Simon Hoggart

Simon Hoggart presents the Spectator Wine Club's offer of the month for July 2009...  

I learned a fascinating fact the other day. What would you imagine were the two best-selling wines in Australia? Jacob’s Creek? Nottage Hill? One of those brands from corporate Oz behemoths? Not at all. The two most popular wines in Australia are from New Zealand: Oyster Bay and Wither Hills. They are both excellent — Sauvignon Blanc for the most part — though to my palate Wither Hills is nicer and fuller.

But it goes to show that we are all very willing to buy wine from our closest neighbours, which is why four of the six wines in this offer come from France. Mind you, my comparison is clearly ludicrous: you don’t see Australians taking the car ferry over to New Zealand to stock up on wine.

The newly fashionable grape is Grüner Veltliner from Austria. I feel sorry for the Austrians. Just as we were getting over Hitler, along came the antifreeze scandal of 1985. The chemical a few growers put in their wine was meant to make it sweeter for German tastes, though it could have killed the market stone dead, literally. One particularly stupid grower tried to reclaim VAT on the antifreeze, and so the scandal was exposed. Then along comes Sacha Baron Cohen with the film Bruno. And there was that bloke with the family in the cellar.

Yet their wine is absolutely lovely. You can pay a fortune for Grüner Veltliner, and some of it is superb. This 2008 from the Domaine Wachau (1) is not one of the very finest, but then it couldn’t be at the price. It’s from an adventurous co-op based in 300-year-old cellars, and for a reduced price of £6.85 you get a real flavour of the heady spiciness this grape will bring to your party. This is different and delicious. Try it in the sample case if you don’t believe me.

Here’s a gorgeous Loire wine which knocked my socks off. Chenin Blanc is a tricky grape, and is mastered in only a few areas, such as South Africa and Vouvray. But this Saumur Blanc Allegretto, from the Domaine de la Paleine 2008 (2) is a gorgeous, smooth, velvety drop, bone dry but with just a touch of honey. These wines are made with meticulous care, as you can tell when you taste them. Reduced to £6.20.

Next a lovely Mâcon-Chardonnay from Cave Talmard 2007 (3). This has real style and backbone, a Burgundy which is both smooth and crisp at the same time. It is a real summer wine, and would be perfect as an aperitif or with a picnic. I promise you that the price of £9.25 (nearly £8 off a case) is terrific value.

Now the reds. A reduced £6.70 will buy you a bottle of Salice Salentino 2007 (4), made in the baking sun that shines on the heel of Italy. This too is from a co-op, San Marzano, and it’s made from one of the strange local grapes which compose so much Italian wine. But golly it’s good. It is smoky, fruity, soft and generous. This too is a great hot-weather wine: perfect with a barbecue for many happy friends.

The Arnaud family took over Chateau Courac Laudun in 1995, and have worked incredibly hard to produce their fine, dark, spicy peppery Côtes du Rhônes-Villages  (5) with amazing success. Great Rhône wines have a certain lift to them; you glug the dark, full, fruit-rich, peppery, almost liquorice flavours, then the extra fragrance kicks in. This is terrific, and it’s reduced to £8.75.

Finally, a tremendous claret. The term Bordeaux Supérieur doesn’t mean very much except that it’s slightly stronger than most others. But this Ch. d’Argadens 2004 (6) really is superior. It’s made by the Sichel family, one of the most famous in the region, and they’ve done a terrific job. The wine has none of the tannic harshness or the weediness of some clarets, but it’s got a kind of leafy, ferny undertow which I like very much. Tanners’ Robert Boutflower has reduced this to £8.95. If this is your kind of thing, you will like this very much. Deliver, as ever, is free and there is also a sample case.