SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

Hurry, while stocks last

Auberon Waugh

So, off we go. The white cheapie, a good astringent sauvignon(1) from the Pays d'Oc,

is wrapped in fruit which comes pouring out of it. It started life at £5.35 the bottle and came down to £4.80, or £4.30 on the Brett-Smith Indulgence. A good, fresh, high-class summer's drink, which works out cheaper than anything you can get at the price from Chile or the former colonies.

The Macon Solutre(2) came down from

ORDER FORM SPECTATOR WINE CLUB

c/o Corney & Barrow Limited 12 Helmet Row, London EC1V 3QJ Tel: (0171) 251 4051 Fax: (0171) 608 1373

Price No. Value White I. Sauvignon les Rives de !'Argent Double 1996 Vin de Pays

d'Oc (Lorton) 12 Bots f57.60

Macon Solutre 1996,

Le Moulin du Pont (Aurigue) 12 Bots f76.80 Ravi

Chateau de Sours Rosé 1996,

Bordeaux Rose 12 Bots f73.20 Red

Domaine de la fonction 1995

Synth Vin de Pays d'Oc 12 Bots £49.80

Domaine de Saissac 1995

Cabernet Sauvignon, Vin de Pays d'Oc 12 Bots f51.00

Chateau Barreyre 1993

Premieres Cotes de Bordeaux 12 Bots f81.60 Mixed

Sample case, two of each 12 Bots f65.00

TOTAL 'Less discount TOTAL (Cheque enclosed)

'Deduct £6 per case for orders of two cases or more in the London area, three cases or more outside London.

Please send wine to: Own name & address, if different: NAME ADDRESS POSTCODE NAME ADDRESS POSTCODE TELEPHONE EXPIRY DATE TELEPHONE ACCESS/VISA NO SIGNATURE Prices include VAT and delivery on the British mainland. Payment should be made by cheque, payable to the Spectator Wine Club, or by Access/Visa, details of which may be telephoned or faxed. This offer, which is subject to availability, closes on 30 July 1997.

an asking price of £7.11, which I now see as extremely reasonable but rather frightened me at the time. It is an excellent, full- weight white burgundy with a lovely smell and considerable subtlety in the taste. Unquestionably one of the stars of the offer, it is superb value at £6.40 the bottle; at £5.90 discounted it is nearly a gift. It took me a little while to realise it was better than any of the other white burgundies in my cellar.

The late Sir John Junor used to say that only pooftahs drank rosé, but now he has gone we can all relax a little. The 1990 Château de Sours Rose(3) is the best ever, better even than the 1991 which I recklessly hailed as the best rosé in the world. Need- less to say, the price shot up, but for Specta- tor readers the asking price of £6.10 is already reduced from the list price of £6.98 and when discounted to £5.60 on the Indul- gence should be within most people's range. The smell gives a hint of cream with the strawberries, redolent of a hot sum- mer's day. With the ingenious cooling wrappers now available, this wine will transform any picnic.

Now for the reds. The Domaine de la Jonction Syrah(4) has its passionate sup- porters. At its price of £4.15 the bottle (f3.65 discounted) it is an extraordinarily dense and concentrated wine (rich and chewy is how the addicts describe it) with a deep, dark colour, much thicker than the Saissac(5) but also less subtle. Pure fruit, no oak — Brett-Smith offers the opinion that it has been well-picked and carefully han- dled; all the rest of the panel waxed lyrical about it too. For my own part, I am slightly nervous of young syrah, but for those who like a really heavy, drowsy red wine with their summer's lunch it is just the thing.

The 1995 Domaine de Saissac follows the miraculous 1994, one of the great discover- ies of last year. Like the 1994, it has an excellent cabernet smell and taste, well oaked, without all its weight but fresher and livelier. Surprisingly different, in fact, this lighter, fruitier wine also averaged 8 out of 10 in the scoring. At £4.25 the bottle pas discounted) it was my favourite, but I do not wish to snub those who preferred the Jonction Syrah.

Everybody loved the Château Barreyre 1993(6). For a 1993, it is loaded with rich and complicated Bordeaux flavours, a gen- erously styled wine full of human qualities, but I don't want to praise it too much because of the limited quantities available. The reduction from a list price of £7.52 to £6.80 (£6.30 discounted) strikes me as almost foolishly generous, in the circum- stances, but I did not judge it my responsi- bility to point this out. The average price on the sample case works out at £5.42 the bottle (all French), or £4.92 discounted, which makes it a memorable offer.