Private Cellar is a very classy company. Its four principals all worked for Corney & Barrow, and its buying director is a Master of Wine with the magnificent name of Nicola Arcedeckne-Butler. I assumed this indicated Eastern European origins; in fact it’s an old English spelling of ‘Archdeacon’.
Nicola and her colleagues have created a list that is short but very carefully chosen. France still dominates, but in the past year or so they have moved into the New World, with excellent results, which is why three of the wines in this offer come from South Africa — now soaring around the world in both prestige and price — and one from the amazingly inventive Argentines. I have to say that I think the Elgin Vintners Sauvignon Blanc 20051 is quite sensational. It’s not only crisp and dry, but has a tremendously deep fruit base, powerful and elegant, and is not remotely mouth-puckering like some Sauvignons. A gorgeous wine.
As is the Jil’s Dune unfiltered Chenin Blanc 20052 from Walker Bay. If this were a Vouvray it would cost you a lot more. It’s a marvellously complex wine, oaky, citrusy, yeasty and — dare I say it? — grapey. It spends time on its own lees, which are then stirred in to create an even greater richness.
Now the reds. The Leidersburg Cabernet Sauvignon 20003 from South Africa’s coastal region is a lovely soft, velvety, claret-style wine, light, fresh and fragrant, with no woody tannins but considerable depth. Private Cellar were so enthusiastic about this one that they bought up all remaining stock from the winery, and are offering a
12 per cent discount, which brings it down to £6.95 a bottle. If you found this wine in Bordeaux, you’d be quite happy to pay two or three times as much.
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