Simon Hoggart’s latest selection for the month of August
People sometimes ask me about those ads you see in magazines and the weekend papers. ‘Get £89.95 worth of wine for just £49.95! Our introductory offer brings you twelve superb wines for barely more than half price…’ How do they do it? Easy. The great majority of the wines are ‘exclusives’ which means that the company has bought up the entire production of a winery. They can then list the stuff at whatever notional price they like, and base the so-called saving on that. It’s as if I were to write to the editor of The Spectator and say: ‘Yes, get an article worth £350 for only £200! This special offer will allow you to discover the wonderful range of delicious articles by me…’ Meaningless.
Whereas when we at The Spectator offer amazing savings it’s usually because the merchant has genuinely over-ordered a particular wine which he or she thought terrific, but which failed to sell off the page.
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