SPECTATOR WINE CLUB
A toast to General Pinochet
Auberon Waugh
EL VINO produced such excellent red wines this time, and so generously reduced in price, that on this occasion I decided to overlook their famous own-label red Velvin from the Rhone at £3.85, despite its prince- ly reduction from £3.95, and go for slightly more expensive stuff. But nobody who has tasted the magnificent Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile(4) at £5.70 can possibly say I am wrong.
First, the two whites. 'Steen', as many will be aware, is Afrikaans, or at any rate South African, for Chenin Blanc, or so they say. At any rate it makes an excellent dry white, better than any of the dry Vouvrays or Layons produced on the Loire. This exam- ple(1) has a surprisingly strong smell and clean, fresh, crisp taste which makes it a bargain at £4.85, weighing in at only 11.5 per cent alcohol.
This month's New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc(2) is more expensive at £6.85 and has a ridiculous label. Goodness knows why they decided in Nelson, South Island, to call it Dancing Sun, but this is the price one has to pay for good New Zealand Sauvi- gnon nowadays and, having tasted many of them, I can confidently say this is one of the best. A strong (12.5 per cent) gutsy wine with no cats' pee, plenty of gooseberry leaves (as they say), and it is a good buy if you can overlook the label.
Now for the reds. The price of Cotes du Rhone has started to rise alarmingly, but the Dornaine des Romarins has produced a first-class wine at the much reduced price of £4.50. So far I have not been much impressed by the 1997s, but this one has a lovely peppery smell and a good, full, rich, fruity taste from which plums are not entirely absent.
Next the star of the offer. I am some- times accused of a partiality for the wines of Chile. I have never been there and don't want to go. I am deeply ashamed, like all decent Englishmen, of the way Mr Straw has treated the 86-year-old General Pinochet, our former ally in that part of the world. But this has nothing to do with the Wine. The Las Casas del Toqui Cabernet Sauvignon(4) is a completely magnificent Wine, which had the whole panel swooning with delight. A beautiful three-star Caber- net smell leads up to one of the grandest, richest tastes it would be possible to imag- ine. It is well-rounded with a good, firm grip at the end, utterly delicious and given away at £5.70. El Vino said they had 250 cases and were trying to get some more, but it would be wise to order quickly. From anywhere in France, this quality of wine would cost £18–£20 the bottle.
Next, two sound bourgeois 1995 clarets, at £6.50 for the Chateau les Bertrands from the leres Cotes de Blaye(5) and £7.90 for the Chateau Coquinas from Pessac-Leog- nan, Graves, may seem a bit of an anticli- max. They are both decent wines and well- priced by the standards of Bordeaux. Both weigh in at 12.5 per cent whereas the mag- nificent Chilean is 13.5 per cent, I am sorry to say. The Bertrands, which is exclusive to El Vino, has recently won various gold medals and is about to soar in price. Mem- bers of the panel found its dusty, ripe fruit made them feel nostalgic, not to say maudlin, about clarets they had drunk in the past. The Coquillas(6) again had a good Cabernet smell and ripe-fruit taste — it is the junior wine of the famed Chateau de France, made from younger vines — and would stand out in any comparative tasting of 1995 bourgeois clarets, but I am a bit bored by the price and will probably not be buying any myself. The Bertrands makes the same statement rather more cheaply.
The sample case works out at £6.05 the bottle. I wish I could have kept it under £6, and would have done but for the Coquillas, which people should try.
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