LIFE’S TOO

SHORTDRINK

BAD WINE

SIMON HOGGARTT

O

FORTHE

100 WINESDISCERNING

DRINKER

Simon Hoggart is wine correspondent for The Spectator and has been running the magazine's wine club since 2001. Sincethen, readers of The Spectator have spent millions of pounds on his wine offers. Simon is also a frequent broadcaster onvinous topics.

He is also parliamentary sketch-writer and weekly columnistfor the Guardian newspaper and author of 16 other books –written when he could find the time between searching for greatwines – on many and varied subjects that have attracted hissharp focus and sardonic wit. But this is his first book on hisgreatest love – wine.

£12.99 Hardback

978 184400 742 4

160pp 220 x 150mm

35,000 words

100 wine labels and 20 illustrations

Publication September 2009

Quadrille Publishing Limited

Alhambra House

27-31 Charing Cross Road

London WC2H 0LS

www.quadrille.co.uk

In his first book on wine, witty parliamentarycorrespondent and wine columnist Simon Hoggartprovides a highly personal selection of exciting andeclectic wines that are invariably good value.

The book is aimed at the amateur wine lover preparedoccasionally to spend a little bit more than supermarketprices to get something special. Some wines featured costless than £10 a bottle, a fair number between £10 and£30, and only a handful hit the stratosphere. Many arelittle-known but superb examples of their kind. Forexample, the Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon from Chileis made by the team that makes Château Lafite, and costsa third of the price of similar quality Bordeaux. And whypay hundreds of pounds for Château d’Yquem when onlyan expert could distinguish it from Château Climens, at afraction of the price? Simon eschews pretentious ‘wine-speak’ while going further than merely recording that awine is ‘delicious’ or ‘tastes nice’. He also dares to list hisown ‘world’s top ten’ wines, gives guidance on price andsuggested vintages throughout, and finishes the bookwith a list of suppliers. Whether or not you have thepleasure of drinking all the hundred featured wines, youwill certainly enjoy every page of this informative andamusing book.

8 Introduction

12 A–Z list of the wines

List of Features

How to Buy Wine

Is It Worth It?

The Judgement of Paris

My Top Ten Wines

Reading Wine Labels

Serving Wine

Viognier

Wine Waiters

156 Source list of wine distributors

and merchants

158 Index

160 Acknowledgements

Contents

NoteEach entry gives the wine type and general location of the vineyard, as

well as indicating some good vintages and roughly the sort of price you

can expect to pay for the wine.

2 3

It is magnificent, full and rich and velvety, with a zestand fruitiness that few clarets can match. It also has abeguiling blend of flavours that develop over the hoursafter a bottle has been opened: cedar, blackcurrant,mint, chocolate and smoke: some of these seem to comeand go, to linger for a short while, then disappear tomake way for others. Even the most mature, elderlybottles have kept a certain youthful vigour, like asprightly grandfather who can still dance.

If you can’t afford the Ornellaia, you can buy for farless their second wine, Le Serre Nuove. When its been agreat year for Cabernet Sauvignon, they put more ofthat into the main wine; the same when it is Merlot thathas done well. And the vines are younger, but it is still adelectable, succulent wine.

There have been several owners. Mondavi, the greatCalifornia grower, bought the estate in 1997, then fiveyears later sold half of it to Frescobaldi, who acquiredthe rest in 2005. The wine-making personnel havefortunately stayed unchanged, and Ornellaia is a rareexample of a wine that’s been sold to a big conglomeratebut has kept its quality and character.

TENUTA DELL'ORNELLAIAMaremma, Tuscany, Italy2001, 1999, 1997

RED ✪✪

When Ludovico Antinori, a member of one of Italy'sbest-known wine families, wanted to set up his ownestate, he thought of going to California, where healready had wine-making experience. Luckily, however,he was persuaded to stay in Tuscany – specifically inMaremma, a marshy area by the coast, which until thenhad been thought good for nothing, except as sparsegrazing for a few lonely cattle. It was a bold move.

Tuscan wine-making was in crisis, with many small wine-growers looking to sell off their properties. Antinori’schoice of terrain seemed strange, but turned out to beperfect. The breezes off the sea tempered the heat ofsummer, and the hills behind protected the area fromthe cold winter winds that can be damaging furtherinland.

The land was perfect not for Sangiovese, the grapethat normally goes into Tuscan wine, but for CabernetSauvignon, Merlot and other varieties normallyassociated with Bordeaux. In short, Antinori was goingto produce a knock-off claret, but an imitation thatwould be better than all but a handful of the originals, afake Rolex that kept better time than a real one. Nowhis flagship wine, Ornellaia, is rated one of the world’sgreat reds, and can fetch hundreds of pounds a bottle.

