The
offer ends 1st March 2001Champagne Gaston Chiquet Tradition, NV
A delicious grower's Champagne at a bargain price. Lovely rich, full flavoured fizz with
great balance and nice toasty, bready fruit. Very good+ (£12.95)
Auxey-Duresses 1997 Pascal Prunier
A yellow/gold colour, this mature white Burgundy has a full honeyed nose with hazelnut and
butterscotch notes. On the palate it is rich, nutty, bready and savoury, with some coffee
notes. Full flavoured and quite nicely balanced, but drink up soon. Very good. (£12.50)
Ramsay Syrah Reserve 1996, Napa Valley
Deep red/black colour, with an appealing, savoury nose of green olives, herbs, pepper
spice and a touch of smoke. It's dense and quite tight-knit on the palate, with tarry red
fruits, firm acidity and well judged oak. Not at all over-ripe or sweet, like many new
world Syrahs. Although this chunky wine is now beginning to dry out a bit, its still-solid
tannic structure suggests it could develop further in the bottle. Stylistically this is
somewhere between a good St Joseph and an Australian Shiraz, and the fact that it's only
13% alcohol is quite refreshing, given the current preponderance of high alcohol monsters
from the new world. Very good+ (£11.95)
Château Le Crock 1994, St Estephe, cru Bourgeois
This substantial, well-priced claret has a gorgeous nose but a slightly tough palate. Deep
red/back colour, displaying an open, leafy blackcurrant nose with a touch of smokiness. On
the palate it is dry and medium-bodied with good acidity and a touch of green-leafiness.
Drinking nicely now, I wouldn't age this much further as the fruit is starting to recede a
touch (although I'm aware that some people don't like fruit flavours in their clarets!). A
lovely food wine. Very good+ (£10.45)
Château de Malle 1996 Sauternes Grand Cru
Yellow colour with a golden edge. Lemony nose with a touch of apricot and the usual
tell-tale botrytis aromas. Rich, spicy palate with apricot and honey flavours, good
acidity, some sweetness (but not a lot) and a touch of oak. It is not the most powerful or
heavily botrytised Sauternes I've ever had, but it shows great balance and is drinking
deliciously now. Very good/excellent (£9.95 half)
Berry's Fine Dry Oloroso, Barbadillo, Jerez
Brown with orange tints. Lovely dark aromas of caramel, raisins and wood smoke. Complex
and nutty on the palate with a savoury, bone-dry salty bitterness on the palate. Nice
balance, and a give away at this price. Very good+ (£5.95)