It has been a gloriously wine-soaked year for us lushes at the Spectator Wine Club, during which we have worked closely with our chums at Private Cellar, the leading independent merchant based on the edge of the Cambridgeshire Fens.
PC’s marketing director, Laura Taylor, was not only headteacher at this year’s Spectator Wine School, she was also entertainments officer on board the ridiculously bibulous Spectator Clays, Claret and Cognac Cruise and barracks-based logistics officer for our inaugural Spectator Wine Club tour of Champagne.
The following bottles are the blocks upon which our revelry was built, the vinous highlights of the above events and of many others besides. They were enjoyed hugely then and I have the greatest pleasure in recommending them to the wider Spectator readership now.
I have the greatest pleasure in recommending these bottles to the wider Spectator readership
One of the merriest stops on our tour of Champagne was at Champagne Henri Chauvet in Rilly-la-Montagne, some 20 minutes or so outside Reims. Here, the proprietor/winemaker Damien Chauvet was bonhomie incarnate, happily opening every bottle in his range for us to enjoy. The unanimous favourite and one of my all-time picks of the pops was the Henri Chauvet Blanc de Noirs Brut NV (1). A hand-picked, hand-riddled, long lees-aged blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, it’s full of toast, brioche and honey and I genuinely can’t think of any other champagne I enjoy so much at such a good price. Indeed, I bought a double magnum on the spot. Photographic evidence on request. £26.95 down from £29.95.
The 2022 Private Cellar’s White Burgundy (2) is made expressly for PC by the Cave des Vignerons de Buxy, a much-lauded co-operative of 120 growers founded in the Côte Chalonnaise almost a century ago. Made from the finest fruit enhanced by just a touch of oak-ageing, it’s soft, supple and sophisticated with elegant white stone fruit and a fine acidity. It took PC years to nail a house white burg and they’ve hit gold. £14.30 down from £15.85.
I know I bang on about it – so sorry – but Alsace is my favourite of all French wine regions, and it was a treat – thanks to Laura – finally to make it to the village of Orsch-willer and meet Nicolas Laugner, whose wines I’ve long admired. Indeed, the 2021 Domaine Alliment-Laugner Pinot Blanc (3), as enjoyed at the Speccie Wine School, is a cast-iron staple of mine. A fresh, fruity and creamy blend of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Auxerrois, it makes an enticing mid-morning sharpener or evening aperitif. £14.95 down from £15.50.
The 2017 Private Cellar’s House Claret (4) is such bonkers good value that I’m amazed they ever have any left to sell. Although labelled as house claret, it’s the main wine of Château Argadens, the Bordeaux Supérieur estate owned by the Sichel family, whose scion Max hosted a memorable ‘volumetric’ tasting of Château Angludet for us last month. With ripe plummy fruit, cedar and spice, it’s classic claret with bang-on bottle age. £12.15 down from £13.50.
The 2019 Château Tayet (5) is another fine claret that belies its modest price. Wine-maker Jean-Michel Garcion was one of our shipmates on the Spectator CCCC and although we lapped up his magnificent Château Tour Baladoz and Château Haut Breton Lariguardière, I reckon this to be his greatest achievement – a Merlot-based blend of such panache that, when asked, readers reckoned it to be twice the price. £15.25 down from £16.85. Magnums available!
Finally, the 2016 Château Puy Blanquet (6) a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru of immense style and pedigree (the wine is now a stablemate of the mighty Château Gaffelière). 2016 was a 10/10 vintage and this Merlot-based blend – given structure and spice by splashes of Cabs Sauv & Franc – is drinking beautifully. A nap for Christmas. £22.50 down from £24.95.
The wines are offered in unmixed dozens but if you’d like to mix’n’match your own 12 bottle case, call Laura Taylor on 01353 977 995. Delivery, as ever, is free.
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