‘... a knock-offclaret, but animitation thatwould be betterthan all but ahandful of theoriginals... now...rated one of theworld’s great reds’

Top 10Wine

...magnificent, full and

rich and velvety

2 3

It is magnificent, full and rich and velvety, with a zestand fruitiness that few clarets can match. It also has abeguiling blend of flavours that develop over the hoursafter a bottle has been opened: cedar, blackcurrant,mint, chocolate and smoke: some of these seem to comeand go, to linger for a short while, then disappear tomake way for others. Even the most mature, elderlybottles have kept a certain youthful vigour, like asprightly grandfather who can still dance.

If you can’t afford the Ornellaia, you can buy for farless their second wine, Le Serre Nuove. When its been agreat year for Cabernet Sauvignon, they put more ofthat into the main wine; the same when it is Merlot thathas done well. And the vines are younger, but it is still adelectable, succulent wine.

There have been several owners. Mondavi, the greatCalifornia grower, bought the estate in 1997, then fiveyears later sold half of it to Frescobaldi, who acquiredthe rest in 2005. The wine-making personnel havefortunately stayed unchanged, and Ornellaia is a rareexample of a wine that’s been sold to a big conglomeratebut has kept its quality and character.

TENUTA DELL'ORNELLAIAMaremma, Tuscany, Italy2001, 1999, 1997

RED ✪✪

When Ludovico Antinori, a member of one of Italy'sbest-known wine families, wanted to set up his ownestate, he thought of going to California, where healready had wine-making experience. Luckily, however,he was persuaded to stay in Tuscany – specifically inMaremma, a marshy area by the coast, which until thenhad been thought good for nothing, except as sparsegrazing for a few lonely cattle. It was a bold move.

Tuscan wine-making was in crisis, with many small wine-growers looking to sell off their properties. Antinori’schoice of terrain seemed strange, but turned out to beperfect. The breezes off the sea tempered the heat ofsummer, and the hills behind protected the area fromthe cold winter winds that can be damaging furtherinland.

The land was perfect not for Sangiovese, the grapethat normally goes into Tuscan wine, but for CabernetSauvignon, Merlot and other varieties normallyassociated with Bordeaux. In short, Antinori was goingto produce a knock-off claret, but an imitation thatwould be better than all but a handful of the originals, afake Rolex that kept better time than a real one. Nowhis flagship wine, Ornellaia, is rated one of the world’sgreat reds, and can fetch hundreds of pounds a bottle.

‘... a knock-offclaret, but animitation thatwould be betterthan all but ahandful of theoriginals... now...rated one of theworld’s great reds’

Top 10Wine

...magnificent, full and

rich and velvety

4

In May 1976, an event took place that astounded theworld of wine.

It was held in Paris, the capitalof the country which then andnow regards itself as thegreatest, the ne plus ultra, of allwine-producing nations.Indeed, some French peoplesuspect fluids made outsidetheir country are not merely

inferior but scarcely merit thename ‘wine’, being little betterthan alcoholic grape juice.

One British wine-maker,working in Bordeaux, told methat when his colleagues visitUK wine stores they are not justsurprised to see the majority ofnon-French wines on sale – theyare actually offended.Fortunately for the French

economy, many winemakers haverealized that, like it or not, thesedays they have to compete withwines from all over the world.

The 1976 event, inevitablyknown as ‘The Judgement ofParis’, was organized by aBritish wine expert working inthe city, Stephen Spurrier. Hehad recognised that many of thewines produced in Californiawere now rivalling the bestfrom Bordeaux. They might nothave the names that hadresonated for centuries, but thecombination of enterprisinggrowers, investment moneygenerated by a booming NorthAmerican market, andtechniques discovered andrefined by the wine specialistsworking at the Davis Campus ofthe University of California,meant that many of the best wereat least on a par with the greatnames of France. He organized ablind tasting with nine Frenchexperts. To the astonishment of

5

almost everyone – especiallythemselves – the experts agreedthe American wines were better.Quite a lot better.

The resulting consternationwas huge. It was as if theJapanese had beaten the veryfinest Scottish single malts in atasting of whisky. The Frenchrapidly regrouped. The wines,they pointed out, were only afew years old. The Californiansaged quickly and had beentasted at their peak. Over thedecades, the French wineswould deepen and mature; theirtrue class would outshine theNew World and theirunmatched greatness would berevealed once again to the world.

