Spectator MINI-BAR OFFER Bridge he latest research Toro people in Chile. The shows that French Chardonnay 2007 (1) is crisp, dry, wine has now, fruity and unoaked. ‘Very sophis- astonishingly, fallen ticated,’ said one of our neigh- Tto fifth place by quantity in bours, and she was right. The Susanna Gross the British market. Fifth! £4.95 price is over a £1 reduc- They have been overtaken tion, and represents a 17 per ony Moon is a man with an obsession. by Australia, which now sells cent saving. TFor a lifetime he has been collecting almost twice as much to us as The same estate produc- and collating every known variety of bridge the French, and also by South es a Merlot 2007 (3) (same squeeze. And for as long as I’ve known him Africa, Italy and the US. price, same discount) which (12 or 13 years) he has claimed to be setting Admittedly much of the is warm, spicy, peppery and them down them into a series of books. I must American and Australian glossy. A perfect glugging admit I didn’t quite believe the books would wine is pretty inferior brand- wine, with or without food. ever materialise — not because I’m a cynic, but ed stuff, but even so the fig- Once again, independent because I assumed that Tony, like the rest of us, ures must make the French Simon Hoggart merchant’s quality at super- wouldn’t be able to tear himself away from the wonder what they are doing market prices. bridge table for long enough. How wrong I was. so wrong. The answer, I suspect, is that Spectator readers love their New Zealand Last year, his Simple Squeezes was published. while their best wines are still among the Sauvignon Blanc, and you will, I think, spe- This year he has followed it up with Double finest in the world, and some of their cially like this 2008 from C.J. Pask of Squeezes. Triple Squeezes is imminent. And by newer areas in the south are producing tre- Hawkes Bay (2). Grass, gooseberries, a nice 2010 he hopes to have published another five: mendous wines, their low-to-medium price tang but not remotely harsh — all we like in Compound Squeezes, Guard Squeezes, bottles simply aren’t seen as good value for a good, decent well-made Sauvignon for less Squeezes, Two Suit Strip Squeezes and Three the money. This week I decided that the than £100 a case — a 14 per cent discount. Suit Strip Squeezes (all available from Amazon Mini-bar should reflect the credit crunch And there is 15 per cent off the or direct from [email protected]). and I’ve selected four first-rate wines, all Sunnycliff Shiraz 2006 (4) from Victoria. After which, either every type of squeeze will excellent value, all heavily discounted, all a All right, this isn’t a Shiraz from Grange, be exhausted, or Tony Moon will be exhausted delight to drink. And, you will not be sur- or a Hill of Grace. On the other hand, it is from all that squeezing. prised to learn, all from the New World. extremely quaffable, with ripe berries and The books may not become bestsellers, but They’re supplied by The Colchester Wine a nice earthy undertone — and far from any serious bridge player will find them a fasci- Company, which we used to know as costing nearly £200, you can snaffle it for nating and useful addition to the subject. Here’s Wheeler Cellars, and Mark Cronshaw has less than £6. Why, you could buy nearly an example deal from Simple Squeezes, played knocked off some very generous sums. three cases for a single bottle of Grange. by one of Tony’s early mentors, Nico Gardiner: First, a pair from Pato Torrente (or tor- Delivery, as ever, is free, and there is a rent ) from the estimable Concha y mixed case containing three of each wine. Contract 3NT Lead ◆6 ✁ ♠ A Q 8 6 ♥ A 8 3 Order form Spectator mini-bar offer ◆ J 10 2 ♣ Q 10 5 www.spectator.co.uk/wine-club The Colchester Wine Company, 117 Gosbecks Road, Colchester, Essex CO2 9JT ♠ J 7 ♠ 10 5 4 2 Tel: 0845 4501573; Fax: 01206 713515; Email: [email protected] ♥ 9 6 N ♥ K 10 7 4 ◆ A Q 8 6 4 W E ◆ 9 5 Price No. S ♣ 9 8 6 2 ♣ K 7 4 White 1 Chardonnay, Pato Torrente, Concha y Toro, 2007 £59.40 2 Sauvignon Blanc, C.J. Pask, Hawkes Bay, 2008 £93.00 ♠ K 9 3 ♥ Q J 5 2 Red 3 Merlot, Pato Torrento, Concha y Toro, 2007 £59.40 ◆ K 7 3 4 Shiraz, Sunnycliff, Victoria, 2006 £71.40 ♣ A J 3 Mixed 5 Mixed case, three each of the above £69.90 Nico won the first trick in dummy and played Mastercard/Visa no. the ♣Q. When it was covered by East, he had 8 Start date Expiry date Sec. code Total tricks. He couldn’t afford to lose the heart Issue no. Signature Prices include VAT and delivery on the as a diamond return from East would be fatal, so British mainland. Payment should be made he ...played a diamond himself! If West now Please send wine to either by cheque with the order, payable to cashed all his diamonds, his partner would be The Colchester Wine Company, or by debit squeezed in hearts and spades (a so-called Suicide Name or credit card, details of which may be tele- Squeeze). Eventually (once two more clubs were Address phoned or faxed. This offer, which is subject cashed), East would have to reduce to a single to availability, closes on 30 September 2009. heart; Nico could then drop the ♥K if he read the position (he would). West, Selby Wraith, foresee- Postcode ing this outcome, decided instead to get off play Telephone How do you get your Spectator? with a club. Now Nico took the heart finesse (please tick here) towards East, who could not return a diamond. Email Subscription ❏ News-stand ❏ The effect of Nico’s play had been to break the *Only provide your email address or your mobile number if you would like to receive offers or communications by email or mobile/SMS from The Spectator communication between the two defenders so he (1828) Limited, part of the Press Holdings Group. See Classified pages for Data Protection Act Notice. The Spectator (1828) Limited, part of the Press Holdings Group would like to pass your details on to other carefully selected organisations in order that they can offer you information, goods and services that may be of could safely take the heart finesse. interest to you. If you would prefer that your details are not passed to such organisations please tick this box ❏. www.spectator.co.uk THE SPECTATOR 15 August 2009 41