Wine Club 14 November

And it was all going so well. Actually, that’s a complete lie. Nothing’s going well for any of us. What I meant was that since I gave my poor liver such a merciless pounding during the last lockdown, I had decided not to drink a drop during Lockdown #2. Last time there was no apparent end in sight and it was impossible to foreswear the comfort of alcohol. This time, a finite 28 days seemed just about do-able. And it was and I was managing.

Each day dragged like the blazes of course but the following morning, I’d scratch another line on the wall of my cell and press on with my empty life best I could. What undid me, though, were these fabulous clarets that Esme Johnstone, the canny fox behind FromVineyardsDirect, sent me to try. I’m back to a bottle a day, dammit, but I can’t stop smiling.

I’m a sucker for mature red Bordeaux, as I’m sure you are, and it was a truly brow-furrowing — albeit delectably self-indulgent — task to narrow the selection down to the following six beauties. With no wine more than £20 a bottle and no wine less than eight years old, there is much here to enjoy. And not only that, there are five different Bordeaux appellations represented and six different vintages. Do we love you or what?

As its name suggests, the 2006 Ch. des Graves (1) comes from, erm, the Graves. A Merlot-rich blend aged in oak, it’s soft, spicy, mellow and bang on song. I’m afraid that so little remains it’s available in the mixed case only. £14.95 down from £15.95.

The 2008 Ch. Mauvesin (2) from Moulis-en-Médoc is a Cabernet-Sauvignon-dominant blend that has aged beautifully. Fully mature, it’s full of sweet ripe fruit and is blessed with the softest of finishes.