So 30 years later to the day,Stephen Spurrier organisedanother tasting, this time to be held simultaneously in Britain,

which is usually regarded as aneutral venue, and in Californiaitself. The tasting would again

be blind, though this time onlytwo French experts agreed totake part. Most of the team whoassembled at Berry Bros &Rudd, the historic winemerchants in London’s StJames’s, were British andincluded some of the country’sleading experts – JancisRobinson, Hugh Johnson andMichael Broadbent. (I was in theroom to watch the tasting, and Ihave never seen such serious,concentrated sipping, sluicing,slurping, swilling and spitting.

They all wrote copious notesabout each wine. This was as

THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS Final 2006 Results

1 Ridge Monte Bello 1971,

California

2 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973,

California

= 3 (joint) Heitz 1970, California;

Mayacamas 1971, California

5 Clos du Val 1972, California

6 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild 1970,

Bordeaux

7 Ch Montrose 1970, Bordeaux

8 Ch Haut-Brion 1970, Bordeaux

9 Ch Leoville-Las-Cases 1971,

Bordeaux

10 Freemark Abbey 1969, California

‘To the astonishment of almost

everyone – especially themselves –

the experts agreed that the

American wines were better.

Quite a lot better.’

‘I have never seen such serious,

concentrated sipping, sluicing,

slurping, swilling and spitting.’

4

In May 1976, an event took place that astounded theworld of wine.

It was held in Paris, the capitalof the country which then andnow regards itself as thegreatest, the ne plus ultra, of allwine-producing nations.Indeed, some French peoplesuspect fluids made outsidetheir country are not merely

inferior but scarcely merit thename ‘wine’, being little betterthan alcoholic grape juice.

One British wine-maker,working in Bordeaux, told methat when his colleagues visitUK wine stores they are not justsurprised to see the majority ofnon-French wines on sale – theyare actually offended.Fortunately for the French

economy, many winemakers haverealized that, like it or not, thesedays they have to compete withwines from all over the world.

The 1976 event, inevitablyknown as ‘The Judgement ofParis’, was organized by aBritish wine expert working inthe city, Stephen Spurrier. Hehad recognised that many of thewines produced in Californiawere now rivalling the bestfrom Bordeaux. They might nothave the names that hadresonated for centuries, but thecombination of enterprisinggrowers, investment moneygenerated by a booming NorthAmerican market, andtechniques discovered andrefined by the wine specialistsworking at the Davis Campus ofthe University of California,meant that many of the best wereat least on a par with the greatnames of France. He organized ablind tasting with nine Frenchexperts. To the astonishment of

5

almost everyone – especiallythemselves – the experts agreedthe American wines were better.Quite a lot better.

The resulting consternationwas huge. It was as if theJapanese had beaten the veryfinest Scottish single malts in atasting of whisky. The Frenchrapidly regrouped. The wines,they pointed out, were only afew years old. The Californiansaged quickly and had beentasted at their peak. Over thedecades, the French wineswould deepen and mature; theirtrue class would outshine theNew World and theirunmatched greatness would berevealed once again to the world.

So 30 years later to the day,Stephen Spurrier organisedanother tasting, this time to be held simultaneously in Britain,

which is usually regarded as aneutral venue, and in Californiaitself. The tasting would again

be blind, though this time onlytwo French experts agreed totake part. Most of the team whoassembled at Berry Bros &Rudd, the historic winemerchants in London’s StJames’s, were British andincluded some of the country’sleading experts – JancisRobinson, Hugh Johnson andMichael Broadbent. (I was in theroom to watch the tasting, and Ihave never seen such serious,concentrated sipping, sluicing,slurping, swilling and spitting.

They all wrote copious notesabout each wine. This was as

THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS Final 2006 Results

1 Ridge Monte Bello 1971,

California

2 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars 1973,

California

= 3 (joint) Heitz 1970, California;

Mayacamas 1971, California

5 Clos du Val 1972, California

6 Ch. Mouton-Rothschild 1970,

Bordeaux

7 Ch Montrose 1970, Bordeaux

8 Ch Haut-Brion 1970, Bordeaux

9 Ch Leoville-Las-Cases 1971,

Bordeaux

10 Freemark Abbey 1969, California

‘To the astonishment of almost

everyone – especially themselves –

the experts agreed that the

American wines were better.

Quite a lot better.’

‘I have never seen such serious,

concentrated sipping, sluicing,

slurping, swilling and spitting.’

CHATEAU MUSARBekaa Valley, Lebanon2004, 2001, 1999, 1988, 1984, 1983

RED AND WHITE ✪✪–✪✪✪

I met Serge Hochar and his brother Ronald early in themillennium. It is Serge who makes the fabled ChâteauMusar, and Ronald, a man with a gleam in his eye, whodoes the accounts and the marketing.

