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Spectator Wine Club
Auberon Waugh
Acursory glance at this month's list might suggest that young Price-Beech (for it is he) has not been trying very hard. We are back to the central core of his Special interest area — two red Chiantis and two red varietals from the Veneto both of Which have been introduced before.
In fact, he has been trying very hard indeed, deluging me at home with extra- ordinary beverages which have caught his fancy as he walketh about like a roaring 1,101I, seeking what he may devour — includ- ing some peculiarly disgusting muscats from Samos which made me worry for his health. He even dragged me off to Venice in the spring to taste more of the stalky Purple fizz which is his chief delight. Incidentally, I have received one or two Worried letters from people who paid for the 1982 clarets, wondering if he had Perhaps scarpered. I was quite interested thyself, having ordered some cases of the 1982 Pichon Longueville Baron. He assures me that all is proceeding according to plan, and the wine should start arriving in the early spring of next year, three months after bottling. His progress report concerning the development of the Baron is that with the weight and fruit of the '82s they Will be ready to drink in five to six years' time but in their prime in ten to 12 years. My reason for this selection is three-fold. th the first place I was gratified by how Popular these Italian reds had proved on their last appearance — punters wrote in from such unlikely places as Newcastle- nPon-Tyne to award him gold medals, and I do not think he can have orchestrated them, since in several cases I was already in correspondence with the people con- cerned. In the second place they are all Cheap, and I want members to have plenty of money left for my final offer of the year, Which is coming in two weeks' time and Winch will be my annual treat and rave-up of old fully mature, London-bottled Bur- gundies, all from the cellars of Berry Bros, fOF Christmas drinking. In the third place, they are not only cheap but also good value for money. They are all solid wines and include in the last item — the Castel!' in Villa 1978 Riserva — one of the few really serious Italian offerings I have yet disco- vered.
The Chianti dell Ugo (1) won universal praise for its clean colour, clean nose and beautiful clean taste. At £2.50 the bottle delivered, one could drink two or three bottles of it at a sitting. I have often noticed that good Chianti is one of the few wines one can go on drinking after a meal, often far into the night, without its turning sour, or thin, or developing new and unpleasant tastes. This bottle should pro- vide champion slurping. Dal Moro's Cabernet di Pramaggiore (2) is a thicker, more complex wine. I judged it superior to the 1982, which has aged alarmingly and is now blander than it has any business to be. Both the Cabernet and the Merlot (3) have their spiky, prickly moments, but neither suffers from that disgusting taste of tin — or possibly zinc — which afflicts expensive young French wines these days. Neither has a particular memorable nose — the Merlot has the better smell, as well as being slightly blander in the mouth, but the Cabernet makes up for this with the more resolute attack. They are both thoroughly good, concentrated, rich wines. I am fed up with 1983 clarets and Burgundies which smell like the Garden of Eden and taste as if one has just dissolved one's wife in them. These two are slightly under £3 delivered, and to judge by their popularity last time round they are just what Spectator readers of both sexes really enjoy.
Next, the serious wine. This property is owned and run by Princess Coralia Pig- natelli della Leonessa and she makes a thoroughly good job of it. The wine starts with a good, expensive smell, much smoother and richer on the nose than anything I have experienced elsewhere among the classic Chiantis. It is almost like a fruitcake, and the smell follows through to a proper mouthful. There is a little tannin here still, but it is inoffensive, and the wine is plainly going to last a long time. But at £4.33 the bottle it is already a serious wine to be taken seriously and given to proper people at serious dinners or luncheons. I have noticed a certain reluctance among buyers of Italian wine to go above the £4 mark — the same is true of those who prefer Spanish wine, too. But I do not think that anyone will regret it if he breaks the rule on this occasion. None of my Burgundies will be so cheap in a fortnight's time.
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