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June Wine Club

Simon Hoggart

Wednesday, 11th June 2008

A visit to the London International Wine Fair is, paradoxically, a sobering experience.

A visit to the London International Wine Fair is, paradoxically, a sobering experience. With about 30,000 different wines on show, it is impossible to sample more than a minuscule number — the worst anyone can be accused of is binge-sipping. The stallholders want you to try all their wines, even if there are a dozen of them. My technique: ‘I’m in a great hurry. Let me try your best wine’, was usually met by ‘All ours are excellent. Now, I will start at the beginning...’

I acquired a list of all the best-selling — by value — alcoholic drinks in the UK. You may be surprised to learn that the top booze brand of all is Stella Artois, on which we spend an average £10 million a week. The leading wine brand is Hardy’s — £254 million a year, with the Americans, Gallo and Blossom Hill, close behind. There are around two dozen wine brands in the top 100, and I’m proud that I have never recommended any to you. Some do produce good wines — Lanson, Moët, Oyster Bay, Wolf Blass, etc. Pondering others, we will calm our queasy stomachs and turn away.

Which is why we try to choose from independent, picky wine merchants who have direct contact with the growers, many of whom produce wonderful wines in modest quantities. Several have been collected here in an offer made by Hedley Wright, an enterprising wine merchant based in Hertfordshire. For example, the Sauvignon Blanc from Touraine, the Domaine des Chezelles 2007 (1), is a fine example of what is coming from the less fashionable areas of France. It is crisp, dry, yet with an irresistibly fruity flavour. Tasting blind, you would put it as a rather agreeable Sancerre — without the Sancerre price tag. At an informal tasting on a sunny summer evening, it disappeared down grateful gullets in no time. Reduced by a pound from £7.49 to £6.49.

The next wine is more of an experiment. It is made in South Africa by the Rustenberg people from a little-known grape, the Grenache Blanc, but it’s lovely — and exclusive to The Spectator. The 2007 (2) is slightly musky, herby, spicy but with a citrus tang, which makes it perfect for summer parties. If you fear it might be a little exotic, try it in the sample case — you may very well want to order more. Reduced from £7.99 to £6.99.

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