I mention this only because the Hochar brothers havealways lived close to the edge. Musar was founded bytheir father Gaston, in the Lebanese town of Ghazir.During the second world war, he met the Irishwinemaker Ronald Barton, of Châteaux Langoa andLeoville Barton, who was stationed in Lebanon, andafter whom the younger brother was named. Bartoninspired in Gaston a passion for fine wine-making,though for decades virtually all their production wassold at home. Then in 1979 Musar created a sensation atthe Bristol Wine Fair and the name of the wine spreadaround the world. Now 85% is sold abroad. (Somepeople snobbishly wondered how a fine wine couldcome from Lebanon, but then the Levant is the cradleof wine, having been made there as early as 6000 BC.)

The civil war in Lebanon created appalling problemsfor the brothers. Their grapes are grown in the BekaaValley, 50 miles from Ghazir, and during the war theroad down which they travelled was lined with snipers,roadblocks, checkpoints and gun-toting gangstersdemanding money. One time the Syrians were shellingthe neighbourhood where the Hochars live – they areMaronite Christians, whose family have lived inLebanon for a thousand years. Family and friendsbegged Serge to take cover. But he refused; instead hetook a bottle of the 1972, and poured it into one giantglass. Over the 12 hours the shelling continued, hesipped the wine, noting carefully how it changed hourby hour through exposure to the air.

Somehow they managed to make wine in every year buttwo (1976 and 1984) and the 1983, created at the heightof the fighting, is one of their very finest vintages, rivallingthe incredible 1988. There are three different levels eachof red, white and rosé wine, though it is the leading redwine which has made Musar world-famous.

TERRA ROSSACoonawarra Estate, South Australia1999, 1988, 1995

RED ✪✪✪

It seems inconceivable now, but less than 40 years ago,Monty Python was still making jokes about Australianwine. They were remembering what was sometimes called‘Empire wine’ – usually thick, sweet, goo. ‘This is not awine for drinking now. It is a wine for laying down andforgetting about,’ was one line. It was already unfair.

Now only the French would disagree that Australia isone of the very greatest wine-producing nations. If noteverybody loves those great starburst flavours, we can allagree that they do have superb qualities and reflect the

‘Over the 12 hoursthe shellingcontinued, hesipped the wine,noting carefullyhow it changedhour by hourthrough exposureto the air.’

...like liquid tarte tatin,

with apples, spices and

cream

6 7

CHATEAU MUSARBekaa Valley, Lebanon2004, 2001, 1999, 1988, 1984, 1983

RED AND WHITE ✪✪–✪✪✪

I met Serge Hochar and his brother Ronald early in themillennium. It is Serge who makes the fabled ChâteauMusar, and Ronald, a man with a gleam in his eye, whodoes the accounts and the marketing.

I mention this only because the Hochar brothers havealways lived close to the edge. Musar was founded bytheir father Gaston, in the Lebanese town of Ghazir.During the second world war, he met the Irishwinemaker Ronald Barton, of Châteaux Langoa andLeoville Barton, who was stationed in Lebanon, andafter whom the younger brother was named. Bartoninspired in Gaston a passion for fine wine-making,though for decades virtually all their production wassold at home. Then in 1979 Musar created a sensation atthe Bristol Wine Fair and the name of the wine spreadaround the world. Now 85% is sold abroad. (Somepeople snobbishly wondered how a fine wine couldcome from Lebanon, but then the Levant is the cradleof wine, having been made there as early as 6000 BC.)

The civil war in Lebanon created appalling problemsfor the brothers. Their grapes are grown in the BekaaValley, 50 miles from Ghazir, and during the war theroad down which they travelled was lined with snipers,roadblocks, checkpoints and gun-toting gangstersdemanding money. One time the Syrians were shellingthe neighbourhood where the Hochars live – they areMaronite Christians, whose family have lived inLebanon for a thousand years. Family and friendsbegged Serge to take cover. But he refused; instead hetook a bottle of the 1972, and poured it into one giantglass. Over the 12 hours the shelling continued, hesipped the wine, noting carefully how it changed hourby hour through exposure to the air.

Somehow they managed to make wine in every year buttwo (1976 and 1984) and the 1983, created at the heightof the fighting, is one of their very finest vintages, rivallingthe incredible 1988. There are three different levels eachof red, white and rosé wine, though it is the leading redwine which has made Musar world-famous.

