SPECTATOR MINI-BAROFFER
SIMON HOGGART
The French wine crisis grinds on. The great and expensive classics continue to sell well, but many in the middle are being swept aside by a tide of better, cheaper wines from all over the world. To some French people this is bewildering; drinking only French wines, and some times only wine from their own region, they know that every thing made outside the country is mere alcoholic grape juice. (I loved the story of the dinner given by MoutonRothschild at the huge Vinexpo show. As growers savoured the finest vintages, some worth hundreds of pounds a bottle, one Australian said cheerily, ‘This is great! Do you guys do this stuff bag-in-box?’) Anyhow, the growers who have prospered are those, often in southern France, who have raised their game superbly and can now compete with the finest from the New World in both quality and price. Our friends at Adnams in Southwold have offered these wines from the baking south, and have discounted the lot.
I loved the Cascaille Blanc 2003 from the Domaine Clavel, Coteaux du Languedoc(1). ‘Cascaille’ is the sound of vineyard stones knocking together. The grapes are grown on lovely, hidden slopes in the Hérault, and the wine is an exotic blend of Rolle, Roussanne and Grenache Blanc. It is fresh, limey, with notes of pineapple and marzipan. Very full and satisfying, and excellent value, reduced from £8.99 to £6.50. From the same maker comes the terrific Mescladis Rosé 2004(2). Rosé wines are growing hugely in popularity, because they are no longer the wan, flabby, pale pink fluids we used to get. This is bursting with ripe fruit — delicious as an aperitif, but you could easily glug it with red meats or keep it for summer salads. Down to £6 a bottle. Organic wines often taste better than the chemically treated alternatives, and this Mas de Gourgonnier 2002(3) (‘mas’ is an old Langue d’Oc word meaning farm) is an example. It has lovely ripe fruit flavours, plus those fragrant herbs that make the wines from this region so remarkable. Reduced from £7.99 to £7.50 a bottle. Finally I’m really pleased to offer again the fabulous Dme de Richeaume 2003(4). I introduced it at an Adnams wine lunch in Southwold not long ago, and the happy guests cleared the shop shelves that afternoon. A blend of Cabernet and Syrah, gamey, spicy, dark, cedary and leathery, this is a rich and velvety wine which always makes me sigh with pleasure. Reduced by nearly £16 a case to a tenner a bottle. Delivery is free.
Previous page
