Wine Club - Roger Scruton raises a glass to the tax
Published 27 March 2006
As taxes go up, will our ambitions for fine drinking have to go down? Wonders Roger Scruton
The burden of taxation increases with every Budget, and David Cameron seems to suggest that it will be no different under the Tories, should they ever get in. The point will come, dear reader, perhaps has already come, when you will have to lower your sights when it comes to wine. Fortunately, you can drink well for roughly £5 a bottle, and Corney & Barrow has taken advantage of your increasing poverty to recommend itself as guide, the four wines on offer testifying to serendipity. The Bainskloof Merlot from South Africa has the freshness and vitality of youth, with a spicy nose and a ripe cherry taste. "Effortless drinking," according to the catalogue, causing me to cast my mind back to the last time that drinking wine was an effort. In vain.
So effortless was our swigging that we were quickly into the Taja Monastrell from the Jumilla appellation in Spain, an even more spicy concoction with deep candy-shop aromas and a marked sweetness on the palate. Monastrell is the Spanish name for the Mourvèdre varietal, which creeps its way into those spicy wines from the southern Rhône. Nevertheless, the label assures us that the Taja brand is not a brand at all but "l'expression d'un terroir" - a somewhat striking claim for a wine made in Spain from a Languedoc grape by a Bordeaux-based firm with the German name of Mähler-Besse. The result, according to the bottle, is a "vin croustillant et sauvage, à la fois
rond et corsé", which makes you realise how inadequate English winespeak is to the task of "expressing a terroir".
The description may or may not capture the essence of Jumilla, but it certainly applies to the evocatively named Clot de Gleize, a vin de pays from the Bouches du Rhône, which is organically produced, and has a real goût du terroir and not just an expression of the same. A heavy curtain of tannin weighs down the intense ripe fruit and flavour, and there is no doubt that this wine has the capacity to mature into something full of summery warmth and indolence. A definite bargain at the price, and worth keeping for a year.
Finally, the inevitable Australian Shiraz. Theories differ as to why the Australians choose "Shiraz" over "Syrah" as the name of this grape. Some insist that the varietal originated in Shiraz, the birthplace of Hafiz, whose songs to the grape (and to the things that the grape inspires) have caused the mad mullahs to censor him out of Persian literature. However, I suspect that the Australians like the word for its shaggy bushwacker sound, its resonance of beards and bawds and banging - all of which are "expressed" in this intense, rich, jammy concentrate that did justice to a game pie into which we had forced the last of the season's pheasants along with a pigeon or two.hat better way to celebrate the opening of Gordon Brown's red briefcase than by opening four fantastic red wines from Corney & Barrow? They do not have a country or even a continent in common, but all are great-value, easy-drinking, voluptuous reds, and the perfect remedy to end the cold winter chill while not letting the purse strings slacken!
Post this article to
We want to encourage people to comment on our content and to exchange views with other readers and hope this will be done on a courteous basis. However, if you encounter posts which are offensive please let us know by emailing comments@newstatesman.co.uk and we will take swift action where necessary.
