Simon Hoggart

I wouldn’t say these wines, from the excellent Private Cellar people in Cambridgeshire, are expensive. They may not be cheap, but they are very good value.

I wouldn’t say these wines, from the excellent Private Cellar people in Cambridgeshire, are expensive. They may not be cheap, but they are very good value. The strange thing is that as the economic crisis worsens, people are, paradoxically, spending more on wine. Maybe they need cheering up. Or perhaps they are forgoing restaurant trips and eating at home, with a decent bottle to lift the meal and give a sense of celebration. In any event, we have had some spectacularly well-subscribed offers recently, and the biggest sellers have been the pricier wines. Provided, as I say, that they give value for money.

And these do. Take the delectable white Bordeaux from Château Lamothe Vincent 2009 (1), which is reduced by nearly £7 a case to £8.27 a bottle. At last, after years of being lumped in with boring old Entre-deux-Mers, white Bordeaux is getting the appreciation it deserves. Maybe people are jaded with straight Sauvignon Blanc, and want the extra zing and perfume added by the Sémillon. Either way, it has a lovely, heady flavour, and brings a hint of spring. Imagine the grassiness of Sauvignon and an aroma of wild flowers.

The JJ Vincent White Burgundy 2010 (2) was a hit with Spectator readers when we last offered it, so we’re offering it again. Naturally, Amanda and Laura at Private Cellar have knocked off £15.60 a case to bring it down to a remarkable £11.65 a bottle. If you like a good generic Burgundy at about half the price of the more famous names, you will want to stock up on this wine from the family behind the top Burgundy producer Château de Fuissé.

Château de Sours is the wine that may have kick-started the current craze for rosé. No wonder. The 2010 (3) has, as usual, all the crisp, refreshing quality of any good pink wine, plus a real depth of flavour which comes from the fact that it’s made from the same grapes as claret. Rosé used to be drunk almost entirely outdoors, in summer, but it’s now popular all year round. I may have mentioned the freezing day when, in a posh London restaurant, I saw a couple gaze into each other’s eyes over a bottle of pink de Sours while the snow fell outside.

With the new vintage on the horizon, it’s reduced by a very generous £21.60 a case to just £8.95. And you can buy a case of six magnums (4) for just £19 per 150cl bottle, another substantial saving.

Now the reds. The first is a claret. I have banged on at length about some of the horrors offered under that name. Some growers seem to imagine that because the very greatest names sell for huge, unimaginable prices in the Far East, they can charge smaller but still ludicrous prices for wine that is frankly dull and dusty. Which is why I am always delighted when a Bordeaux comes my way that is fresh, packed with fruit and with a touch of richness that makes it stand out from the pack. This Château Bernadotte 2002 from just over the border with Pauillac (5) has all the maturity you’d expect in a wine that has aged for nearly ten years, and it is just lovely. Reduced by £8.40 a case to £14.25 and worth every penny.

The only non-French wine here is a marvellous 2009 Kiwi Pinot Noir from the brilliant Bishops Head winery in Waipara (6). It’s a sort of royal robe of a wine, deep crimson, soft, velvety, liquid gold. Incredibly smooth and satisfying, the kind of wine you want to sip slowly to make it last. The French will really have to watch out with Burgundy equivalents of this quality arriving on the market. Reduced by £9.60 a case to £15.95.

Finally, you will, I think, adore the Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005 from the Vignoble de la Serrière. C-du-P is a very old appellation, and in my view one that is too loosely policed. You sometimes see it, complete with the papal cross-keys embossed on the bottle, sold for less than a tenner in supermarkets. It’s usually rubbish. Whereas this, reduced by £13.56 a case to £18.99 a bottle has the complexity and perfume and sheer grace you expect in a first-rate Châteauneuf. Luscious.

Delivery, as always, is free, and there is a sample case further (slightly) reduced.