T his is an excellent time to buy good wine in
quantity. Merchants are clearing out their cellars to make room for the new stock, so they're selling off — not bin ends, exactly, which in some offlicences tend to be half-bottles of Mexican cactus wine or some such — but absolutely delicious alcoholic grape-based beverages sold at discount prices bemuse the space is needed. As a consequence, Amanda Skinner at John Armit's has offered us savings of up to £2.65 a bottle, and the terrific mixed case comes in at a generous £14.50 under list price. Half the wines are from the New World, half from the old, and they are all remarkable in their different ways.
The Duckbill Growers Blend 2001(1) is one of Armit's own range of Australian wines. It's a very cunning mixture of different grapes, not at all heavy, full of fruit from Semillon, grass from Sauvignon Blanc, and the heady whiff of Riesling. It's certainly dry enough to go with food, but it's also rich enough to drink on its own, or just because you want to get pissed in style. The £6.50 price is a £1 discount.
The Irvine Eden Crest Chardonnay 2002(2) is a tremendous discovery from South Australia. I loved this wine, and will be buying plenty — especially at £7.16 a bottle, or £1.34 off the list price. It's an unoaked Chardonnay, which is fashionable these days, though I've always been a little suspicious in the past. Nobody wants wine that tastes as if it was made from those wooden grapes sold in Italian craft shops. But oak can add real depth to what might otherwise be rather a dull, flat drink. Not a problem here. It's packed with flavour, a lovely exotic fruity perfume — peaches, hazelnuts, all that stuff. I really hope you will try this.
Mulderbosch is a Stellenbosch winery which has reached cult rank among wellinformed booze hounds, not least because the Wine Spectator keeps including its wines in its Top 100 world list. Its Faithful Hound is one of the world's great reds, and the Sauvignon Blanc 2002(s) is as splendid. I quote the magazine: 'precise and pure, it crackles with gooseberry, grapefruit and lemon zest flavours, with a vibrant mineral note racing along underneath. The long finish is filigreed and powerful.' This may make it sound like the London marathon, but I really couldn't put it better myself. A quid off brings the price down to a very generous £9.
Spectator readers love their claret, and though I sometimes wonder why the vignerons of Bordeaux still think they can sell mediocre wine at high prices, I'm always on the lookout for exceptions to that rule. The Chateau Grand Village 1997(a) is one. It's terrific. Made by the man who makes Chateau Lafleur, it has the softness of Merlot and the finesse of Cabernet Franc. It is smooth and creamy, even chocolatey. And at £6.50 a bottle — a £2 saving — it is quite fantastic value.
Next is the Chateau Calisanne Clos Victoire 1999(5), another example of the
quite remarkable wines coming out of Provence these days. Like many others from that perfumed landscape, it is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, and it is quite, quite delicious. It has great elegance to go with its dark, rich depth of many flavours. A silky and velvety wine which should be decanted well before you drink it, it will age extremely well, yet is delicious now. Reduced by — wait for it — £2.65 a bottle to under £11.
Another cult wine is Pesquera Crianza 2001(6), which is now famous all over the world. It's all Temperanillo, it's perfumed and heady and altogether wonderful. It was a big hit with Spectator readers when we last offered it, and I know those who chose it then will want some more. It's reduced by £2 to only £11.25 a bottle.
All wines can be bought by the case, or there is a sample case offering two of each. Delivery is free, and there's a further 5 per cent discount if you buy five cases or more.
Previous page