TERRA ROSSACoonawarra Estate, South Australia1999, 1988, 1995

RED ✪✪✪

It seems inconceivable now, but less than 40 years ago,Monty Python was still making jokes about Australianwine. They were remembering what was sometimes called‘Empire wine’ – usually thick, sweet, goo. ‘This is not awine for drinking now. It is a wine for laying down andforgetting about,’ was one line. It was already unfair.

Now only the French would disagree that Australia isone of the very greatest wine-producing nations. If noteverybody loves those great starburst flavours, we can allagree that they do have superb qualities and reflect the

‘Over the 12 hoursthe shellingcontinued, hesipped the wine,noting carefullyhow it changedhour by hourthrough exposureto the air.’

...like liquid tarte tatin,

with apples, spices and

cream

6 7

CHEREAU CARRE MUSCADETCHATEAU DE CHASSELOIRSevre-et-Maine, Loire Valley, France1988, 1995, 1999

WHITE ✪–✪✪

Muscadet used to be one of those words the dinner guestdreaded. How common it was even 20 years ago for a wifeto spend hours in the kitchen preparing a delectable meal;then, when the guests arrived, her husband would takealmost as long boasting about how little he had spent onthe wine. ‘Yes, it’s from our little Greek grocer chaparound the corner. He ships it in by the barrel, and youtake your own bottles to be filled. Works out at around67p a litre, and I think you’ll agree it’s not at all bad…’

Of course it was awful, as was most of the stuff peoplebrought in from the hypermarket just over the Channelwhere, frankly, we get wine for just over £1 and we love it,don’t we darling? It is a pretty good rule that most cheapFrench supermarket wine is dreadful, and so is much of thepricier wine too. At least the people who live in the northof France don’t drink only their local vin de pays, becausethere isn’t any to drink. It doesn’t stop them guzzling somepretty dire fluids. And the direst of the dire used to beMuscadet. Thin, watery, with an aftertaste of battery acid.

Things have improved mightily over the past few years, asthis Château de Chasseloir demonstrates. There is no suchplace as Muscadet; the word derives from the Muscat grapeonce grown in this part of the Loire valley. The entireplanting was wiped out by frost in 1709, and replaced byMelon, which in spite of its name is a grape, from Burgundy.More care goes into the making these days. Much of it is surlie, ‘on the lees’, which means leaving the wine on the deadyeast, pulp, bits of skin and leftover grape by-products of thefermentation and which are usually quickly got rid of inlesser wines. The lees add greatly to the complexity offlavour, making for a far more satisfying, if costlier, brew.This Muscadet is a fragrant and refreshing wine, perfect withseafood, but nice enough to drink on its own.

‘...a fragrant andrefreshing wine,perfect withseafood, but niceenough to drink onits own..’

8

Simon Hoggart is wine correspondent for The Spectator and has been running the magazine's wine club since 2001. Sincethen, readers of The Spectator have spent millions of pounds on his wine offers. Simon is also a frequent broadcaster onvinous topics.

He is also parliamentary sketch-writer and weekly columnistfor the Guardian newspaper and author of 16 other books –written when he could find the time between searching for greatwines – on many and varied subjects that have attracted hissharp focus and sardonic wit. But this is his first book on hisgreatest love – wine.

£12.99 Hardback

978 184400 742 4

160pp 220 x 150mm

35,000 words

100 wine labels and 20 illustrations

Publication September 2009

Quadrille Publishing Limited

Alhambra House

27-31 Charing Cross Road

London WC2H 0LS

www.quadrille.co.uk

In his first book on wine, witty parliamentarycorrespondent and wine columnist Simon Hoggartprovides a highly personal selection of exciting andeclectic wines that are invariably good value.

The book is aimed at the amateur wine lover preparedoccasionally to spend a little bit more than supermarketprices to get something special. Some wines featured costless than £10 a bottle, a fair number between £10 and£30, and only a handful hit the stratosphere. Many arelittle-known but superb examples of their kind. Forexample, the Los Vascos Cabernet Sauvignon from Chileis made by the team that makes Château Lafite, and costsa third of the price of similar quality Bordeaux. And whypay hundreds of pounds for Château d’Yquem when onlyan expert could distinguish it from Château Climens, at afraction of the price? Simon eschews pretentious ‘wine-speak’ while going further than merely recording that awine is ‘delicious’ or ‘tastes nice’. He also dares to list hisown ‘world’s top ten’ wines, gives guidance on price andsuggested vintages throughout, and finishes the bookwith a list of suppliers. Whether or not you have thepleasure of drinking all the hundred featured wines, youwill certainly enjoy every page of this informative andamusing book.

LIFE’S TOO

SHORTDRINK

BAD WINE

SIMON HOGGART

TO

FORTHE

100 WINESDISCERNING

DRINKER