Our two Spectator Clays, Claret, Cognac, Cigars (and Carnage) Cruises down the Thames last week were an uproarious success. Much fun was had and, apart from a couple of walking wounded – suffering not from gunshot wounds, you’ll be glad to hear, but simply a surfeit of claret and kummel – there were no casualties. Besides, our plucky pair soon revived after a pint or so at our temporary dressing station in The Dickens Inn.
Our long-term partners for the cruises, Private Cellar, did us proud, supplying some stunning clarets, introduced by winemaker extraordinaire, Jean-Michel Garcion, hot-foot, mid-harvest, from Bordeaux. We drank our fill, topping things off nicely with a magnum of Mentzendorff Kummel, a double magnum of Delamain Pale & Dry XO Cognac and some fine Nicaraguan cigars as Tower Bridge opened especially for us.
The 2023 Private Cellar White Burgundy (1) is by some margin Private Cellar’s best-selling white. It took wine buyer, Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler MW, ages before she found a wine she was happy to put PC’s name to, a wine with which the team immediately fell in love. Produced by the commendably quality-focussed Cave de Buxy cooperative, it’s fresh and creamy with teasing swirls of zesty lemon and is almost impossible not to enjoy. £14.95 down from £16.10.
Its counterpart, the 2018 Private Cellar House Claret (2), is another bottle any merchant would be delighted to claim. In truth, it’s the grand vin of Ch. Argadens, the much-loved Bordeaux Supérieur estate owned by the Sichel family, they of Ch. Angludet and Ch. Palmer fame. With soft, mellow, bramble fruit, silky tannins and generous finish, it’s a copper-bottomed bargain. Add another fiver and it would remain so. £12.95 down from £13.96.
Jean-Michel G’s 2018 Ch. Tayet (3), as downed in double magnum aboard the Good Ship Lollipop, is one of my all-time favourite wines. Good grief it’s tasty and way more impressive than its price suggests. From Macau, gateway to the Médoc, it’s soft, smooth, supple, with sumptuous Merlot fruit, beautifully judged oak and a touch of backbone-giving Petit Verdot. If you don’t like this, you don’t like claret. £15.25 down from £16.96.
The 2016 Les Tours de Beaumont (4), the second wine of Ch. Beaumont, that much-loved 100ha Cru Bourgeois of the Haut-Médoc, is from a great vintage. Now delectably mature, its still-fresh, leafy, stalky notes herald charmingly easy-going and expressive cassis fruit and a classy, grown-up finish. Bang on. £16.20 down from £17.14.
Our long-term partners for the cruises, Private Cellar, did us proud, supplying some stunning clarets
The 2016 Ch. La Fagnouse (5), a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru managed by the mighty Moueix family, is a tour de force to make any claret lover smile. Full of ripe, concentrated dark fruit, it’s meaty in the mouth and gloriously succulent with a cheeky savoury twist on the finish. In original wooden cases. £17.25 down from £18.50.
The 2020 Ch. Clos Fontaine (6) from the Thienpont brothers in the Côtes des Francs, is even better than the 2019, of which I bought several cases. With red and dark fruit, herbs and spice it’s complex and will last for yonks. OWC. £18.95 down from £19.95.
The 2020 Ch. Peymouton (7), a Saint-Émilion Grand Cru from clay and limestone soils in the east of the appellation, is a peach. It’s windy there, which adds an exhilarating freshness in hot years such as 2020, and the plush, spicy dark fruit has a welcome mineral, stony note on the finish. £21.95 down from £23.40. OWC.
Finally, a champagne about which I never tire of banging on: the Henri Chauvet Blanc de Noirs Brut NV (8). Damien and Mathilde Chauvet are everyone’s favourite hosts on Spectator Wine Club assaults on Champagne and this blend of Pinot Noir and Meunier, aged for many months on the lees, is everyone’s favourite fizz on tour. It’s fresh, creamy and toasty. Don’t take my word for it: our business editor, Martin Vander Weyer, adores it too. £28.50 down from £29.95.
The Essentials Case (9) has six bottles each of Wine 1 and Wine 2. The Cracking Clarets Case (10) has two bottles each of Wines 2-7. Wine 8 is offered in unmixed boxes of six. Delivery, as ever, is free.
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