Simon Hoggart

September Wine Club | 12 September 2013

The magazine The Drinks Business recently published a list of the ten most annoying descriptions of wine. I agree with most of their judgments: for instance, ‘icon’ is just a lazy word for a wine that has an inflated reputation. ‘Reserve’ merely means ‘better than our usual stuff’. Which is the same as ‘premium’. ‘Passion’ is a stupid term, at a time when sandwich bars claim to be ‘passionate about food’. And ‘terroir’ is often a smart-alec excuse for thin, weedy wines which taste of the stones on which they were grown and little else.

Anyhow, none of these words are applied to our selection of six terrific wines from Private Cellar, a very high class merchants in East Anglia. Our first choice is a delectable NV pink sparkler from Château de Sours (1) which helped kick-start the rosé revolution a few years ago. Many pink champagnes can cost £40 or £50 a bottle, and are what we describe as ‘subtle’ and ‘elegant’, two more terms that can mean ‘doesn’t taste of very much’. Whereas the de Sours has all the powerful fruity zest of strawberries, raspberries and cream. £13.50.

So many restaurants, pubs and theatre bars offer Pinot Grigio that you wonder where it all comes from. Many merchants suspect that the label is slapped on any old white wine to hoist the price. But this Gregoris 2012, made by Antonio Fattori (3), has real class and real flavour. If you paid £6 for a glass of this in a grasping West End theatre you wouldn’t feel you’d been stiffed — and PC are offering a whole bottle for £9.95.

Now a star attraction. You will need to get your skates on to order this beauty, as there are only limited stocks.

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