Teiller 20052 — they make only about 4,000 cases a year, mostly sold at the property — and I think you will too. Reduced to £9.50.
Some of the greatest new treasures in French wine are to be found in the south, such as this Mas de la Rouvière 20043 (mas is just Languedoc dialect for ‘farm’) from near the tiny seaside town of Bandol, in the Var. The vineyard is on a steep slope, set around olives, apricots and almonds. The wine is 80 per cent Clairette, beefed up with a little Ugni Blanc. Clairette is a difficult grape and needs to be grown in small quantities and with care. This has been; it is heady and perfumed and deeply satisfying. A very classy wine indeed. Reduced to £9.95.
Rosé wines are rehabilitated now. They no longer taste mostly like sherbet dabs, and are perfect for this weather. The Domaine de Millet 20054 costs only £5.50 a bottle and has the full, plump, fruity juiciness that we expect from pink wines these days. I can’t imagine anything nicer at a garden party or a languid picnic.
Choosing the red wines for this offer was tremendously difficult, and all I can suggest is that if you like these (which you will) you could try others on Yapp’s list. I drink a lot of Pic St-Loup at the House of Commons because it is delicious — not too heavy, yet packed with fruit and with just a hint of scented herbs. This l’Arbouse from the Mas Bruguière 20045 is half Syrah and half Grenache. An ‘arbouse’ is a strawberry tree, and when you drink this you will see why. Reduced to £7.50.
Finally the red Saumur from Château Fouquet 20056 is a magnificent example of what can be done with the Cabernet Franc grape, better known as a minor option in red Bordeaux. This is wonderfully rounded and complex and altogether delicious. I know it’s been hot but this with, say, spring lamb, fresh broad beans and Jersey Royals would be a thunderously fine feast. Only £7.95. Delivery, as ever, is free, and there is a sample case containing two of each bottle. _p
Previous page
