T here are many ways of buying cheap wine, though fewer
means of buying good cheap wine. Supermarkets often have bargains. Recently, however, I went to a tasting by a very downmarket chain — they had Châteauneuf du Pape for £6.99 and a Chablis for £5.99. These tasted of nothing, and I was amazed at lax appellation laws which allowed them through.
You can go over to France, and that works fine if you want quantity rather than quality. In a highly competitive market, the better French wines tend to be sold abroad or else by specialist merchants; the hypermarchés frequently sell stuff you would not strip paint with. Or you can go for one of those apparently amazing ‘£40 off per case — our special introductory offer! Wine worth £89 delivered to your door for only £49!’ ads in the colour supplements. You wonder how they do it. Well, wine is priced at whatever level the people who sell it choose. As a journalist, I could do the same. ‘This article, valued at £150, yours for only £110!’ Meaningless. Those wines are OK, and are probably ‘worth’ something between the list price and the superduper special offer. But they are churned out in huge quantities to fill a voracious and not very discriminating market. You can do better.
Such as buying from Private Cellar, a newish company founded by people who used to work for Corney & Barrow. We have run three mini-bars with them, and the steady increase in sales must reflect readers’ satisfaction. The wines are carefully selected from growers who make only as much as they can while still maintaining standards. It is the crucial difference between the massproduced and the hand-made.
Take the Monastière Blanc 2005 (1) from Bergerac. It’s a gorgeous wine at a very modest price — silky, lemony, even waxy, and packed with the nuances of flavour you’d expect to find in something much more expensive. Only £5.97.
Many of the best new French wines are apparently modest vins de pays. This La Rafelières Sauvignon Blanc 2006 (2) is from the Loire. It has more guts and power than some nearby Sancerres I have tasted, and at roughly two thirds the price. Very heartily recommended at a mere £6.60.
A first-rate generic white 2005 Burgundy, from J.J. Vincent (3), is also excellent value at £8.95. This has all the good Burgundy notes you require — vanilla, peaches and nuts — which means it is fine enough to offer at a dinner party, yet cheap enough for everyday drinking.
Now the reds. La Monastière Rouge 2006 (4) is the companion to the white, at the same price. It’s warm, velvety, fruity and soft, being Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, so it’s like a good St Emilion at a fraction of the price. Decant it, and your friends will think they are getting something even more special.
Laura at Private Cellar has knocked a tenner a case off this next terrific bargain. The Sasso Arso is a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo from Villa Bizzarri 2003 (5) — crazy name, crazy price — and it’s a beauty. Burnt cherries, spice, even tar — which tastes better than it sounds. Open it at least an hour before you drink it and the rich, heady flavours will emerge like Venus from the waves. For the discounted price of £5.93 — fabulous.
Finally, there is an £11 per case saving on the excellent Château Carignan 2003 (6). I do bang on about the quantity of substandard claret knocking around so it’s a particular treat to find something as good as this for less than a tenner. Again, open in advance, decant if you can, and you’ll love the rich, cedary, earthy smoothness.
Delivery, as ever, is free, and there is a further discount of £4 on each case if you order three or more. Or tick the box, and you can give the discount to Wine Relief, which has raised £2 million so far. And you won’t have to wear a red nose.
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